The James Marsh film review archive

Short Reviews

  • The Lady Assassin

    I can probably count the number of Vietnamese films I’ve seen on one hand, but this 3D martial arts romance had proved a huge success at the domestic box office… Read More

  • Bleeder

    I continue my trek through Nicolas Winding Refn’s back catalogue with a first look at his second feature. Using much the same cast as Pusher, this is a far looser,… Read More

  • Spring Breakers

    Harmony Korine’s spring break helldrive finally arrives (albeit via iTunes) after a healthy festival tour that whipped up some sterling word of mouth, not least for James Franco’s chameleonic turn… Read More

  • The Lair of the White Worm

    I remember catching this on TV very late one night, as a young impressionable teen. At the time, the sight of a scantily glad Amanda Donohoe was enough to set… Read More

  • The Naked Island

    Masters of Cinema just released Shindo Kaneto’s wonderfully poetic film on Blu-ray in the UK, a modern silent with almost no discernible dialogue, but an incredibly powerful narrative nonetheless about… Read More

  • Epic

    In a busy summer filled with animated blockbusters, the modest charms of Epic will struggle to find an audience, or make much of an impression. Read More

  • Skyfall

    One of the enduringly great blockbusters of last year, I recently picked this up dirt cheap on Blu-ray and figured it warranted another re-watch. While I do miss the sparkle… Read More

  • Badges of Fury

    Jet Li back doing action? Sounds great, but Badges of Fury proves to be more a goofy comedy for his co-star Wen Zhang than a kung-fu packed homage to old… Read More

  • Blind Detective

    Johnnie To had got back in my good books with the excellent Drug War, and the prospect of reuniting the reliable Andy Lau with the delightful Sammi Cheng for the… Read More

  • Pusher

    In preparation for an interview with Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn I decided to go back over his entire back catalogue, as it pained me to admit that I’d never… Read More

  • Man of Steel

    Finally got down a few thoughts about Zack Snyder’s collaboration with Chris Nolan to bring Superman to the big screen. Read More

  • The Place Beyond The Pines

    It has taken a long time for Derek Cianfrance’s crime drama to make it to Hong Kong (in fact it doesn’t even open officially here for another month) but it… Read More

  • Disconnect

    Murderball director Henry Alex Rubin turns his hand to fiction in this multi-stranded drama examining different forms of cyber-crime and our interconnectedness through technology. Similar in tone to something like… Read More

  • A Story of Yonosuke

    I almost let this one pass me by, put off by the daunting 160 minute runtime, but my efforts were handsomely rewarded as Okita Shuichi’s adaptation of Yoshida Shuichi’s popular… Read More

  • SDU: Sex Duties Unit

    Chapman To, Shawn Yue, Matt Chow and Derek Tsang play five Special Duties Unit cops who head to Macau for a night of Category III-rated revelry. Written and produced by… Read More

  • Citizen Kane

    The first time I’ve seen Orson Welles’ mould-breaking classic on the big screen, and it looked as wonderful as ever. Not much to say that has not been said already,… Read More

  • John Dies at the End

    A rather baffling melange of horror, science-fiction and comedy that screams out to be embraced as a late night cult classic in the vein of Repo Man or director Don… Read More

  • Side Effects

    For what is purported to be his final theatrical release, director Steven Soderbergh goes for a pulpy trashy thriller rather than anything too highbrow. Rooney Mara plays a troubled young… Read More