1000 Nights in the Dark

Cast: Henrik Thodesen, Marte Germaine Christensen, Odd-Magnus Williamson, Jenny Skavlan, Steinjo, Stig Frode Henriksen, Christian Rubeck, Julia Schacht, Pia Tjelta, Hege Schøyen, Peter Stormare

Capsule review | 225 words | 23/12/11

When he catches his girlfriend (Schacht) cheating on him with another man, mild mannered video store clerk Glenn (Thodesen) moves in with three of his friends, in this ramshackle and thinly written, though lovingly crafted and oft charming, Norwegian comedy. And with his frown in desperate need of being turned upside down, best pal Philip (Williamson) hatches a Miike Takashi-inspired plan to cheer him up, in which the four of them pose as film-makers casting their latest production, allowing Glenn to pick out a suitable replacement for his unfaithful ex from the bevy of beautiful young women that he expects to parade before them. Though initially against the idea, he soon finds himself playing along; and when he meets the attractive but struggling young actress Linda (Christensen), he finds himself pledging to turn their fake movie into a real one. Somehow, with funding acquired (then squandered and reacquired) and a real film star (Rubeck) signed up to co-star, with that American from Sweden (Stormare) agreeing to cameo, plus one or two professionals hired in key roles, the film soon starts, against all the odds, to take some sort of shape, even garnering media attention, of both the social and traditional kinds. However, with so much of their enterprise (and budding relationships) built on lies, it is not long before things begin to go predictably wrong. A pleasant diversion.

Keyframe’s Top Films of 2011

2011-12-23T14:08:00.002Z

01. Certified Copy (2010)
02. A Separation (2011)
03. Mysteries of Lisbon (2010)
04. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
05. The Tree of Life (2011)
06. Tuesday, After Christmas (2010)
07. Melancholia (2011)
08. Margaret (2011)
09. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
10. The Artist (2011)
11. Hugo (2011)
12. Meek's Cutoff (2010)
13. Poetry (2010)

Sydney Film Critics: Best of 2011 (Undistributed Films)

2011-12-22T14:24:00.001Z

01. Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
02. A Separation (2011)
03. The Turin Horse (2011)
04. The Muppets (2011)
05. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
06. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
07. Tyrannosaur (2011)
08. Shame (2011)
09. Tomboy (2011)
10. Hugo (2011)
11. The Artist (2011)
12. The Arbor (2010)
13. Kill List (2011)
14. Dogtooth (2009)
15. How to Die in Oregon (2011)
16. The Descendants (2011)
17. End of Animal (2010)
18. Troll Hunter (2010)
19. Young Adult (2011)
20. Cold Weather (2010)

Sydney Film Critics: Best of 2011

2011-12-22T14:14:00.003Z

01. Drive (2011)
02. Black Swan (2010)
03. Melancholia (2011)
04. The Tree of Life (2011)
05. Incendies (2010)
06. Senna (2011)
07. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
08. True Grit (2010)
09. Certified Copy (2010)
10. Midnight in Paris (2011)
11. Sleeping Beauty (2011)
12. Super 8 (2011)
13. Project Nim (2011)
14. Bill Cunningham New York (2010)
15. Take Shelter (2011)
16. Bridesmaids (2011)
17. Snowtown (2011)
18. Another Year (2010)
19. The Trip (2010)
20. Beginners (2010)

My Little Chickadee (1940)

2011-12-22T13:02:00.011Z

USA

Feature Film | Comedy-Western | English | 1h23m

Cast: Mae West, W.C. Fields, Joseph Calleia, Dick Foran, Ruth Donnelly, Margaret Hamilton, Donald Meek, Fuzzy Knight

Single-sentence review | 97 words | 22/12/11

In this oft hilarious, one-liner filled, old West-set, self-penned dual-star vehicle, the excellent Mae West’s decidedly sexy Flower Belle Lee gets drummed out of town for cavorting with a masked bandit, fends off some rampaging Indians, pretends to marry a perma-drunk New York conman (co-writer Fields), flirts with a local saloon bar owner, bats her eyelids at the resident aw-shucks do-gooder, tames a class full of rowdy school boys, and eventually, before any real harm is done, manages to just about do the right thing – well, sort of, any way... oh, and she sings a bit, too!

Village Voice Year End Film Poll, 2011

2011-12-21T17:31:00.000Z

Best Documentary

01. The Interrupters (2011)
02. The Arbor (2010)
03. Nostalgia for the Light (2010)
04. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (2010)
05. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
06. Tabloid (2010)
07. Project Nim (2011)
08. Bill Cunningham New York (2010)
09. Senna (2011)
10. We Were Here (2011)

Best First Feature

01. Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
02. Bellflower (2011)
03. Attack the Block (2011)
04. Margin Call (2011)
05. The Arbor (2010)
06. Weekend (2011)
07. Submarine (2010)
08. In the Family (2011)
09. Coriolanus (2011)
10. Hell and Back Again (2011)

Best Undistributed Film

01. The Color Wheel (2011)
02. Policeman (2011)
03. Oslo, August 31st (2011)
04. Dark Horse (2011)
05. Sleeping Sickness (2011)
06. Two Years at Sea (2011)
07. Himizu (2011)
08. Twenty Cigarettes (2011)
09. Green (2011)
10. The Salesman (2011)
11. Milocrorze: A Love Story (2011)
12. Artificial Paradises (2011)
13. I Wish I Knew (2010)
14. Jess + Moss (2011)
15. Las Acacias (2011)
16. Mishen (2011)
17. The Redemption of General Butt Naked (2011)
18. The Student (2011)

Village Voice Year End Film Poll, 2011

2011-12-21T16:49:00.002Z

01. The Tree of Life (2011)

02. A Separation (2011)

03. Melancholia (2011)

04. Certified Copy (2010)

05. Mysteries of Lisbon (2010)

06. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)

07. Margaret (2011)

08. Meek's Cutoff (2010)

09. Drive (2011)

10. Take Shelter (2011)

11. Hugo (2011)

12. A Dangerous Method (2011)

13. Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

14. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)

15. The Descendants (2011)

16. Weekend (2011)

17. The Artist (2011)

18. Poetry (2010)

19. Shame (2011)

20. Film Socialisme (2010)

21. The Interrupters (2011)

22. Tuesday, After Christmas (2010)

23. A Brighter Summer Day (1991)

24. The Arbor (2010)

25. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (2010)

26. Le Quattro Volte (2010)

27. To Die Like a Man (2009)

28. Nostalgia for the Light (2010)

29. Midnight in Paris (2011)

30. The Future (2011)

31. City of Life and Death (2009)

32. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

33. Beginners (2010)

34. Le Havre (2011)

35. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

36. Jane Eyre (2011)

37. Bellflower (2011)

38. Into the Abyss (2011)

39. The Skin I Live in (2011)

40. Of Gods and Men (2010)

41. Bridesmaids (2011)

42. Contagion (2011)

43. Aurora (2010)

44. Higher Ground (2011)

45. House of Tolerance (2011)

46. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)

47. Moneyball (2011)

48. United Red Army (2007)

49. Cold Weather (2010)

50. Attack the Block (2011)

Lost Christmas (2011)

2011-12-19T17:50:00.009Z

Television Film | Fantasy | English | 1h29m

Cast: Larry Mills, Eddie Izzard, Jason Flemyng, Connie Hyde, Brett Fancy, Sorcha Cusack, Adlyn Ross, Christine Bottomley, Steven Mackintosh, Chloe Newsome, Geoffrey Palmer

Capsule review | 278 words | 19/12/11

Films that rely upon divine intervention for their happy endings are, for the rational minded amongst us, inherently sad. For instance, most people think of It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) as being a feel-good film, when in reality it is nothing of the sort. Remove the fantastical from the story, and all you are left with is one decidedly dead George Bailey. Whilst others are crying at the beautiful miracle of its resolution, the rest of us are left to cry at the tragedy of it all. And so for me, it is this other-worldly element, in all its brazen unreality, that underlines and accentuates the earthy crappiness that sits just below the surface of such tales to such a level that no social-realist misery-fest could ever hope to match it. Which brings me to this charmingly diverting though decidedly imperfect “urban fairy-tale” – a child-centred cross between the aforementioned yuletide favourite and Charles Dickens’s much filmed novella A Christmas Carol (1843) (with a bit of Shameless thrown in for good measure), in which a mysterious amnesia-suffering stranger (Izzard) helps several people, in particular an orphaned young boy (Mills), to find a number of seemingly-though-not-actually-unrelated things that they have lost, on an snowy Manchester Christmas Eve. Despite the familiar-feeling storyline, Hay’s reasonably well crafted film is seldom predictable, and its performances are all fine. However, Wiseman’s score often feels rather intrusive and is more than a tad manipulative in spots, dampening its emotional power by overemphasising it. Never the less, by the time it reaches its surprisingly powerful conclusion, you’d have to be a particularly hard-hearted person not to be moved by its (not-really) happy ending in some way.

The Entire History of You (2011)

2011-12-19T13:29:00.016Z

Content has been moved to a new blog.

Turn Me On, Goddammit (2011)

2011-12-19T11:58:00.008Z

Norway

Norwegian | Comedy-Drama | Norwegian | 1h16m

Original Title: Få meg på, for faen

Cast: Helene Bergsholm, Henriette Steenstrup, Malin Bjørhovde, Matias Myren, Beate Støfring, Lars Nordtveit Listau, Julia Bache-Wiig, Jon Bleiklie Devik, Julia Schacht, Arthur Berning

Capsule review | 222 words | 19/12/11

Whilst most film-makers all but ignore adolescent female sexuality – my little girl doesn’t think about such things! – Nordic cinema, generally more sophisticated and relaxed when it comes to such matters, frequently embraces it; and, with Jacobsen’s charming though rather flimsy little film, seldom more so than here, where, with a central character, 15-year-old phone-sex-line-calling country-girl Alma (Bergsholm), who is, in her own words, horny, the subject matter actually takes centre stage. So much so, that a good portion of the running time is actually dedicated to her budding sexual fantasies, most of which revolve around her slow-to-acquiesce classmate Artur (Myren) (but also sometimes drifting to female friends, and even to their fathers). All of which might sound somewhat seedy and exploitative to those that haven’t seen the film, but the truth of the matter is that is all really rather sweet and even vaguely naïve in parts. In fact, my biggest compliment to the film, and criticism of it for that matter, would be that it actually feels like it was made by a 15-year-old girl – that it actually feels simultaneously both refreshingly authentic and sweetly naïve.

The performances are mostly good and the film generally well crafted, with Anvik’s distinctive score proving particularly pleasing; however, it is a film unlikely to linger long in the memory. A brave effort, never the less.

indieWIRE: Annual Critics Survey 2011

2011-12-19T11:54:00.003Z

Best Documentary

01. The Interrupters (2011)
02. Nostalgia for the Light (2010)
03. The Arbor (2010)
04. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (2010)
05. Project Nim (2011)
06. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
07. Tabloid (2010)
08. Bill Cunningham New York (2010)
09. Pina (2011)
10. Into the Abyss (2011)
11. Senna (2011)

First Feature

01. Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
02. Margin Call (2011)
03. Attack the Block (2011)
04. Bellflower (2011)
05. Pariah (2011)
06. The Arbor (2010)
07. Another Earth (2011)
08. In the Family (2011)
09. You All Are Captains (2010)
10. Circumstance (2011)
11. Coriolanus (2011)
12. Extraordinary Stories (2008)
13. Submarine (2010)
14. Viva Riva! (2010)

Best Undistributed Film

01. The Color Wheel (2011)
02. Green (2011)
03. Oslo, August 31st (2011)
04. Sleeping Sickness (2011)
05. Policeman (2011)
06. Without (2011)
07. Two Years at Sea (2011)
07. Beats Being Dead (2011)

08. One Minute of Darkness (2011)

09. Don't Follow Me Around (2011)
10. Faust (2011)
11. Play (2011)
12. Almayer's Folly (2011)
13. Artificial Paradises (2011)
14. Convento (2010)
15. Hors Satan (2011)
16. Seeking the Monkey King (2011)
17. Dark Horse (2011)
18. Family Instinct (2010)
19. On the Ice (2011)
20. That Summer (2011)
21. The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye (2011)
22. The Redemption of General Butt Naked (2011)
23. The Silver Cliff (2011)
24. The Student (2011)
25. Twenty Cigarettes (2011)
26. Twilight Portrait (2011)
27. Twixt (2011)

indieWIRE: Annual Critics Survey 2011

2011-12-19T10:00:00.001Z

The Tree of Life (2011)
Melancholia (2011)
A Separation (2011)
Drive (2011)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
Certified Copy (2010)
Mysteries of Lisbon (2010)
Hugo (2011)
Margaret (2011)
Meek's Cutoff (2010)
Shame (2011)
The Descendants (2011)
The Artist (2011)
Take Shelter (2011)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
A Dangerous Method (2011)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
Film Socialisme (2010)
Weekend (2011)
Poetry (2010)
Nostalgia for the Light (2010)
The Skin I Live in (2011)
The Interrupters (2011)
Midnight in Paris (2011)
The Arbor (2010)
Le Quattro Volte (2010)
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (2010)
To Die Like a Man (2009)
Beginners (2010)
A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
Le Havre (2011)
Moneyball (2011)
Of Gods and Men (2010)
Attack the Block (2011)
Tuesday, After Christmas (2010)
House of Tolerance (2011)
Bridesmaids (2011)
Incendies (2010)
Pina (2011)
City of Life and Death (2009)
Aurora (2010)
The Future (2011)
Jane Eyre (2011)
Contagion (2011)
I Saw the Devil (2010)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
Bill Cunningham New York (2010)
Young Adult (2011)

Villain (2010)

2011-12-17T16:44:00.008Z

Japan

Feature Film | Drama | Japanese | 2h19m

Original Title: 悪人 aka: Akunin

Cast: Tsumabuki Satoshi, Fukatsu Eri, Emoto Akira, Kiki Kirin, Okada Masaki, Mitsushima Hikari

Capsule review | 278 words | 17/12/11

Despite being voted as the best Japanese film of 2010 by the participants of respected film magazine Kinema Junpo’s annual poll and winning a handful of Japanese Academy Awards, Lee’s ambitious melodrama has received scant attention elsewhere. Indeed, when it was given a brief theatrical run here in the UK in August, the film earned rather lukewarm reviews, and as such failed to prick my interest. However, when released recently on DVD, I decided to give it a belated chance. Unfortunately, despite some excellent performances, Lee’s tale of a wanted murderer going on the run with his impossibly understanding new girlfriend found me somewhat disappointingly in accord with said British critics.

