|
87%
|
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
|
"A brilliant, bromantic blockbuster."
|
Giles Hardie
|
|
4%
|
Scary Movie 5 (2013)
|
"This is the first Scary Movie in seven years, but the formula remains unchanged, with a thin storyline linking spoofs of Hollywood hits."
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
93%
|
Amour (2012)
|
"Ultimately, the title of the film demands to be taken as a question: is this truly what love looks like? A little smugly, Haneke refuses to answer. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
100%
|
The Lost Weekend (1945)
|
"One of cinema's earliest and best portraits of drug addiction."
|
Jim Schembri
|
|
64%
|
Anna Karenina (2012)
|
"Trying to one-up Tolstoy was always going to be a bad idea, though I wouldn't object to seeing a Bond movie, or Les Miserables, staged in the same way. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
46%
|
The Sweeney (2013)
|
"Winstone attempts to bluster his way through, but remains the least credible action star this side of Sylvester Stallone in The Expendables."
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
13%
|
Safe Haven (2013)
|
"Will there ever be a good movie based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks? "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
81%
|
Pitch Perfect (2012)
|
"But in a small-scale way, aided by a strong, wry central performance from Kendrick, Pitch Perfect has its charms. "
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
51%
|
Trouble with the Curve (2012)
|
"The narrative feels almost intentionally hokey and diagrammatic, a framework that gives the actors freedom to display their best-known qualities. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
49%
|
The Man With the Iron Fists (2012)
|
"Predictably, this kind of gleeful fanboy excess yields diminishing returns. RZA hasn't much sense of storytelling rhythm, and lacks Tarantino's gift for turning adolescent obsessions into something uniquely personal. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
——
|
Love Story ()
|
"Sheltering behind his harmlessly dorky persona, Habicht never shows us anything painful enough to seem real; the film is far more an exercise in self-promotion than a study of the ups and downs of love. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
70%
|
Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012)
|
"Finally, there's something a little sketchy about the movie, a little unfinished and scattergun. The figure of Jesse recedes in importance, and it's Celeste whose delusions we focus on. "
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
85%
|
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
|
"Even making allowances for a certain amount of Hollywood gloss, there's something wrong with a film about misfits where everyone is this good-looking and poised. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
75%
|
Sound of My Voice (2012)
|
"Either Maggie is the real deal, or she's lying, or we never find out. In any case, anticlimax seems inevitable."
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
92%
|
Skyfall (2012)
|
"Skyfall is not, of course, ''darker'' or more serious than previous Bond films, but it's more knowing about its own conventions."
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
94%
|
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel (2012)
|
"There's something marvellously comic about her, an effect reinforced by her refined yet raucous baritone voice. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
88%
|
The Angels' Share (2013)
|
"[Loach's] latest collaboration with screenwriter Paul Laverty proves the pair can pull off a genre entertainment with aplomb when in the mood. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
87%
|
Robot & Frank (2012)
|
"The final twist is a little forced, but otherwise the actors ensure that the fanciful plot stays grounded in recognisable emotions -- and Langella and Sarandon have more romantic chemistry than most screen couples at any age. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
67%
|
God Bless America (2012)
|
"Gory, unfunny satire that deserves a prize for the most strained provocation of the year. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
43%
|
Two Little Boys ()
|
"This is a weak film but an endearing one, a would-be black comedy undermined by the amiability of all concerned. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
48%
|
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012)
|
"After nearly two hours of padding, there's a laughable climactic battle sequence with heads shattering bloodlessly. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
67%
|
Dead Europe ()
|
" The film might have felt truer to its source if it were either pulpier or more avant-garde. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
92%
|
Skyfall (2012)
|
"A new Bond film, we are assured in the closing credits, is on its way -- Skyfall provides reasons to look forward to more."
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
60%
|
Housos Vs. Authority ()
|
"It's a paean to the virtues of the versatile thong -- ubiquitous footwear, and a handy offensive weapon. "
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
71%
|
Hail ()
|
"It's Courtin-Wilson's willingness to push boundaries, to explore ways in which the troubled self can be depicted, that makes Hail so singular and striking. "
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
91%
|
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
|
"The film balances the extraordinary and ordinary with great aplomb, and Duplass and Plaza give beautifully judged performances. "
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
51%
|
Savages (2012)
|
"The messy insouciance wears a little thin, and by the time we get to the absurdity of the extended ending, enough is definitely enough."
