Short Reviews

Riddick

I never bothered to see 2004’s The Chronicles of Riddick, but Vin Diesel’s blind convict originated in 2000’s Pitch Black, a fun if slightly throwaway Alien knock-off that saw a… Read More
The Bling Ring

Sofia Coppola’s latest has a serious problem at its core – it is not nearly condemning enough about its vacuous, materialistic, fame-obsessed protagonists, who rob the Hollywood homes of famous… Read More
The Lords of Salem

Until I have managed to successfully avoid the films of Rob Zombie, not particularly through any deliberate intention on my part, but simply because I have had not overwhelming desre… Read More
Before Midnight

The third installment in Richard Linklater’s series of films examining the evolving relationship between Jesse and Celine proves to be the best yeat, and one of the year’s most accomplished… Read More
Before Sunset

Set nine years after the events in Vienna, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) meet again in Paris, where Jesse is giving a reading from his new novel –… Read More
Before Sunrise

In the run-up to the release of Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight, it seemed appropriate to revisit his two earlier installments in the occasionally intersecting lives of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and… Read More
The Devil’s Backbone

Arguably the scariest of Guillermo del Toro’s films to-date, this chilling ghost story takes place in a remote orphanage during the Spanish Civil War. When young Carlos is dumped there… Read More
Revenge

Kevin Costner was on the cusp of becoming a huge A-list star when he took the lead in this rather grim but intriguing thriller from Tony Scott. On leaving the… Read More
Tenebrae

I had always harboured fond memories of Dario Argento’s 1982 slasher flick, as it was the very first of his films I ever saw. I had not rewatched it until… Read More
Pain & Gain

I sincerely believe that one day Michael Bay will make a masterpiece. To-date I still believe that The Rock is his best film. I know that Bad Boys 2 has… Read More
Sixteen Candles

One of the top tier John Hughes efforts that somehow passed me by until now. Molly Ringwald plays Samantha, and it’s her sixteenth birthday – but her entire family seems… Read More
2001: A Space Odyssey

What is there left to be said about Stanley Kubrick’s deep-space masterpiece. Not only is it the greatest work of science fiction ever put on screen, it’s one of the… Read More
Red 2

No doubt plenty of fun for all involved, there is little to recommend in this sequel to Robert Schwentke’s 2010 effort. Following the lead of The Expendables, Red takes the… Read More
Simon Killer

A strange little film from US director Antonio Campos that sees Simon, and American uni grad head off to Paris after a messy break-up with his girlfriend. While there he… Read More
The Grandmaster

A re-watch of Wong Kar Wai’s beautiful meditation on martial arts and heroism, shot through with his perennial preoccupations of time, aging and fading memories. Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi… Read More
City of Women

This late colour entry from Federico Fellini sees Marcello Mastroianni play a philandering womaniser who follows hs latest conquest off a train and into a dreamworld populated solely by women.… Read More
Prince Avalanche

After a troubling daliance in stoner comedy, David Gordon Green returns to the more independent, thoughtful material on which he made his name. Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch play maintenance… Read More
Koyaanisqatsi

One of the finest – and certainly my favourite – non-narrative films ever made, Godfrey Reggio’s beautiful work examines mankind’s relationship with the natural world through a kaleidoscope of juxtaposed… Read More