Film
Essential KillingSaturday, 02 April 2011
There are certain film-makers who like to give themselves a headache. Buried confined its only character to a coffin. Phone Booth stuck Colin Farrell in – what else? – a phone booth. Essential Killing imposes another kind of confinement on its main... Read more... |
Passenger SideFriday, 01 April 2011
Matthew Bissonnette’s third feature Passenger Side is a mellow, honey-hued road movie which sees two discordant brothers combing the streets of Los Angeles with an initially mysterious purpose. A likeable diversion, for the most part it’s a nicely... Read more... |
DVD: The Man Who Fell to EarthThursday, 31 March 2011
It was bonkers then and it’s bonkers now. Nic Roeg’s space-power-environment fantasy was really only about David Bowie in the lead. In one respect, he didn’t disappoint. Caught between mid-1970s creative cul-de-sac and bodily burn-out, he resembled... Read more... |
Source CodeWednesday, 30 March 2011
With his debut film, Moon, Duncan Jones demonstrated that a sci-fi movie doesn't have to depend for its success on fleets of warring spacecraft or flesh-eating alien monstrosities. He's done it again with Source Code, a cool and clever thriller in... Read more... |
Oranges and SunshineMonday, 28 March 2011
This film tells an extraordinary - scarcely believable - story. Throughout the 20th century, the UK sent tens of thousands of children from care homes and orphanages to the colonies, later the Commonwealth. Parents were routinely told their children... Read more... |
DVD: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past LivesMonday, 28 March 2011
The unexpected winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s 2010 Palme d’Or is a triumphant foray into the fantastical. Strange and surprising, yet serenely measured, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s sixth feature tells the story of the final days of Thai farmer... Read more... |
Skolimowski film reignites Gallo controversy - genius or twat?Friday, 25 March 2011
Kinoteka, the adventurous Polish film festival, opened last night with a gala screening at the Curzon Renoir of veteran director Jerzy Skolimowski’s Essential Killing, a film that has provoked some vicious responses. The Observer said it was “deeply... Read more... |
DVD: London BoulevardThursday, 24 March 2011
Having amasssed bankable screenwriting kudos for Edge of Darkness and The Departed, William Monahan made his writer/director debut with London Boulevard, a reworking of Ken Bruen's novel burnished with useful marquee glitz from headliners Colin... Read more... |
Country StrongThursday, 24 March 2011
Hollywood stars are well known for bragging they do all their own stunts, often at the expense of the genuine daredevils who risk their lives on their behalf. With the advent of CGI and motion-capture technology, though, it is becoming increasingly... Read more... |
Cave of Forgotten DreamsThursday, 24 March 2011
The first thing that must be said is the paintings, captured by Herzog and his crew, are breathtaking beyond description. Among the animals depicted with remarkable clarity are mammoths, horses, bison, rhinoceros, ibex, lions and the only known... Read more... |
Elizabeth Taylor: 1932-2011Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Yes, we’ve always claimed her as one of ours, even though her parents were both American and they moved her back to the States as war loomed. She appeared in her first film, There’s One Born Every Minute, with Universal Pictures, with whom she... Read more... |
The EagleTuesday, 22 March 2011
A chorus of "Hooray! No CGI!" has greeted Kevin Macdonald's new film version of Rosemary Sutcliff's popular novel, The Eagle of the Ninth. Not for him a Gladiator-style digital Rome, or Troy-like computer-generated navies stretching away into... Read more... |