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
75%
|
Killing Them Softly (2012)
|
"As a perverse portrait of management issues and the challenges of ''getting the job done'', it is sure-footed, dark and comic."
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
93%
|
Shadow Dancer (2013)
|
"The film hardly seems like more than an exercise: the plot wraps up neatly but the emotional significance of a key revelation is barely explored. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
97%
|
The Innocents (1961)
|
"One of the creepiest films ever made."
|
Jim Schembri
|
|
61%
|
Secret of the Wings (2012)
|
"The usual warning applies: adults should steer clear. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
21%
|
Taken 2 (2012)
|
"Neeson's soft-spoken Angry Dad routine has been flattened into burlesque, giving him little to do but alternate between bumbling dork and efficient killer. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
40%
|
Mental (2013)
|
"Collette's performance anchors the film: it has a fierce, uncompromising quality that gives strength to the film's two interwoven tendencies - in-your-face comedy and emotional distress. "
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
47%
|
Bait (2012)
|
"Much of Bait is frankly awful, though not unenjoyably so."
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
79%
|
Ruby Sparks (2012)
|
"It's a witty, appealing romantic comedy with a surprising edge, a cleverly written and deftly acted exploration of what happens when dreams appear to become reality, and the emotional stakes are raised. "
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
97%
|
Monsieur Lazhar (2012)
|
"Lazhar is something of a puzzle, and much of the pleasure of Philippe Falardeau's film lies in the gradual unfolding of his reserved yet impulsive personality. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
48%
|
Hit & Run (2012)
|
"Hit and Run sets out to be crass and compassionate by turns, but Shepard's inexperience as a writer is obvious throughout: the structure is as wobbly as the tone. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
26%
|
Kath & Kimderella ()
|
"Despite these familiar set-ups, it soon becomes clear that there is something missing from Kath And Kimderella. "
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
83%
|
Your Sister's Sister (2012)
|
"Deceptively meandering and unexpectedly complex, Your Sister's Sister combines a poignant, funny directness with a teasing incompleteness. "
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
90%
|
Holy Motors (2012)
|
"In Leos Carax's beautiful, exhilarating, transporting new film, there is something special, and singular, about the act of filming and the nature of cinema. "
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
89%
|
Chinese Take-Away (Un Cuento Chino) ()
|
"A film about repression and constraint that keeps its emotional range carefully under control."
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
57%
|
Love (2011)
|
"Eubank may well have a future as a cinematographer, or in the special effects business. But a filmmaker he ain't. "
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
31%
|
Total Recall (2012)
|
" Wiseman's style is superficially grittier, reliant on desaturated colours, whip pans and lens flare. Yet the film's dystopian setting is blatantly derivative of sci-fi classics from Metropolis to Blade Runner."
|
Jake Wilson
|
|
74%
|
Hope Springs (2012)
|
"A sense of well-executed blandness sets in. "
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
56%
|
The Bourne Legacy (2012)
|
"There's enough there, in all likelihood, to make audiences hope for more, but it's not as finished or complete a work as it should have been."
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
65%
|
The Campaign (2012)
|
"A bloated, half-baked movie."
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
44%
|
The Door ()
|
"There's something quite haunting about the relationship between the two women: in some surprising ways, this is a determinedly unsentimental work. "
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
87%
|
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
|
"It doesn't have quite the emotional intensity of the second movie, The Dark Knight, but it's a powerful, intricately constructed work, thoughtful, visceral and satisfying. "
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
77%
|
Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012)
|
"For Perry fans, there's not much more you could ask for - but for non-devotees, it's a lightweight package."
|
Philippa Hawker
|
|
72%
|
Carnage (2011)
|
"Given the powerhouse performers involved, this thing should have gone off like a powder keg, but [director Roman] Polanski apparently directed the film by text...A terrible film. "
|
Jim Schembri
|