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New On Blu-Ray/DVD: Bullhead (2011)

New On Blu-Ray/DVD: Bullhead (2011)

Brent McKnight June 26, 2012

Michael R. Roskam’s Oscar-nominated crime film “Bullhead” begins with a voice over prologue. This one line sums things up: “One thing is for sure, you’re always fucked.” With that single statement the mood is...

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SIFF ’12 Review: Citadel (2012)

SIFF ’12 Review: Citadel (2012)

Brent McKnight May 29, 2012

Writer/director Ciaran Foy’s “Citadel” is the creepiest, most affecting horror movie I’ve seen in quite some time. The film draws strength from a variety of sources, leaning heavily on supernatural and religious overtones. The...

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SIFF ’12 Review: Game Of Werewolves (2011)

SIFF ’12 Review: Game Of Werewolves (2011)

Brent McKnight May 21, 2012

Mixing horror and comedy is a tricky proposition. Leaning too heavily on one element over the other can lead to an imbalance, and too many attempts to synthesize the two genres result in movies...

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Piggy (2012) Movie Review

Piggy (2012) Movie Review

James Mudge April 26, 2012

“Piggy” is a gritty British revenge thriller, which marks the feature debut of writer director Kieron Hawkes. Martin Compston (“The Disappearance of Alice Creed”) stars as Joe, a socially awkward, shy young man sleep...

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Urban Explorers (2011) Movie Review

Urban Explorers (2011) Movie Review

James Mudge March 6, 2012

“Urban Explorers” offers a horrific twist on the apparently popular new pastime of urban exploration (also referred to by the particularly hip as Urbex or UE), in which practitioners make their way through abandoned...

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King Of Devil’s Island (2010) Movie Review

King Of Devil’s Island (2010) Movie Review

Brent McKnight January 27, 2012

A few minutes into Norwegian director Marius Holst’s “King of Devil’s Island” you can guess the direction the story will go. That isn’t to say the film is bad or boring, it is in...

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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011) Movie Review

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011) Movie Review

Brent McKnight December 23, 2011

Based on John le Carre’s 1974 spy novel of the same name, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” has a lot going for it. Chief on this list is the cast, led by Gary Oldman, who...

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Tyrannosaur (2011) Movie Review

Tyrannosaur (2011) Movie Review

Brent McKnight December 11, 2011

Paddy Considine is known primarily as a character actor, with some small parts in some big movies, like “The Bourne Ultimatum” and “Cinderella Man”, some bigger parts in smaller films. He also has a...

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The Baron (2011) Movie Review

The Baron (2011) Movie Review

Dejan Ognjanovic November 24, 2011

“The Baron” is a Portuguese film shot in retro-modern-scope, in glorious high contrast Black and White, boasting to be “a 2-D film by Edgar Pêra”. One could say that it is modern precisely in...

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BFI London Film Festival Review: The Awakening (2011)

BFI London Film Festival Review: The Awakening (2011)

James Mudge October 31, 2011

Marking the big screen debut of television director Nick Murphy, “The Awakening” is an old fashioned British ghost story following the usual creepy goings-on in a countryside boys’ boarding school. With a script by...

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BFI London Film Festival Review: Headhunters (2011)

BFI London Film Festival Review: Headhunters (2011)

James Mudge October 27, 2011

The current wave of popular Scandinavian cinema continues with “Headhunters” from director Morten Tyldum, previously responsible for “Buddy” and “Fallen Angels”. The film was adapted from a novel by award winning and hugely successful...

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BFI London Film Festival Review: The Monk (2011)

BFI London Film Festival Review: The Monk (2011)

James Mudge October 24, 2011

French-Spanish production “The Monk” is the third feature from writer director Dominik Moll (“Harry, He’s Here To Help”, “Lemming”), and is an adaptation of the 1796 novel by Matthew Lewis, itself renowned as being...

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BFI London Film Festival Review: Carnage (2011)

BFI London Film Festival Review: Carnage (2011)

James Mudge October 23, 2011

Roman Polanski returns with “Carnage”, an adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s play “The God of Carnage”, a sharp satire which digs at the hypocrisy that often lurks behind the façade of middle-class liberalism. For what...

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British Horror Film Festival ’11: The Holding, Stalker, and The Hike

British Horror Film Festival ’11: The Holding, Stalker, and The Hike

James Mudge October 20, 2011

The British Horror Film Festival, now in its second year, took place in London and Bournemouth over October 14th and 15th 2011, boasting a line-up of new home-grown genre fare. As well as the...

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London Film Festival Review: 360 (2011)

London Film Festival Review: 360 (2011)

James Mudge October 14, 2011

“City of God” and “The Constant Gardener” director Fernando Meirelles returns with “360”, his highly anticipated new outing, fittingly chosen as the opening film of the 2011 London Film Festival. Using Arthur Schnitzler’s classic...

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Film Shots: Atrocious, Wreckage, Blood Runs Cold, and Cannibal

Film Shots: Atrocious, Wreckage, Blood Runs Cold, and Cannibal

James Mudge September 23, 2011

ATROCIOUS The found footage subgenre refuses to die, with “Atrocious” arriving as one of the latest attempts to wring what must surely be the last drops of creativity from the tiring form. Written and...

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MIFFF Short Films Reviews

MIFFF Short Films Reviews

Brent McKnight September 20, 2011

One of the coolest things about the Maelstrom International Fantastic Movie Festival is the shorts program. There were an absurd number of them, almost fifty, broken up into genre-specific chunks—a fantasy, animation, horror, and...

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The Last Circus (2010) Movie Review

The Last Circus (2010) Movie Review

Brent McKnight August 19, 2011

Okay boys and girls, it’s time to put on our bat-shit-crazy-pants and get a little bit nuts. And by a little bit nuts, I mean a lot bit nuts. This is really the only...

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The Guard (2011) Movie Review

The Guard (2011) Movie Review

Brent McKnight August 5, 2011

What do you get when you throw together a crotchety Irish cop and a straight shooting, by-the-book FBI agent? You get a damn good time, that’s what. And director John Michael McDonagh’s new film...

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Film Shots: Julia’s Eyes, Mother’s Day, and Attack the Block

Film Shots: Julia’s Eyes, Mother’s Day, and Attack the Block

James Mudge June 17, 2011

MOTHER’S DAY (2010) The latest in the never ending stream of (arguably) needless Hollywood horror remakes sees “Saw” franchise director Darren Lynn Bousman serving up an all new version of the 1980 Charles Kaufman...

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