Whisper of the Heart
By Scotty McKellar. Published 02 January 2012
Making a welcome debut on Blu-ray, Whisper of the Heart is a minor classic from Japan's legendary Studio Ghibli, home of the award winning Spirited Away and Princess Monomoke. A...
Film > Reviews
The Guard
By Nicola Balkind. Published 02 January 2012John Michael McDonagh – forever cursed to be billed as brother to In Bruges' writer-director Michael – tries his hand at directing in this scalding debut. Starring Brendan Gleeson as...
Videodrome
By Alan Bett. Published 16 December 2011In the paranoid Cold War coke comedown of the early 1980s David Cronenberg unleashed this unsettling masterwork, now on Blu-ray. James Wood is Max, a sleazy cable TV president looking...
The Artist
By Philip Concannon. Published 16 December 2011It's hard to imagine more of a guaranteed crowdpleaser than The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius' stupendously entertaining homage to silent cinema, which is likely to have audiences tap-dancing in the aisles....
Dreams of a Life
By Jamie Dunn. Published 12 December 2011On 25 January, 2006, the remains of Joyce Vincent, a 38-year-old former secretary, were found slumped on the couch of her London flat, the telly still blaring; she had died...
Puss in Boots
By Nicola Balkind. Published 05 December 2011Shrek's killer kitty spins off into his own fairytale franchise in Dreamworks' Puss in Boots. Antonio Banderas lends his dulcet tones to the feline hero who is tasked with settling...
Another Earth
By Chris Fyvie. Published 02 December 2011Another Earth sets the momentous event of another planet, identical to our own, looming into view as a backdrop for the personal, introspective tale of a young student and a...
We Have a Pope
By Philip Concannon. Published 01 December 2011There's so much rich comic and dramatic potential in Nanni Moretti's new film that it is simply dismaying to see how wide of the mark it consistently lands. A papal election results...
The Thing
By Thom Atkinson. Published 30 November 2011As an inferior prequel to a superior remake, it's dumbfounding as to why the title remains the same on this insulting inclusion to the canon. Helmed by first-time director Matthijs...
The Interrupters
By Alan Bett. Published 28 November 2011The western was America's great film genre, but the world has moved on. Over recent decades the country has inverted itself and the frontier lives in the inner city. This...
Take Shelter
By Chris Fyvie. Published 25 November 2011After years of phoning-in his tiresome wild-eyed loon shtick, Michael Shannon finally delivers a performance of genuine depth and power at the centre of Jeff Nichols’ haunting drama. Shannon plays...
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
By Keir Roper-Caldbeck. Published 22 November 2011Billed as 'Werner Herzog presents...', Happy People is the German director's 90 minute cut, with his own commentary and new music, of a four hour Russian documentary following a handful...
Poetry
By Chris Buckle. Published 21 November 2011Superficially, Poetry is a miserable tale of rape, suicide, and the onset of Alzheimer’s, yet its most important keyword is its title. While the plot components may suggest a relentlessly...
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
By Scotty McKellar. Published 21 November 2011Arriving in a flurry of hype and high expectations, this quirky Finnish horror-comedy has everything going for it. An archaeological dig unleashes the creature who inspired the Santa Claus myth:...
The Deep Blue Sea
By Philip Concannon. Published 21 November 2011The Deep Blue Sea is the first narrative feature Terence Davies has directed in over a decade, and the material is a perfect match for this great filmmaker. Terence Rattigan's...
50/50
By Thom Atkinson. Published 21 November 2011Defying the odds is the very embodiment of 50/50, not just by surpassing its arbitrator title, but by creating the rarest of stories – a delightfully rowdy yet moving tale...
Moneyball
By Becky Bartlett. Published 21 November 2011Based on a true story, Moneyball follows the familiar sports movie formula – a team of underdogs trying to compete in the big league. Brad Pitt is typically charismatic as...
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
By Keir Roper-Caldbeck. Published 18 November 2011This sequel netted Brazil's biggest-ever box office return with its portrayal of corrupt police and even more corrupt politicians in Rio de Janeiro. A sunken-eyed Wagner Moura plays Lt-Col Nascimento,...
Kill List
By Keir Roper-Caldbeck. Published 17 November 2011In a neat, suburban house a couple quarrel over the depressed husband's reluctance to return to his work. Later, his colleague arrives with a new girlfriend for a dinner party...
A Separation
By Lewis Porteous. Published 17 November 2011It’s a miracle that Iranian filmmakers continue to produce complex and deeply humanistic work despite their increasingly draconian film industry, and Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation is the year’s finest example...
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