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      • Action Cinema
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  • FILM-TV REVIEWS
    • 0 - 9 >
      • One Cut of the Dead
      • One Day
      • Two Days, One Night
      • 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy
      • 7 Days In Havana
      • Seven Psychopaths
      • Seven Swords
      • 009 Re: Cyborg
      • 11 Minutes
      • 12 Years A Slave
      • 13
      • 24 Weeks
      • 45 Years
      • 68 Kill
      • '71
      • 99 Homes
      • 300: Rise Of An Empire
      • 303
      • 20,000 Days On Earth
      • 8 Million Ways to Die
    • A >
      • A Bigger Splash
      • A Bronx Tale
      • A Cat In Paris
      • A Few Best Men
      • A Field In England
      • A Ghost Story
      • A Hard Day
      • A Lonely Place to Die
      • A Love Song
      • A Man's Flower Road
      • A Million Ways To Die In The West
      • A Monster Calls
      • A Prayer Before Dawn
      • A Second Chance
      • A Separation
      • A Single Shot
      • A Spanking in Paradise
      • A Thousand Times Good Night
      • A Walk Among The Tombstones
      • A White, White Day
      • Abduction
      • About Ray
      • Act of Valour
      • African Cats
      • Afro Samurai
      • After the Wedding
      • Alice Through the Looking Glass
      • All In Good Time
      • Alleluia
      • Allied
      • American Heist
      • American Pie: Reunion
      • Ana, Mon Amour
      • Anarchy
      • Anchor and Hope
      • Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
      • Angelica
      • Animal Kingdom
      • Animals
      • Anna Karenina
      • Anomalisa
      • Ant-Man
      • Arctic
      • Argo
      • Arrival
      • Asako I & II
      • Avengers: Age of Ultron
    • B >
      • Baby Driver
      • Babycall
      • Bacurau
      • Bad Neighbours
      • Bad Words
      • Bait
      • Banshee Chapter
      • Barbara
      • Barrage
      • Barry
      • Bastards
      • Bastille Day
      • Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
      • Beasts Of The Southern Wild
      • Beatriz at Dinner
      • Beauty And The Beast
      • Bee Movie
      • Before Midnight
      • Before We Go
      • Belle
      • Benny & Jolene
      • Berlin Syndrome
      • Big Eyes
      • Big Game
      • Big Hero 6
      • Bitch
      • Black 47
      • Black Coal, Thin Ice
      • Black Eagle (R2B: Return To Base)
      • Black Panther
      • Black Rain
      • Black Sea
      • Black Sheep
      • Blackfish
      • Blackhat
      • Blade of the Immortal
      • Bleed for This
      • Blue Is The Warmest Colour
      • Bobby Fischer Against the World
      • Boca
      • Bodies Bodies Bodies
      • Bones and All
      • Bonsai
      • Boomerang Family
      • Border
      • Borgia
      • Boyhood
      • Brave
      • Brawl in Cell Block 99
      • Breaking Bad
      • Breakup Buddies
      • Breathe In
      • Breathing
      • Brian and Charles
      • Bridesmaids
      • Bright Nights
      • Britain from Above
      • Broken City
      • Bullhead
      • Bunraku
      • Burning
      • Bushwick
    • C >
      • Caesar Must Die
      • Cafe De Flore
      • Cake
      • Calvary
      • Can A Song Save Your Life?
      • Candy
      • Captain America: Civil War
      • Captain America: The Winter Soldier
      • Captain Phillips
      • Carrie Pilby
      • Carnage
      • Casa De Mi Padre
      • Cashback
      • Castle in the Sky
      • Catfight
      • Central Intelligence
      • Chasuke's Journey
      • Chef
      • Chrysalis
      • Cinderella
      • Cleopatra
      • Climax
      • Close Encounters of the Third Kind
      • Clouds of Sils Maria
      • Coin Locker Girl
      • Cold Eyes
      • Cold In July
      • Cold War
      • Collective Invention
      • Colonia
      • Color Out of Space
      • Colossal
      • Comes A Bright Day
      • Compliance
      • Computer Chess
      • Conan the Barbarian
      • Confession Of A Child Of The Century
      • Contraband
      • Corporate Animals
      • Cowboys and Aliens
      • Crazy, Stupid, Love
      • Crown Heights
      • Crying Fist
      • Crystal Swan
      • Cuban Fury
      • Cuckoo
      • Cyber City Oedo 808
    • D >
      • Daddy's Home
      • Damsel
      • Dangerous Liaisons (2012)
      • Dark River
      • Darkest Hour
      • Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
      • Days of Heaven
      • Day Watch
      • Dead Snow 2: Red Vs Dead
      • Dear Prudence
      • Death Proof
      • Death Watch
      • Deep End
      • Deerskin
      • Delicacy
      • Demolition
      • Dennis Rodman's Big Bang in Pyongyang
      • Deranged
      • Desierto
      • Despicable Me 2
      • Destroyer
      • Detachment
      • Devil's Knot
      • Dheepan
      • Dirty Grandpa
      • Disobedience
      • Disorder
      • Disturbia
      • Divines
