Category: Films

The science in this is dubious in the extreme, but you go to see a film like this for the special effects and the ride. I admit that I quite enjoyed it, and the effects are well done. I’ll ignore the blatant plugs for fellow Fox channels Fox News and Sky, the painful references to…

Payday, so what better way to treat myself than pick up a DVD at HMV on the way home. I got this classic Roman Polanski film because it’s simply wonderful. I think it’s safe to say that the makers of Dead Calm were probably over-so-slightly influenced by this Polish debut feature. There are only three…

Big historical epics are my kind of films, and I’ll always go and see them. We went through a long phase of not really getting the sword and sandals epics of old, until Ridley Scott made Gladiator a few years ago. I remember when we used to get massive TV movies set in Roman times,…

Try as I might, I really can’t cope with the title of this film. When I wandered into the Odeon, and reached the cash desk, my eyes were wandering around until I saw a poster from which to read the title. The fact that Charlie Kaufman wrote the screenplay was always going to be enough…

Finally got around to seeing Shaun of the Dead, and well worth a visit to the cinema it is. Essentially this is zombie spin-off from Spaced, but that’d do it a disservice. I was a big fan of Spaced… OK, I became a big fan of Spaced. You see, I entirely missed out on the…

Zatoichi is directed by and stars Beat Takeshi Kitano. Well, he’s Beat Takeshi the actor Takeshi Kitano the writer/director. Most of Takeshi’s work makes it through to the west one way or another, but this is probably one his better pieces that I’ve seen. The story is set in 19th century Japan with Takeshi playing…

I spent a large chunk of the weekend watching The Singing Detective for the first time since it was originally broadcast in 1986. Here’s an admission – I’ve still got the Radio Times from that week with a rather cool cover featuring the artwork from the series (think 1940s paperback pulp paperbacks). The series has…

Bernardo Bertolucci’s latest is The Dreamers, about which I wrote a little recently. Now I’ve finally got to see the film. Set in 1968 Paris, Matthew is an American student and cinephile who’s befriended by twins Isabelle and Theo. He moves in with them in their wonderful Parisien flat. And then things take a turn…

Ron Howard’s latest film is The Missing, which the distributors seem at pains to not call a western. Well it is a western – of that there can be no doubt. We’re in 1885 Arizona, and if that’s not the west, then call me the man with no name. Cate Blanchett is the local medicine…

Two Scarlett Johansson films in as many weeks? But you are spoiling us. It took a little to persuade me to see this film. Colin Firth isn’t exactly a box office draw in my book, but the beauty of the film was mentioned by everyone I heard talk about it. So I relented. Taking a…

From the outset, let’s just say that this is not a good film. Ben Affleck is so so, Uma Thurman seems to be on autopilot after Kill Bill, and there’s no chemistry between them whatsoever. Based on a Philip K Dick story, the producers no doubt thought they’d be more than happy with Bladerunner or…

I’d been curious about this film from the poster alone, so when I didn’t manage to get along to the cinema at the weekend, tonight seemed a good time to go, and what a marvellous film. It’s slightly disconcerting to discover that director Sofia Coppolla is a couple of years younger than me – well…

I bought my first ever video recorder on 27 October 1990. How can I be so certain of the date? Because I was in Edinburgh on my placement year, I’d just moved into a new flat, discovered that I needed a new TV aerial fitted, and Twin Peaks was starting on BBC2 which I knew…