The storytelling is generally fine, but the odd heavy-handed moment here and there spoils things irreparably, most notably with: a needlessly showy flashback sequence shown through the eye of a dead fish; and a scene in which the film’s anti-hero asks ‘why am I like this?’ before cutting terribly clumsily to a shot of him as a child, showing the moment when he was cruelly abandoned by his mother. Still, the acting really is quite special, with all of the main performances catching the eye, but it is Emoto’s heart-breaking portrayal of the devastated father of the murder victim in a relatively small part that proves to be the pick of the bunch – a performance that even by itself makes the film worthy of at the very least a casual viewing. And Kasamatsu’s suitably grey photography proves another plus point for what is a generally well-crafted film, though Hisaishi’s obtrusive, sentimental score does grate somewhat. Something of a mess, then, but an affecting one, never the less.

Film Comment: The 50 Best Released Films of 2011

2011-12-17T12:37:00.002Z

The Tree of Life (2011)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
Melancholia (2011)
A Separation (2011)
A Dangerous Method (2011)
Mysteries of Lisbon (2010)
Certified Copy (2010)
Meek's Cutoff (2010)
Hugo (2011)
Poetry (2010)
Film Socialisme (2010)
Le Havre (2011)
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (2010)
Le Quattro Volte (2010)
The Descendants (2011)
Nostalgia for the Light (2010)
A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
Midnight in Paris (2011)
Take Shelter (2011)
Margaret (2011)
Shame (2011)
Drive (2011)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
To Die Like a Man (2009)
The Interrupters (2011)
The Artist (2011)
Tuesday, After Christmas (2010)
Aurora (2010)
Weekend (2011)
The Skin I Live in (2011)
City of Life and Death (2009)
Contagion (2011)
Of Gods and Men (2010)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
Bridesmaids (2011)
The Trip (2010)
Moneyball (2011)
The Arbor (2010)
The Future (2011)
Incendies (2010)
Super 8 (2011)
United Red Army (2007)
Road to Nowhere (2010)
Tabloid (2010)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Terri (2011)
J. Edgar (2011)
Jane Eyre (2011)
Pina (2011)

Film Comment: The 50 Best Unreleased Films of 2011

2011-12-17T10:12:00.002Z

This Is Not a Film (2011)
The Turin Horse (2011)
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)
The Kid with a Bike (2011)
The Loneliest Planet (2011)
Miss Bala (2011)
Footnote (2011)
Kill List (2011)
Sleeping Sickness (2011)
Play (2011)
Policeman (2011)
The Color Wheel (2011)
Two Years at Sea (2011)
Alps (2011)
Goodbye First Love (2011)
4:44 Last Day on Earth (2011)
Beats Being Dead (2011)
One Minute of Darkness (2011)
Don't Follow Me Around (2011)
The Return (2011)
The Deep Blue Sea (2011)
Wuthering Heights (2011)
Corpo Celeste (2011)
Oslo, August 31st (2011)
The Student (2011)
Attenberg (2010)
Elena (2011)
You Are Not I (1981)
Words of Mercury (2011)
Crazy Horse (2011)
Faust (2011)
Seeking the Monkey King (2011)
Disorder (2009)
Psychohydrography (2010)
Patience (After Sebald) (2011)
Green (2011)
We Can't Go Home Again (1972/2011)
Killer Joe (2011)
Damsels in Distress (2011)
Slow Action (2011)
Bonsái (2011)
Michael (2011)
A Simple Life (2011)
Take This Waltz (2011)
Hors Satan (2011)
Dark Horse (2011)
Curling (2010)
Almayer's Folly (2011)
Twenty Cigarettes (2011)
Polisse (2011)
Without (2011)
The Innkeepers (2011)
Mildred Pierce (2011)
Las Acacias (2011)

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

2011-12-16T13:23:00.010Z

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Gremlins (1984)

2011-12-16T12:52:00.007Z

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Slant Magazine: The 50 Best Films of 2011

2011-12-16T11:53:00.002Z

01. Certified Copy (2010)
02. A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
03. Mysteries of Lisbon (2010)
04. The Tree of Life (2011)
05. A Separation (2011)
06. Margaret (2011)
07. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
08. Tuesday, After Christmas (2010)
09. Nostalgia for the Light (2010)
10. Poetry (2010)
11. Take Shelter (2011)
12. Film Socialisme (2010)
13. In the Family (2011)
14. Tomboy (2011)
15. Beginners (2010)
16. El Sicario: Room 164 (2010)
17. A Dangerous Method (2011)
18. Leap Year (2010)
19. Meek's Cutoff (2010)
20. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
21. The Time That Remains (2009)
22. Extraordinary Stories (2008)
23. The Skin I Live in (2011)
24. Hugo (2011)
25. Of Gods and Men (2010)
26. The Interrupters (2011)
27. To Die Like a Man (2009)
28. Le Havre (2011)
29. Petition (2009)
30. A Useful Life (2010)
31. Polytechnique (2009)
32. Midnight in Paris (2011)
33. Bellflower (2011)
34. Love Exposure (2008)
35. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
36. Putty Hill (2010)
37. Road to Nowhere (2010)
38. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
39. Incendies (2010)
40. Drive (2011)
41. The Descendants (2011)
42. The Mouth of the Wolf (2009)
43. Foreign Parts (2010)
44. Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)
45. The Inheritors (2008)
46. Melancholia (2011)
47. Senna (2011)
48. Carnage (2011)
49. Bridesmaids (2011)
50. Heartbeats (2010)

MSN Entertainment's Top 10 Movies of 2011

2011-12-16T11:43:00.001Z

Melancholia (2011)
The Tree of Life (2011)
The Descendants (2011)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
Certified Copy (2010)
A Dangerous Method (2011)
The Artist (2011)
Hugo (2011)
Meek's Cutoff (2010)

A.V. Club's Best Films of 2011

2011-12-16T11:29:00.002Z

The Tree of Life (2011)
Certified Copy (2010)
A Separation (2011)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
Meek's Cutoff (2010)
Drive (2011)
The Future (2011)
The Skin I Live in (2011)
Hugo (2011)
Margaret (2011)
Weekend (2011)
Tabloid (2010)
The Arbor (2010)
The Interrupters (2011)
Submarine (2010)

50/50 (2011)

2011-12-15T13:48:00.009Z

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A Coffin for the Bride (1974)

2011-12-15T12:45:00.010Z

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Time Out's The Best of 2011: Film

2011-12-15T11:00:00.000Z

The Tree of Life (2011)
Le Quattro Volte (2010)
Margaret (2011)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
Senna (2011)
The Skin I Live in (2011)
Melancholia (2011)
Pina (2011)
The Artist (2011)

Dead of Night (1945)

2011-12-14T16:29:00.009Z

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The Mouse That Roared (1959)

2011-12-12T15:10:00.009Z

UK/USA

Feature Film | Comedy | English | 1h23m

Cast: Peter Sellers, Jean Seberg, William Hartnell, David Kossoff, Leo McKern, MacDonald Parke, Austin Willis, Timothy Bateson, Monty Landis

Capsule review | 189 words | 12/12/11

When its sole export loses its lucrative American market to a cheap Californian imitator, Grand Fenwick, the smallest country in the world, quickly bankrupted by said turn of events, declares war on the USA in order to receive financial aid upon its inevitable defeat, in Arnold’s cheaply if solidly crafted, generally well-acted, and for-the-most-part hugely entertaining satirical comedy, which runs out of steam a little towards the end whilst desperately searching for a satisfactory conclusion. Unfortunately, for the residents of the tiny English speaking European country, their seemingly sound plan comes to naught, when, thanks to a great deal of good luck (or bad luck, if you like) they somehow manage, upon their half-hearted invasion of New York, to actually win the war by capturing the country’s brand-spanking new Q-Bomb, an explosive 100 times more powerful than its H-equivalent. With Grand Fenwick now essentially the most powerful country in the world, though still without a pot to piddle in, the country’s leaders look for some way to cash in on their perilous situation, whilst the world’s superpowers look on impotently. However, love somehow blossoms, and world peace beckons, anyway.

15 Million Merits (2011)

2011-12-12T12:57:00.016Z

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The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011)

2011-12-11T17:43:00.007Z

15-Part Television Documentary Serial | English | 15h45m

Capsule review | 256 words | 11/12/12 | 2011 favourites

From (before) the birth of cinema in 1895 right up to the present day and beyond, speculatively to 2046, Mark Cousins has eloquently set before us his ambitious, romantic, and decidedly personal interpretation of the story of film, taking as his focus the sixth art’s great innovators – the usual suspects and not-so-usual suspects, both – from the Lumière brothers and Méliès, through Ozu and Welles, to Kiarostami and Sokurov. Though many have found fault with it – sometimes justifiably, other times not – with its wealth of well-chosen clips and thoughtful interview footage, it is a documentary that no self-respecting cinephile’s life should be without. Admittedly, Cousins’s approach is a somewhat idiosyncratic one, with his distinctive narrating style proving lyrically intoxicating to some (the learned), whilst soporifically annoying to others (the pitied); plus, the way that he frames his interview subjects can also prove a little distracting at times, cutting off an ear here, obscuring a forehead there; and his use of metaphor is, to say the least, also all his own. Still, if a little quirkiness is the price that must be paid in order to avoid the staid, faux-objectivity of most historical examinations, then so be it. In fact, I wouldn’t have it any other way. However, there are one or two factual captioning errors dotted throughout its 15 parts (which would hopefully be corrected before any potential DVD release) and more spoilers than one would ideally hope for. But these are but minor quibbles for what has proven to be such a wonderful, inspiring journey through celluloidal history.

Retreat (2011)

2011-12-11T16:30:00.009Z

UK/Ireland

Feature Film | Thriller | English | 1h30m

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Thandie Newton, Jamie Bell

Capsule review | 196 words | 11/12/12

With the memory of the miscarriage of their first child still fresh and painful, a handsome young professional couple decamps to an unpopulated island retreat – the scene of an earlier holiday and happier times – in an attempt to massage some life back into its quietly ailing relationship, in Tibbetts’s solidly crafted though rather uninspired little thriller. However, the island's healing serenity is soon shattered when a bloodied soldier (Bell) comes bursting into their life with an incredible tale of a global incurable flu pandemic making its way towards them, imposing his will onto them in the process, and convincing them to seal off and defend from the outside world their decidedly-past-its-best holiday home. He (Murphy) is quick to believe him; she (Newton) not so much; whilst we, the viewer, find ourselves caught between the two. Predictably, much unpredictability follows, with its twists and turns holding our attention throughout, though never really with quite enough freshness to inspire more than odd half-hearted gasp. The performances from the attractive, talented cast also fall a little short of our high expectations, though Eshkeri's score often proves, at least sporadically, quite impressive. Vaguely bland, then, but diverting, never the less.

