|
——
|
Mars et Avril ()
|
"a meta-cosmo-poem with musical accompaniment, photographic imagery and much male longing and loneliness"
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
——
|
The Human Race ()
|
"a bleak and often bloody portrait of humanity as a plaything for drives and forces beyond its comprehension or control."
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
——
|
Dead Weight ()
|
"ends up in dark territories previously occupied not just by other post-apocalyptic fare, but also by Blue Valentine and even Simon Killer. "
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
——
|
Piercing Brightness ()
|
"it manages to say as much about immigration and assimilation as any more grounded exodus drama, while also serving as a psychedelic city symphony that shows the sights of Lancashire's County Town through thoroughly alien eyes."
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
——
|
Vessel ()
|
"story of a young man blessed (or cursed) with the gift of communicating with extraterrestrials at the expense of his own sense of identity offers an entry on alienation, addiction and mental illness."
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
83%
|
The Revolutionary (2013)
|
"documents the most dramatic moments in China's revolution under Mao Zedong from the perspective of a close insider who was also a westerner and outsider... a tale of ideological fervour and subsequent disillusion "
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
——
|
Poor Folk ()
|
"wryly traces a demi-monde of impoverished ethnic Chinese expats from Burma who, despite their high ambitions for a better, more affluent life abroad, can never get far from the frontier of their 'bumpkin' homeland"
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
55%
|
The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2013)
|
"Nair carefully manipulates the viewers' prejudices & forces us to take sides in a conflict more complicated than it first appears, all to make us ultimately step back and look at the 'whole story' of East-West relations in their broader context."
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
——
|
Material ()
|
"comedy itself is also one of the film's dividing lines of Islamic identity, as Cassim and Ebrahim negotiate (and redefine) together how many ha's it takes to pass from what is 'halal' (permissible) to what is 'halaam' (sinful)."
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
——
|
111 Girls ()
|
"the film's satire borders on farce - [even as its] opening (and oft repeated) line "You're late again" begins to take on a deadly serious symbolism for a people who have been ignored too long. "
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
80%
|
Bank Holiday (1938)
|
"Although in essence it's a lightweight romantic melodrama with comic elements, it also provides a fascinating glimpse of the leisure activities of various British social classes."
|
Michael Brooke
|
|
65%
|
Antiviral (2013)
|
"Growing gradually sicker and messier along with its conflicted protagonist, Antiviral is, in all its icily unpleasant ickiness, indeed perfect somehow."
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
97%
|
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (2012)
|
|
|
|
75%
|
Dwae-ji-ui wang (The King of Pigs) ()
|
"relentlessly depressing but compelling & complex, The King of Pigs bears witness to a hidden legacy of oppression, violence & despair from which there can be no easy escape, & which reflects the hierarchies that continue to stratify Korean society. "
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
——
|
Padak ()
|
"an allegory of both thinking outside the box and changing the prevalent ecosystem within, Padak is undoubtedly harrowing and may well put younger viewers off eating fish for life"
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
60%
|
Deranged (2012)
|
"virus thriller Deranged (Yeon-ga-si) tries hard to break free of its Contagion shackles by giving its infection a truly bizarre origin & symptomatology... [but] ends up being both preposterously silly and numbingly repetitive."
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
——
|
The Grand Heist (Baramgwa Hamjje Sarajida) ()
|
"The Grand Heist maintains its tone of madcap rambunctiousness, while allowing its thieves to be, or at least to become, true Korean patriots with a grand political cause and an East-meets-West sensibility (the latter shared with the film itself)."
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
70%
|
The Thieves (2012)
|
"it's all very slickly realised... but the sheer number of mood swings, double crosses and narrative twists eventually becomes exhausting, while making it impossible to engage with the protean players or to care much who eventually comes up diamonds."
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
100%
|
Masquerade (2012)
|
"a somewhat sentimental tale of royal intrigue and romance; a crash course on the claustrophobic, often bizarre details of courtly life; and a showcase for the acting talents of Korean superstar Lee Byung-hun, in dual roles. "
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
39%
|
Zombi 2 (1980)
|
"[the remaster] looks a whole lot better than the bootlegged version lost down the back of the sofa in the video nasty era, but apart from its iconic zombie-vs.-shark sequence, it has little to offer today's audience beyond nostalgia for its own sake"
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
50%
|
The Tall Man (2012)
|
"for all this thriller's tautness, its true horror emerges from the uncomfortable ethical questions that it poses - and leaves us to answer for ourselves in the dark. "
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
——
|
The Helpers (2013)
|
"motel-set torture shocker The Helpers goes efficiently enough through the routines it borrows from Psycho, Vacancy, Wrong Turn and Saw, without ever really finding its own voice."
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
——
|
Gallowwalker ()
|
"a bold folly, mixing genres and colour palettes with all the desultory visual flair of a Jodorowsky film, but with none of the Chilean director's intelligence or depth of ideas. So it's Shallowwalkers really..."
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
47%
|
Bait (2012)
|
"Carp all you like at how subtext, plausibility and sense have been sacrificed to this film's high concept, but all the stereoscopic slaughter is irresistibly appealing."
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
——
|
Dance Town ()
|
"Shot in flourish-free handheld, Jeon's social drama uses recurring motifs and occasional breaches of chronology to build to a calmly devastating climax while suggesting that Koreans are both divided and united along lines that are not merely ideological."
|
Anton Bitel
|
|
91%
|
Into The Abyss (2011)
|
|
|
|
100%
|
Planet of Snail (2012)
|
|
|
|
58%
|
Kosmos (2010)
|
|
|
|
70%
|
The Idiots (Idioterne) (Dogma 95) (2000)
|
|
|
|
73%
|
Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
|
|
|
|
62%
|
The Tigger Movie (2000)
|
|
|
|
92%
|
Traffic (2000)
|
|
|
|
95%
|
The Filth and the Fury (2000)
|
|
|
|
92%
|
A Bug's Life (1998)
|
|
|
|
90%
|
Good Bye, Lenin (2004)
|
|
|
|
——
|
The Lives of the Saints (2007)
|
|
|
|
54%
|
Lies (Gojitmal) (1999)
|
|
|
|
59%
|
Human Traffic (2000)
|
|
|
|
89%
|
In This World (2003)
|
|
|
|
76%
|
The Virgin Suicides (2000)
|
|
|
|
86%
|
Seul Contre Tous (I Stand Alone) (One Against All) (1998)
|
|
|
|
——
|
Emergency Kisses (Les Baisers De Secours) (1989)
|
|
|
|
——
|
The Little Match Girl (La Petite marchande d'allumettes) (2000)
|
|
|
|
92%
|
Vera Drake (2004)
|
|
|
|
80%
|
Beau Travail (2000)
|
|
|
|
69%
|
You've Got Mail (1998)
|
|
|
|
38%
|
Entrapment (1999)
|
|
|
|
82%
|
Walk the Line (2005)
|
|
|
|
64%
|
The Go Master (Wu Qingyuan) (2006)
|
|
|
|
——
|
L.A. Without a Map (2009)
|
|
|
73%
21%
63%
85%
46%
40%