      • Django
      • Django Unchained
      • Dogman
      • Don Jon
      • Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
      • Dora or the Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents
      • Double Impact
      • Downsizing
      • Dreamgirls
      • Dreileben
      • Drive
    • E >
      • Eagle vs. Shark
      • Earth 2
      • Earth To Echo
      • Earthquake Bird
      • Elephant Song
      • Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
      • Elles
      • Elysium
      • Ema
      • Empire of the Sun
      • End Of Watch
      • End of Winter
      • Ender's Game
      • Entanglement
      • Epic
      • Equals
      • Escobar: Paradise Lost
      • Essential Killing
      • Europa Report
      • Euthanizer
      • Even The Rain
      • Every Thing Will Be Fine
      • Exodus: Gods and Kings
      • Eye in the Sky
    • F >
      • Fading Gigolo
      • Far From the Madding Crowd
      • Farewell To The King
      • Fast & Feel Love
      • Fast & Furious 6
      • Fast & Furious 7
      • Fast Girls
      • Fear And Desire
      • Felicite
      • Felony
      • Final Destination 5
      • Final Portrait
      • Fist of Legend
      • Flight
      • Flu
      • Flyboys
      • For Ellen
      • Forgetting Sarah Marshall
      • Frances Ha
      • Francine
      • Frank
      • Free Agents
      • Free Birds
      • Free Men
      • Fright Night
      • From Up On Poppy Hill
      • Frozen
      • Fuck For Forest
      • Fukushima, Mon Amour
      • Funny Cow
    • G >
      • Gang Story
      • Gemini Man
      • Genius
      • Gimme The Loot
      • Goat
      • God Bless America
      • Godzilla
      • Golden Exits
      • Good Kill
      • Grave of the Fireflies
      • Great Expectations
      • Gravity
      • Green Room
      • Grindhouse Trailer Classics 3
      • Guilty of Romance
      • Guns & Talk
    • H >
      • Hacksaw Ridge
      • Haemoo
      • Hammer Of The Gods
      • Happy Feet Two
      • Happy New Year, Colin Burstead
      • Happy People
      • Hardcore
      • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
      • Headshot
      • Heavenly Creatures
      • Hell
      • Hellboy II: The Golden Army
      • Hemel
      • Her
      • Hereditary
      • Hide And Seek
      • Hill of Freedom
      • Hitchcock
      • Hollywoo
      • Holy Rollers
      • Homefront
      • Hope Springs
      • Horns
      • Horrible Bosses 2
      • Hostel: Part II
      • Hostiles
      • How I Spent My Summer Vacation
      • How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire
      • How to Train Your Dragon
      • Hyena
      • Hysteria
    • I >
      • I Could Never be Your Woman
      • I Lost My Body
      • I Love You, Daddy
      • I Saw the Devil
      • I Saw the Light
      • I, Tonya
      • I'm So Excited
      • If Beale Street Could Talk
      • Immortals
      • In Darkness
      • In Fabric
      • In Order Of Disappearance
      • In Search of a Midnight Kiss
      • In the Aisles
      • In The Bedroom
      • In the Heart of the Sea
      • In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
      • Inside Llewyn Davis
      • Inside Out
      • Insyriated
      • Interstellar
      • Ip Man 3
      • Iron Man 3
      • Isle of Dogs
      • It Follows
    • J >
      • J. Edgar
      • Jack Goes Boating
      • Jack Reacher
      • Jackie
      • Jackpot
      • Jayne Mansfield's Car
      • Jersey Boys
      • Jin
      • Jiro Dreams Of Sushi
      • John Dies At The End
      • John Wick: Chapter 4
      • Joker
      • Jonathan
      • Journey's End
      • Journeyman
      • Juan Of The Dead
      • Jupiter's Moon
      • Just Do It
    • K >
      • Kaboom
      • Kenny
      • Khodorkovsky
      • Kick-Ass 2
      • Kill List
      • Kings
      • Klokkenluider
      • Klown
      • Knight of Cups
      • Knives Out
      • Kodachrome
      • Kosmos
      • Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
      • Kundo: Age Of The Rampant
    • L >
      • La Belle Epoque
      • La La Land
      • La Piscine
      • Lady Bird
      • Lady Chatterley
      • Lara
      • Largo Winch: Deadly Revenge
      • Largo Winch: The Burma Conspiracy
      • Las Acacias
      • Last Flag Flying
      • Last Night
      • Last Vegas
      • Laurence Anyways
      • Le Havre
      • Le Mans '66 / Ford v Ferrari
      • Le Week-End
      • Learning to Drive
      • Leave No Trace
      • Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
      • Les Affames
      • Les Miserables
      • Lethal Weapon
      • Liberal Arts
      • Life Of Crime
      • Life Of Pi
      • Like Father, Like Son
      • Limitless
      • Lincoln
      • Lion
      • Logan
      • Lone Survivor
      • Looper
      • Lore
      • Love & Mercy
      • Love Crime
      • Love Is All You Need
      • Love Punch
      • Loveless
