Jamie Russell

Jamie Russell's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer when published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s): BBC.com Total Film Film4 thelondonpaper Radio Times

Publications: BBC.com, Total Film, Film4, thelondonpaper, Radio Times

Movie Reviews Only

Movies

	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Review
4/5	93%	Spider-Man 2 (2004)	Raimi's film delivers a carefully balanced mix of warm-hearted sentiment and exhilarating spectacle. Darkening the tone, but never straying very close to the edge, this is feel-good fantasy. - The List EDIT Read More \| Posted Apr 18, 2019
4/5	92%	Children of Men (2006)	The stark triumph of Children of Men lies in how its visceral vérité style brings the realities of a War on Terror fought in distant lands crashing back onto British soil. - Radio Times EDIT Read More \| Posted Apr 1, 2015
	78%	Bad Santa (2003)	This is really a one joke movie -- but that single gag is delivered with such caustic rancour by director Zwigoff that it achieves sublime heights of comedy. - Film4 EDIT Read More \| Posted Dec 14, 2014
5/5	93%	Cat People (1942)	It's psychological horror at its finest: timelessly terrifying and absolutely purr-fect. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Oct 14, 2014
5/5	100%	Bab el hadid (Cairo Station) (The Iron Gate) (1958)	With its tense score, contrasting performances of Chahine (twitchy and tightly coiled) and Rostom (sexy but cruel) and audacious moments of formal brilliance Cairo Station is a cinematic triumph. - BBC.com EDIT Read More \| Posted Aug 11, 2014
2/5	7%	License to Wed (2007)	The dull romance between Sadie and Ben is revealed as little more than a prop for the comedian's patented schtick. - Radio Times EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 18, 2014
1/5	1%	Disaster Movie (2008)	Depressingly, these magpie parodies are so cheap to produce they can't fail to make money -- which probably means this interminable franchise is far from over. - Radio Times EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 16, 2014
4/5	64%	Watchmen (2009)	Those unfamiliar with the work may be completely bewildered, but stick with it -- this is a bold and uncompromising take on one of the genre's sacred cows that stands up to repeat viewings. - Radio Times EDIT Read More \| Posted Jun 10, 2014
1/5	73%	Klovn: The Movie (Klown) (2012)	Denmark's charmless answer to The Hangover crosses the line between gross-out and just plain gross. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Dec 2, 2013
4/5	99%	How to Survive a Plague (2012)	An important, moving doc about how LGBT activism taught a community to shun silence. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Nov 1, 2013
4/5	No Score Yet	Very Extremely Dangerous (2012)	Tragic yet hilarious, it's like watching Hunter S. Thompson's bucket list. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Oct 28, 2013
4/5	98%	Let the Right One In (2008)	Alfredson's light touch adds soulful delicacy and a certain ambiguity to the proceedings, making this a horror movie more likely to prompt tears than screams. - Radio Times EDIT Read More \| Posted Oct 7, 2013
4/5	88%	The Simpsons Movie (2007)	This re-establishes The Simpsons as the jewel in the crown of American animation. - Radio Times EDIT Read More \| Posted Aug 4, 2013
4/5	92%	Drag Me to Hell (2009)	Spider-Man director Sam Raimi returns to his Evil Dead roots in this yucky, energetic and consistently entertaining fright movie. - Radio Times EDIT Read More \| Posted Aug 4, 2013
	90%	Persona (1966)	Ingmar Bergman's haunting masterpiece explores the gulf of communication that exists between a nurse and her silent patient. - Film4 EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 23, 2013
5/5	97%	Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no haka) (1988)	Isao Takahata's powerful anti-war movie is all the more harrowing for the care we invest in its beautifully drawn children. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted May 14, 2013
	100%	Woman in the Dunes (Suna no Onna) (1964)	An important contribution to the avant-garde, this existential thriller offers an allegorical take on the cruel and twisted universe in which we live. - Film4 EDIT Read More \| Posted Mar 4, 2013
1/5	No Score Yet	Dark Tide (2012)	Making Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus look like Jaws, it is totally lost at sea. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Oct 17, 2012
4/5	91%	Phantom Of The Opera (1925)	It succeeds in spite of itself and it's all thanks to Chaney. The man of a thousand faces imbues this character with bravado and menace. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Oct 8, 2012
4/5	86%	Rolling Thunder (1977)	This exploitation flick is a red-blooded, all-American revenge movie, but offers sensitive insight into the pain of post-war adjustment. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Aug 1, 2012
2/5	22%	Truth or Die (2012)	Jennie Jacques smoulders as a liplicking bad girl but the sad truth is that this below-par horror doesn't dare do anything memorable. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 31, 2012
4/5	69%	I Am Bruce Lee (2012)	How does a small Chinese guy become the movies' greatest martial artist of all time? That question drives this reverential documentary about the man with the one-inch punch. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 19, 2012
3/5	33%	Arirang (2011)	It's a confessional portrait of the artist as a nutty middle-aged man and a rare insight into a controversial director who's as divisive as the 38th Parallel. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted May 29, 2012
3/5	95%	Himizu (2013)	Love in this teen flick is less like a red, red rose than a bloody nose. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted May 23, 2012
