Film, James Mottram
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The Moth Diaries
22 May 2013
Suspense-less boarding school vampire thriller starring Sarah Bolger, Sarah Gadon and Lily Cole
Arriving a week before Neil Jordan’s vampire tale Byzantium, you have to wonder if those releasing The Moth Diaries were hoping to steal a march on Jordan’s film. They needn’t have bothered. A pale shadow of Byzantium, it doesn’t even hold a candle to…
Director Neil Jordan and actor Gemma Arterton talk vampire feminism in Byzantium
17 May 2013
The thriller is 'a continuation' of Jordan's earlier Interview with the Vampire
‘There have been too many vampire films lately,’ laughs Neil Jordan, perched on a chair in London’s Soho Hotel. You might say the director of Interview With the Vampire only has himself to blame. Without his 1994 take on Anne Rice’s novel, starring Tom…
Fast & Furious 6
17 May 2013
If you like your stunts outrageous and your plot soapy and undemanding, this won't disappoint
For a franchise with simple tastes – gleaming cars, well-oiled muscles and bikini babes – the Fast & Furious series has always been ultra-willing to re-tune its engines. This time, we’re in London – a first – and the gang, led by Vin Diesel’s Dom…
The Iceman
17 May 2013
Impressive mafia-themed dramatic thriller starring Michael Shannon, James Franco and Ray Liotta
Is there no film Michael Shannon doesn’t excel in? Here the star of Take Shelter plays real-life New Jersey hitman Richard Kuklinski, who – upon his arrest in 1986 – is thought to have committed over 100 assassinations. Directed by Israeli-born…
The Stone Roses: Made of Stone
17 May 2013
Shane Meadows' rockumentary fails to satisfy either as a concert film or fly-on-the-wall doc
To borrow from an old Stone Roses B-side, the Mancunian band’s much-hyped reunion may well have been ‘what the world is waiting for’, though it’s hard to claim the same for this accompanying Shane Meadows-directed documentary. The director of Dead Man’s…
The Liability
10 May 2013
Tim Roth and Jack O'Connell pair up for a seemingly familiar hitman film
You may get struck by déjà vu watching The Liability, the third feature film by former cinematographer Craig Viveiros. A story of a taciturn hitman and his callow assistant starring Tim Roth, it sounds suspiciously like a remake of Stephen Frears’ 1984…
Mud
18 Apr 2013
Part adolescent yarn, part yearning love story, starring Matthew McConaughey and Reece Witherspoon
Jeff Nichols’ third film, Mud, arrives with much expectation. His second, Take Shelter, was a marvellous study of the inner turmoil of Michael Shannon’s blue-collar worker, a man haunted by apocalyptic visions. By comparison, Mud feels more prosaic.
Profile: Jeff Nichols, director of Mud
16 Apr 2013
The writer-director is influenced by Terrence Malick, David Gordon Green and, on Mud, Mark Twain
Born 7 December, 1978, Arkansas Background After studying filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, writer-director Jeff Nichols announced his arrival with his 2007 low-budget debut Shotgun Stories, the story of a feud…
Oblivion
10 Apr 2013
Tom Cruise's latest sci-fi outing is visually splendid but features overfamiliar plotting
His first sci-fi since Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, there is a queasy sense of familiarity with Tom Cruise’s new film, Oblivion. It hardly helps that his character, a cocky blue-collar repairman, is named Jack Harper – which sounds uncannily…
Jack the Giant Slayer
19 Mar 2013
Bryan Singer's adaptation is a decent enough storybook yarn, if a little too earnest
Judging by the early word from the US, where this blockbuster fairytale has performed poorly at the box office, you’d think it was a flop of gigantic proportions. It may not be on a par with director Bryan Singer’s X-Men films, but Jack the Giant Slayer…
Side Effects
18 Feb 2013
Soderbergh's final cinema outing has a fine cast, an authentic milieu and experimental script
Set for early retirement, Steven Soderbergh says Side Effects will be the last film of his we’ll see in cinemas – possibly for good. Whether this proves to be the case or not, this thriller set in the world of prescription medicines is typical of his…
Interview: Steven Soderbergh on retiring and Hitchcock-inspired thriller Side Effects
15 Feb 2013
Also working on Liberace TV biopic Behind the Candelabra with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon
Ever since Matt Damon accidentally let slip publicly that Steven Soderbergh was planning to retire, the director has been plagued with questions about it. And today is no different. Hot on the heels of last year’s male stripper surprise hit Magic Mike…
A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman
4 Feb 2013
A chaotic tribute to the former Python that sheds very little light on the facts