      • Loving
      • Lucky Them
      • Lust, Caution
    • M >
      • Mad Max: Fury Road
      • Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
      • Madeline's Madeline
      • Maggie's Plan
      • Magic Trip
      • Maleficent
      • Man Of Steel
      • Man Up
      • Manchester by the Sea
      • Manhunt
      • Maps To The Stars
      • Marjorie Prime
      • Marrowbone
      • Mary Goes Round
      • May the Devil Take You
      • McCullin
      • Me and Orson Welles
      • Me And You
      • Medusa Deluxe
      • Mercy
      • Metallica Through The Never
      • Michael Clayton
      • Midnight Special
      • Miles Ahead
      • Minions
      • Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
      • Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
      • Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
      • Mister John
      • Moana
      • Molly's Game
      • Monsieur Lazhar
      • Monsters University
      • More
      • Morris from America
      • Mother And Child
      • Mr. Brooks
      • Mr Holmes
      • Mr Long
      • Mr. Nobody
      • Much Ado About Nothing
      • Muppets Most Wanted
      • Museo
      • My Days of Mercy
      • My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea
      • My Friend Dahmer
      • My Great Night
      • My Neighbour Totoro
      • My Neighbours The Yamadas
      • My Soul to Take
      • My Voyage to Italy
      • My Way
      • Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Movie
    • N >
      • Nasty Baby
      • Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
      • Need For Speed
      • Never Goin' Back
      • New World
      • News from Planet Mars
      • Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
      • Nightbirds
      • Nightcrawler
      • Nim's Island
      • Nina Forever
      • No
      • No Escape
      • No One Lives
      • Noah
      • Nocturnal Animals
      • Norman
      • Nostalgia For The Light
      • Nymphomaniac Volume 1
      • Nymphomaniac Volume 2
    • O >
      • Olympus Has Fallen
      • On Body and Soul
      • On Chesil Beach
      • Once
      • Only God Forgives
      • Oranges and Sunshine
      • Orion
      • Our Little Sister
      • Out Of The Furnace
      • Outrage Beyond
      • Outside In
    • P >
      • Pacific Rim
      • Papillon
      • Passport To Pimlico
      • Past Lives
      • Patti Cake$
      • Penguins of Madagascar
      • Perfect Sense
      • Pete's Dragon
      • Petra
      • Phoenix
      • Ping Pong
      • Piranha
      • Planes
      • Planet Terror
      • Pokemon Detective Pikachu
      • Polisse
      • Populaire
      • Porco Rosso
      • Possession
      • Potiche
      • Powder Room
      • Preggoland
      • Prince Avalanche
      • Princess Mononoke
      • Project Nim
      • Project X
      • Punishment Park
      • Pusher
    • Q >
      • Queen of Earth
      • Queen of the Desert
      • Quest For Fire
    • R >
      • R100
      • Racer and the Jailbird
      • Raid on Entebbe
      • Ran
      • Ratatouille
      • Ready Player One
      • Real Steel
      • [REC] 3 Genesis
      • Red 2
      • Red Dawn
      • Red White & Blue
      • Renoir
      • Requiem For A Killer
      • Requiem For A Village
      • Reservation Road
      • Resistance
      • Results
      • Return to Montauk
      • Revenge Of The Electric Car
      • Revivre
      • Revolution
      • Revolutionary Road
      • Riddick
      • Rise of the Planet of the Apes
      • Roman J. Israel, Esq.
      • Romantics Anonymous
      • Rurouni Kenshin 2: Kyoto Inferno
      • Rurouni Kenshin 3: The Legend Ends
      • Rush
      • Rust And Bone
    • S >
      • Safe
      • Safe House
      • Saint Amour
      • Salmon Fishing In The Yemen
      • Salt and Fire
      • Salt of Life
      • Samsara
      • Savages
      • Sawako Decides
      • Scrapper
      • Season of the Witch
      • See [seasons 1-2]
      • Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World
      • Selma
      • Shadow
      • She's Funny That Way
      • Shepherds and Butchers
      • Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows
      • Short Term 12
      • Shotgun Stories
      • Sightseers
      • Simon Killer
      • Sing
      • Sister
      • Skate Kitchen
      • Sleeping with Other People
      • Sleuth
      • Small Apartments
      • Snitch
      • Snowpiercer
      • Snowtown
      • Sonatine
      • Son of a Gun
      • Son of Saul
      • Soul Surfer
      • Source Code
      • Southern Comfort
      • Soy Nero
      • Spartacus: Vengeance
      • Spartacus: War Of The Damned
      • Special Forces
      • SPL 2: A Time for Consequences
      • Spooks: The Greater Good
      • Spoor
      • Spotlight
      • Spring
      • Spy
      • Stake Land
      • Stalingrad
      • Stan & Ollie
      • Star Trek Beyond
      • Star Trek Into Darkness
