Poetry ★★★★☆

" Poetry is a superbly well crafted story that flows as elegantly as its namesake"

The intensity of language and the beauty it conveys are visually explored in Chang-dong Lee's Poetry (2010), a film which manages to fashion the vividly imaginative nature of a poem, against a narrative saturated with themes of human misery and which includes a breathtaking performance from one of South Korea's most revered actresses – Jeong-hie Yun.

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Horrible Bosses ★★☆☆☆

"it’s ultimately a stupid, childish and completely forgettable film which entertains only mildly more than its irritates"

Boasting a cast of American sitcom luminaries such as; Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Jenifer Aniston (Friends) and Jason Sudeikis (30 Rock, Saturday Night Live), Seth Gordon’s Horrible Bosses is yet another Hollywood foray into the realms of frat-comedy.

Nick (Bateman) is a financial trader who’s playing the long game. He’s spent his working life taking crap in order to slowly rise up the ranks, however, his life has become a miserable and degrading one, with the constant mockery of his vicious and manipulative boss, Mr Harken (Kevin Spacey), beginning to take its toll. Nick reaches boiling point when the promotion he was assured would be his falls through, with Harken enveloping the role and its lucrative salary.

Nick’s long time friends, Kurt (Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) are also in similar predicaments. Kurt enjoyes an almost father-son relationship with his mentor and boss (Jack Pellit, played by Donald Sutherland) but when he suddenly dies from an unexpected heart attack, Kurt’s left working for Pellit’s son, a jealous, unbearably crude, cokehead (Colin Farrell) – a thoroughly detestable man with a horrendous comb-over and an unrelenting hunger for Asian prostitutes. Dale completes this disenfranchised trio, yet somehow his friends fail to see the problem behind his work issues. He’s a dental assistant plagued by the sexual advances of his dirty talking, nymphomaniac boss Dr Harris (Aniston), who seems intent on sullying his relationship with his fiancé.

Due to the current financial crisis they feel trapped within their jobs, with the only feasible escape route apparently the murder of their respective bosses. None of this naive troupe have any experience in this field, so decide to hunt down a hitman. Their trip across to the other side of the tracks leads them to a rather hapless ‘murder consultant’ (Jamie Foxx) who decides their best course of action would be to adopt a Strangers on a Train approach and kill each other’s bosses. However, things don’t go according to plan and a series of botched surveillance operations lead the film’s ill-fated protagonists into a spiraling web of criminal activity

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Calvet ★★★★★

"Allan's Calvet is almost as painterly presented as the artist in question's masterpieces"

Dominic Allan's Calvet (2011) screened to much critical acclaim at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival, slowly becoming one of the festival's surprise hits and leaving audiences completely shell-shocked by its intense and beautifully depicted story.

After a terrifying journey to hell and back, Jean Marc Calvet must now face his biggest demon. After rising from the ashes of a life shrouded in paranoia, this now famous artist must embark on a harrowing voyage back through his troubled past in order to find the son he abandoned almost eighteen years ago in this thoroughly touching documentary.

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The Deep Blue Sea ★★☆☆☆

"all too safe, unadventurous, cold and formal for a director of Davies' stature"

Chosen as the closing night film at this year's BFI London Film Festival and starring Rachel Weisz, Simon Russell Beale and Tom Hiddleston, The Deep Blue Sea (2011) marks Terrance Davies' return from a self-imposed, 11-year hiatus, and once again sees this acclaimed British director delve into the crippling effects of romance and the emotionally suffocating constraints of post-war Britain.

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New Directions in German Cinema



" thoroughly entertaining, informative and educational with a wealth of knowledge on every page"

 The Tauris World Cinema Series aims to celebrate the richness of film across the globe, with previous incarnations having examined the cultural importance of cinema in East Asia, Brazil and Turkey – to name just a few. New Directions In German Cinema continues Tauris’ rich tradition of spotlighting the diversity of world cinema, this time shining a light on the constantly evolving cinema of Germany – one of the most pioneering countries in the medium of film.

