Reviews in a nutshell
Controversial film-maker Lars von Trier’s time at Cannes this year will be remembered for all the wrong reasons when his work should have got the lion’s share of the attention – especially as Melancholia is by far the better film than Palme d’Or winner, Malick’s The Tree Of Life. Much to von Trier’s distaste, this …
“Establishment is flawed. Down with the establishment!” appears to be Kevin Smith‘s defining and sinister mantra in his Tarantino-esque Red State, done with brutal and twisted irony in a hail of righteous bullets. Its cynicism both cultivates and dissipates the bouts of humour in one of Smith’s most radical yet frank pieces of film-making yet …
The role of retired Mossad secret agent Rachel Singer in John Madden’s new espionage thriller, The Debt, is a highly fitting one for the immense on-screen talent, presence and investigative skills of actress Helen Mirren, no stranger to weeding out corrupt elements of society in her stint as TV’s Supt. Jane Tennison. But those banking …
Lucky McKee’s new horror The Woman is 2011’s very own I Spit on Your Grave for fuelling post-viewing debate and controversy. It is a love-hate piece of film-making designed to revolt, but also to allow us to reflect. To describe it as a “look into the darkness of human nature” gives it a purpose and …
It’s the magic number some of us like to keep secret and others like to brag about, and it’s the subject of Anna Faris’ new rom-com What’s Your Number? that she also exec produces. Multi-tasking seems to be the key here, as Faris who stars in the film has to do much of the leg …
Beginning like an updated version of Gone in Sixty Seconds, Bronson director Nicolas Winding Refn’s new action drama Drive puts its slick wheels in motion for a supposed heist flick, but settles into a dark ride of disturbing but exhilarating control. Driver (Ryan Gosling) is a Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman for …
Debut feature director Eli Craig’s take on the comedy-horror genre is a glorious homage to all the townie-meets-country shlock horrors over the years, like an hilarious study of all the gory clichés turned on their heads. It still racks up the body count for genre fans and demonises the local White trash population, but cleverly …
The promise of a thriller with a sexy, all-star cast of Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro is enough to whet the appetite for a trip to the cinema. Debut writer-director Gary McKendry’s adaptation of Ranulph Fiennes’ novel, The Feather Men, should be the action man’s version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy this …
Tomas Alfredson came to attention in 2008 after his atmospheric thriller, the acclaimed Let The Right One In, about a young boy who befriends a vampire. The Swedish director now takes his chills-making expertise and coolly applies it to a John le Carré spy thriller adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and adds a spectacular …