      • Starbuck
      • Strange Weather
      • Submarine
      • Suite Francaise
      • Summer In February
      • Sunshine On Leith
      • Super
      • Superbad
      • Superman Returns
      • Sweet Country
      • Synchronic
    • T >
      • Taken 2
      • Taking Off
      • Tales from Earthsea
      • Talk to Me
      • Tatsumi
      • Taxi
      • Taxi: Season 1
      • Ted
      • Terminator 2: Judgment Day
      • Terminator Genisys
      • Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
      • Testament of Youth
      • Tetsuo: The Iron Man
      • That Awkward Moment
      • Therese Desqueyroux
      • They Came Together
      • Things to Come
      • This Is The End
      • Thor: The Dark World
      • Thoroughbreds
      • Those Happy Years
      • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
      • Three Christs
      • Throne of Blood
      • Tiger Girl
      • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
      • Tiny Furniture
      • Tokyo Ga
      • Tokyo Godfathers
      • Tokyo Tribe
      • Tomboy
      • Tomorrowland
      • Toni Erdmann
      • Total Recall
      • Tragedy Girls
      • Train to Busan
      • Trance
      • Transformers
      • Transformers: Age Of Extinction
      • Transit
      • Transit [2018]
      • Trespass Against Us
      • Triangle
      • Triangle of Sadness
      • Troll Hunter
      • Tron: Legacy
      • Truman
      • Tumbbad
      • Two Lovers and a Bear
    • THE >
      • The Amateurs
      • The Arbor
      • The Assault
      • The Autopsy of Jane Doe
      • The Avengers
      • The Awakening
      • The Baader-Meinhof Complex
      • The Bacchus Lady
      • The Bad Batch
      • The Ballad of Narayama
      • The Bar
      • The Bay
      • The Baytown Outlaws
      • The Be All And End All
      • The Beaver
      • The Belko Experiment
      • The Beloved
      • The Berlin File
      • The Big Sick
      • The Bookshop
      • The Boy and the Beast
      • The Brawler
      • The Breadwinner
      • The Breaker Upperers
      • The Cabin In The Woods
      • The Captain
      • The Castle of Cagliostro
      • The Cat Returns
      • The Chamber
      • The Children Act
      • The Climb
      • The Cobbler
      • The Commune
      • The Conjuring 2
      • The Counsellor
      • The Croods
      • The Current War
      • The Danish Girl
      • The Daughter
      • The Day After
      • The Dead
      • The Debt
      • The Devil's Double
      • The Dinner
      • The Dinosaur Project
      • The Doom Generation
      • The Drummond Will
      • The Dyatlov Pass Incident
      • The East
      • The Edge of Seventeen
      • The Evil in Us
      • The Expendables 3
      • The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec
      • The Fake
      • The Family Fang
      • The Farewell
      • The Favourite
      • The Fighter
      • The Five Year Engagement
      • The Front Runner
      • The Girl
      • The Girl in the Photographs
      • The Good Dinosaur
      • The Grand Heist
      • The Grandmaster
      • The Greasy Strangler
      • The Great Beauty
      • The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
      • The Guest
      • The Guilty
      • The Gunman
      • The Hateful Eight
      • The Heiresses
      • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
      • The House That Jack Built
      • The Housemaid
      • The Hunger Games
      • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
      • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
      • The Hunter
      • The Huntsman: Winter's War
      • The Iceman
      • The Imitation Game
      • The Incredible Jessica James
      • The Informer
      • The Innkeepers
      • The Interrupters
      • The Intervention
      • The Judge
      • The Keeper Of Lost Causes
      • The Killer Inside Me
      • The King
      • The Last Stand
      • The Legend of Bruce Lee
      • The Lighthouse
      • The Little House
      • The Little Tailor
      • The Lives of Others
      • The Lone Ranger
      • The Look Of Love
      • The Lost Okoroshi
      • The Man from Nowhere
      • The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
      • The Mercy
      • The Mind's Eye
      • The Miseducation of Cameron Post
      • The Mist
      • The Molly Dineen Collection Volume Three
      • The Motive
      • The Mule
      • The Muppets
      • The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman
      • The Nice Guys
      • The Nightingale
      • The Northman
      • The Numbers Station
      • The Other Side of Hope
      • The Overnight
      • The Panic in Needle Park
      • The Party
      • The Patriarch
      • The Place Beyond The Pines
      • The Prey
      • The Proposition
      • The Purge: Anarchy
      • The Raid
      • The Raid 2
      • The Railway Man
      • The Reach