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Three Colours Trilogy ★★★★★

"These three remarkable films truly deserve to be restored into high definition"

Finally released on Blu-ray this month, Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colours Trilogy stars Juliette Binoche, Julie Delpy and Irene Jacob in three of the most revered pieces of European cinema ever made. Named after the colours of the French flag (Blue, White and Red), the films are loosely based on the three political ideals of the French Republic; Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.

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Snowtown ★★★★☆

"far more psychologically affecting that anything else you'll see this year."

Daniel Henshall and Lucas Pittaway display some phenomenally assured performances in Justin Kurzel's directorial debut Snowtown (2011) - an uncomfortably harrowing and gritty account of Australia's most notorious serial killer (John Bunting) and the infamous 'bodies in the barrels' case which shocked the world.

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Gigola ★★★☆☆

"naughty but nice, titillating but never exploitative, Gigola evokes a charming and phenomenally cool atmosphere."

Laure Charpentier's Gigola (2010) premiered at last year's London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival to riotous applause. Starring newcomer Lou Doillon as an immaculately presented tomboy and empowered prostitute, Gigola is a refreshing piece of gay cinema which oozes with Parisian charm and eroticism.

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Tabloid ★★★★☆

"McKinney's story is utterly fascinating and only accentuated by her eccentricity"

Academy Award-winning director Errol Morris (Thin Blue Line [1988], Fog of War [2003]) returns with his ninth feature-length documentary Tabloid (2010), an intriguing and jovial examination of the sensationalism which fuels tabloid journalism. Morris found the perfect subject in Joyce McKinney for his exposé of how truth can often be distorted by the mainstream media. Her stranger-than-fiction story switches between the accounts of a deluded fantasist and old-school romantic, continually blurring the lines of fact and fiction.

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Top 5 Horror Films

I initially started this list to coincide with the recent Halloween festivities; however circumstances beyond my control unfortunately prevented this from happening. This much delayed Top 5 Horror Films is a little late to the party but by no means redundant. Obviously this is a very personal list and whilst I deeply admire such classic horrors such as Rosemary’s Baby, The Shinning and The Exorcist and have a soft spot for less known but still incredibly enjoyable films like Rabies, The Innocents, Session 9 and Devil’s Backbone they sadly failed to make the final cut.

Please feel free to comment and any further suggestions are duly welcome

Eyes without a Face

Franju’s Eyes Without a Face is a mesmerising and unnerving tale about a brilliant surgeon (Dr Genessier), who kidnaps young women in order to steal their facial features to repair his beloved daughters face – desecrated after a car crash.  Despite it being her father performing these horrific acts, it’s actually his ethereal daughter who provokes the most unsettling reaction. The way she glides from room to room with her expressionless face is far more disturbing than the non-consensual cosmetic surgery, creating a sterile, languid but totally gripping gothic horror

[Rec]

Whilst the premise for [Rec] (documenting a zombie virus outbreak) and its ‘found footage’ approach where both nothing new,  directors Balaguero and Plaza managed to create a film which felt as unique, as it was horrifying. A disturbingly realistic horror, the genuine threat which seems to emanate from the screen induces a dangerous unhealthy  adrenaline rush. With an abundance of energy and an amalgamation of the best techniques of all the most loved horror films [Rec] is not just an accomplished pastiche but one of the greatest Zombie films ever made

House

Ohbayashi’s 1977 surreal horror House pushed the boundaries of how terror was depicted through a mixture of highly stylish filming techniques. This ‘haunted house’ story is equal parts high-school comedy, J-horror and madcap fantasy that’s clearly influenced by the possessed, demonic animals of Japanese folklore (namely the countries malevolent view of felines – apparent in the film’s incredibly sinister white cat Snowy). Filmed through a haze of over saturated colours and featuring some incredibly quirky set pieces (sound tracked by an equally peculiar score), House is one of the strangest and fascinating horror films you’ll ever see.

Alien

A psychological horror hidden behind a sci-fi facade, Alien is perhaps the greatest monster movie ever made. Combining the suffocating claustrophobic setting of Das Boot with H.R Giger’s grotesque, strangely phallic, acid bleeding creature, Alien successfully transfers the most effective elements of horror into deep space with relative ease.

