Film, Reviews, Issue 697
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25 articles
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Woody Allen: A Documentary
7 Jun 2012
A funny and occasionally insightful overview of the American filmmaker
As a filmmaker Woody Allen is anything but showy; his films focus on characters, conversations and the absurd comedy of life, and whilst they are often beautifully photographed, Allen’s pictures, turned out at a steady rate of one a year, are defined by…
Prometheus
6 Jun 2012
Ridley Scott's return to the Alien universe is compelling but inconsistent
When contributing to a franchise with singular cultural standing and an obsessive fan base, how does one evade one’s film being largely obscured by a firestorm of nitpicking, over-interpretation and delusional theorising? If one is Ridley Scott making…
Men in Black III
1 Jun 2012
Silly, lightweight, completely unnecessary but surprisingly fun
In these times of austerity Hollywood seems scared of originals ideas. Studios demand ‘brand recognition’ before they’ll stump up the multi-million dollar budgets blockbusters require. And they seem willing to latch onto almost any brand, from comics to…
Himizu
1 Jun 2012
Earnest but morose drama set against the backdrop of the 2011 tsunami
Set shortly after the 2011 Japanese tsunami and ensuing Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster, Himizu considers the consequences of parental and governmental irresponsibility through its story of two troubled teens. Based on Minoru Furuya’s manga of…
Top Cat: The Movie
1 Jun 2012
Unfaithful to the original cartoon but this adaptation still retains a cheeky charm
Also known as Boss Cat during his regular BBC television outings, to avoid giving advertising to a popular brand of cat food, Top Cat remains one of the most fondly remembered characters in cartoon history. Despite living in a dustbin in an alleyway…
Snow White and the Huntsman
1 Jun 2012
A sinister slant on the much told tale, with Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron
This feisty fairytale from debut director Rupert Sanders takes the Brothers Grimm story and inserts feminism, viscous visual effects and a rugged love rival. Fans of the Twilight series will most likely delight at its moody aesthetic and the presence of…
Cannes 2012: Amour
28 May 2012
Deeply sad and affecting film from Michael Haneke, and winner of the 2012 Palme D’Or
Unlike The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke’s Palme D’Or winning film from 2009), which stands out for its thematic and narrative complexities, Amour sees the Austrian director take a far simpler approach to filmmaking, with an intimate story of an elderly…
Holy Motors
28 May 2012
Hugely satisfying and inventive celebration of cinema from Leos Carax
Monsieur Oscar (Denis Lavant) is picked up by his driver Celine (Edith Scob) for a day’s work - 9 appointments that will take him across Paris and into the paths of an array of characters. If that sounds vague, it’s deliberate - to say anymore would…
Men in Black 3
25 May 2012
Silly, lightweight, completely unnecessary but surprisingly fun
In these times of austerity Hollywood seems scared of originals ideas. Studios demand ‘brand recognition’ before they’ll stump up the multi-million dollar budgets blockbusters require. And they seem willing to latch onto almost any brand, from comics to…
Cannes 2012: On the Road
25 May 2012
Walter Salles’ adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s classic novel struggles to capture a sense of the times
If, for two and a half hours, you can put aside the fact that Walter Salles’ (Central Station, The Motorcycle Diaries) latest work is an adaptation of one of the most famous, influential books in recent American history, you might just enjoy this…
Cannes 2012: The Paperboy
25 May 2012
Lee Daniels’ plot hole-ridden latest film is still a compelling, if occasionally ludicrous, ride
Lee Daniels follows up his sleeper hit Precious with an enjoyably trashy, if often misguided, story based on the book by Pete Dexter. It’s 1969 and journalist Ward (Matthew McConaughey) returns to his hometown of Lately, Florida to investigate what…
Cannes 2012: Killing Them Softly
24 May 2012
Andrew Dominik’s stylish gangster film is visually impressive if occasionally lacking momentum
Killing Them Softly, Andrew Dominik’s third film following Chopper and The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford, is a bleakly humourous gangster flick with an underlying commentary on modern day moral bankruptcy. It begins with…
Cannes 2012: Trashed
24 May 2012
British documentary about waste pollution could have done with burrowing deeper
Watching British documentary Trashed it’s curious to think who the filmmakers imagined their audience to be. Exploring the impact and problems of waste disposal, the film barely scrapes the surface of its subject matter, giving the air of a dry…
What To Expect When You’re Expecting
23 May 2012
A witless and bland work based on the pregnancy self-help book
‘You don’t know what love is until you’ve wiped someone’s ass,’ offers one of the many baby-boomers in Kirk (Waking Ned, Everybody’s Fine) Jones’ multi-stranded adaptation of the bestselling self-help book about the dos and don’ts of pregnancy.
