Category: Drama

Dark Shadows ***

Once upon a time, the Burton-Depp partnership was such a sure thing with every project they entered into that they seemed to have the monopoly on quirky Gothic tales; we fell in love with Edward Scissorhands and were enchanted by Corpse Bride. So the chance to see the pair collaborate on a feature-film version of …

Piggy **

London seems to be awash with potentially violent males lurking on every street corner, ready to explode with pent up rage given the right situation – if homegrown cinema is anything to go by. Debut writer-director Kieron Hawkes’ Piggy is another depressingly gritty tale of modern-day woe from the UK capital’s ‘mean’ streets that follows …

American Pie: Reunion ***

The boys are back in town, looking a little older (some sporting facial hair and others possible plastic surgery), but certainly none the wiser when it comes to women. Jim (Jason Biggs), Oz (Chris Klein), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) and Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) are still a bunch of ‘little boys lost’, only to find …

Damsels In Distress ***

Whit Stillman returns more with of a pop than a bang, after a 14-year absence with another take on neurotic, privileged, preppy middle-class existence with Damsels in Distress. It delivers a shining new star in Greta Gerwig as the film’s no-nonsense, self-appointed philanthropist, Violet, who tragically believes her college life mission is to better those social …

Strippers Vs Werewolves ***

Director Jonathan Glendening of 13Hrs werewolf notoriety doesn’t move that far away from his furry feral fiends in his latest grizzly flick, Strippers Vs Werewolves. This exceptionally daft, tongue-in-cheek pastiche of the erotic slasher B-movie also taps into the comic-book filmmaking fascination of recent years with deviant glee, but all with the sole purpose of …

Avengers Assemble (3D) ****

The wait is over, and it’s been well worth it to see the likes of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) join forces with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) in a superb superhero finale to save the planet. And opposite every …

Delicacy ***

Audrey Tautou has come a long way since her touching, doe-eyed international debut in Amelie. The actress is typecast in such feisty, cutesy roles that it’s hard to determine whether she’s good or just a natural charmer – a bit of both perhaps. In debut directors David Foenkinos and Stéphane Foenkinos’ new romance, Delicacy, we …

Battleship ***

Love it or hate it; John Carter star Taylor Kitsch is here to stay, and even though his latest movie, Battleship, is monumentally moronic, there is still a huge amount of over-the-top, double entendre theatrics and bombastic action to giggle gleefully at. The added draw for some of director Peter Berg’s (hopefully) satirical ode to all …

This Must Be The Place ***

Writer-director Paolo Sorrentino’s new film This Must Be The Place is a far cry from the tense political drama Il divo (2008) – in fact it’s the complete reverse; a soothing journey with a dark purpose that awakens its curious lead from his hypnotic slumber. It’s a strangely alluring piece of filmmaking as its not …