Joseph Walsh
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Film Review: ‘Woman in a Dressing Gown’
★★★★☆ Available to own on DVD for the first time since its cinematic release back in 1957, J. Lee Thompson’s Woman in a Dressing Gown hints at what was to come from the British New Wave of the 1960s, with its realistic portrait of the breakdown of a marriage on a post-war London council estate.…
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Film Review: ‘The Man Inside’
★★☆☆☆ Released in UK cinemas this week, Essex-born filmmaker Dan Turner’s The Man Inside (2012) is a gritty urban thriller which, whilst packing a punch, misses its target once too often. Set on the mean streets of 21st century London, the story concerns Clayton (played by UK rapper Ashley ‘Bashy’ Thomas), who as a child…
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Film Review: ‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax’
★★☆☆☆ There’s little denying that the subject matter of Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda’s 3D animation Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (2012) – adapted from Dr. Seuss’ ecologically-minded 1972 children’s book – is extremely topical in today’s environmentally-sensitive climate. Sadly, this big screen outing takes the seeds of Seuss’ book and expands too far upon the…
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DVD Review: ‘La Cérémonie’
★★★★☆ Founding member of the French New Wave Claude Chabrol, who sadly passed away in 2010, was always known for his ability to make great, compelling thrillers. Nowhere is this more true than his 1995 film La Cérémonie, rereleased this week on Blu-ray and DVD by Artificial Eye. Adapted from Ruth Rendell’s Judgement in Stone,…
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Film Review: ‘Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap’
★★☆☆☆ Tracy Marrow, better known as Ice-T, makes his directorial debut with Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap (2012), a comprehensive account of the cultural impact of rap music. Starting in New York, Ice-T tackles the origins of the genre through interviewing a series of pioneering artists and exponents, including Afrika Bambaataa and Melle…
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Christopher Nolan Season: ‘The Dark Knight’
★★★★★ With box office behemoth The Dark Knight (2008), Christopher Nolan created a game-changing comic book film adaptation that combined spectacular, hyper-realistic action with intelligent themes and a real sense of finesse. It also featured one of the performances of the decade, as the late Heath Ledger provides his own unique spin on the maniacal…
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Christopher Nolan Season: ‘Batman Begins’
★★★☆☆ When it was announced that Christopher Nolan would reboot the Batman franchise with Batman Begins back in 2005, many were fearful. This trepidation was not unwarranted after the gaudy mess that was Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin (1997), yet Nolan abandoned the camp style of previous endeavours, opting instead for a darker story drawing…
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DVD Review: ‘Mozart’s Sister’
★★☆☆☆ With the title Mozart’s Sister (2010), audiences could be forgiven for thinking that they are in for a historical biopic about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s life through the eyes of his sister. Instead, René Féret’s problematic and historically questionable feature is a feminist examination of the difficulties of being a woman in the patriarchal society…
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DVD Review: ‘Being Elmo’
★★★☆☆ Star of Sesame Street Elmo, the beloved red fur ball that loves to hug, is known the world over. But who is the man behind the muppet? Constance Marks’ award-winning documentary Being Elmo (2011) asks just that and takes a look at the life of Kevin Clash, the man who from childhood was obsessed…
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Christopher Nolan Season: ‘Following’
★★☆☆☆ With the much-anticipated The Dark Knight Rises (2012) released in UK cinemas this Friday (20 July), the BFI are running a Christopher Nolan season that includes his directorial debut Following (1998). This little-known 16mm first feature tells the story of a nameless young writer (Jeremy Theobald) with an odd habit of following people around…