March 2009


Martyrs
A startingly original take on a tired genre, Martyrs starts where other revenge-horrors end and goes somewhere else entirely different from there. Dark, disturbing, deranged, daring and, in the biggest twist of all, deep in subtext & ambition. Some images stay with you for days after.
****

The Damned United
Entertaining and interesting but overall a bit lightweight come the final whistle, The Damned United does however feature yet another match-winning performance from the hardest working man in movies Michael Sheen (four films just this year!). Actings a beautiful game and Sheen is undoubtedly one of its star strikers.
***

Knowing
The sort of movie M. Night might have made before he went completely off the rails, Knowing is worth seeing for the harrowingly-realised disaster scenes alone. Fringe does this brand of science-fiction better on a week-by-week basis on TV mind.
***

Lesbian Vampire Killers
LVK is nothing more or less than it aspires to be: dumb, pulpy, B-movie, fun. A success from Corden's charisma alone, it's no Smithy and the Undead but then there's not much that could possibly stand up to the genius of Wright, Pegg and Frost's masterpiece...
***

Duplicity
Distrust, deceit and double-crossings: Duplicity is definitely a film about relationships first, corporate espionage second! It's frivolous fun but nowhere near the quality of Gilroy's debut directorial effort Michael Clayton or his writing efforts for the Bourne's.
***

Not Quite Hollywood
The story of "Oxploitation" in the 1970s and 80s and its celebration of the flesh, schlock horror, action licks and kung-fu kicks, Hollywood is an interesting look at a genre I previously never knew existed. Time to brush up me thinks...
****

Watchmen (full review)
About as close to a page-to-screen translation as you may have hoped for, Watchmen is visually arresting and intellectually stimulating if a little bit emotionally cold. Die-hard fans should leave satisfied, newcomers may leave just a little perplexed as to what all the fuss is about.
****

Surveillance (full review)
Sometimes alternative-scheduling throws out a worthy substitute for those that like their films a little less blockbusting (Sherrybaby/Transformers™ the prime – pun intended – example). Surveillance vs Watchmen is not one of these times.
*