We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

2011-12-09T12:51:00.008Z

UK/USA

Feature Film | Drama | English | 1h52m

Cast: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller, Jasper Newell, Rock Duer, Ashley Gerasimovich

Capsule review | 202 words | 09/12/11 | 2011 favourites

With a bit of ‘90s-era Atom Egoyan-like mosaicism added to Ramsay’s usual painterly lyricism, Shriver’s novel here is skilfully brought to the screen with a visual language that perfectly captures the complex, abstract emotions felt by its guilt- and grief-stricken protagonist. The fact that said central figure is brought to life by the ever excellent Swinton, with able support from the more-than-reliable Reilly and the mesmerising Miller, only goes to further support the film’s rightful grasp for art house greatness. However, despite its pedigree and ambition, this thoughtful examination of the aftermath of a high school shooting – minus the shooting (the killer was a keen archer) – falls just short of the aforementioned Canadian auteur’s similarly themed explorations of the emotional desolation found in the wake of tragedy, namely – Exotica (1994) and The Sweet Hereafter (1997). But then again, what doesn’t? In fact, so powerful is Ramsay’s effort that it feels decidedly churlish to compare it to any other works, never mind such great ones... I could further add to the unkindness by noting that it also doesn’t quite reach the standards set by her previous two features – Ratcatcher (1999) and Morvern Callar (2002) – but that would just be being cruel. Essential viewing.

Tyrannosaur (2011)

2011-12-08T13:05:00.008Z

Feature Film | Drama | English | 1h31m

Cast: Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman, Eddie Marsan, Paul Popplewell, Ned Dennehy, Samuel Bottomley, Sally Carman, Sian Breckin

Capsule review | 181 words | 08/12/11 | 2011 favourites

Though the excellent Colman has received most of the acting plaudits for her portrayal of a middle-class domestic abuse victim in Considine’s very impressive feature directorial debut, in which two otherwise poles apart lives come together through violence to form the unlikeliest of friendships, it is Mullan’s performance, for me, that is the film’s greatest asset. Imbuing a man, whose violent, destructive actions make us wince throughout the film, with such a level of humanity that we actually begin to empathise with him, Mullan’s performance proves to one of true greatness. Which isn’t to belittle Colman’s turn, for hers too is one of heart-breaking authenticity. It’s just that her character is inherently more sympathetic, and as such her achievement slightly less remarkable. Considine’s screenplay also impresses, avoiding any easy resolutions, whilst skirting some well-worn territory, and yet still managing to find a surprisingly satisfying ending, which unearths and clings to the merest ray of hope shining weakly amongst all the bloody darkness that surrounds it. And, a musically-montaged post-funeral piss-up scene aside, his unfussy direction also shows great promise. Hugely affecting.

The National Anthem (2011)

2011-12-08T11:40:00.012Z

Short Television Film | Satirical Drama | English | 43m

Series/Strand Title: Black Mirror (2011)

Cast: Rory Kinnear, Lindsay Duncan, Donald Sumpter, Tom Goodman-Hill, Anna Wilson-Jones, Patrick Kennedy, Alastair Mackenzie, Chetna Pandya, Alex MacQueen, Jay Simpson, Helen Fospero, Lydia Wilson

Capsule review | 236 words | 08/12/11

Where two years ago Brooker posited with the excellent Dead Set that the general public were far too busy watching exploitative reality TV to be aware of or even interested in world events, here, conversely, in 2011, he suggests that not only are the great unwashed masses well up on current events, but they’re actually one step ahead of the great and the powerful in both finding out about and reporting them, and – with Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube – they are even actually having a major influence upon them. And so, taking a piece of public opinion-provoked PM-humiliation from the last general election as his inspiration, Brooker here explores how far politicians will go to appease the tweeting masses when things begin to go against them, which, it would seem, is as far as live televised bestiality. Unfortunately, as inspired as the basic idea is, the finished piece feels generally a little underdeveloped and rushed, with most of the characters – of which there are far too many for such a short work – feeling merely sketched. Such an idea surely merited at least twice the running time. However, the compellingly brilliant and painfully convincing central performance from Kinnear, playing a British prime minister who must have sexual intercourse with a pig live on television in order to save the life of a kidnapped Diana-like princess, just about holds the whole thing together. Vaguely – at least relatively – disappointing, though.

Sight & Sound's Films of 2011

2011-12-07T16:33:00.005Z

01. The Tree of Life (2011)

02. A Separation (2011)
03. The Kid with a Bike (2011)
04. Melancholia (2011)
05. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)
06. The Artist (2011)
07. The Turin Horse (2011)
08. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
09. Le Quattro Volte (2010)
10. This Is Not a Film (2011)
11. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
12. Attack the Block (2011)
13. Kill List (2011)
14. Poetry (2010)
15. Shame (2011)
16. Las Acacias (2011)
17. Bridesmaids (2011)
18. Dreams of a Life (2011)
19. Drive (2011)
20. The Portuguese Nun (2009)
21. Senna (2011)
22. Two Years at Sea (2011)
23. Weekend (2011)
24. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
25. A Dangerous Method (2011)
26. Take Shelter (2011)
27. Essential Killing (2010)
28. Faust (2011)
29. Le Havre (2011)
30. Meek's Cutoff (2010)
31. Mysteries of Lisbon (2010)
32. Pina (2011)
33. Alps (2011)
34. Contagion (2011)
35. Damsels in Distress (2011)
36. The Deep Blue Sea (2011)
37. Elena (2011)
38. Footnote (2011)
39. The Guard (2011)
40. Hors Satan (2011)
41. Lawrence of Belgravia (2011)
42. Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
43. Michael (2011)
44. Midnight in Paris (2011)
45. Miss Bala (2011)
46. The Princess of Montpensier (2010)
47. True Grit (2010)
48. Wuthering Heights (2011)

The Kid with a Bike (2011)

2011-12-07T13:12:00.010Z

Belgium/France/Italy

Feature Film | Drama | French | 1h27m

Original Title: Le gamin au vélo

Dir: Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne | Scr: Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne | DP: Alain Marcoen | Prod: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, & Denis Freyd | Ed: Marie-Helene Dozo

Cast: Thomas Doret, Cécile De France, Jérémie Renier, Fabrizio Rongione, Egon Di Mateo

Capsule review | 226 words | 07/12/11 | 2011 Favourites

When his father (Renier) disappears, a young boy (Doret), living in a children’s home, convinces a kindly hairdresser (De France) to foster him at weekends, giving him the opportunity and allowing him the time to explore his old neighbourhood on his beloved bike in an attempt to locate the missing parent, in the Dardenne brothers gripping and gently affecting, if never entirely convincing (details wise) social realist drama-cum-thriller – a subgenre of which they have become masters. Eventually, with the help of his part-time foster mother, he does locate him; but, when the great and happy reunion of which he has dreamt for so long fails to materialise, he falls in with a bad crowd, and eventually commits a heinous act. Luckily, though he is slow to realise it, he does have genuine love in his life.

The very physical and entirely convincing performance of Doret in the central role is the film’s greatest strength – a portrayal of rare authenticity from someone so young. De France’s turn also proves affecting. And the Dardennes typically dynamic direction grips throughout. However, there are several plot points that fail to convince, and the whole thing is concluded just a little too easily and far too tidily, leaving The Kid with a Bike, the Belgian duo's eighth feature, just below the level of their best work. Highly recommended, never the less.

Snowtown (2011)

2011-12-07T12:06:00.008Z

Australia

Feature Film | Crime Drama | English | 1h59m

Cast: Daniel Henshall, Lucas Pittaway, Louise Harris, Frank Kwertniak, Matthew Howard, Marcus Howard, Anthony Groves, Richard Green, Aaron Viergever

Capsule review | 178 words | 07/12/11

With quite some skill, but not much in the way of humanity, Kurzel’s grubby little slice-of-low-life drama translates to the screen the factual tale of Australia’s Worst Serial Killer, John Bunting, who, in South Australia between 1992 and 1999, aided by a number of other willing/not-so-willing accomplices, tortured and murdered eleven people he deemed to be perverts, stealing their benefits in the process. What humanity there is in the film is embodied almost entirely by the notable performance of Lucas Pittaway, playing the teenaged son of Bunting’s common-law wife, who is slowly coaxed into his stepfather's violent way of life. Henshall, as Bunting himself, is also – like most of the cast – quietly impressive. And the film in general is very well crafted, with Arkapaw’s cold, shallow-focus photography being particularly eye-catching. However, Grant‘s screenplay relies just a little too heavily on the viewer having some kind prior knowledge of the case, and the overall effect of the film is just so unremittingly bleak that it is often decidedly difficult to watch, even with most of the violence happening off screen.

The Tree of Life (2011)

2011-12-05T12:18:00.007Z

USA

Feature Film | Drama | English | 1h19m

Cast: Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken, Sean Penn, Laramie Eppler, Tye Sheridan

Capsule review | 287 words | 05/12/11 | 2011 favourites

About 30 minutes into Terrence Malick’s remarkable film – his finest work since his return from the wilderness in the late ‘90s – I found myself worrying that the pace and intensity of this nevertheless extraordinary opening sequence would never relent. As scene after scene bled unremittingly into the next, with The Big Bang and the fall of the dinosaurs, filtered through maternal grief and middle-aged regret, occupying my eyes, ears, and mind to such an extent that I feared, much as with Sorrentino's Il Divo (2008) and Scorsese's Casino (1995), that I would soon find myself in desperate need of a darkened room in which to lie down and attempt to recover from the audio-visual pummelling that I’d just received. Luckily, soon afterwards, the pace did yield to my overheated frontal lobes, relaxing into a more traditional, though still beautifully sensual and poetic, family drama, with a number of quieter, calmer moments, allowing me time to breathe and contemplate all that had come before. Said drama revolves around the upbringing of three boys in a middle-class family in suburban Waco, Texas, in the 1950s, contrasting the clashing parental styles of their strict disciplinarian father (Pitt) and their nurturing, ethereal mother (Chastain, captivating), concentrating on the experiences of the eldest brother, Jack (the excellent McCracken), as remembered by his doleful middle-aged self (Penn), detailing memories of parental clashes, adolescent rebellion, and lost youth. The performances are all excellent, the photography transporting, the editing lyrical, and the score bewitching, with the overall effect being one of intense, almost overwhelming beauty. It's not for everyone, certainly, but for those that prize sensual experience and visual poetry above traditional storytelling, it will likely prove to be a tremendously affecting and rewarding film.

Our Idiot Brother (2011)

2011-12-01T12:23:00.010Z

USA

Feature Film | Comedy-Drama | English | 1h30m

Cast: Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, Steve Coogan, Hugh Dancy, Rashida Jones, Shirley Knight, T. J. Miller, Janet Montgomery

Capsule review | 211 words | 01/12/11

For the most part, proving as amiable as its lead character, Peretz’s solidly crafted film quietly and undemandingly entertains us. But, as with most Hollywood produced and/or distributed fare, the final act – a horribly neat, yet vaguely guiltily pleasurable, wrapping up of all of its various themes and storylines, resolved in a way that belies all that has come before it – destroys any sort of artistic credibility that it may have had (which, admittedly, was already in short supply). Still, it’s hard not to like the preceding hour-or-so’s good-natured, gentle humour, which pierces a haze of vaguely misogynistic sourness, personified by the impressive Rudd, who plays the unfairly monikered titular relative, tossed from home to home by his self-centred sisters after spending a short spell in prison, with a great deal of skill and compassion. The rest of the performances from the talented, well assembled cast are generally rather underwhelming, though, with Coogan’s bland turn proving particularly disappointing. In fact, rather surprisingly, the best of the supporting turns comes from the distinctive stylings of T. J. Miller, in a very small part, who excels as an impossibly laidback hippy. There are worse ways to spend 90 minutes, of course, but probably not all that many less productive ones. (Shrugs shoulders) meh!

The Future (2011)

2011-11-30T12:35:00.010Z

Content has been moved to a new blog.

The Turin Horse (2011)

2011-11-29T15:19:00.008Z

Hungary/France/Germany/Switzerland/USA

Feature Film | Drama | Hungarian | 2h26m

Original Title: A Torinói ló

Cast: Derzsi János, Bók Erika, Kormos Mihály, Ricsi

Capsule review | 252 words | 29/11/11 | 2011 favourites

It’s hard to imagine a film more depressing than Tarr’s remarkable and seemingly final offering. Even the bleakest works of Ingmar Bergman would fail to come close. But, just as with the Scandinavian master’s best pieces, Tarr’s The Turin Horse is nevertheless essential, entrancing viewing. The sadly retiring Hungarian’s singularity of vision is even more intense here than before, with his alluring, trademark tracking shots and gentle black humour all but abandoned in favour of mostly static, dialogue-free scenes of drudgery and repetitive manual labour, leavened only by the howls of the relentlessly blowing wind and the intermittent accompaniment of Vig’s outstandingly haunting score. The plot, what there is of one, follows the miserable lives of a stroke-victim farmer (Derzsi), his cheerless daughter (Bók), and their broken-down horse (Ricsi – a more depressed looking nag I’ve yet to see). Against the backdrop of their dreary, spartan, wind-swept country home, they find little of cheer, as they do their daily chores, eat some rather unappetising looking boiled potatoes (and nothing but), and attempt to coax their dying horse back out to work. Day after day, they repeat this routine, with little sign of any change… until, midway through the film, their gypsy-cursed well, their sole source of water, suddenly dries up – at which point, their world begins to apocalyptically crumble around them, until, after six bleak days, they find themselves alone at the end of the world, sat in an eternal darkness, eating now-even-more-unappetising raw potatoes. Essential viewing for the braver, more discerning filmgoer.

