The James Marsh film review archive

  • Final Oscar Predictions

    The show is about to begin, the stars are on the red carpet, so here are our final, last-minute Oscar predictions (* denotes winner) Achievement in Visual Effects The Hobbit:… Read More

  • REVIEW: Sympathy For Lady Vengeance

    Re-watching this film for the first time since it played at the HK Asian Film Festival in 2005, I was finally able to check out the “Fade to Black &… Read More

  • Joint Security Area

    When a South Korean soldier (Lee Byung-hun) stationed with the garrison that guards the 38th Parallel on the North/South border staggers back across from the other side with a bullet… Read More

  • Sinister

    Ethan Hawke stars as a struggling true crime writer who moves his family to a new town in order to investigate a series of horrific family murders. You can read… Read More

  • REVIEW: Sinister

    I was a big fan of Sinister when it screened at FrightFest in London last August, where I found it to be the scariest film of the weekend. At a… Read More

  • Sudden Death

    From Peter Hyams, the director of Outland, 2010 and the Van Damme actioner Timecop, this is essentially a low-rent Die Hard knock-off set in and around an ice rink, during… Read More

  • Reality

    I was a big fan of Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah and was very encouraged when his follow-up, Reality, also bagged him the Grand Prix at Cannes last year. The film just… Read More

  • Happy Together

    I finally caught up with Wong Kar Wai’s much-lauded 1997 film, starring Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu Wai as tempestuous lovers living in Buenos Aires. To find out what… Read More

  • The Hunt

    So often such a frightening screen presence, it is a refreshing change to see Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen play such a likable and sympathetic character as he does here. The… Read More

  • REVIEW: Lincoln

    Steven Spielberg assembles an incredible cast of noted character performers for this dense and stately, yet thoroughly compelling history lesson. As a Brit, my knowledge of American history, and the… Read More

  • Sleeper

    Certainly one of Woody Allen’s funniest films, Sleeper sees the comedian play a jazz musician/health food store owner, who reawakens into a bizarre totalitarian state after a routine operation sees… Read More

  • Zombie Flesh Eaters

    A notorious film for any number of reasons, from its numerous titles, spectacularly gruesome effects, ridiculous moments of action or inclusion on the Video Nasties list, Lucio Fulci’s Zombie Flesh… Read More

  • Dispatch 24 – Oscars 2013

    On this week’s dispatch, Fernando and James discuss the nominations for the 2013 Academy Awards – which take place on 24 February – weighing up the relative merits of the… Read More

  • The Man With The Iron Fists

    Wu-Tang Clan frontman and self-confessed Shaw Brothers fanboy RZA makes his directorial debut in this loving but messy homage to the martial arts classics of yesteryear, which he also wrote… Read More

  • REVIEW: The Man With The Iron Fists

    Rapper-turned-filmmaker RZA writes, directs and stars as the titular hero of this passionate love letter to old school Chinese martial arts movies. It is widely known that the founder of… Read More

  • An Autumn’s Tale

    Screening as part of the Film Archive’s 100 Must-See Hong Kong Movies, this is a delightful romantic comedy from 1987, starring Chow Yun Fat and Cherie Chung, and filmed in… Read More

  • Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance

    As part of a future (as-yet undisclosed) project, I’m currently re-visiting the films of Korean director Park Chan-wook. I was planning to begin with JSA: Joint Security Area, but neither… Read More

  • Robot & Frank

    This unlikely buddy movie about an elderly ex-con and his robotic domestic helper works fantastically well, thanks to a wonderfully nuanced performance from Frank Langella and deft handling of the… Read More