The James Marsh film review archive

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Drama

  • I’m A Cyborg, But That’s OK

    I’m A Cyborg, But That’s OK

    Following the international success of his “Vengeance Trilogy”, Park Chan-wook shifts gears completely with this good natured, day-glo coloured romantic comedy set in a mental institute. Lim Su-jeong plays a… 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

  • 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

  • REVIEW: Robot & Frank

    I had heard nothing but great things about this movie, and was still kicking myself for missing a press screening back in December. Fernando had it on his Best of… Read More

  • Identification of a Woman

    While I wouldn’t class myself as much of a fan of Michelangelo Antonioni, I have enjoyed all of his films that I have seen. However, until today that consists solely… Read More

  • REVIEW: Oedipus Rex

    Pier Paolo Pasolini is a fascinating, if challenging filmmaker, who I have only fairly recently begun to fully appreciate. As is probably the case with numerous other critics of my… Read More

  • Zero Dark Thirty

    Jessica Chastain is terrific as the single-minded, obsessive CIA agent who spearheads the decade-long search for Osama Bin Laden in Kathryn Bigelow’s rivetting thriller. From the secret torture camps to… Read More

  • Flight

    Denzel Washington is great playing a commercial pilot who’s got what it takes to fly a broken plane upside down, but can’t keep his drink and drug habit under control.… Read More

  • REVIEW: Flight

    Robert Zemeckis, the Oscar-winning director of Forrest Gump and Back To The Future, returns to live action for the first time in more than a decade, directing his first R… Read More

  • REVIEW: Beasts of the Southern Wild

    A full year after it emerged as the buzz title from Sundance 2012, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild finally reaches Hong Kong, buoyed up by 4 Academy Award… Read More

  • Lincoln

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

  • Story of a Prostitute

    I’ve had this Criterion DVD kicking around for a number of years and have repeatedly put off watching it. Now I finally have gotten around to seeing it, I’m kicking… Read More

  • Lifeboat

    In the midst of World War II, Alfred Hitchcock directed this high-concept chamber piece for 20th Century Fox, based on a specially-commissioned treatment from John Steinbeck. After their cruise ship… Read More

  • Contact

    Robert Zemeckis follows up his Forrest Gump Oscar success with this ambitious attempt to reconcile the age-old debate between Science and Religion. Jodie Foster stands on the side of Science… Read More

  • REVIEW: Hitchcock

    I arrived at Sacha Gervasi’s Hitchcock prepared for an underwhelming big screen depiction of the Master of Suspense during the making of his most famous film, Psycho. Muted praise and… Read More