      • The Rebound
      • The Red Turtle
      • The Reef
      • The Resident
      • The Return Of The Living Dead
      • The Revenant
      • The Rig
      • The Sapphires
      • The Saragossa Manuscript
      • The Satellite Girl and the Milk Cow
      • The Secret in Their Eyes
      • The Selfish Giant
      • The Sentinel
      • The Shameless
      • The Shape of Water
      • The Shining
      • The Signal
      • The Skin I Live In
      • The Source
      • The Stag
      • The Strange Little Cat
      • The Summit
      • The Taste Of Money
      • The Thieves
      • The Thing
      • The Third Murder
      • The Tree
      • The Tribe
      • The Two Faces Of January
      • The Truth
      • The Upside
      • The Veteran
      • The Villainess
      • The Voices
      • The Walking Dead season two
      • The Watch
      • The Water Diviner
      • The Wave
      • The Way
      • The Way Way Back
      • The Whistlers
      • The Widow of Saint-Pierre
      • The Wind Rises
      • The Wolverine
      • The Woman in Black: Angel of Death
      • The Woman in the Fifth
      • The World of Kanako
      • The World's End
      • The Yellow Sea
      • The Young And Prodigious T.S. Spivet
    • U >
      • Unbeatable
      • Unbroken
      • Underground
      • Underwater Love
      • Unforgiven
      • Unicorn Store
      • Unicorn Wars
      • Unknown
      • Unmistaken Child
      • Unsane
      • Unstoppable
    • V >
      • Vehicle 19
      • V/H/S
      • V/H/S/2
      • Victoria
      • Vidal Sassoon The Movie
      • Villain
      • Vinyl season one
      • Visitors
      • Viva La Liberta
      • Vox Lux
    • W >
      • Waitress
      • Walking Out
      • War Dogs
      • War Horse
      • War of the Arrow
      • War on Everyone
      • Warrior
      • Watcher
      • We Are the Flesh
      • We Are The Night
      • We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
      • We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks
      • Weekend
      • Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
      • Weirdos
      • Welcome To New York
      • West is West
      • What If
      • What Maisie Knew
      • What We Do In The Shadows
      • While We're Young
      • White God
      • Who Killed The Electric Car?
      • Who We Are Now
      • Widows
      • Wiener-Dog
      • Wild Mouse
      • Wildlife
      • Willow Creek
      • Wish I Was Here
      • Woman at War
      • Wonderstruck
      • Woochi: The Demon Slayer
      • Woody Allen: A Documentary
      • Words And Pictures
      • World War Z
      • Wreck-It Ralph
      • Wuthering Heights
      • Wyrmwood
    • X >
      • X-Men: Apocalypse
      • X-Men: Days Of Future Past
      • X+Y
    • Y >
      • Yardie
      • Yatterman
      • Yojimbo
      • You Are Here
      • You Hurt My Feelings
      • You Instead
      • You Were Never Really Here
      • You're Next
      • Young Adult
      • Your Sister's Sister
    • Z >
      • Zathura
  • THEATRE & ARTS
    • A Walk On Part: The Fall Of New Labour
    • Akram Khan: Homeland
    • All New People
    • Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn in Conversation
    • Battle Angel Alita: volume 1
    • Battle Angel Alita: volumes 2, 3 & 4
    • Battle Angel Alita: volumes 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9
    • Brian Wilson
    • Cantina
    • Derren Brown - Svengali
    • Fourth Dimensional Minds Eye Summoning
    • Gilbert & George
    • Jumpy
    • Let The Right One In
    • Lisa Appignanesi
    • Mary Queen Of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off
    • My Girlfriend's Boyfriend
    • Othello: The Remix
    • Philip Pullman
    • Posh
    • Rob Delaney
    • Ronin
    • Sunken Garden
    • Sutra
    • The Book Of Mormon
    • The Great Gatsby
    • The Master And Margarita
    • The Silver Linings Playbook
    • The Thinking Drinker's Guide To Alcohol
    • Thriller Live
    • Touched...Like A Virgin
    • Travelling Light
    • Wah! Wah! Girls - A British Bollywood Musical
    • Wild Swans
  • FEATURES-INTERVIEWS
    • 2008 Review and 2009 Preview
    • 2010 in Review
    • 2011 In Review
    • 2012 In Anticipation
    • 2012 In Review: Part One
    • 2012 In Review: Part Two
    • Alternate Summer 2011
    • Ang Lee: A Life In Pictures
    • Atmosphere of the Berlinale
    • Autumn at the Multiplexes
    • BBC 4 World Cinema Award 2006
    • Berlin Film Festival 2011: Part One
    • Berlin Film Festival 2011: Part Two
    • Berlin Film Festival 2011: Part Three
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Picture
1 August 2010
By Hemanth Kissoon
While attending EIFF 2010, Scotland had the longest consecutive days of sunshine on record, what a great way to enjoy a festival! Add in some local single malt whisky, and you have the makings of unparalleled fun. Only kidding. Sort of.