She Monkeys
23 May 2012
Impressive coming-of-age drama with frank depiction of adolescent sexuality
A courageous, periodically unsettling coming-of-age tale, She Monkeys is the arresting first feature from director Lisa Aschan. It’s a Swedish production which - in its frank approach to adolescent sexuality - bears comparison with Katell Quillévéré’s…
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
18 May 2012
Crisp restoration of the 1940s satire by Powell and Pressburger
Spry and delightful nearly 70 years on, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is one of many masterpieces from filmmaking virtuosos Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, collectively known as The Archers. Their fifth collaboration, from 1943, is an…
If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle
18 May 2012
Drama depicting tensions of prison society from Romanian director
18-year-old Silviu (George Pistereanu) has nine days left to serve of what has been an uneventful, well-behaved prison sentence. When an unexpected visit from his younger brother brings some unwelcome news, Silviu’s previously-held composure begins to…
The Source
18 May 2012
A sincere story of the struggle for female emancipation in an African village
You could easily dismiss The Source as a simplistic, sentimental fare but the latest film from director Radu Mihaileanu (The Concert, Live And Become etc.) is told with such warmth and sincerity that it is hard to resist. The struggle for female…
2 Days in New York
18 May 2012
Modern screwball comedy from writer, director and actor Julie Delpy
In the intermittently sparkling sequel to 2007’s 2 Days in Paris, writer-director-actor Julie Delpy once again turns her attention to family dysfunction. This time her alter-ego’s Parisian family are holidaying at her NY home, where they continue to…
Even The Rain
18 May 2012
Well-intentioned, if heavy-handed, political drama from writer Paul Laverty
The sting of injustice and oppression echoes down the centuries in Even The Rain, an ambitious, well-intentioned political drama from writer Paul Laverty and his partner, director Iciar Bolain. Inspired by true events, the film is set in…
Moonrise Kingdom
17 May 2012
Wes Anderson's latest echoes his earlier triumphs, but breaks no new ground
Wes Anderson’s seventh film feels like a Greatest Hits package. Which if you’re a Wes fan will make you very happy. Set on a New England island in the summer of 1965, the opening sequence of Moonrise Kingdom, with its incessant camera-pans around the…
Death Watch
16 May 2012
Well-deserved re-issue of Bertrand Tavernier's prescient Glasgow-set sci-fi thriller
Its plot is a credibility stretch even in these days of de rigueur media paranoia, and its relentlessly murky, moody tone might raise the odd giggle, but Tavernier’s long-neglected sci-fi curiosity is compelling nonetheless. Romy Schneider plays…
Polisse
16 May 2012
Sprawling French ensemble drama that veers between compelling and ridiculous
This sprawling ensemble film, which tracks the harrowing daily routines of a Parisian Child Protection Unit, veers wildly between the compelling and the ridiculous. Scripted and directed by Maiwenn, with Emmaneulle Bercot acting as co-writer, it shifts…
Sing Your Song
16 May 2012
A thorough account of the life of Harry Belafonte that occasionally lapses into hagiography
This timely and thorough account of the extraordinary life of Harry Belafonte finds so much in its subject that it almost suffers by an over-abundance of material. A matinee idol whose benign appeal to white audiences masked fierce political…
The Turin Horse
16 May 2012
Hard-going but profoundly rewarding piece of arthouse cinema from Bela Tarr
This mournful fable isn’t exactly going to win a whole new crossover audience for Hungary’s master of arthouse tough love, Béla Tarr, but it’s a compelling, vividly realised addition to his unique oeuvre. As a father and daughter scrabble for a living…
