The James Marsh film review archive

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USA

  • The Congress

    The opening film at this year’s PiFan Festival is this incredible blend of live action and animation rom Ari Folman, based on the novel by Solaris author Stanislav Lem. This… Read More

  • The Great Gatsby

    The Great Gatsby

    Few would consider Baz Luhrman an ideal candidate to bring F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary masterpiece back to the screen, but while his adaptation remains as lurid and bombastic as his… Read More

  • The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

    I caught this on a flight and really that’s the perfect place to see this utterly inconsequential yet mildly diverting comedy. Steve Carell is on autopilot most of the time… Read More

  • The Howling

    While certainly entertaining, I’m baffled that some people hold Joe Dante’s film in the same high regard as John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London, or contend that the make… Read More

  • Pacific Rim

    Guillermo del Toro pits huge metal mech suits against giant creatures from a parallel dimension in his epic science-fiction beat ’em up. But is sheer spectacle enough, when the characters… Read More

  • REVIEW: Pacific Rim

    After months of anticipation, Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim arrived in Hong Kong on a wave of muted praise and widespread disappointment. The feverish anticipation for the film had waned… Read More

  • Foxy Brown

    I’m not hugely familiar with blaxploitation films, but I was a little underwhlemed by Jack Hill’s Foxy Brown when I finally cauht up with it. There’s no denying that Pam… Read More

  • Toy Story 3

    I’m not sure you ever need an excuse to revisit what is arguably the crowning achievement from Pixar’s impressive “first run”. Pitch perfect entertainment for children and adults alike, on… Read More

  • Sharknado

    The rumours are true. Sharknado is far more entertaining than it has any right to be. The story is completely ridiculous, the effects are passable but a long way from… Read More

  • Monsters University

    Not that anybody wanted it, but Mike and Sully are back, in this good natured prequel to Monsters, Inc. There are jokes aplenty but a lack of real heart in… Read More

  • REVIEW: Monsters University

    Could this be the first American college movie to abstain completely from drugs, sex and alcohol abuse? In what was considered by many to be an unnecessary prequel to the… Read More

  • Wrong

    How to follow up Rubber, a movie about a killer tyre who stalks the deserts outside Los Angeles? In my opinion Wrong manages to trump it, by having a plot… Read More

  • Fear X

    By his own admission, Refn’s Hollywood debut was a misguided attempt at Lynchian surrealism that resulted in artistic and financial disaster. In fairness to the director, who simply let his… Read More

  • Resolution

    Michael comes to visit his friend, Chris, who is holed up in a dilapidated shack in the middle of nowhere, his life gone the way of the dogs thanks to… 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