The James Marsh film review archive

  • Treasure Planet

    Futuristic Disney adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel has some interesting concepts smuggled in between servicing the source material. The alien designs are particularly good, and the action scenes… Read More

  • Days of Being Wild

    My Full Disclosure entry for June was this early Wong Kar Wai classic, starring a host of big Hong Kong stars including Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung and Andy Lau. Check… Read More

  • Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?

    A classic satire of celebrity culture and the price of fame, with a particularly vicious attack on advertising mixed in for good measure. An ad man approaches a famous actress… Read More

  • Despicable Me 2

    Building on the success of the first film, the adorable and hilarious minions are given much more screen time this time around. When Gru is approached by the Anti-Villain League… Read More

  • Despicable Me

    Gearing up to go and see the sequel to this amusing if somewhat forgettable animated action comedy, I suddenly discovered that my girlfriend hadn’t seen it. So we sat down… Read More

  • Blast of Silence

    An intriguing little oddity from the Criterion Collection that rarely seems to get talked about much. Shot low budget on the streets of New York at Christmas, it’s the story… Read More

  • 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

  • REVIEW: Spring Breakers

    It came as quite a shock to discover that Spring Breakers is the first Harmony Korine film I’ve ever seen. I’ve been aware of the man’s work since way back… 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

  • REVIEW: Epic

    I remember when I saw the first teaser trailer to Epic almost a year ago. Set to the gorgeous strains of Snow Patrol’s What If This Storm Ends? It looking… 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