Two weeks of non-stop movie-watching heralded some real gems in a consistently entertaining line-up. Certain themes emerged from this year’s crop...

Crime

A fantastic crop spanning the crime genre, ranging from an Oscar winner, to minimalism, to biography and to Scarface-style excess.  Whoah! Hello! What more do you want? The small screen has been kicking its bigger brother’s butt for years. Since Homicide: Life on the Street, we’ve had The Wire, Dexter and The Shield. The modern batch (Brooklyn’s Finest, We Own the Night, American Gangster, etc.) just have not been delivering (with the odd exceptions – Narc and Training Day). Don’t fret though...

... the film of the Festival... The Secret in Their Eyes. An epic, emotionally engaging Argentinean crime saga, from the perspective of prosecutors who are fighting laziness, incompetence and corruption to catch the suspected perpetrator of a brutal murder. Well drawn characters, great acting and sharp dialogue, all encased in a handsome looking film. There is a seeming one-take shot so breathtaking that you want to rewind it; it starts tracking in from the sky on a football match and ends in a chase around the stadium. Controversially this won the Oscar for Best Film in a foreign language in an extremely strong year, but when something is as gripping as this I really don’t mind.

Adrenaline = The Robber. A bold statement. This Austrian film lacks character analysis or societal commentary, but instead is about compulsion and the resilience of the human spirit to avoid captivity. A serial armed bank robber is being hunted. Oh yeah, he’s also a gifted marathon runner.  A first-rate thriller stripped of any fat. It shares a similarity with another two in the Festival (The Hunter and Police, Adjective), minimalism. All three eschew dialogue, opting for facial expression and actions. The Hunter and Police, Adjective are a commentary on law enforcement in their respective Iran and Romania. The former is a very well made evolving tale of an ex-con attempting to reintegrate and fortune not smiling; while the latter is an exhaustive procedural look at pedantry and time-wasting.

The Brits offer Mr Nice, the adaptation of the autobiography of drug-trafficker turned writer, Howard Marks (played by Rhys Ifans). Like Johnny Depp’s Blow, the accusation of glamorisation could be levelled, but it is not as bleak as that, nor as grim as Midnight Express (what is though?). It passes the time but is forgettable; not as good as director Bernard Rose’s last two Tolstoy efforts.

Hitmen messing about in Germany’s mountains. Snowman’s Land. Funny but the lead is too passive to be especially enthralling. That cannot be said of the latest from B-Movie crime-meister studio Europa Corp, owned by Luc Besson, which sees Jean Reno come out of mob boss retirement to find out who decided to turn him into a human sponge. A serious amount of people die in the relentlessly paced 22 Bullets.



Westerns

There’s nothing like a good Australian allegory. See Jindabyne, Samson & Delilah and The Propoisition if you are in any doubt. Red Hill joins them, starring Ryan Kwanten (a.k.a. Jason Stackhouse from True Blood) as a deputy joining a rural force who has a pregnant wife in tow. This is like the reverse of Se7en, a man here leaves the city and encounters a serial killer. A highly capable escaped convict has broken out of prison and is on the rampage. It appears random at first. If movies could have descendants, this would be one from Clint Eastwood’s back catalogue.

High praise cannot be aimed at The Last Rites of Ransom Pride, a messy post-modern Western that is unmemorable and unenthralling.


Supernatural

This year’s crop of supernaturals was weak. There was a “comedy”-zombie-horror from Greece, Evil in the Time of Heroes. It’s no Zombieland, nor even as funny as the over-rated Shaun of the Dead.

