I just had to share this with you. "Catchphrase!"...

Posted at 9:15 PM in Cinema

Monday, February 1, 2010: THE STRANGERS (USA, 2008) 4/10 Thursday, February 4, 2010: THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE (France/Poland/Norway, 1991) 7/10 or 8/10 Tuesday, February 9, 2010: MYSTIC RIVER (USA/Australia, 2003) 7/10 Sunday, February 14, 2010: THE GIRL WHO...

Posted at 11:59 PM in Cinema

This is going to be a rather incomplete report, because although eight films were shown at the Glasgow FrightFest, I only went along for two: A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN and AMER. I met up with Nick and Sandy...

Posted at 10:10 AM in Cinema

I'm off to the Glasgow Film Festival tomorrow afternoon to meet up with some of the Dark Dreams crowd and catch screenings of Lucio Fulci's A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN and Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani's AMER. With a...

Posted at 3:22 PM in Cinema

Best Film - The Hurt Locker Outstanding British Film - Fish Tank Director - Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker Actor - Colin Firth, A Single Man Actress - Carey Mulligan, An Education Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds Supporting...

Posted at 12:23 PM in Cinema

Tonight sees the 2010 instalment of the UK's answer to the Oscars, the BAFTAs. I've just taken a look at the nominees and am once again shamed by how few I've actually seen. The full list of nominees, as per...

Posted at 3:08 PM in Cinema

Whereas the first instalment of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, received a lavish, big-screen adaptation, its two follow-ups, THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE and THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST, were fast-tracked as...

Posted at 2:53 PM in Cinema

Note: a big thank you to Nick for setting me up with English subtitles, which are not included on the Norwegian BD version I watched. The film will receive a UK theatrical release in March, and an English-friendly BD will...

Posted at 9:40 AM in Cinema

On Friday 26th and Saturday 27th of February, the annual Glasgow FrightFest is being held at the Glasgow Film Theatre. As per the official web site, the full list of titles being screened is as follows: Friday: 7.00 pm -...

Posted at 7:20 PM in Cinema

I'm currently working on an in-depth write-up about the new UK Suspiria BD release. I can't promise to have it up today, but for now, feast your eyes on this exclusive clip from Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani's Amer, courtesy...

Posted at 1:59 PM in Cinema

On Her Majesty's Secret Service can lay reasonable claim to being the odd one out in the official series of James Bond films (by which I mean everything from Dr. No in 1962 through Quantum of Solace in 2008, discounting...

Posted at 10:36 PM in Cinema

I've already done a Top 10 Films of 2009 list going by UK theatrical release dates. Normally, I prefer to go by the release date of a film in its country of origin to determine its year (a.k.a. the dates...

Posted at 10:57 PM in Cinema

#1. Mulholland Dr.(David Lynch, 2001) An absolute masterpiece, a mesmerising fever dream told by the king of fever dreams, and one of the most powerful achievements of cinema in the last decade. Whether it came about intentionally or completely...

Posted at 12:00 AM in Cinema

#2. Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain(Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001) A refreshing example of a film that has no political or moral pretensions and one that simply wishes to tell the story of a strange but fascinating and genuinely delightful person...

Posted at 12:00 AM in Cinema

#3. Wall-E(Andrew Stanton, 2008) Pixar's ninth feature length production and consecutive box office hit showcases the greatest animation studio of the present day at the top of its game, both its artistry and its storytelling having matured to the...

Posted at 12:00 AM in Cinema

#4. Hannibal(Ridley Scott, 2001) Unjustly maligned for not simply delivering more of the same, this unconventional follow-up to The Silence of the Lambs jettisons the police procedural structure of its predecessor in order to deliver a twisted riff on...

Posted at 12:00 AM in Cinema

#5. Changeling(Clint Eastwood, 2008) Proof that the words "Based on a true story" coupled with a running time in excess of two hours are not necessarily harbingers of tedium. Clint Eastwood spins a compelling web centred around a harrowing...

Posted at 12:00 AM in Cinema

#6. Atonement(Joe Wright, 2007) Playing with chronology and seamlessly blending fantasy and reality, Atonement is a film about misunderstandings and the loss of innocence. Inventive and profoundly moving, it captures a wide range of tones perfectly, from naive pre-war...

Posted at 12:00 AM in Cinema

#7. The Descent(Neil Marshall, 2005) Quite simply, a magnificent horror film, and one which proves that there remain few things more effective than placing a group of characters in a terrifying situation and seeing how they react. It's a...

Posted at 12:00 AM in Cinema

A wonderful celebration of the year in movies, put together by Kees van Dijkhuizen. See his 2008 retrospective here too....

Posted at 8:39 PM in Cinema

#8. Children of Men(Alfonso Cuarón, 2006) As relevant to the present day as futuristic science fiction can be, Children of Men presents us with a deeply resonant dystopian view of what the world could potentially be like a few...

Posted at 12:00 AM in Cinema

#9. Volver(Pedro Almodóvar, 2006) Penélope Cruz gives a career-best performance in Pedro Almodóvar's whimsical yet touching exploration of the relationships between a family of women, a melodrama with a supernatural twist. One of two primarily "feel-good" films in my...

Posted at 12:00 AM in Cinema

My fellow DVD Times contributors and I were asked to provide a list of our top ten films of 2009. Obviously, DVD Times is a UK-based site and as such goes by UK theatrical release dates. Whenever I personally...

Posted at 12:23 PM in Cinema

#10. Les triplettes de Belleville(Sylvain Chomet, 2003) A thoroughly unique tale that manages to combine a childish curiosity with more grown-up cynicism, Sylvain Chomet's excellent achievement in the field of animation shows that a film with little to no...

Posted at 12:00 AM in Cinema

Beginning tomorrow, with ten days left to go in the "noughties", I'm going to run through my ten personal favourite films of the decade, one per day, in ascending order. See how many you can guess before they're revealed: ???...

Posted at 3:14 PM in Cinema