Patrick Gamble
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EIFF 2012: Top five picks of the Edinburgh Film Festival programme
An almost palpable sigh of relief could be heard during the announcement of this year’s 66th Edinburgh International Film Festival programme. Last year’s failed attempts to react to government budget cuts and the collapse of the UK Film Council culminated in a heavily-criticised festival. Whilst the films on offer were all of a fairly high…
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Film Review: ‘Kosmos’
★★★★☆ From Reha Erdem, the celebrated director of Times and Winds (2006), comes Kosmos (2010), a confounding, yet beautiful film, which only furthers the burgeoning reputation of the Turkish film industry as a thriving breeding ground for imaginative and innovative arthouse cinema.Kosmos (Sermet Yesil) arrives in a sleepy rural village under a veil of mystery.…
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BFI Anime Season: ‘A Letter to Momo’
★★★☆☆ Marking a phenomenal shift in tone and style from his testosterone-charged, extremely violent 1999 debut Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, director Hiroyuki Okiura returns with A Letter to Momo (2011), a much softer, family orientated drama about paternal loss and adolescent grief.After the death of her husband, Momo’s mother decides to move herself and her…
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Film Review: ‘Casa de mi Padre’
★★★☆☆ American funny-man Will Ferrell stars opposite Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna and Genesis Rodriguez in perhaps the most unlikely of comedy line-ups you’ll see this year. Matt Piedmont’s Casa de mi Padre (2012) is an inherently Ferrell-style comedy full of ridiculous self-deprecating humour and childish banter, but with one slight twist – the film’s almost entirely in the…
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Film Review: ‘Red Tails’
★★☆☆☆ Red Tails (2012) sees US director George Lucas return to producing duty on a film that (remarkably) isn’t a sequel, prequel or 3D retrofit conversion of one of his much-cherished earlier works. Directed by Anthony Hemingway and starring Cuba Gooding Jr., David Oyelowo, Nate Parker and Terrence Howard, Red Tails is an expose of…
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Film Review: ‘Himizu’
★★★★☆ Sion Sono, the acclaimed director of Cold Fish (2010) and Love Exposure (2008), returns this week his latest offering Himizu (2011). The film is a deeply personal and intense cinematic reaction to the Japanese earthquake and corresponding tsunami of 2011 which sadly lead to the nuclear meltdown of the Fukushima power plant – single-handedly…
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Film Review: ‘Prometheus’
★★☆☆☆ Undeniably one of this year’s most anticipated blockbusters, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus (2012) sees the British director return to the genre which brought us two of the greatest science fiction films ever made – Alien (1979) and Blade Runner (1982). Boasting an all-star cast which includes Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and Noomi Rapace,…
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Film Review: ‘Top Cat: The Movie 3D’
★★☆☆☆ Originally aired in the UK back in 1962 under the name ‘Boss Cat’, Hanna-Barbera’s Top Cat remains for many one of the most cherished cartoon series ever made. His latest incarnation originates from Mexico and is so far one of the country’s most successful film exports. However, after being retrofitted into 3D and dubbed…
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DVD Review: ‘Michael’
★★★★☆ A former casting director for Michael Haneke, Markus Schleinzer’s austere debut Michael (2011) is a harrowing, yet absorbing examination of paedophilia which whilst containing numerous similarities with the great Austrian director’s detached cinematic fabric, is very much a unique and assured film of its own.Michael (Michael Fuith), a plain and harmless looking businessman returns…
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Cannes 2012: ‘The Dish & the Spoon’ review
★★★☆☆ Alison Bagnall’s witty and original romance The Dish & the Spoon (2011) is a gutsy independent love story which belies its modest budget, whilst also showcasing Damsels in Distress (2011) star Greta Gerwig’s unique ability to be quirky, whilst also profoundly beautiful. After last year’s BFI LFF screening, it has also made the film…