Midsummer Madness (2007)

2011-11-29T09:53:00.007Z

Latvia/Austria/Russia/UK

Feature Film | Comedy | English/Latvian/Russian/French/German | 1h34m

Cast: Orlando Wells, Gundars Abolins, Maria de Medeiros, Dominique Pinon, Chulpan Khamatova, Tobias Moretti, Victor McGuire, Detlev Buck, Roland Düringer, Birgit Minichmayr, Daniil Spivakovskiy, Aurelija Anuzhite, Dainis Porgants, Yevgeni Sitokhin, Imbi Strenga, James-William Watts, Benito Sambo

Capsule review | 148 words | 29/11/11

A number of foreign nationals arrive in Latvia, for various wildly differing reasons, just in time for the titular solstitial festival, in Hahn’s decidedly messy comedy, which wastes a well-assembled and talented cast on underdeveloped and generally weak comic material. However, some strands of this multi-stranded effort do manage to elicit the odd laugh, such as those involving McGuire and Watts’s sexually-awakened Liverpudlian firemen and de Medeiros and Pinon’s pilgrimaging Frenchmen, who arrive in Latvia in search of the spectacular Hill of Crosses (which is actually in the neighbouring Lithuania). But even these vaguely amusing sections still feel painfully half-baked; and as for the rest of them, they range from the bland (a boorish American arrives in Riga in search of his long-lost half-sister) to the excruciating (a local ne’er-do-well tries to blag his way into a big-money deal with a pair of horny Germanic businessmen). Best avoided.

The Exploding Girl (2009)

2011-11-28T12:30:00.009Z

Content has been moved to a new blog.

Tell No One (2006)

2011-11-25T09:11:00.009Z

France

Feature Film | Thriller | French | 2h11m

Original Title: Ne le dis à personne

Cast: François Cluzet, Marie-Josée Croze, André Dussollier, Kristin Scott Thomas, François Berléand, Nathalie Baye, Jean Rochefort, Marina Hands, Gilles Lellouche, Philippe Lefebvre

Capsule review | 236 words | 25/11/11 | 2006 Favourites

As contemporary mainstream thrillers go, Guillaume Canet’s decidedly satisfying and surprisingly affecting adaptation of Harlan Coben’s popular novel is about as good as they come; which isn’t to say that it is without its faults, as it certainly is not. Firstly, though by no means foremostly, there are enough plot holes to keep the pedants and keyboard warriors busy for months to come – though, having said that, most of them can just about be explained away, if only at something of a stretch. Secondly, and far more importantly – at least for me – there are two or three musical montages that really jar against the film’s overall aesthetic, which is generally surprisingly low-key. In fact, even the film’s one major action sequence, which eschews the usual pumping musical accompaniment in favour of somewhat more subdued scoring, proves pleasingly restrained, yet no less thrilling for the fact. The performances are all good, with Cluzet’s physical turn in the central role, playing a paediatrician who comes to believe that his murdered wife is in fact still alive, just as the police reopen the case eight years after the fact, making him the prime suspect in the process, being the predictable highlight. The screenplay – questionable plot holes aside – also dazzles with its labyrinthinely plotted tales of love, murder, and deception; whilst Offenstein’s photography proves quietly effective and the effects and stunt work exhilaratingly convincing. Quibbles aside, an excellent little thriller.

Murder by Contract (1958)

2011-11-23T12:47:00.009Z

USA

Feature Film | Crime-Drama | English | 1h21m

Cast: Vince Edwards, Phillip Pine, Herschel Bernardi, Caprice Toriel, Michael Granger, Cathy Browne

Capsule review | 206 words | 23/11/11 | 1958 favourites

Lerner’s unnerving crime-drama – an odd mix of pared-down, existential plotting, economical yet striking direction, vaguely light-hearted acting, and strangely upbeat guitar-heavy scoring – engrossingly captures the life of a rookie hitman, as he begins to find his feet in his new profession. Claude (Edwards, coldly captivating), fed-up with his life as a New York wage-slave, determines to become a contract killer in order to be able to afford a swanky new home. After having his mettle tested by a mid-level mobster, he soon finds himself earning $500 a week, coolly dispatching his new boss’s various enemies, all the while saving towards his dream house. However, when a former girlfriend of said gangster turns state’s witness in order to avoid a prison sentence, Claude soon finds himself despatched to Los Angeles in order to silence her, under the promise of a bumper $5000 payday. Watched over by two mob associates (Pine & Bernardi), whom are slow to warm to him, he takes his time planning the hit. However, despite being as meticulous and professional as ever, things do not go to plan, leading him to believe that the job is jinxed and his incarceration-threatened employer to believe that he is perhaps not the right man for the job.

Septien (2011)

2011-11-17T15:04:00.010Z

USA

Feature Film | Comedy-Drama | English | 1h20m

Cast: Robert Longstreet, Onur Tukel, Michael Tully, Jim Willingham, Rachel Korine, Mark Darby Robinson, John Maringouin

Capsule review | 224 words | 17/11/11 | 2011 favourites

Coming across like a Wes Anderson flick remade by David Lynch’s hick cousin with a post-Mumblecore aesthetic, Michael Tully’s ambitious Dostoyevskian feature is nothing if not different. Tully himself plays Cornelius, a onetime sporting prodigy, who returns to his family home after an absence of eighteen years, where he is greeted by his paid-not-to-farm farmer brothers Ezra (Longstreet) and Amos (Tukel) and their farmhand (and quite possibly illegitimate brother) Wilbur (Willingham). In the absence of their deceased parents, the vaguely effeminate Ezra has become something of a mother figure, whilst Amos, bitten by the painting bug, spends all of his waking hours creating brilliantly ghastly images filled with blood, shit, demons, sportsmen, and depraved sexuality. Wilbur, meanwhile, who, despite appearing to live in an abandoned tractor tyre, manages to see the beauty in just about everything and plays a mean guitar, spends his time digging for buried treasures. Life on the farm continues relatively normally until a plumbing emergency brings the boys’ old football coach, now a plumber, Red "Rooster" Rippington (Robinson), with his young-enough-to-be-his-granddaughter other half (Korine), to their door – at which point, the reason for Cornelius’s long absence suddenly becomes painfully apparent, bringing about the manifestation of their collective id in the form of a wandering preacher (Maringouin) who comes to the farm looking for vengeance… erm, or something like that. Bonkers!

Amorosa Soledad (2008)

2011-11-17T14:08:00.008Z

Content has been moved to a new blog.

Terri (2011)

2011-11-17T12:44:00.010Z

USA

Feature Film | Drama | English | 1h45m

Cast: Jacob Wysocki, John C. Reilly, Bridger Zadina, Creed Bratton, Olivia Crocicchia

Short review | 321 words | 17/11/11 | 2011 favourites

When his grades begin to fall and he acquires the habit of coming to school in his pyjamas, Terri (Wysocki), one of his small town school’s several monsters, a severely obese boy who lives with his heavily medicated uncle (Bratton) in the wake of his parents’ abandonment, catches the attention of the vice principal (Reilly) – himself is an admitted former monster – who manages to convince him to attend weekly counselling sessions, where they can shoot the breeze and share snacks. Through these regular Monday morning meetings, he also manages to spark up a friendship of sorts with another fellow monster, the forever in trouble Chad (Zadina), who has an alarming habit of pulling out his own hair. Stranger still, he also begins to connect with a beautiful and (formerly) popular classmate, Heather (Crocicchia), who has become something of a social pariah after being coerced into a sexual act in home economics class by another classmate, after showing her a degree of kindness not shown to her by anyone else. However, as these relationships develop, he does not grow from child to man in mere weeks, as is usually the case in such coming-of-age dramas. No, he refreshingly grows just enough to allow us to see a slight glimmer of hope for his future. There are no miracles here! The performances are all affectingly convincing, though special mention should be given to Reilly, who, in a rare and very welcome dramatic role, manages to touch our hearts in a way that he hasn’t done for quite some time. All that said, the film is not quite as successful as it should have been, as numerous plot details ring false, which, had the film been produced as a stage play, with that added level of artificiality, would probably not have made a great deal of difference, but here, captured on celluloid, just about prevent Jacobs’s film from being amongst the year’s very best.

Red Psalm (1972)

2011-11-16T14:37:00.007Z

Hungary

Feature Film | Drama | Hungarian | 1h27m

Original Title: Még kér a nép

Cast: Drahota Andrea, Balázsovits Lajos, Bálint András, Bürös Gyöngyi, Madaras József, Molnár Tibor, Orbán Tibor, Solti Bertalan, Ajtony Andrea, Ambrus András, Nagy Zoltán, Nagy László

Capsule review | 179 words | 16/11/11 | 1972 favourites

Much like his earlier, better known The Red and the White (1967), Jancsó here rejects traditional editing techniques to tell his story of revolting farm labourers in late 19th century Hungary in long, sweeping, time-defying takes. When one piece of narrative reaches its natural conclusion, instead of cutting to the next to indicate a passing of time, director of photography Kende’s always roving camera merely pans to the next incident, with sometimes days or perhaps even weeks passing, without any cuts, in a matter of mere minutes. Dialogue is also kept to a minimum, with the dance-like visual storytelling, aided by a number of renditions of old workers' songs, driving what there is of a narrative. The cast, much like the socialist peasants it portrays, is well organised and acts as one, with no single member proving more important than another. And though it never quite proves as powerful or memorable as the aforementioned The Red and the White (1967), the results are often quite dazzling, like an earthy musical with added Marxist dogma and overt symbolism. Essential viewing.

The Crimson Petal and the White (2011)

2011-11-16T13:08:00.012Z

Content has been moved to a new blog.

Lancelot du Lac (1974)

2011-11-15T13:44:00.009Z

France/Italy

Feature Film | Drama | French | 1h25m

aka: Lancelot of the Lake

Cast: Luc Simon, Laura Duke Condominas, Humbert Balsan, Vladimir Antolek-Oresek, Patrick Bernard, Arthur De Montalembert

Capsule review | 141 words | 15/11/11 | 1974 favourites

Bresson’s pared-down take on the Arthurian legend, symbolically rich and filled with expressively memorable imagery, captures the aftermath of The Knights of the Round Table’s failure to find The Holy Grail for their king (Antolek-Oresek), as they return to Arthur’s Camelot defeated and forlorn. Before long, two factions form, headed by the newly pious Lancelot (Simon) and the earthily assured Mordred (Bernard). In the wake of their failure, Lancelot swears to God to terminate his adulterous affair with Queen Guinevere (Condominas); however, their love proves too strong, rendering him incapable of following through on such a promise. And so, when Mordred witnesses their much-gossiped-about relationship with his own eyes, his numbers quickly swell, as only the most loyal of Lancelot followers, such as the youthfully naïve Gawain (Balsan), remain against him. Predictably – and for all concerned – things do not end well.

Silent Souls (2010)

2011-11-15T12:38:00.006Z

Russia

Feature Film | Drama | Russian | 1h15m

Original Title: Овсянки | aka: Ovsyanki

Cast: Igor Sergeev, Yuriy Tsurilo, Yuliya Aug

Capsule review | 225 words | 15/11/11 | 2010 favourites

Aist (Sergeev), a middle-aged unmarried factory worker from a region of central Russia that still shows traces of pre-Slavic Merjan culture, narrates for us the journey that he takes with his friend Miron (Tsurilo), when said friend’s young wife, Tanya (Aug), passes away. Observing ancient Merjan customs, the two take to the road with her freshly washed body and a pair of caged bunting birds, heading towards the site of their riverside honeymoon spot to prepare her funeral pyre. Along the way, again according to custom, Miron regales our narrator with tales of their sexual history and other intimate details, such as his habit of gently washing her from head to toe in vodka, an act strikingly captured in flashback. Aist also diverts us with Merjan-tinted, father-centred memories from his own childhood, again beautifully shown in flashback. The funeral act itself, like much of the film, is captured almost wordlessly and shown in painstaking yet strangely sensual and affecting detail, benefiting greatly from Krichman’s stylish (though never flashy) photography and Karasyov’s outstanding and decidedly eerie score, punctured occasionally by Aist’s particularly and increasingly melancholy musings. The ending, which the viewer if they’ve been paying attention should really have seen coming, has had a tendency to split audiences, but I find it hard to imagine the film coming to a close in any other way. Excellent.

