[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqXuw9HNpxg&w=560&h=315] Dominik Moll’s The Monk is so redolent with Gothic gloom, overweening piety and suppressed lust that it’s almost in danger of self-combusting. It’s held together by a towering performance from Vincent Cassel, who played Natalie Portman’s tyrannical mentor… Continue Reading →
La Grande Illusion celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, but Jean Renoir’s First World War drama isn’t really showing its age. The digitally restored DVD I watched was refreshingly free of all the snap, crackle and pop I used to… Continue Reading →
The sight of Sherlock Holmes flirting with a "defrocked" dominatrix or wrestling with his personalised ringtone has proved irresistible to fans of the BBC's Sherlock. Call me a boring old traditionalist, but I prefer the World's Greatest Consulting Detective to… Continue Reading →
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce3t1YIYokY&w=525&h=393] I might have problems selling the style of brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne to someone who has never seen one of their films. The Belgians usually avoid working with big stars, glamorous locations or lush orchestrations. Their themes… Continue Reading →
“So is this some Notting Hill moment?” Perish the thought. Andrew Haigh’s Weekend is so far removed from dewy-eyed Hollywood romance, that it’s a shock to hear Roger Michell’s bland romcom referenced here – even in jest. This is love… Continue Reading →
The first Hammer film I ever saw was She, in which Ursula Andress dons some extravagant headgear to play the immortal Queen Ayesha — “She who must be obeyed”. I’m guessing the star of Dracula Prince of Darkness, Christopher Lee,… Continue Reading →
Meryl Streep looked like a misshapen Ferrero Rocher chocolate. Thank God the Oscars are over for another year. Now we can all get back to talking about the important stuff, like who’ll be the next England football captain. The good… Continue Reading →
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTUvX_pYNBM&w=560&h=315] Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2011, Drake Doremus’s Like Crazy is the story of a transatlantic love affair that falls foul of the visa regulations. It doesn’t pay to get on the wrong side of… Continue Reading →
It’s taken me a long time to forgive director Phyllida Lloyd for the cinematic abomination that is Mama Mia! (I only got through it by watching the musical numbers on fast-forward.) Now she’s courting controversy with The Iron Lady, a… Continue Reading →
A year ago I reviewed The Big Sleep, one of my favourite Bogart films, when it was re-released by the BFI. More recently I wrote about how my teenage fascination with the Bogart/Bacall romance was my entry into the world… Continue Reading →
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