The James Marsh film review archive

Blu-ray

  • Paper Moon

    Perhaps best known as the film for which a ten-year-old Tatum O’Neal won herself a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award, Peter Bogdanovich’s Paper Moon is a beautifully constructed Depression-era caper… Read More

  • The Offence

    It is no secret that Sean Connery grew to hate James Bond long before he stopped playing the character. In fact, he was so reluctant to return as 007 for… Read More

  • R100

    The astonishingly surreal work of Japanese comedian-turned-filmmaker Matsumoto Hitoshi has long been championed here at TwitchFilm, and in some ways his fourth feature film – R100 – transcends anything he… Read More

  • Two For The Road

    Smart, stylish, insightful and brimming with technical inventiveness, Stanley Donen’s Two For The Road is a wonderful examination of the modern marriage whose influence can still be felt in Hollywood… Read More

  • The Thief of Bagdad

    Douglas Fairbanks, “the first King of Hollywood”, is today remembered as the star of numerous silent swashbuckling epics, including The Mark of Zorro, The Three Musketeers and Robin Hood. However,… Read More

  • The Tale Of Zatoichi Continues

    Brisk, no-nonsense sequel that pits Zatoichi against a clan of disgruntled yakuza and government officials, while a mysterious wandering bandit also takes an interest, who is revealed to be the… Read More

  • White Dog

    For a long time this early 80s Sam Fuller thriller was all but forgotten, shelved upon original release, and only re-released in the US by the Criterion Collection in recent… Read More

  • The Stuff

    Larry Cohen’s ambitious horror satire on consumerism is far from his best work, but there’s still plenty to enjoy in his high concept tale of an alien white ooze that… Read More

  • The Spy Who Loved Me

    Because it’s my favourite Bond film, and aafter listening back to my discussion of the film with Rudie Obias and West Anthony on The Auteur Cast I just had to… Read More

  • The Big City

    Madhabi Mukherjee is luminous in Satyajit Ray’s film about a Bengali housewife who experiences her first taste of freedom and financial independence when her husband (reluctantly) allows her to get… Read More

  • The Man In The White Suit

    Beautifully highlights the contradictions by which industry controls & impedes innovation for its own survival, and is also a delightful comedy about Alec Guinness’ penniless visionary fighting the system in… Read More

  • Richard III

    Olivier is brilliant as the utter bastard who schemes and murders his way through his own family to seize the British throne for himself. The third of Larry’s big screen… Read More

  • Things To Come

    This is what happens when H.G. Wells is allowed to make a science fiction. Visually impressive, wildly prescient and stunning in its ambition. Read More

  • Hannah And Her Sisters

    Excellent example of Allen’s great skill for writing great women characters. Hershey is both understated yet utterly desirable. And Caine! Top tier stuff. Read More

  • Les Enfants du Paradis

    An epic tale of jealousy & unrequited love set in the boisterous theatres of 1830s Paris. Arrietty is fantastic in the lead role, but perhaps slightly too old for the… Read More

  • To Be Or Not To Be

    A troupe of sub-par stage performers square off against the Nazis in occupied Poland circa 1942. By applying their skills of performance, disguise and suspension of disbelief they attempt to… Read More

  • Arabian Nights

    2 hours+ of beautifully shot, brilliantly conceived, yet pitifully acted sex, poetry and slapstick. It can only be Pasolini. Is there a Pasolini supercut anywhere of characters laughing at each… Read More

  • The Servant

    Excellent psycho-drama pitting James Fox’s young toff against Dirk Bogarde’s working class manservant. Tony (Fox) moves into a new London townhouse, and employs Barrett (Bogarde) to tend to his affairs.… Read More