Skeletons is like The X-Files, except more lame. Two investigators, working for an ambiguous company, are hired to look into people’s backgrounds. There’s a mechanical-mystical element to this paranormal examination, that seems to be aiming at realism; but overall the film is flat, with poor direction and cinematography, by the numbers writing, and charisma-less performances.

Even worse, is H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror. This has an intriguing premise – a horror film set in 1929 without visuals, i.e. a radio production in cinema surround sound. I couldn’t wait. This could be boundary pushing. It wasn’t. No atmosphere, no thrills and clunky dialogue and acting. Another attempt?


Documentary

Some solid work here. The People Vs .Gorge Lucas is documentary as essay. The best examples are Taxi to the Dark Side and Capturing the Friedmans. The subject matter doesn’t lend itself to scaling those heights, but it is hugely satisfying for any Star Wars/Indiana Jones fans who feel let down by the bearded one. A very aware piece that says it is funny how folks get angry about these franchises, and argues why. It does also touch on an important issue that once art is given out for public consumption, who owns it, the public or the creator? The only gripe is the cop-out of an ending. The rest of the film is backed up by evidence, while the overall conclusion is not.

Who doesn’t love director Steven Soderbergh? Put your hands up. Ok, those with their hands up, get out. For the rest, he’s got a new one - And Everything is Going Fine, a beautiful ode to raconteur and actor Spalding Gray. Well researched and edited, this is Gray’s life in Gray’s words, put together from hours of footage. The man is a wit of the old school, and if you like the old school, you’ll like this.

Restrepo is named after a soldier and an outpost in Afghanistan, and follows the troops on the ground. The access the filmmakers get is impressive, and some of the footage is better than what we get in the news. However, it lacks context and analysis, which might be fine for some, but not for me. One also has to wonder what compromises were made to get the permissions for these recordings.



Animation

The four feature animations I caught were all top quality. The two big ones were Toy Story 3 and The Illusionist. Both extremely moving. The latter the superior, as it was braver and harsher; though a day will come I am sure when Pixar gets to be that bleak. Toy Story 3 seems to be the end of the journey for the saga, and a fitting, fulfilling end it is. Contrast the way the last two Shrek films have foundered. The Illusionist is also about the end of an era, and really for adults. It has similarities to Laurence Olivier’s The Entertainer; while also retaining director Sylvain Chomet’s rare use of words spoken, intricate detail and expressiveness of gesture that made Belleville Rendez-Vous so refreshing.

From one of Hayao Miyazaki’s assistant directors, Mai Mai Miracle has the feel of a Studio Ghibli. It is spiritual and elegiac, about growing up and imagination and absence; set in a rural idyllic. The opposite, from the UK, is Jackboots on Whitehall, a laugh-out-loud look at an alternate reality if the Nazis had successfully invaded Britain during the Second World War. The ropey animation heightens the stereotypical plucky underdog spirit. Not quite a satire, more a scatter-gun of jokes aimed everywhere.


Friends and Family

Father figures loomed large, both real and metaphorical. Soul Boy, a Kenyan picture over-seen by Tom Twyker, had the director’s tightness of storytelling. Only an hour long, it sees Abi, a brave, resourceful kid on the cusp of manhood, trying to save his weak-willed father’s soul. A spiritual narrative on what it means to be a man, as well as a look at class, race and poverty; with great music. Robin Williams, on the hand, covers up his son’s accidental death via auto-erotic-asphyxiation (is that the right technical term?) in World’s Greatest Dad. He does this by faking a diary that turns out to speak for a generation. A fantastic comedy of awkwardness about the tragi-comedy of not succeeding, which deftly manoeuvres between hilarity and pathos – the seamless transitions in tone are amazing. It is also a satire on high school and those that exploit the dead. Paul Dano has two father figures in two films, one played by a crotchety Brian Cox, in The Good Heart, and the other by a crotchety Kevin Kline, in The Extra Man. The former was a satisfying morality tale about the positivity of the human spirit, while the latter is another disappointment from the directors of the awesome American Splendour; it was annoyingly anachronistic and eccentric, about men searching for companionship and their place in the world.

Male bonding had two polar opposites. One a classic. The other absolutely dire. The former was a new print of The Man Who Would Be King, introduced on stage beforehand by a bona fide legend Sean Connery!! The latter was, Huge, the directorial debut of Ben Miller. Connery and Michael Caine, like two supernovas lighting up the screen, are rogues in Asia attempting to make their fortune during the height of the British Empire. Huge concerns Johnny Harris and Noel Clarke as two aspiring comics attempting to make it big. A film about comedians made by a comedian without any jokes. It was so cringily woeful, especially when characters call each other hilarious. They aren’t. Not even as good as Adam Sandler’s Funny People.