4/5	95%	Position Among the Stars (2011)	The invisiblecamera approach begs questions yet, for the most part, the effects are extraordinary. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Feb 6, 2012
2/5	No Score Yet	The Burma Conspiracy (Largo Winch (Tome 2)) (2011)	Despite its delusions, this is no Ghost Protocol. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Jan 13, 2012
2/5	25%	Break My Fall (2011)	It doesn't amount to much, though the post-punk soundtrack adds bite. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 27, 2011
5/5	100%	Whisky Galore! (1949)	A whimsical tale of Celtic self-reliance vs English stuffiness, this wee comedy dram warms the heart as surely as a blended malt. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 27, 2011
4/5	57%	Kawa no soko kara konnichi wa (Sawako Decides) (2010)	Totally oddball, this Japanese comedy's jokes occasionally get lost in translation, yet it moves effortlessly from colonic irrigation to crowd-pleasing, clam-packing sing-alongs with quirky verve. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 12, 2011
3/5	49%	Super (2011)	It's abhorrent, hilarious and destined for cult status. - Radio Times EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 7, 2011
3/5	56%	The Devil's Rock (2012)	This is far from original, but the claustrophobic setting and bloody prosthetic carnage should entertain undemanding horror fans. - Radio Times EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 7, 2011
5/5	100%	The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)	Inflation may have dented the allure of its 1m bullion heist, but this 1951 Ealing comedy is still 24-carat gold. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 6, 2011
3/5	56%	The Devil's Rock (2012)	If Ken Russell remade The Bunker it might look like this. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Jul 5, 2011
4/5	40%	Planeat (2011)	Forceful stuff, though we can take or leave the kale sandwiches. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted May 18, 2011
4/5	93%	After the Apocalypse (2004)	Butts' moving doc exposes the tragedy of the experiments - not least of all horrific birth defects - as he follows a deformed local woman intent on having a child despite the risks. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted May 16, 2011
2/5	No Score Yet	Risen (2010)	The re-creation of the 1960s backdrop on a tight budget sadly never allows the director to unleash the epic sweep this against-the-odds yarn really requires. - Radio Times EDIT Read More \| Posted May 12, 2011
2/5	No Score Yet	Risen (2010)	KO -ed by a flabby screenplay and lacking the money to do justice to the '60s setting, director Neil Jones falls back on clever tricks - like using an HD Glove Cam - but fails to punch above his weight. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted May 11, 2011
2/5	No Score Yet	Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D: Bonds Beyond Time (2011)	The migraine-inducing visuals and game-heavy dialogue -"I can use this trap card to summon Stardust Dragon, and now he's going to attack with cosmic flare" - will leave most non-fans clawing their eyes out. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted May 11, 2011
2/5	No Score Yet	Zombie Undead (2010)	Smothered in ketchup, the non-professional cast stumble around much like their living dead adversaries. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Apr 26, 2011
3/5	93%	Man Jeuk (The Sparrow) (Cultured Bird) (2008)	The slow-burn of a cigarette in a lip-glossed mouth, the languid sprawl of Hong Kong, and a jazzy, bluesy soundtrack give this Cantonese drama an arty insouciance. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Apr 15, 2011
3/5	67%	Forget Me Not (2011)	Modest stuff and occasionally gooey, but the performances disarm and the lensing makes the capital seem impossibly magical. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Mar 16, 2011
2/5	45%	A Serbian Film (2011)	Its parade of rape, necrophilia and paedophilia involving newborns feels like a blatant attempt to create lucrative tabloid controversy. - Radio Times EDIT Read More \| Posted Dec 9, 2010
3/5	54%	The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2010)	The final film based on Stieg Larsson's bestselling thriller trilogy opens with a whimper but ends with a bang. - Radio Times EDIT Read More \| Posted Nov 29, 2010
3/5	79%	Little Big Soldier (Da bing xiao jiang) (2011)	It lacks the visual oomph of Hero, but sure knocks Chan's recent Spy Next Door on its sorry arse. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Sep 30, 2010
1/5	No Score Yet	Midgets vs. Mascots (2009)	Some films are good, some are bad. Some are like watching the end of civilisation in slow motion. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Sep 30, 2010
2/5	39%	The Horde (La Horde) (2009)	Rarely as much fun as it should be. - Radio Times EDIT Read More \| Posted Sep 16, 2010
3/5	31%	Night of the Demons (2010)	90 minutes of thirtysomethings playing teens, lesbian Elvira wannabes and Edward Furlong splattered with latex gore. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Sep 10, 2010
3/5	69%	The Girl Who Played with Fire (Flickan som lekte med elden) (2010)	There's plenty here to keep fans of Sweden's thriller series gnawing the keratin off their fingernails. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted Sep 1, 2010
3/5	37%	Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)	Slick Bruck-buster dynamics anchored by Jake 'n' Gemma's sparring and sex appeal. But the scripting needs to take another leap if they want this Prince to produce some heirs. - Total Film EDIT Read More \| Posted May 27, 2010
3/5	37%	Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)	Taking little from the award-winning game series, this coasts by on its Saturday matinée charms and the likeable leads' love-hate chemistry. - Radio Times EDIT Read More \| Posted May 20, 2010