Audition

A widower agrees to screen girls at a special audition. They’re deceived into thinking their auditioning for a role in a new film; however it’s actually a cunning ploy to find our lonely protagonist a new wife. What at first looks to be an unconventional romance film soon blossoms into one of the most disturbing domestic horrors ever made. Indeed the less you know about Audition the more affecting its disturbing final act becomes. Often described as a ‘gearshift’ movie, Takashi Miike’s film has a deceptively restrained opening (admittedly with some subtly unnerving clues as to how things will transpire) before descending into a disturbingly sinister movie about the maddening affects of passion and affection.

Jack Goes Boating ★★★☆☆

"an assured debut "

American Independent cinema has, over the last decade, built an image for itself based on a foundation of awkward, damaged, middle class nobodies who appear deeply disenfranchised with their seemingly mundane lives. Perhaps it’s a sign of the countries zeitgeist, both disassociating itself from the greedy upper classes who still cling to their Darwinian social stature beliefs (which died out at roughly the same time as the eighties), whilst simultaneously ignoring its worryingly high level of unemployment and the ever increasing wealth divide...

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s name is as synonymous with this evolution of independent cinema as Jean-Luc Godard is to the French New Wave. He’s a man all too familiar with playing vulnerable, awkward characters that seem to radiate with a certain fear of rejection, so obviously the perfect choice to not just star but also direct Jack Goes Boating, a film stepped in emotional repression and self confusion. 

This slow burning portrait of the ‘real’ New York City, acts as an accurate depiction of this vibrant cities true social economic standard of living. Its subject matter is two quintessentially middle class couples at opposite ends of their respective relationship’s lifespan. Jack (Hoffman) and Connie (Amy Ryan) are two shy forty something’s, seemingly lost amongst the chaos of modern life but are lucky enough to have found someone with whom to share their troubled journey. Ironically they’re introduced to each other by Clyde and Lucy, an unstable married couple whose faltering marriage is beginning to crumble under the stress of years of unspoken issues and grievances.

These paralleled stories depicting both the birth and death of a relationship culminate in a contrasting mix of emotional highs and lows that ultimately turns this subtle tale of the comforting qualities of love (albeit set amongst an atmosphere of its potentially devastating after effects) into something with a level of hidden depth rarely seen within modern cinema. Adapted from a lucrative west end theatre show of the same name, the producers decision to maintain the wealth of the original cast is obviously the key element to this films overall success. With each actor having previously spent months performing as the same character, their performances explode with an unbridled level of realism that’s hard not to find yourself truly immersed in.

The film’s only real failing is its attempts to add an element of ‘quirkiness’ to the overall feel of the film - as if it feels it needs this to truly be accepted by an indie-art-house audience. Unfortunately it never seems to gel with the film’s more successful poignant moments and disappointingly prevents Hoffman’s new role as film director being quite the success many hoped it to be. Despite this Jack Goes Boating certainly an assured debut which promises a bright future ahead.

Sky Movies Go Special Screening of 'The Ring' (FlickFeast Feature)

"perhaps a well thought out metaphor for the impending death of terrestrial television "

Whilst most self respecting Londoners were spending their Friday night slumped over a bar, or staggering across The Strand in search of something fried and calorie heavy to satisfy their alcohol fuelled appetite, there was something rather bizarre occurring beneath the hectic evening streets of London.


Deep within the impressive catacombs of the RSA Vaults, Sky Movies were promoting their latest venture into digital media – Sky Movies Go. For those who have escaped the heavy handed marketing of the UK’s largest satellite television provider, Sky Movies Go basically equates to Sky subscribers being able to watch their favourite shows on the go through their web enabled, portable devices (IPads and similarly unnecessary but hugely desirable tablets). To mark the occasion and coincide with the impending Halloween festivities, there was a special screening of Gore Verbinsky’s The Ring (sadly not the Nakata original). The film was screening on Sky Movies at midnight, with audience members at the vaults being plugged into IPads and collectively sharing the same viewing experience – streaming the movie simultaneously whilst listening through headphones.


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