Female bonding. Chase the Slut is a mumblecore look at reputations, friendship and religion. The titular Chase wants to get out of her home town but her car is busted. Her wealthy friend Tibbs, in a Dangerous Liaisons-stylee, offers the repair money if she is able to seduce a devout, innocent young man. An intriguing look at trying to reinvent yourself and amity. Thelma, Louise... and Chantal is a road movie about mature women bonding and reappraising their lives, having been abandoned by their men. It is uplifting on learning to like oneself without being cloying.

A Werner Herzog – David Lynch collaboration was always going to be... different. Lynch presents My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?, which appears to be about mental illness and over-bearing mothers, though it is far from clear. Very well shot, as par the course for director Herzog, but it is opaque and repetitive. Shame.


Bigger than Us

Twp epics. One of history, the other of ideas.

If you’ve studied the period or watched La Reine Margot, you’ll be aware of the Catholic-Protestant clashes in 16th century France. The Isabelle Adjani picture was from the perspective of Margot, but here it is from her husband – the titular, Henry of Navarre. A grand biopic dealing with themes of religion, politics and sex. A heady mix. It shows how a leader can be in constant danger.

Les Signes Vitaux is a Quebecois study of the disintegration of the body due to age. We see this through the eyes of a young female volunteer at a care home, who struggles with her own demons. The music would not be out of place in something like Blade Runner, and it lends the mood an other-worldly and unusual impression. As few words are uttered, this heights even more the importance of the body. Ageing, perhaps one of the last elephants in the room of the Western world. Ambitious.


Romance

Bouncing back was a major element of the romance genre. I don’t know whether I was in a soppy frame of mind but I enjoyed The Rebound; about a 40-something lady having a relationship with a 25 year old. It was funny, likeably acted, and I was caught up in the ending. I’m lame, what can I say? Heartbreaker is a seriously polished French rom-com. Romain Duris’ Alex Lippi works with his sister and brother-in-law as a team who are hired to help women move on from negative relationships; and then low and behold he meets a real challenge in Johnny Depps’ Mrs, Vanessa Paradis. Kind of like the reverse Hitch.  A more realistic look at heartache came from Honeymooner, a Brit flick set over the period when the lead would have been on his post-nuptial holiday. He was dumped before the wedding. Interesting interactions lift this above the norm, but flat cinematography place the film into the realm of a TV movie rather than something for the big screen. I spent most of Ollie Kepler’s Expanding Purple World disliking it, mostly because the lead, Edward Hogg (The Bunny and the Bull), is so wet in his performances, though by the end I found it an affecting portrait of grief, guilt and mental illness.

Grief and guilt are also dealt with in Get Low, about a giant anti-climax, that at first feels what-the-eff?!, then you realise that was the point. It helps that the cast include Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek and Lucas Black. Charismatic performances, as you’d expect, build to a story of regret and the ability to judge one’s own actions.

An awful title – My Words, My Lies - My Love – is a German rom-com with an unusually dark edge. A waiter David (Daniel Bruhl) is making goo-goo eyes at a literature student, but he is off her radar. As one does, David finds an undiscovered manuscript in a cabinet he purchases at a market. He claims it as his own to impress her, and it so happens to be a modern masterpiece. She publishes it in his name behind his back, turning it into a phenomenon. Throw into the mix a vulture who is the only other person privy to his secret, and you have a comedy of errors. The director said afterwards that the ending is ambiguous, which was different to my original interpretation, and actually it works, and it works well.

One of the true joys of the EIFF was Au Revoir Taipei, a fun crime caper set over one night as a couple try to get a package across the city. It is peopled with charmingly drawn characters who all work harmoniously together.

“Don’t you feel bad that you need something tragic to happen to profit from it?” Samantha
“What, like a doctor?” Andrew
It Happened One Night, Midnight Run, the race against time movie. Done right is awesome. This one was done right: Monsters. The most dazzling of the whole Festival. Six years ago NASA discovered life outside this planet. On returning, the probe bringing back samples crashes over Mexico turning a large part of the country into an uninhabitable zone; as huge aliens have now spawned there. Andrew, an ambitious photo journalist, is ordered to escort the boss’s daughter, Samantha, safely back home. Romance, action, striking cinematography, and an allegory to America’s treatment of its southern neighbour. Director-writer-cinematographer-production designer-special effects designer, Gareth Edwards, take a mutha-effing bow!


My Favourites

1. The Secret in Their Eyes
2. Monsters
3. The Robber
4. World’s Greatest Dad
5. Au Revoir Taipai
6. Soul Boy
7. Les Signes Vitaux
8. Red Hill
9. The Rebound
10. The Illusionist


Enjoy responsibly!

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