Graham Chapman remains the most enigmatic member of the Monty Python team. Even before his premature death in 1989, when he succumbed to throat cancer aged just 49, he had failed to capitalise on the success of the landmark BBC show in the way the other…
Chained
28 Jan 2013
Dark, twisted and occasionally floundering horror starring Vincent D’Onofrio and Julia Ormond
Such is his unique place in modern cinema, it would be almost impossible to move out of David Lynch’s shadow. Wisely, his daughter Jennifer Chambers Lynch doesn’t even try. After her disastrous debut Boxing Helena two decades ago, her recent directorial…
Hollow
25 Jan 2013
A real British spin on the 'found footage' horror subgenre, from Michael Axelgaard
Inevitably, Michael Axelgaard's impressive debut Hollow will be compared to The Blair Witch Project. A low-budget found-footage horror film, dealing with myths, legends and the fear of the unknown, it could quite happily sit alongside the 1999…
Zero Dark Thirty
15 Jan 2013
A gripping, authentic-feeling account of the dark side of the war on terror from Kathryn Bigelow
If Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq-set bomb disposal unit drama The Hurt Locker caught everyone by surprise, the anticipation for her follow-up is tangible. An exacting procedural about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, it’s been in development long before the…
Django Unchained
14 Jan 2013
Fine performances and moments of sudden brutality outshine Tarantino's over-indulgent running time
There are two major films about slavery this season. At one end of the spectrum is Steven Spielberg’s po-faced, self-important abolition drama Lincoln. And the other? Quentin Tarantino’s giddily violent, shockingly profane spaghetti western, Django…
American Mary
11 Jan 2013
A shocking, memorable body horror, let down by a weak third act
American Mary marks the second feature-length film by Jen and Sylvia Soska, following Dead Hooker In A Trunk (a film that began life as a faux trailer – inspired by the Tarantino/Rodriguez project Grindhouse). Like the twisted sister of an early David…
Director Juan Antonio Bayona discusses tsunami drama The Impossible
18 Dec 2012
The film, which stars Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, is based on the true story of the Balon family
In 2007, Juan Antonio Bayona delivered one of the year’s most effective horror films, The Orphanage. Five years on, he’s back with new film The Impossible. And you might say the 37-year-old Spaniard has achieved just that, creating an experience that’s…
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
10 Dec 2012
Simple story and astounding set-pieces make for a truly immersive cinema experience
Peter Jackson returns to the Middle Earth he rendered so faithfully in Lord of the Rings, and it’s never looked so glorious. Adapting JRR Tolkien’s 1937 novel The Hobbit – set sixty years before Rings – this first film in a planned trilogy is so alive…
The Oranges
4 Dec 2012
A pithy if not exactly groundbreaking suburban comedy, starring Hugh Laurie and Leighton Meester
In between concluding his stint on House and reinventing himself as a jazz musician, Hugh Laurie can be found in this modest US indie. A New Jersey-set tragi-comedy that treads the same ground as Sam Mendes’ American Beauty (without, thankfully, the…
Rise of the Guardians
28 Nov 2012
An overcooked seasonal family release, with the voices of Jude Law and Hugh Jackman
This latest DreamWorks animation, a 3D concoction just in time for Christmas, is a rather soulless affair. Which, given it features Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, not to mention a whole bunch of elves, might seem hard to believe. But…
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn part 2
15 Nov 2012
A fitting end to the teen vampire series, starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart
As the final chapter arrives, it’s time to bid farewell to the Twilight vampire saga. Never again will we see Robert Pattinson’s Edward sparkle, Kristen Stewart’s Bella pout furiously or Taylor Lautner’s Jacob gratuitously remove his shirt. But for…
Gambit
13 Nov 2012
Charmless remake of 1966 caper flick, starring Colin Firth, Alan Rickman and Cameron Diaz
A very loose remake of the 1966 film starring Michael Caine as a cat burglar, the most notable thing about this art scam caper movie is that it’s been written by Joel and Ethan Coen. Don’t get too excited, though. While it boasts the precision plotting…
Interview: Paul Thomas Anderson on The Master, Scientology and Tom Cruise
1 Nov 2012
Maker of There Will Be Blood returns with the best American film of the year
Five years after Paul Thomas Anderson’s uncompromising drama There Will Be Blood, he returns with another astounding work. James Mottram speaks to him about The Master, its links to Scientology and showing the film to Tom Cruise.