Top Boy (2011)

2011-11-14T19:10:00.010Z

Four-Part Television Serial | Crime-Drama | English | 3h15m

Cast: Ashley Walters, Kane Robinson, Shone Romulus, Malcolm Kamulete, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Giacomo Mancini, Nicholas Pinnock, Kierston Wareing, Cyrus Desir, Geoff Bell, David Hayman, Benedict Wong

Capsule review | 171 words | 14/11/11 | 2011 favourites

There is much to admire in this stylish, well-paced four-part television drama from Channel 4, not the least of which being its fine performances, with the ever-reliable Walters’s being the pick of the bunch. And, eschewing the usual kitchen sink approach to the depiction of urban deprivation, there’s also plenty to excite the senses, with some striking, highly-stylised, shallow-focus photography and a decidedly (if sometimes annoyingly) eclectic score. The screenplay, mixing violent and suspenseful set-pieces with gentle, Shane Meadows-like coming-of-age scenes also pleases, though some of the dialogue (very) occasionally feels a little expository. However the violence, though often surprising, never quite feels as shocking and discomfiting as it should, with all of the action scenes in general being somewhat less well staged than its quieter moments. And of course, with this being a tale of drug dealing on a north London council estate, replete with drug deals gone wrong, teenaged wan’o-bes, reformed gangsters, and absentee fathers, it is not without the odd cliché or two. Generally very impressive, never the less.

Mr. Bjarnfredarson (2009)

2011-11-14T13:31:00.011Z

Iceland

Feature FIlm | Comedy-Drama | Icelandic | 1h45m

Original Title: Bjarnfreðarson

Dir: Ragnar Bragason | Scr: Ragnar Bragason, Jón Gnarr, Jóhann Ævar Grímsson,Jörundur Ragnarsson, & Pétur Jóhann Sigfússon | DP: Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson | Prod: Magnús V. Sigurdsson, & Harpa Elísa Thórsdóttir | Ed:Sverrir Kristjánsson

Cast: Jón Gnarr, Jörundur Ragnarsson, Pétur Jóhann Sigfússon, Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir, Sara Margrét Nordahl Michaelsdóttir, Margrét Helga Jóhannesdóttir, Örn Árnason, Helga Braga Jónsdóttir, Arnar Jónsson, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson

Capsule review | 246 words | 14/11/11 | 2009 favourites

Just released from prison, and with nowhere else to go, Georg (Gnarr) manages to convince Daníel (Ragnarsson) to allow him to stay with him for a while. And with Ólafur (Sigfússon) already staying there, it soon becomes something of a work/prison mates reunion. However, Georg’s time in stir hasn’t really changed him, as he is soon (predictably) trying to impose his will on to all those around him. But as he endeavours to reassess his life and reconnect with his hard-hearted mother (Jóhannsdóttir, and in flashback Erlendsdóttir), he comes to realise that everything he has come to know has been built on lies, and consequently sets about the seemingly impossible task of making a fresh start. It’s all change for Ólafur, as well, as the perennial loser suddenly finds a little bit of success and happiness, when he lucks into a radio DJing job. Daníel, however, who has secretly been studying art rather than medicine, is as anxiety-ridden and miserable as ever, as he struggles to pluck up the courage to confess to his wife and parents of his secret double life. Eventually, and against all the odds, after their various misfortunes on The Night Shift, The Day Shift, and The Prison Shift, everything begins to come together for the mismatched trio, in Bragason’s frequently hilarious and surprisingly affecting film, which miraculously (and decidedly pleasingly) manages to find a satisfactory conclusion to the stories of Georg, Ólafur, and Daníel without betraying all that had come before.

The Prison Shift (2009)

2011-11-14T12:11:00.012Z

Iceland

Seven-Part Television Serial | Comedy-Drama | Icelandic | 3h9m

Original Title: Fangavaktin

Dir: Ragnar Bragason | Scr: Ragnar Bragason, Jón Gnarr, Jóhann Ævar Grímsson, Jörundur Ragnarsson, & Pétur Jóhann Sigfússon | DP: Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson | Prod: Magnús V. Sigurdsson, Harpa Elísa Thórsdóttir, & Kjartan Thór Thórdarson | Ed:Sverrir Kristjánsson & Gudni Hilmar Halldórsson

Cast: Jörundur Ragnarsson, Jón Gnarr, Pétur Jóhann Sigfússon, Lilja Gudrún Thorvaldsdóttir, Björn Thors, Frosti Runólfsson, Sigurdur Hjaltason, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Gardar Ómarsson, Ingvar Eggert Sigurdsson, Thröstur Jónsson, Halldór Gylfason, Sara Margrét Nordahl Michaelsdóttir

Capsule review | 237 words | 14/11/11 | 2009 favourites

Thanks to Georg’s violent vagiphobia, both he and Daníel find themselves in prison at the beginning of this third -vaktin outing, which is probably the funniest of three, as well as being by far the most affecting. And before long, thanks (again) to the concerted efforts of Georg, Ólafur soon joins them. Georg takes to prison life like a duck to water, as he quickly manages to worm his way into the position of a sort of auxiliary guard, uniform and all, much to the chagrin of all concerned – both staff and inmates. But who would ever argue with the booming Stalinist? Ólafur also has never had it so good: a roof over his head; no rent or board; a regular wage in his pocket; and a great hulking Viking of a beast friend (Ólafsson) to look after him and keep away the usual vultures. Daníel, however, is not so lucky, having to deal with both a volatile, drug-pushing Man United-fanatic (Hjaltason) and a duplicitous, wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing forger (Sigurdsson), not to mention the continued expectations of his ever growing family. The performances, as before, are all excellent, with Thors, as Georg’s put-upon Ólafur-substitute, proving to be the pick of the new cast members, though Ólafsson, as a soulful (but definitely not gentle) giant, also excels. Visually, however, the prison setting proves a sight less striking than the Icelandic countryside of the previous outing. Hugely entertaining, never the less.

The Day Shift (2008)

2011-11-13T09:52:00.013Z

Content has been moved to a new blog.

The Night Shift (2007)

2011-11-12T14:47:00.016Z

Iceland

Twelve-Part Television Serial | Comedy-Drama | Icelandic | 5h24m

Original Title: Næturvaktin

Dir: Ragnar Bragason | Scr: Ragnar Bragason, Jón Gnarr, Jóhann Ævar Grímsson, Jörundur Ragnarsson, & Pétur Jóhann Sigfússon | Idea: Gestur Valur Svansson | DP: Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson | Prod: Harpa Elísa Thórsdóttir | Ed: Sverrir Kristjánsson

Cast: Jörundur Ragnarsson, Jón Gnarr, Pétur Jóhann Sigfússon, Sara Margrét Nordahl Michaelsdóttir, Arnar Freyr Karlsson

Short review | 301 words | 12/11/11 | 2007 favourites

The Night Shift is that rarest of things – a foreign-language television series that, despite not featuring a single murder, was given an outing on the BBC. Of course, with such a low body count, it came and went without the (barely fathomable) fanfare that greeted the likes of the admittedly oft entertaining but decidedly risible Wallander (2005-2010) and the oft brilliant but deeply flawed The Killing (2007). Gentleness, it would seem, is not a quality that the British television-viewing public take to so easily. Luckily, with the prospects of the BBC showing any of The Night Shift’s follow-ups looking decidedly bleak, the purchasing of the English-subtitled Icelandic DVDs has allowed me to both revisit this first instalment and catch up with its three sequels.

Bragason’s delicious confection begins when Daníel (Ragnarsson), a depressed, anxiety-ridden 23-year-old university drop-out, takes a job at a Reykjavik petrol station on the night shift, hoping to escape the pressures and expectations of his family and friends. Hopes of a quiet life, however, are dashed by both his tyrannical shift manager, Georg (the outstanding Gnarr), a rules’n’regulations-loving Swedophile and Ólafur (the hilarious Sigfússon), his put-upon, hopelessly naïve dreamer of a co-worker. The early parts of Bragason’s gently funny, quietly satirical, and generally beautifully observed comedy serial, which concentrate on sketching out the character details of its three social misfit protagonists, are notable for their lack of any discernible plot. However, the seeds of future comedy gold are sewn in these early episodes, as we are introduced to several plotlines that effortlessly gather pace over its twelve parts – including Ólafur’s mismanagement of a local band, his involvement with a Nigerian internet scam, his gentle flirtations with a mysterious middle-aged woman, and (amongst numerous others) the constant debate over the shift employees’ holiday fund. A decided and most welcome delight.

Holy Flying Circus (2011)

2011-11-07T09:28:00.007Z

Television Film | Comedy | English | 1h30m

Cast: Darren Boyd, Charles Edwards, Steve Punt, Rufus Jones, Tom Fisher, Phil Nichol, Simon Greenall, Jason Thorpe, Michael Cochrane, Mark Heap, James Laurenson, Tom Price, Stephen Fry

Capsule review | 211 words | 07/11/11 | 2011 favourites

Holy Flying Circus is, according to the BBC Press Office, “a fantastical re-imagining of the controversy surrounding the release of Life of Brian,” a statement which, though accurate, doesn’t come close to preparing the viewer for its stitch-poppingly and trouser soilingly hilarious offerings. Taking said historical event as his starting point, The Thick of It writer Tony Roche has woven a screenplay that is just about as brilliantly irreverent and potentially offensive (Tourette’s, speech impediments) as the best work of his subjects. Set at the time of the release of their 1979 masterpiece Life of Brian, this BBC4 comedy follows the attempts of the Pythons to battle against religious protest and censorship, concentrating on the differing approaches of the Basil Fawltyesque John Cleese (Boyd, spot on) and The Nicest Man in the World, Michael Palin (Edwards, excellent). The performances are all generally very good, with Rufus Jones, playing both Terry Jones and Terry Jones in drag as Palin’s wife, perhaps being the pick of the bunch. And though to fully appreciate the humour you need to be well versed in Python-lore, there is much here to tickle the fancy of even the most naïve of Python virgins, with plenty of foul-mouthed, madcap brilliance to transcend its referential essence. A surprising delight.

Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968)

2011-11-01T10:36:00.016Z

Short Television Film | Horror | English | 42m

Series/Strand Title: Omnibus (1967-2003)

Cast: Michael Hordern, Ambrose Coghill, George Woodbridge, Nora Gordon, Freda Dowie

Capsule review | 142 words | 01/11/11 | 1968 favourites

With the tone not so much horrific as blackly comic, Jonathan Miller’s slow-burn adaptation of M.R. James’s short ghost story proves a sight less chilling than it might have done. Never the less, there’s still much to admire; not the least of which being Hordern’s excellent performance in the central role, playing a doddering, absent-minded professor who travels to the seaside for a short break, only to awaken a ghostly spirit when he pockets an old whistle – engraved with ‘QUIS EST ISTE QUI VENIT’ (who is this who is coming?) – from a crumbling, cliff-side graveyard. Dick Bush’s deep-focus black-and-white photography also catches the eye, with its beautifully yet chillingly composed monochrome frames quietly setting the tone. Yet, there’s something vaguely cruel about the way that the film mocks its central character, and, as I asserted before, it’s hardly bloodcurdling. Strangely captivating, though.

The Stepford Wives (1975)

2011-10-31T11:06:00.011Z

USA

Feature Film | Sci-fi Horror | English | 1h55m

Cast: Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson, Nanette Newman, Tina Louise, Carol Rossen, William Prince, Carole Mallory

Capsule review | 176 words | 31/10/11

In Forbes’s slow-burn, sci-fi-inflected, allegorical horror film – a thoughtfully creepy and understated adaptation of Ira Levin’s novel – aspiring photographer Joanna (Ross) slowly comes to realise, after moving from New York to a seemingly idyllic small town with her husband (Masterson) and two small children, that all is not quite right behind the white picket fences and net curtains of her new neighbourhood. Whilst the local populace’s servile, ambitionless, personality-free female residents prove disturbing enough in their own right, the fact that their number seems to be increasing at an alarming rate, as previously liberated, independent women join their ranks, causes Joanna and her new friend Bobbie (Prentiss), another recent resident, to begin to worry for their own well-being. Is there something in the water? Is there some sort of a conspiracy? And just what do the town’s menfolk get up to every night at their precious Men’s Club? So when Bobbie eventually transforms into Miss Hausfrau 1975, Joanna’s worst fears are all but confirmed, forcing her to contemplate fleeing. But has she left it too late?

Brewster's Millions (1985)

2011-10-30T15:29:00.011Z

Content has been moved to a new blog.

