Wild Tales (2014) – released on DVD 15th June 2015
**** Director: Damian Szifron Duration: 122 minutes (Argentina) Bristling with flair, panache and a fair chunk of the absurd, Damian Szifron’s Wild Tales is a short, sharp shock to the … Continue reading
Lambert & Stamp (2014) review – The odd couple behind the Who’s success get their own doc
***1/2 Director: James D. Cooper Duration: 117 minutes As we edge closer to the twilight years of rock music’s original progenitors – those establishment rattling, musical mavericks of the 60s … Continue reading
Interview: Nina Hoss talks ‘Phoenix’ and the Holocaust
Nina Hoss is the phenomenal, statuesque German actress who has etched her impressive talent on such fare as A Most Wanted Man (2014), Barbara (2012) and Yella (2007). She’s also … Continue reading
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) review
**** Director: Joss Whedon Duration: 141 minutes (US) Shrouded in secrecy and keenly anticipated in a manner that could only be described as fervent, Age of Ultron bears the fruits … Continue reading
Fast & Furious 7 (2015) review
Mission Improbable? It doesn’t take Ed Miliband in a leadership debate to give a ‘hell yeah’ to that question. Fast & Furious 7’s not just Ludicris, but ridiculous too. ***1/2 … Continue reading
Michael Winterbottom talks to Greg Wetherall about Amanda Knox and the Kercher family’s response to his latest
Normally when you are making a film no one hears about it, but we had quite a lot of publicity about us making it beforehand, so even in Italy where we were filming, it was always written up as an ‘Amanda Knox film’, or are we saying ‘this’ about the Italian justice system? Are we saying ‘this’ about Amanda Knox? In the end, now that it is finished, it’s like, ‘look at it’.
Interview: Discussing ‘Appropriate Behaviour’ with writer/director/star Desiree Akhavan
“The very core of these messages are sexist. But I get it. It’s a machine. We’re trying to make it palatable to an audience that isn’t used to women being … Continue reading
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)
**** Director: John Madden Duration: 123 mins It was the Eagles who signed off ‘Hotel California’ – their ode to man’s journey from innocence to experience – with the observation … Continue reading
Life Itself (2014) – Documentary on the late, great Roger Ebert arrives on DVD
**** Director: Steve James Duration: 120 mins (US) By Greg Wetherall (@gregwetherall) Is it an essential requisite that anyone who dare elect themselves as a professional critic must be in … Continue reading
Dario Argento and Me: Greg Wetherall talks to Goblin’s Claudio Simonetti about working with a master.
The films of Dario Argento are famous for many reasons; the direction, the blood and the music. And it was Claudio Simonetti’s progressive rock group Goblin that defined the sound … Continue reading
Virgin Mountain (2015) – Berlin Film Festival 2015
Director: Dagur Kari Duration: 94 minutes (Iceland/Denmark) **** Considerably overweight and out of love. Cruelly bullied by the brutes in the work place and showing signs of arrested development at … Continue reading
As We Were Dreaming (2015) – Berlin Film Festival 2015
Director: Andreas Dressen
Duration: 117 mins (Germany/France)
***
Although powerful in certain sections – a wonderful collision between parent and his son’s recalcitrant company is compelling, as is a nightclub gun scene – it more often than not leaves the viewer looking at their watch almost as much as the screen.
Love & Mercy (2014) – Berlin Film Festival 2015
Director: Bill Pohlad Duration: 118 mins (US) *** John Cusack is Brian Wilson. Yes, that Brian Wilson. He of the Beach Boys. If that seems like a strange piece of … Continue reading
Knight of Cups (2015) – Berlin Film Festival 2015
Director: Terrence Malick Duration: 118 minutes (US) ** ‘Wake up’. ‘WAKE UP!’ It’s not often that a recurring line spoken about the human consciousness is equally appropriate as a shallow … Continue reading
Robocop (2014)
**** Director: Jose Padilha Duration: 118 minutes (US) Set in 2028, one of the first things that may strike you about the future is the seeming longstanding embargo on the … Continue reading
Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom (2013)
**** Director: Justin Chadwick Duration: 139 minutes (UK/South Africa) In light of recent events, there is a rather large shadow cast over the release of this film. In some sense, … Continue reading
All Is Lost (2013)
***** Directed: J.C. Chandor Duration: 106 minutes (US) Alone, adrift and in dire need of salvation. This is not a presumptuous and damning indictment on any reader of this piece, … Continue reading
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)
*** Directed: Adam McKay Duration: 119 minutes (US) Comedy films, especially modern comedy films, face the eternal dilemma; how to stretch an exciting premise and/or characters into a feature length … Continue reading
Homefront (2013)
*** Directed: Gary Fleder Duration: 100 minutes (US) Our hero, Jason Statham, is a normal man (albeit an ex-DEA agent) just trying to get through his day. Having moved out … Continue reading
Carrie (2013)
** Directed: Kimberly Peirce Duration: 100 minutes (US) What a Carrie-On Remakes, remakes, remakes. Is there a reason for them to exist other than to enable cash registers to sing … Continue reading
Gone With The Wind (1939)
***** Dir: David O’Selznick Duration: 233 minutes (US) Gone With The Wind (1939) is a film easily defined by statistics. It is oft-quoted that if box office receipts were adjusted … Continue reading
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 (2013)
*** Dir: Cody Cameron & Kris Pearn Duration: 95 minutes After the runaway success of ‘Despicable Me 2’ earlier this summer, along with a whole swathe of other successful follow-up … Continue reading
Captain Phillips (2013)
**** Dir: Paul Greengrass Duration: 134 minutes (US) It is 2009 and an American cargo ship is heading through international waters. Plain sailing? Not quite. This is a ship that … Continue reading
Soho Cigarette (2013)
** Dir: Jonathan Fairbairn Duration: 99 minutes (UK) Style Can’t Keep This Cigarette Alight. Anyone who is able to wade through the muddy waters and obstacle-strewn walkways of the film … Continue reading
Interview: The Wicker Man Director On His Final Cut, Cursed Remakes And Not Wanting To Be Typecast
It is 40 years since the Wicker Man first bore its indelible image of a giant burning human-shaped casket onto the retinas of cinema-goers. Now, in a new restoration and … Continue reading
Museum Hours (2012)
**** Dir: Jem Cohen Duration: 106 minutes (2012) (Austria/US) A leisurely film that pores through the relationship between art and life may not sound like the easiest sell. However, for … Continue reading
A Field In England (2013)
*** Dir: Ben Wheatley Duration: 90 minutes (2013) (UK) Tripping across the countryside. Fighting can be a drug. But so can mushrooms. Ben Wheatley takes a turn down the sublime … Continue reading
Pacific Rim (2013)
*** Dir: Guillermo Del Toro Duration: 131 minutes (2013) (US) A screaming cacophony of mayhem and destruction. Ear plugs may be needed for this confrontation, as monsters and robots collide. … Continue reading
The World’s End (2013)
*** Dir: Edgar Wright Duration: 109 minutes (2013) (UK) Gang on the run. Pegg, Frost & Co unite for the third instalment in the proclaimed ‘Cornetto Trilogy’. However, is this … Continue reading
Monsters University (2013)
***** Directed: Dan Scanlon Duration: 110 minutes (2013) (US) Pixar bring back Mike and Sulley for a journey retracing their college days. It is a trick that enables pratfalls, truculence … Continue reading
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