The Room (2003)

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012

It was a question of defining importance. For decades, the debate raged. What was the worst film of all time? The contenders came from far and wide – Plan 9 From Outer Space, Robot Monster, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Troll 2, Zombie! vs. Mardi Gras, Howard the Duck, Battlefield Earth. With Read more...

Total Recall

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012

Going into this, I was very sceptical. The original Total Recall (1990) was a classic Paul Verhoeven glossy violence-fest, not to mention one of Arnie’s best films (though admittedly this is a bit like saying that Harry is one of the hottest royals); remaking it was a dangerous game. Plus I’d heard Read more...

Bernie

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012

Lots of films get laughs by poking fun at hicks. However, few do so in as affectionate and poignant a way as Bernie, a quirky sleeper hit in the vein of Juno or Little Miss Sunshine. Set in Carthage, Texas – which, as its townsfolk reliably inform us, is in the non-liberal, non-Mexican part of the Read more...

The Great Critic Politics Quiz

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012

Are you jealous of friends who describe themselves as “progressive,” “right-wing,” or “conservative”? Do you desperately yearn to categorise your political views into a neat little box? If so, good news! Critic’s resident political scientists, Callum Fredric and Sam McChesney, have studied Read more...

The Bourne Legacy

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012

Should I even be comparing this to the first three Bourne films? It has no Matt Damon, a completely different supporting cast, and a new director (although Tony Gilroy was screenwriter for the original trilogy). The plot has nothing to do with the search for identity which animated the first three. Read more...

Classic Film | Issue 3

Posted 6:37pm Sunday 11th March 2012

Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen All The Dude ever wanted was his rug back. When Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is mistaken for an indebted millionaire of same name, and his rug is thusly micturated upon by a porn baron’s enforcer, he embarks on an epic quest to obtain, you Read more...

Rich White Men Battle to Evict Black Guy

Posted 6:37pm Sunday 11th March 2012

The race for the Republican presidential nomination drags hilariously on. Actually, given that at the time of writing Mitt Romney has just won in the key state of Ohio, the race may actually be over by the time this issue of Critic gets published. In that case, don’t think of this blurb as obsolete, Read more...

Classic Film

Posted 3:12pm Saturday 25th February 2012

Director: Roman Polanski Chinatown is a blockbuster that would never get made today: main characters die off-screen, the plot has something to do with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, there is a light-hearted visual gag about wife-beating, the protagonist spends half the film Read more...

Gantz

Posted 11:12pm Monday 22nd August 2011

Directed by Shinsuke Sato, (1.5/5). Allegedly, you will either love Gantz or hate it. My experience of the film was certainly consistent with this principle. And hint: I didn’t love it.   Let me make one thing clear: I am not opposed to films based on comic books. Scott Read more...

Page One: inside the New York Times (Film Fest)

Posted 3:55am Monday 15th August 2011

Directed by Andrew Rossi, (4/5). Page One is the story of an institution in decline, hurt by plummeting advertising revenue and enforced layoffs. It is also shamelessly biased, towards both the New York Times and traditional print media in general. Its protagonists are portrayed as heroic Read more...