A Band Apart: Greatest Films Poll (2011)

2011-10-28T22:36:00.006+01:00

The full results, including individual ballots, can be found here. My ballot, which I drew up a couple of months ago (reproduced underneath the main results below), already feels (inevitably) a little out of date.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Stalker (1979)
Persona (1966)
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Mirror (1975)
City Lights (1931)
The Godfather (1972)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
À Bout de Souffle (1960)
Vertigo (1958)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
8½ (1963)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Andrei Rublev (1966)
Psycho (1960)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Come and See (1985)
M (1931)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
The Shining (1980)
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Metropolis (1927)
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Blow Up (1966)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
Casablanca (1942)
Blue Velvet (1986)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Dead Man (1995)
Vivre Sa Vie (1962)
The Four Hundred Blows (1959)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
Wings of Desire (1987)
Goodfellas (1990)
Chinatown (1974)
Sunrise (1927)
12 Angry Men (1957)
Blade Runner (1982)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
L'Eclisse (1962)
Rashomon (1950)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Le Samourai (1967)
The Conformist (1970)
The Third Man (1949)
Sátántangó (1994)
Solaris (1972)
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Rear Window (1954)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Last Year in Marienbad (1961)
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Raging Bull (1980)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
Ordet (1955)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Schindler’s List (1993)
Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
Tokyo Story (1953)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Modern Times (1936)
Se7en (1995)
Dogville (2003)
The Double Life of Veronique (1991)
Viridiana (1961)
Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)
Annie Hall (1977)
L'Atalante (1934)
Dekalog (1989)
The Cranes Are Flying (1957)
Woman of the Dunes (1964)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Chungking Express (1994)
Pather Panchali (1955)
Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Days of Heaven (1978)
Badlands (1973)
Alien (1979)
L'Avventura (1960)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Fight Club (1999)
Manhattan (1979)
The Ascent (1977)
Cries and Whispers (1972)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Landscape in the Mist (1988)
The Last Picture Show (1971)
Ugetsu Monogatari (1953)
La Règle du Jeu (1939)
The Graduate (1967)
Playtime (1967)
The General (1927)
Three Colours: Blue (1993)
The Tree of Life (2011)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Back to the Future (1985)
Death in Venice (1971)
The Great Dictator (1940)
Léon (1994)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
Fargo (1996)
City of God (2002)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
The Sacrifice (1986)
Lost Highway (1997)
Amadeus (1984)
Sansho Dayu (1954)
Orpheus (1950)
Last Tango in Paris (1972)
Nosferatu (1922)
Eraserhead (1977)
Three Colours: Red (1994)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

My ballot (1-Aug-11):

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Alice in the Cities (1974)
All About My Mother (1999)
Andrei Rublev (1966)
The Apartment (1960)
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
Au Revoir les Enfants (1987)
The Bank Dick (1940)
Barton Fink (1991)
Begone Dull Care (1949)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Big Business (1929)
A Blonde in Love (1965)
Brief Encounter (1945)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
A Canterbury Tale (1944)
Caught on a Train (1980)
Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Claire's Knee (1970)
Close-Up (1990)
Comrades (1986)
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
Dance Party, USA (2006)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
A Day Out (1972)
Days of Heaven (1978)
Dead of Night (1945)
Dekalog (1989)
Diamonds of the Night (1964)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)
Don't Look Now (1973)
Duck Soup (1933)
Early Summer (1951)
Edvard Munch (1974)
Elephant (1989)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Exotica (1994)
Faces (1968)
Faust (1926)
Festen (1998)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Gertrud (1964)
Girl Shy (1924)
Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)
Great Expectations (1946)
Hana-Bi (1997)
Harold and Maude (1971)
High Hopes (1988)
Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)
Hunger (2008)
Ikiru (1952)
Il Posto (1961)
In the City of Sylvia (2007)
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
Jeanne Dielman (1975)
Le Jour se Lève (1939)
Journey to the Beginning of the World (1997)
Kes (1969)
King & Country (1964)
Last Days (2005)
The Last Laugh (1924)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
The Man in the White Suit (1951)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
MASH (1970)
Modern Times (1936)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Morvern Callar (2002)
O Lucky Man! (1973)
Our Daily Bread (2005)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
People on Sunday (1930)
Persona (1966)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Pyaasa (1957)
Rear Window (1954)
Red Angel (1966)
The Red Desert (1964)
La Règle du Jeu (1939)
Rosetta (1999)
Sátántangó (1994)
Shall We Dance (1937)
Stardust Memories (1980)
Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
A Swedish Love Story (1970)
Syndromes and a Century (2006)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Tony Manero (2008)
The Turning Gate (2002)
Ugetsu Monogatari (1953)
Uzak (2002)
Vendredi Soir (2002)
Vive l'Amour (1994)
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)
Woman of the Dunes (1964)

Midnight Run (1988)

2011-10-27T09:25:00.007+01:00

USA

Feature Film | Comedy-Thriller | English | 2h6m

Cast: Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton, Dennis Farina, Joe Pantoliano, Richard Foronjy, Robert Miranda, Jack Kehoe, Wendy Phillips, Philip Baker Hall

Capsule review | 231 words | 27/10/11 | 1988 favourites

Brest’s thoroughly entertaining comic road movie follows the trials and tribulations of Jack Walsh (De Niro), a Los Angeles-based bounty hunter, and a man of principal… well, sort of. Whilst he’ll happily impersonate an FBI agent, steal numerous vehicles, rob the odd small town bar, and shoot down any helicopters that cross his path, condemning its occupants to a fiery death, he draws the line at taking bribes from Mafiosi – a principal that led to him being thrown out of the Chicago police force and consequently to the break-up of his marriage. Still, he’s not exactly happy with the life with which he’s found himself. So when the opportunity to earn $100,000 comes knocking, he jumps at the chance, hoping to use the money to open up a small coffee shop, and start a new life. And his task – to capture a crooked accountant (the brilliantly deadpan Grodin) who stole $15,000,000 from the very same mobster (Farina) to whom Jack refused to kowtow – seems well within his grasp. Still, with a midnight Friday deadline, a cross-country trip, and an unusually wily target, who is also courted by a bunch of bloodthirsty Chicagan gangsters, an unscrupulous rival bounty hunter, and some only vaguely incompetent FBI officers, his task proves to be anything but a straight forward one. (Pantoliano and, in particular, Kotto also provide excellent support in a pair of memorable roles).

The Cliff (2009)

2011-10-25T09:11:00.012+01:00

Content has been moved to a new blog.

The Puppet Monster Massacre (2010)

2011-10-20T08:36:00.012+01:00

USA

DTV Film | Horror-Comedy | English | 1h10m

Cast: Steve Rimpici, Bart Flynn, Ethan Holey, Jessica Daniels, Erica Kisseberth, Brandon Salkil, Dustin Mills

Capsule review | 259 words | 20/10/11

Four disparate teens are invited to spend the night in a spooky mansion on the outskirts of town, and, being promised a million dollars if they make it through till morning, they all do so (with one added, big-boobed tagger-along), despite the warning signs that such an invitation brings. The wimpy Charlie (a cross between Kermit the Frog and Dante from Clerks), Gwen (the secret object of his affections), Iggy (a faux-British-accented poseur), Mona (the aforementioned, well-endowed uninvitee), and uber-geek Raimi all foolishly accept the challenge. The trouble is, the mansion is owned by a diseased-minded Nazi scientist, who is looking to wreak vengeance upon the town’s children (whose grandparents put an end to his heinous experiments during The Second World War), with an unquenchably hungry beastie that he has created in his lab. Luckily – for some of them at least – Charlie’s foul-mouthed grandfather and the might of the US military are on hand to save the day... Well, sort of.

Despite budgetary constraints, Mills’s puppet-inhabited, ‘80s-set horror film proves to be remarkably visually assured, providing a number of images that belie the film’s general light-heartedness. Unfortunately, the script isn’t really up to much, with the sub-Kevin Smith dialogue being only sporadically amusing. Still, when it does strike the right note, the laughs prove to be big ones. However, I often found myself having to fight the urge to hit the mute button, wanting to just let the striking, violent imagery tell the tale on its own, unencumbered of its ungainly dialogue. A vaguely promising debut, never the less.

Slow Action (2010)

2011-10-19T09:47:00.013+01:00

Short Feature Film | Sci-fi | English | 45m

Capsule review | 206 words | 19/10/11 | 2010 Favourites

Set a couple of hundred years into the post-apocalyptic future, when water levels have risen to such a level as to have made the world but a series of small island communities, Rivers’s hypnotically unsettling piece of science-fiction exposes our ignorance of our own world by highlighting its very alienness. The film takes the form of a series of four faux-ethnographic studies of these island communities, assembled from mostly real documentary footage (with some of it doctored and some of it staged), scored to the music of ‘70s sci-fi, with voiceover narration filled with deliciously inventive anthropological detail. The fact that, even without this fantastical narration, the footage would have seemed unfathomably alien to our Western-centric eyes, only goes to show, even in this age of Google Earth, Twitter, and 24 hour news, how disconnected we, as a species, often still are. Of course, that might just be me and my Western guilt, as Rivers himself has stated (more soberly and philosophically) that his interest lies in “island biogeography – the study of how species and eco-systems evolve differently when isolated and surrounded by unsuitable habitat,” which would suggest that the material is much less accusatory than my eyes and ears would have it. Fascinating, whatever the case.

Fanny and Alexander (1982)

2011-10-18T09:53:00.015+01:00

Content has been moved to a new blog.

Midnight in Paris (2011)

2011-10-17T10:18:00.013+01:00

Spain/USA

Feature Film | Fantasy Rom-Com | English & French | 1h34m

Cast: Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Carla Bruni, Michael Sheen, Nina Arianda, Kurt Fuller, Tom Hiddleston, Mimi Kennedy, Alison Pill, Léa Seydoux, Corey Stoll, Tom Cordier, Adrien de Van, Sonia Rolland, Marcial Di Fonzo Bo, Yves Heck

Short review | 381 words | 17/10/11 | 2011 Favourites

With Allen’s trademark pessimism having degenerated into barely palatable cynicism and misanthropy over the last few years, it comes as a genuine and very welcome surprise that Midnight in Paris, a beautifully acted, handsomely shot, and delightfully scored little romantic fantasy, proves to be such a charmingly optimistic work. His characters are still generally unhappy with their lot, and they still struggle to maintain loving relationships, but for once the diminutive New Yorker leaves us with the feeling that there is at least some hope for a better future.

The gently charming Owen Wilson plays Gil, an American screenwriter who dreams of literary success. He is holidaying in Paris with his fiancée, Inez (McAdams), and prospective parents-in-law (Fuller and Kennedy), busily working on his novel as he does so. One night, they bump into some old friends of Inez’s, the dreadful bore Paul (Sheen) and his better half Carol (Arianda). Rather than going dancing with them, as Inez asserts to do, the rather inebriated Gil decides to get a little air, taking a midnight stroll alone through the streets of Paris, instead. But hopes of a quiet night elude him, when he finds himself improbably whisked off to the 1920s in an old taxi cab. Before he knows it, he finds himself partying with Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald (Pill [excellent] and Hiddleston), discussing writing with Ernest Hemingway (Stoll), dancing with Joséphine Baker (Rolland), having his novel read by Gertrude Stein (Bates), inspiring Salvador Dalí, Man Ray, and Luis Buñuel (Brody [hilarious], Cordier, and de Van), critiquing Pablo Picasso (Di Fonzo Bo), marvelling at Cole Porter (Heck), and – most significantly – gently wooing artists’ muse Adriana (Cotillard). For several days, he leads a double life: by day, he suffers through his ever degenerating relationship with his fiancée, occasionally finding solace in the potential friendships that he sparks up with a patient museum guide (Bruni) and an attractive young market worker, Gabrielle (Seydoux); whilst by night, he lives the romantic high life, fulfilling all of his rose-tinted fantasies. Eventually, however, he comes to realise that the past will always have an allure that the present could never have (no matter which present it is), and decides to abandon his fantasy life in favour of an uncertain, though hopefully romantically rain-soaked future. A delight.

The Hunt for Tony Blair (2011)

2011-10-15T12:03:00.020+01:00

Short Television Film | Comedy-Thriller | English | 47m

Series/Strand Title: The Comic Strip Presents... (1982-)

Cast: Stephen Mangan, Catherine Shepherd, Robbie Coltrane, James Buckley, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Ronni Ancona, Ross Noble, Tony Curran, Morgana Robinson, Harry Enfield, Jennifer Saunders, John Sessions, Ford Kiernan, Peter Richardson, Steve O’Donnell

Capsule review | 170 words | 15/10/11

Those that have not seen The 39 Steps (1935), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), Sunset Boulevard (1950), and a handful of other classics from the ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s are likely to find their enjoyment of this latest Comic Strip outing – the first since 2005 – decidedly stifled by lost references. And even those that have, if their knowledge of recent British political history is in the least bit limited, will likely miss many of the gags. Still, for the rest of us, there is much to chuckle at in this ‘50s-set tale of a police manhunt for wanted murderer Tony Blair (Mangan), who sets out into the English countryside, friendless and allyless, in a desperate search for a safe place to hide out. Highlights include: a Norma Desmondised Maggie Thatcher (Saunders), who turns Blair into a Joe Gillis-like sex-object; Ross Noble as a drunken Geordie unionist, standing in for Madeleine Carroll; and George Bush (Richardson) and Donald Rumsfeld (O’Donnell) as a pair of ‘50s-style Mafiosi, seen in flashback.

Whisky Galore! (1949)

2011-10-14T18:01:00.014+01:00

Feature Film | Comedy | English (plus some Gaelic) | 1h22m

Cast: Basil Radford, Catherine Lacey, Bruce Seton, Joan Greenwood, Wylie Watson, Gabrielle Blunt, Gordon Jackson, Jean Cadell, James Robertson Justice, Morland Graham, John Gregson

Capsule review | 163 words | 14/10/11 | 1949 Favourites

Mackendrick’s superbly written, confidently directed, and consummately performed debut, adapted by Compton Mackenzie & Angus MacPhail from Mackenzie’s own novel, which itself was based on an actual incident that occurred in 1941, in which an America-bound ship, whilst foundering off the coast of the Outer Hebridean isle of Eriskay, had its cargo of whisky plundered by the thirstily deprived local islanders, proves to be, even though it doesn’t hit quite the same heights as some of the period’s other Ealing comedies, an absolute delight from beginning to end. And whilst the Eriskayans all lived happily ever after – well, probably – the residents of the film’s fictional island of Todday find their path to the contentment and happiness that only the water of life can bring blocked by a number of obstacles – namely, the Sabbath and a particularly officious Sassenach, Captain Waggett (Radford), the head of the island’s ramshackle Home Guard. Still, ingenuity, guile, and numerical superiority ensure that they get there in the end.

