Beowulf & Grendel (2005) Movie Review

Retelling old tales filtered through modern sensibility seems to be the thing to do these days. The recent films “Troy” and “King Arthur” are examples of this, where the mystical/supernatural elements that made the original stories so compelling are stripped away in favor of 20th...

August 7th, 2006 | Read More

Footsteps (2006) Movie Review

I am not certain about the cultural prevalence of snuff films in countries outside the U.S. , but I am rather certain that, even in this debauched land, snuff remains a seedy underground taboo which rarely, if ever, pokes its horrific organs through a hernia in the mainstream. Sure, you and your...

August 1st, 2006 | Read More

Brothers of the Head (2005) Movie Review

In no way do I wish to encourage film makers, or film goers, to indulge in any more “mockumentaries”. “Spinal Tap” is an inanely brilliant comedy, but beyond that, all the fake interviews where people act serious but say stupid shit and the humor is dryer than the deserts of the...

June 22nd, 2006 | Read More

Kidulthood (2006) Movie Review

“Gritty” is a word used far too often to categorise films. It appears that anything vaguely realistic or that plays outside of the regular rom-com or blockbuster format of Hollywood is labelled “gritty”, regardless of importance or quality. To give Menhaj Huda’s “KiDulthood”...

June 18th, 2006 | Read More

The Proposition (2005) Movie Review

“Australia . What fresh hell is this?” So ponders the grizzled Captain Morris Stanley (Ray Winstone, “Sexy Beast”), a British Colonial Marshall, as he casts his gaze over the uncompromising and barren wasteland we now know as the Australian Outback. After a nasty gunfight, Stanley...

June 13th, 2006 | Read More

Empire of the Wolves (2005) Movie Review

As is usually the case with movies that involves people trying to figure out who they are, and discovering that all they know was never real to begin with, the journey ends up being more exciting than the destination. Such was the case with “The Bourne Identity”, where following Bourne as...

June 8th, 2006 | Read More

Feed (2005) Movie Review

“Feed” marks somewhat of a change in direction for Brett Leonard, whose last outing was the ridiculous comic book adaptation “Man-Thing”. Although the director has dealt with the perils of technology before in the likes of “Virtuosity” and “The Lawnmower Man”,...

May 9th, 2006 | Read More

Skrypt (2004) Movie Review

I can safely say that “Skrypt” is the only Austrian film I’ve ever reviewed, seen or known to have existed. And, from what I can tell, the Austrian film market isn’t exactly booming. However, being from Scotland myself, criticising another country’s film industry is...

April 29th, 2006 | Read More

The Libertine (2004) Movie Review

When I first saw commercials for “The Libertine”, not only the title, but the way Johnny Depp looked made me think of a cheesy metal band that I secretly enjoy called Cradle of Filth, and by the end of the film, the overall likeness between Depp and ghoulish Cradle of Filth lead singer Dani...

March 23rd, 2006 | Read More

The Cremator (1972) Movie Review

“The Cremator” is a re-release of Czech director Juraj Herz’s unsettling 1968 effort about a deeply macabre man who slowly becomes a monster. The film has been enjoying somewhat of a revival of late, having been screened at a number of festivals, and even though it is now nearly forty...

March 15th, 2006 | Read More

Cache aka Hidden (2005) Movie Review

“Hidden” is the latest film from German auteur Michael Haneke, director of “Code Unknown” and “Funny Games”. The film has already garnered a multitude of awards, including the best director and Jury prizes at Cannes . This is perhaps unsurprising, as the film is...

February 13th, 2006 | Read More

The Last Drop (2005) Movie Review

Parts “Kelly’s Heroes” and parts “Three Kings”, the British World War II movie “The Last Drop” sees a group of men (a “guys on a mission” movie, as Tarantino calls them) dropped behind enemy lines during the historically botched Operation Market Garden....

February 2nd, 2006 | Read More

Boy Eats Girl (2005) Movie Review

The biggest problem (and it’s a fixable one at that) with Stephen Bradley’s zombie horror/comedy “Boy Eats Girl” is that it’s too short. As in, clocking in at 70 minutes of actual movie short. As in, “Why is it only 70 minutes long?” short. This film is too short,...

January 23rd, 2006 | Read More

Brutal Incasso (2005) Movie Review

“Brutal Incasso” is a low budget film from Denmark which takes a wacky look at the lives of two incompetent gangster henchmen. To be honest, it’s difficult to imagine any viewer feeling particularly enthusiastic over the prospect of yet another such would be action comedy, most...

December 28th, 2005 | Read More

Malefique (2002) Movie Review

French horror has been enjoying somewhat of a revival over the last few years, with films such as “High Tension” and “In My Skin” enjoying international success. “Malefique” is another such slice of full blooded Gallic genre cinema which, though made back in 2002 is...

December 11th, 2005 | Read More

The Tesseract (2003) Movie Review

“The Tesseract” sees Oxide Pang (”The Eye”) filming for the first time in the English language, and attempting to bring Alex Garland’s enigmatic second novel to the screen. The abject failure of the Hollywood adaptation of Garland’s debut novel, “The Beach”...

November 20th, 2005 | Read More

Spirit Trap (2005) Movie Review

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: five college students move into an old derelict house and encounters strange going-ons that eventually makes them turn on one another. And oh yeah, a quija board (or a variation of one) comes into play. Plus, the Fair Hair lead is blonde, empathetic, and is...

November 18th, 2005 | Read More

Half Light (2006) Movie Review

You would be forgiven if you thought the only thing Demi Moore was famous for is as that older chick shacking up with that semi-retarded kid in the trucker hat who likes to punk celebrities. After all, she did take a major sabbatical from the acting game for quite some time, leaving behind a thriving...

November 15th, 2005 | Read More

Revolver (2005) Movie Review

Poor Guy Ritchie. It could be argued that the bloke single-handedly re-invigorated the British film industry with his then-unique brand of criminal mayhem, not to mention making people look at the Brits as being capable of film genres other than those involving stuffy people in corsets or whimsical blue-collar...

November 7th, 2005 | Read More

16 Years of Alcohol (2003) Movie Review

Since Scotland’s film industry can be politely described as ‘non-existent’, the wide release of any local product should be cause for celebration, especially when it is as initially intriguing as long time critic turned director Richard Jobson’s “Sixteen Years of Alcohol”....

August 20th, 2005 | Read More