Foxcatcher is a frigid masterpiece about the pursuit of championship

 

Of all the things to confront in life, failure is perhaps the hardest.

How it reflects on us, and we on it, and our desperation to avoid it are universal facts of human existence. Foxcatcher is the second title to feature at this year’s London Film Festival that can be aptly summarized as a “psychotic coach drama” – the first being Whiplash; though the two films are in many ways polar opposites.…

Yakuza Apocalypse is a reheated V-Cinema shambles

 

What’s worse than a simply bad film? A film that utterly squanders its potential.

Director Takashi Miike’s filmography is far ranging — from the sadistic Ichi the Killer to vivid family comedy Ninja Kids!!!. With close to 100 credits to his name, a supernatural gangster film seems right up Miike’s street.…

Big Eyes: kitsch & sink art drama from Tim Burton

 

As a brand name director, there are certain things with associate with Tim Burton; a certain quaint creepiness and kooky charm.

More so than these things, however, Burton is known for his coterie: Big Eyes is his first live-action film since 1996 not to feature Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham Carter, though composer Danny Elfman is still hanging on in there.…

The Woman In Black: Angel of Death is a ghost of its predecessor

 

Though Halloween has long since passed, it’s the perfect time of year for a ghost story. As such, we bid a welcome – if somewhat wary – return to cinema’s most recognizable poltergeist: the Woman in Black.

The Woman in Black: Angel of Death picks up much where we left off: on the train tracks, albeit huddled on the Tube at the height of the London Blitz.…

Joy is a well-acted festive drag

 

It’s that time of the year again. Time for clamorous hangovers, spurious resolutions, and David O. Russell’s semi-annual dysfunctional family drama.

2014 gave us family and criminality (American Hustle), 2012 gave us family and mental illness (Silver Linings Playbook), and in 2010 he paired up family and boxing (The Fighter).…

The Interview is less the end of the world as we know it and more just business as usual for Rogen & Franco

 

If ever a film came close to ending the world, The Interview was it.

Admittedly it’s hard to tell how much is just North Korea posturing – they do that a lot, posture – but the impact, both fascinating (the Sony leaks) and terrifying (the threat of terror attacks), is undeniable.…

Exodus: Gods and Kings is a Biblical epic with a humanist slant

 

Of all the obscure film genres to make a comeback in recent years, who among us expected the resurgence of the Biblical epic?

Thanks to Aronofosky’s triumphantly bats**t crazy Noah, it seems we can now expect a slew of Old Testament supermen to be battling it out with the comic book contingent for control of our screens.…

Paddington gets right more than the bear necessities

 

How exactly do you go about adapting a classic children’s character to the big screen?

Stay too true to the source material and you’ll miss out on the audience of hyperactive tweens; stray too far, however, and you end up with a soulless “product”.…

The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies is a decent enough end to the Middle Earth saga

 

Thirteen years (and several billion dollars) after it first appeared on our screens, Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth saga has seemingly come to an end.

It may offend the more delicate among us to discuss Film in terms of grosses and bums on seats, but even in the age of The Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Lord of the Rings trilogy was still a financial force to be reckoned with.…

Wait for The Drop: Hardy and Gandolfini shine in this Boston crime drama (RIP, James Gandolfini)

 

Crime dramas are a dime a dozen.

It’s a popular genre with plenty of easily recyclable tropes: the discount bins runneth over with Lock, Stock ripoffs and Danny Dyer Mockney crime capers. Then again, if you’re with Dennis Lehane, foremost authority on the seedy underbelly of Boston, and Michaël R.…