Totally True Love (2011)

2011-10-14T09:57:00.009+01:00

Norway

Feature Film | Drama | Norwegian | 1h23m

Original Title: Jørgen+Anne=sant

Cast: Maria Annette Tanderød Berglyd, Otto Garli, Aurora Bach Rodal, Vilde Fredriksen Verlo, Kristin Langsrud, Peter Holene, Sigurd Saethereng, Torkil Hoeg, Adrian Holte Kristiansen, Anna Jahr Svalheim

Capsule review | 269 words | 14/10/11

When Jørgen (Garli), the new kid in town, moves into the local “haunted house," Anne (Tanderød Berglyd), a ten-year-old underachiever, experiences love for the first time. Unfortunately for her, her affections for the new boy are rivalled by those of Ellen (Fredriksen Verlo), a child model and the most popular girl in class. Anne’s best friend, Beate (Bach Rodal) also believes that she is in love, and likewise has a love rival, with the object of her affections, Einar (Saethereng), being coveted by Ellen’s best friend, Tone (Langsrud). With pre-adolescent adoration in their hearts, the two vaguely unpopular girls set about the task of nabbing the two boys from under the noses of their much more popular rivals. Ellen’s tactics, in particular, prove to be particularly uncompromising (though purely motivated). Influenced by the stories that she has half-heard, from her brother Ole (Hoeg), and half-fantasised, about the tragic death of a young girl suffering from unrequited love, Helga (Jahr Svalheim) – the ghost that allegedly haunts Jørgen’s home – she resorts to some quite extreme measures in order to follow her heart. Eventually, though, she comes to realise that the love that she has for her best friend, with whom she spectacularly falls out during the course of events, is more important than that which she has for any boy. Well crafted (but for some flashy editing towards the beginning), surprisingly well acted (particularly by Tanderød Berglyd), and pleasingly understated in its general presentation, Sewitsky’s pint-sized romance, despite oft predictable plotting and implausibly ubiquitous pre-teen romance, proves to be a gently affecting little film. It's easier to like than admire, though.

One Lucky Elephant (2010)

2011-10-13T12:49:00.012+01:00

USA

Feature Documentary | English | 1h24m

Capsule review | 210 words | 13/10/11 | 2010 Favourites

Leeman’s gently affecting documentary explores the difficulties that a circus elephant and her ageing owner experience when it becomes clear that her performing days are coming to an end. Adopted by David Balding when she was orphaned at the age of two, Flora, a 10,000 lb African elephant, became the focal point of the ringmaster’s new St. Louis-based circus, Circus Flora. But, when she reached eighteen, he made the tough decision to retire her, hoping to send her back to Africa. When that option fell through, he desperately searched for an alternative. Zoos were out – he thought of them as prisons – though she did spend some time in one on a strictly temporary basis. Eventually, however, he managed to find a place for her at an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. Over the course of nine years, Leeman’s film documents this tough journey. Both Flora and Balding struggle to adjust to their new lives. She experiences periodic bursts of violence and is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and he, always turning a blind eye to the violence, struggles to come to terms with the apparent unhappiness of his one-time surrogate daughter, as his own physical health deteriorates quite considerably, providing the film with a sadly apt metaphor for its accumulating melancholy.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

2011-10-13T11:30:00.014+01:00

UK/USA

Feature Film | Crime Comedy | English | 1h47m

Cast: Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Jason Statham, Steven Mackintosh, Vinnie Jones, Lenny McLean, P.H. Moriarty, Frank Harper, Steve Sweeney, Stephen Marcus, Vas Blackwood, Sting, Jake Abraham, Victor McGuire

Capsule review | 193 words | 13/10/11

After a high-stakes poker game goes horribly wrong, four twenty-something Cockney chums (Flemyng, Fletcher, Moran, and Statham) suddenly find themselves owing £500,000 to the appropriately monikered, not-to-be-messed-with Hatchet Harry (Moriarty). And so, fearing for their various pinkies – threatened by the crime-lord’s trouser-soilingly scary right-hand man, Barry the Baptist (bareknuckle boxer McLean) – they set about finding a way to make a lot of money in a very short space of time. Luckily, one of them lives next door to an up-and-coming gangster (Harper) in a flat with very thin walls. So, when they overhear of his gang’s plot to rob a bunch of drug-dealing toffs, they determine to do likewise, robbing the robbers. Of course, in time honoured tradition, very little goes to plan, as a pair of antique shotguns, a couple of beshellsuited Liverpudlian thieves (the scene stealing Abraham and McGuire), a dopey small-time wheeler-dealer (Marcus), a thoroughly professional debt collector (footballer-turned-actor Jones), and a big-haired psychotic drug-dealer (Blackwood), all manage to get in the way somehow, in Ritchie’s intricately plotted, expertly paced, and often blackly hilarious crime comedy, which is let down somewhat by some of its flashier and more distracting directorial flourishes.

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

2011-10-12T09:24:00.012+01:00

USA

Feature Film | Horror | English | 2h16m

Cast: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy, Angela Dorian, Patsy Kelly, Elisha Cook, Emmaline Henry, Charles Grodin

Capsule review | 157 words | 12/10/11 | 1968 Favourites

A young woman slowly comes to realise that her husband, her elderly neighbours, and her obstetrician are all members of a witches’ coven that covets her unborn baby, in Polanski’s creepy yet earthy, slow-burn horror pic. Whilst Farrow does a good job of inhabiting the central role, transforming from vibrant, young urbanite to skeletal emotional wreck, aided by DP Fraker’s expert lighting and Allan Snyder’s convincing make-up, and Cassavetes’s turn as her husband positively screams bourgeois respectability (with a dirty underbelly), it is the inspiredly cast Ruth Gordon, whose incongruously proletarian vernacular never fails to disquiet, who provides the pick of the generally fine performances. Polanski keeps the pacing relaxed and the dialogue naturalistic, but slowly ramps up the tension with some quietly unconventional framing and decidedly unsettling editing, punctured with the occasional overtly disturbing dream-like sequence, all scored to the strangely alluring yet decidedly disconcerting, mellifluous notes of Komeda’s score, vocalised discomfitingly by Farrow herself. Excellent.

Double Tide (2010)

2011-10-10T15:23:00.014+01:00

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Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

2011-10-10T13:48:00.013+01:00

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Shirley (2011)

2011-10-07T11:46:00.011+01:00

Television Film | Biopic | English | 1h10m

Cast: Ruth Negga, Charlie Creed-Miles, Lesley Sharp, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Larissa Wilson, Jeany Spark

Capsule review | 194 words | 07/10/11

Ruth Negga excels as Shirley Bassey in this mildly diverting television film, which charts the life of the distinctive Welsh singer from her early days of knickerless poverty in Tiger Bay and Splott in the ‘30s and ‘40s right up until her first taste of real stardom in the early ‘60s, through her relationships with her hard-as-nails mother (Sharp), slave-driving manager (Creed-Miles), and bisexual first husband (Lloyd-Hughes). But Stephenson’s script attempts to cram far too much incident and information into too short a running time, and yet still manages to miss out some of the more dramatic and interesting episodes of her early life – for instance, where was the infamous armed siege of 1957? Focusing on one period, with everything else viewed through it, would surely have given the piece more dramatic focus. Plus the subject of racism is conspicuous by its absence, and the whole thing feels just a little bit humourless. Still, it’s a handsome production, strikingly photographed, with a good sense of period detail – albeit one that comes with a certain degree of visual familiarity, resulting from the BBC’s what-seems-to-be house style for these often excellent biopics. This one, however... meh.

Birthday Girl (2001)

2011-10-06T08:49:00.021+01:00

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Miradas de cine: Votaciones los años 20

2011-10-05T19:35:00.006+01:00

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
The Crowd (1928)
Greed (1924)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
The Gold Rush (1925)
Metropolis (1927)
Sunrise (1927)
The Last Laugh (1924)
Nosferatu (1922)
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920)
Un Chien Andalou (1929)
The Wind (1928)
The General (1927)
The Unknown (1927)
The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) [Epstein]
Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
Pandora's Box (1929)
Häxan (1922)
Nanook of the North (1922)
Spione (1928)
Destiny (1921)
Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922)
Napoleon (1927)
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
Berlin, Symphony of a City (1927)
The Kid (1921)
Mother (1926)
Die Nibelungen (1924)
The Phantom Carriage (1921)
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
The Docks of New York (1928)
Faust (1926)
Safety Last! (1923)
Lonesome (1928)
A Page of Madness (1926)
Seven Chances (1925)
Asphalt (1929)
The Cameraman (1928)
Four Sons (1928)
The Iron Horse (1924)
Ménilmontant (1926)
October (1928)
Orphans of the Storm (1921)
7th Heaven (1927)
Way Down East (1920)
A Woman of Paris (1923)
Aelita (1924)
Arsenal (1929)
Foolish Wives (1922)
Gösta Berlings Saga (1924)
Michael (1924)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)

My own ballot:

Robinson in Ruins (2010)

2011-10-05T13:50:00.015+01:00

Feature Documentary | English | 1h41m

Capsule review | 230 words | 05/10/11 | 2010 Favourites

Belatedly following on from London (1994) & Robinson in Space (1997), Keiller’s remarkable film – the best of the trilogy – continues the inquisitive wanderings of the film-maker’s fictional alter ego, Robinson, whose findings and observations on the effects of capitalism on the English landscape are this time, in the absence of the departed Paul Scofield, delivered by narrator Vanessa Redgrave. Contrasting the socio-political upheavals of land disputes and crashing money markets with the natural beauty of the rural landscape – captured best with a shot of a spider busily and hypnotically spinning a web, whilst Redgrave solemnly details the banking crisis of 2008 – Keiller’s film proves to be both intensely alluring and decidedly sobering. But it is this alluring side, transcending any symbolic intent, that eventually wins out for me. Often, so wrapped up in the statically-lensed though teeming with life compositions of Keiller’s exquisite photography, I would begin to find myself tuning out the narration, struggling to care about the unnatural shenanigans of human beings, when I could be giving my full attention to a field full of flowers being buffeted by a summer breeze or to a series of curious lichen formations as they slowly transform a motorway sign. Luckily, the BFI DVD release comes with the option to watch the film without narration – an added bonus for a film that requires multiple viewings to best appreciate it anyway. Excellent.

The Rocking Horse Winner (1949)

2011-10-01T18:24:00.017+01:00

Feature Film | Fantasy Drama | English | 1h31m

Cast: John Howard Davies, Valerie Hobson, John Mills, Ronald Squire, Hugh Sinclair, Susan Richards, Charles Goldner, Cyril Smith

Capsule review | 145 words | 01/10/11 | 1949 Favourites

After receiving a rocking horse for Christmas, a young boy (Davies) discovers that whilst riding it he can predict the winners of the day’s various horse races – an ability that both his uncle (Squire) and the family’s gardener (Mills, who also serves as producer) are more than willing and able to help him to exploit. Spurred on by the wants of his materialistic, living-beyond-her-means mother (Hobson) – which come to him in the form of whispers emanating from the walls of their house – he brutally chases more and more winners, accumulating huge sums of money as he does so. But no matter how much he wins, it never proves enough, as the walls keep on whispering their demands for more and more moolah, until finally, at the end of Pélissier’s dynamic, disquieting, and decidedly creepy adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s allegorical short story, he reaches breaking point.

1000 Nights in the Dark: a collection of reviews of the single sentence, capsule, short, medium, and long variety, varying in length from fifty to a thousand-plus words, documenting my personal, exploratory journey through cinephilia.

Treacle Jr. (2010)

2011-09-30T18:43:00.024+01:00

Feature Film | Comedy-Drama | English | 1h29m

Cast: Aidan Gillen, Tom Fisher, Riann Steele

Short review | 305 words | 30/09/11 | 2010 favourites

After an idyllic breakfast with his idyllic family in the idyllic kitchen of their idyllic home in its idyllic suburban surroundings, Tom (Fisher, affectingly subtle), a 6’4”, 40-ish-year-old gentle giant leaves for work as usual, but instead of participating in the 9-5 grind bafflingly boards a train set for London, discards his mobile phone and credit cards (but not a photograph of his wife and baby son), and sets about becoming one of the city’s many down-and-outs. Before long, he meets the forever-used-and-abused-yet-eternally-upbeat-and-happy Aidan (Gillen, boisterously brilliant), whom he is slow to warm to, but whom he is equally unable to shake off. His diminutive new pal/irritant subsequently introduces him to his decidedly gorgeous flatmate, Linda (Steele, convincing), who it turns out is the hopelessly naïve and slow-on-the-uptake Irishman’s prime user-and-abuser. As they spend time together, gradually forming a close bond of some sort, they slowly come to realise and understand their various positions and predicaments. However, theirs is not a friendship that was meant to last.

