Cinema
Allergic to blockbusters? See Wakolda
Wakolda is not a sunny film for a sunny day, just so you’re aware, but as there is so little…
Moon Indigo: an all-you-can-eat buffet for the eyes - but your brain will feel famished
Your enjoyment of Michel Gondry’s Mood Indigo may entirely depend on how much visual whimsy you can take, what your…
The Lunchbox: a love story based on food and free postage
Was Kate due a grounding after the awards extravaganza of Revolutionary Road and The Reader? Because Labor Day (12A) slipped…
The problem with Believe is you simply won’t believe any of it - unless you’re a child
The trouble with Believe is that, unless you are ten years old or under, which I’m assuming you are not,…
How did a New York nanny become one of the great photographers of the 20th century?
Finding Vivian Maier is a documentary about the American nanny who led a wholly secretive life as a photographer and…
A miracle: a three-hour film that flies by
Richard Linklater’s observational chronicle, Boyhood, was 12 years in the making and is 166 minutes long — that’s nearly three…
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of a Window and Bloody Well Should Have Disappeared
If it were up to me this would be called ‘The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window, Fell, and…
Walking on Sunshine: the feel-ennui musical of the year
As far as ‘jukebox films’ go, Mamma Mia! was a riot, Sunshine on Leith was tolerable, just about, while Walking…
A funny weepie that paints itself into a contrived corner
The Fault in Our Stars, which is based on the bestselling young-adult novel by John Green, is about two teenagers…
Belle has everything going for it – except for a decent soundtrack or script or plot or acting
Belle is based on the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate, mixed-race daughter of a sea captain and…
Grace of Monaco: a big, glistening, strutting, irresistible turkey
Grace of Monaco, the Grace Kelly biopic starring Nicole Kidman, is an absolute joy, and I highly recommend it. Unless…
I suspected Maleficent would be terrible from the very first shot
If a gang of knife-wielding toddlers ever presses you for the name of the best Disney film, Sleeping Beauty (1959)…
Avoid the latest commercial juggernaut and go off-road with Run & Jump
When you see the latest corporate entertainment juggernaut hurtling at you, what are your options? When I saw X-Men: Days…
The humans in Godzilla are so bland and dull you may well find yourself rooting for the monster
Godzilla is from the director Gareth Edwards, a Brit whose first film, Monsters, truly put him on the map, as…
‘Sometimes audiences applauded Frank; sometimes they threw stuff at him’
Frank is a music biopic, but only of sorts, as it is not at all like your average music biopic.…
Blue Ruin is unwatchable, bloody – but, from what I saw, rather good
Blue Ruin is a low-budget yet highly accomplished revenge thriller although whether you have the stomach for it is another…
If The Other Woman is a box-office hit, I’m going to have to top myself
The Other Woman is not just an extremely bad film but also a wholly reprehensible one (she says, with her…
The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Too much bang-bang, not enough kiss-kiss
Have you seen that pizza with a cheeseburger crust? If not, just imagine a normal pizza, except where the pizza…
Waiting for Godot - but with plot
If the very first scene of Calvary doesn’t immediately draw you in there’s every chance there is something seriously wrong…
The Double will stay in your mind, like a bit of food caught in a tooth
I should warn you that if you go see The Double it is one of those films that will trouble…
What backing singers are really thinking behind the ‘ooh, ooh, oohs’
Have you ever looked at backing singers and thought: what is their story? Do they or have they ever prayed…
These screen suicides deserve a nudge off the ledge
A Long Way Down is about four would-be suicides who meet for the first time on the top of a…
Are you a lobotomised teenager? Then Need for Speed is for you
OK, Need for Speed, if we must, and we must because I sat through it (running time: 130 minutes) and…
A film to enjoy with your eyes
The Grand Budapest Hotel is the latest Wes Anderson film and it is beautiful to look at, scrumptious, luscious, such…
I'm proud to say The Book Thief couldn't pull my heartstrings
The Book Thief is based on Markus Zusak’s novel of the same name which, although written for young adults, appears…