Thraves’s humanity-drenched third feature – coming after his outstanding debut The Low Down, from 2000, and his 2009 Patricia Highsmith adaptation, The Cry of the Owl, which I have yet to see – was shot on a budget of just £30k, which he raised by the re-mortgaging of his own home, an act that I hope, being an admirer, will be proved brave rather than foolhardy by its cinema, DVD, and download business. Luckily, the film itself is a little cracker – funny, moving, intriguing, and filled with excellent performances, captured beautifully by Derry and Kinnings’s unfussily striking photography, gorgeously accompanied by Stems’ discreet yet affecting score. Still, as well-crafted and touching as it is, it never quite reaches the creative heights of The Low Down, though repeat viewings, of which I’m sure there’ll be numerous, might well prove me wrong.

Melancholia (2011)

2011-09-29T18:19:00.024+01:00

Denmark/France/Germany/Sweden

Feature Film | Sci-fi Drama | English | 2h16m

Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlotte Rampling, John Hurt, Alexander Skarsgård, Stellan Skarsgård, Brady Corbet, Udo Kier

Capsule review | 255 words | 29/09/11 | 2011 Favourites

Despite the Nazi-related Cannes controversy, this soulful, beautifully downbeat film is perhaps von Trier’s least controversial and most reverent to date. Both in style and in content, Melancholia lacks the Danish provocateur’s usual impish wit – and as a result is both his most moving and least innovative work. Still, as relatively accessible as it is, with its lugubrious pacing and difficult subject matter, it is hardly likely to become an art house/mainstream crossover hit.

Split into two parts, von Trier’s affectingly fatalistic film sensitively paints a portrait of two mentally ill sisters – Justine (Dunst, outstanding), who suffers from severe depression, and the anxiety-ridden Claire (Gainsbourg). The first part details an eventful wedding reception, marred by the mental states of both the bride (Dunst) and her mother (Rampling), and the second, a family’s spending of its last few days before the titular planet either hits the Earth or just misses it (it spectacularly hits, as we see in luxurious slow-motion in the film’s opening scene). And whilst the film is set against the end of the world, this coming Armageddon is used more as a way of exploring the way that people react to life’s stresses and strains than of the act itself (and any genre-related shenanigans that may come with it), which it does with great perspicuity and compassion. The supporting performances are generally fine, though the clashing accents sometimes threaten to irritate; the photography is slick yet transporting; and the use of fragments from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde is skilled and moving. Excellent.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

2011-09-29T16:01:00.026+01:00

UK/France/USA

Feature Film | Horror Comedy | English | 1h39m

Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Penelope Wilton, Bill Nighy, Peter Serafinowicz

Capsule review | 159 words | 29/09/11 | 2004 favourites

Shaun (Pegg), a directionless, newly single, 29-year-old shop clerk, uses the raging zombie apocalypse as the perfect means with which to attempt to win back his old girlfriend, Liz (Ashfield). His plan – as well thought out as the rest of his life – seemed sound: with the aid of his stoner pal Ed (Frost), he planned to save his mum (Wilton), kill his infected stepfather, Phillip (Nighy), rescue Liz from her flat, decamp to The Winchester, their local, and sit out the surrounding chaos with a cheeky pint or two… unfortunately for all concerned, no one bothered to inform the zombies.

With Wright’s direction providing as many gags as his and Pegg’s excellent script, this strikingly distinctive rom-zom-com, a loving homage to classic-Romero-era zombie flics, filled with blood, guts, and fart jokes, plus – for good measure – a dash of gentle social commentary and a sprinkle of coming-of-age romance, proves to be a thoroughly entertaining little film from beginning to end.

The Woman (2011)

2011-09-29T13:16:00.021+01:00

USA

Feature Film | Horror | English | 1h43m

Cast: Pollyanna McIntosh, Sean Bridgers, Angela Bettis, Lauren Ashley Carter, Zach Rand, Shyla Molhusen, Carlee Baker

Capsule review | 292 words | 29/09/11

Bridgers’s sickeningly and violently misogynistic patriarch rules over his family with an iron fist, doting on his son, and treating with flippant disdain his wife and daughters. So much so that when he spots a feral woman living in the woods near to his home whilst out hunting one day, it seems perfectly normal to him to capture her, take her home, and tie her up in his storm shelter – and not only that, but also inform his family with great, everyday relish of his discovery, which he promises to civilise with their help. However, despite this, he is soon sexually and physically abusing her with that same said relish. Plus, his teenaged son, a keen observer to this point, is also soon following in his blood- and cum-stained footsteps, and perhaps even more enthusiastically at that. Anything approaching dissent from the female members of the household, though, is quickly slapped away. But when the eldest daughter’s geometry teacher comes nosing around, worried that the girl may be pregnant, their testosterone-fuelled world looks set to be uncovered.

Creepy, unsettling, and thoughtfully sickening for the most part, McKee’s generally well-crafted horror flick, rife with allegorical potential, and featuring an outstanding central performance from Scots actress McIntosh as the titular feral creature, ultimately proves to be only mildly diverting, as it is let down considerably by Spillane’s wildly inappropriate, guitar- and song-heavy score, which serves only to destroy any built-up tension and pop the viewer out of the moment. Of course, sometimes a seemingly-inappropriate score can add greatly to a film, like with Robbie Kondor’s deliciously ironic scoring of Todd Solondz’s Happiness – but here it is merely misjudged, adding nothing, and taking away a great deal. Still, the film grips throughout, never the less.

Horrible Bosses (2011)

2011-09-28T13:00:00.021+01:00

USA

Feature Film | Comedy | English | 1h38m

Cast: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx

Capsule review | 232 words | 28/09/11

In Gordon’s diverting and oft very funny though generally rather tired and somewhat uninspired black comedy, three adult male friends decide to do away with their titular annoyances, agreeing, under the dubious tutelage of ‘Motherfucker’ Jones (Foxx, amusing, one of a number of pleasing cameos) and the inspiration of Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train, to each murder a different friend’s boss. Nick Hendricks (Bateman, in Michael Bluth-mode) comes to the end of his tether when his psychopathic superior, Dave Harken (Spacey), fails, after months of 16-hour days and degrading arse-kissing, to deliver his hinted-at promotion, instead absorbing the position into his own and taking the office and salary that came with it (well, 85% of it, anyway) in the process. Kurt Buckman (Sudeikis), however, had the best boss in the world, that was until the kindly old man’s heart gave out, leaving the company to his amoral, coke-addicted son, Bobby Pellitt (Farrell), who it would appear is set to run it into the ground (and perhaps kill a few thousand South Americans in the process). Dale Arbus (Day) also, much to the bafflement of his friends, hates his boss, the decidedly delicious dentist Julia Harris (Aniston), whose predatory sexual advancements – which would surely be welcomed by most men, dogs that we are – being her only real crime. Inevitably, though, as their grizzly plan progresses, things soon go awry (to mixed comic effect).

No Surrender (1985)

2011-09-28T08:52:00.030+01:00

UK/Canada

Feature Film | Comedy | English | 1h40m

Cast: Michael Angelis, Avis Bunnage, James Ellis, Tom Georgeson, Bernard Hill, Ray McAnally, Joanne Whalley, Vince Earl, Elvis Costello

Short review | 373 words | 28/09/11

Coming just a few years after the great success of the masterful Boys from the Blackstuff (1982), Alan Bleasdale’s sole cinema credit came with a lot of expectation – expectation that it didn’t quite fulfil, despite, for the most part, being a quite delicious black comedy. Of course, with this being a film and not a television play, Mr. Bleasdale was not the production’s head honcho, having, instead, to defer and accede to the opinions and decisions of director Smith and producer Hassan. That said, packed as it is with Bleasdale regulars like Angelis, Hill, and Georgeson, and filled to the brim with jet-black Liverpudlian humour, it is very recognisably Bleasdalian.

Set on new year’s eve in early '80s Thatcherite Britain, it follows the trials and tribulations of the new manager (Angelis, typically wonderful) of the Charleston working men’s club in Liverpool on the first night of his new job, as he attempts to deal with the mess left behind by his role’s previous occupier, who, at that very moment, is being tortured in a backroom of the club by its gangster owner (Georgeson). The trouble starts when the OAP members of both a Catholic and a Protestant social club turn up for the night’s festivities, with the Billys harbouring a wanted terrorist and the Micks kitted out for a non-existent fancy dress contest. To this warring group of old biddies is added a third set – decrepit and senile to a man – which acts as a sort of drooling, incontinent buffer. The entertainment’s not much better, with all the worst, most inappropriate acts having been booked, including: a nihilistic punk band, an incompetent magician (Costello, hilarious), and a big-haired, orange-skinned gay comedian. Still, at least he has the only-vaguely-incompetent assistance of bigoted bouncer Bernard (Hill, funny) and shapely chef Cheryl (Whalley, surprisingly humorous) to soften the many blows thrown his way.

But, as hugely entertaining as most of the film’s many strands are, a lot of them are resolved unsatisfactorily – some too easily, others unbelievably, and a few cruelly (though the one involving the excellent Ray McAnally's world-weary loyalist gunman is an affectingly notable exception) – leaving No Surrender just a little short of Bleasdale’s best work, which is to say much better than most.

Red State (2011)

2011-09-27T10:21:00.019+01:00

USA

Feature Film | Thriller | English | 1h28m

Cast: Michael Parks, John Goodman, Michael Angarano, Kyle Gallner, Nicholas Braun, Melissa Leo, Ralph Garman, Kerry Bishé, Stephen Root

Capsule review | 224 words | 27/09/11 | 2011 Favourites

Smith’s self-distributed and Twitter-promoted tenth feature sees him take a step away from his usual dick’n’fart-joke-filled, blue collar (not)coming-of-agers with this surprisingly assured, decidedly unpredictable, and often quite shocking bible belt thriller, which begins with three horny teenaged boys answering an internet sex ad from a 38-year-old slapper (Leo, impressive), who turns out not to be the answer to their wet dreams, but a member of a Westboro-like church, which, when not reading from the bible (Old Testament only, thank you very much), has a side-line in ritually executing homosexuals and fornicators. Unfortunately for Abin Cooper (Parks, excellent), the church’s Fred Phelps-like, bile-spewing preacher, the car in which the boys travelled to their faux-assignation was involved in a minor car accident earlier in the evening, bringing the unwanted attention of the local sheriff’s department to their heavily fortified compound, and, after a stray gunshot or two, also The ATF, led by Special Agent Keenan, outstandingly played by the ever-wonderful Goodman, who imbues his role with a surprising amount of pathos, making the film (despite all of its cynicism) often strangely affecting. And so, with the God-botherers being as well-armed as their law enforcement opposites (who are soon given hard-to-stomach orders from above), a great gunfight inevitably breaks out, with ethical dilemmas quickly mounting up as rapidly as the body count. Recommended, even for Smith-bashers.

Bees in Paradise (1944)

2011-09-26T17:09:00.025+01:00

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Attenberg (2010)

2011-09-26T09:42:00.020+01:00

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Crying with Laughter (2009)

2011-09-22T11:43:00.018+01:00

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The Inbetweeners Movie (2011)

2011-09-21T09:27:00.021+01:00

Feature Film | Comedy | English | 1h37m

Cast: Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison, Joe Thomas, Emily Head, Laura Haddock, Tamla Kari, Jessica Knappet, Lydia Rose Bewley, Theo James

Capsule review | 219 words | 21/09/11

When sticking closely to the spirit of the series that spawned it, which it does for most of its runtime, The Inbetweeners Movie proves to be as hilarious as ever, albeit in a puerile, juvenile way (natch). But, alas, that spirit is royally defecated upon in the film’s final act, when it enters fantasy territory by having its four 18-year-old protagonists, femme-repellently immature to a man, finally get the girl(s), an act that destroys the one thing that made Morris and Beesley’s creation so empathetically compelling – its wince-inducing believability. Still, there’s much to enjoy along the way. The basic narrative sees the four lads go for a fortnight’s holiday to Malia on Crete, where they stay in a rundown hotel, drink copious amounts of alcohol, meet four out-of-their-league girls (who strangely seem to like them), bump into Carli (who Simon still idolises, despite her slipping façade of amiability), and generally get up to a great deal of laughter-inducing mischief. The performances are as superb as ever; the dialogue sharp and memorable; and the basic production values simple and effective. It’s just a pity, then, that a more fatalistically congruous ending couldn’t have been found to wrap things up – I kept waiting for Will (Bird, our narrator) to wake up and reveal that the whole thing had been a dream.

Five: 5 Long Takes Dedicated to Yasujiro Ozu (2003)

2011-09-20T12:46:00.019+01:00

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