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Birmingham Mail

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
The Howling (1981) Maurice Rotheroe Under the gripping direction of Joe Dante, this screamer, bristling with werewolves, is a horror addict's prickly paradise.
Posted Mar 18, 2026  Edit critic review
RoboCop 2 (1990) Graham Young No amount of special effects can replace a plot and script so bereft of new ideas that child actors are forced to use torrents of four-letter words.
Posted Mar 10, 2026  Edit critic review
Phantom Lady (1944) Birmingham Mail Staff It rushes along at a thrilling pace, has not a single inch of unnecessary footage, and frequently uses that most effective trick of crime storytelling in Franchot Tone, in which the watchers are photographed instead of the incident.
Posted Mar 06, 2026  Edit critic review
3/4
Heavy (1995) Graham Young A potent ingredients list, spiced with a brooding atmosphere and simmered and stirred into a poignant tale of wounded lives looking for something better.
Posted Feb 26, 2026  Edit critic review
3/4
The Underneath (1995) Graham Young A slow paced but intelligent and taut work, if you enjoyed The Usual Suspects you'll find much to admire here.
Posted Feb 26, 2026  Edit critic review
4/4
Sense and Sensibility (1995) Graham Young With Hugh Grant in splendid fumblingly shy form as Edward and Greg Wise's Willoughby oozing sexual charisma, this is the Austen adaptation for people who hate Austen adaptations.
Posted Feb 26, 2026  Edit critic review
The Devils (1971) Arthur Steele Russell weaves his material with a frenzied imagination and one must admit that he creates a veritable hell on earth, a whirlwind of savagery and evil done in the name of Christ.
Posted Feb 05, 2026  Edit critic review
Vanishing Point (1971) Arthur Steele Not only visually hair-raising, "Vanishing Point" is clearly intended to say something serious about individual man in today's world.
Posted Feb 05, 2026  Edit critic review
A Face in the Crowd (1957) Arthur Steele The power of Rhodes is the power of his millions of idolators.
Posted Feb 04, 2026  Edit critic review
Arabesque (1966) Arthur Steele Well, it is a pretty entertaining piece. And, while I don't think the whole will stay long in the memory, it has two scenes that will no doubt be quoted and recalled for a long time.
Posted Feb 04, 2026  Edit critic review
Ace in the Hole (1951) Arthur Steele I found it often revoltingly cruel and saturated with a cynicism which is at once sharp and utterly rotten. Vivid and superb in technique I agree, but lacking that absolute essential in any study of human failing -- an overall incentive towards good.
Posted Feb 03, 2026  Edit critic review
3/4
North (1994) Alison Jones The film drowns in its own cuteness.
Posted Jan 24, 2026  Edit critic review
4/4
The American President (1995) Graham Young This is up there with Apollo 13 and Crimson Tide as not only one of the very best films of the autumn -- but of the whole year, too.
Posted Jan 22, 2026  Edit critic review
Misery (1990) Birmingham Mail Staff It's a finger-chewing mix of black comedy, terror and a violent climax.
Posted Jan 22, 2026  Edit critic review
Bite the Bullet (1975) Arthur Steele I liked its very personal touch. Rather over-extended and spasmodic in its action and interaction of character, but made with real feeling for the moving camera and what it can do.
Posted Jan 15, 2026  Edit critic review
Black Christmas (1974) Arthur Steele It actually generates a real feeling of fear.
Posted Jan 15, 2026  Edit critic review
Gaslight (1944) Birmingham Mail Staff It still acts well and calls for powerful portrayal, which only a team such as Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman could share.
Posted Jan 13, 2026  Edit critic review
Alice in Wonderland (1951) Birmingham Mail Staff As we might expect, it is often breathtakingly beautiful to look at; Alice's tumble down the rabbit hole is exciting in its suggestion of an infinity of distance [and] the crazy tea party is a true rollick.
Posted Jan 08, 2026  Edit critic review
The Sure Thing (1985) Fred Norris It is a teenage affair that has heart, humor, and a fair splattering of talent to raise it far above the usual romps and raves.
Posted Jan 07, 2026  Edit critic review
A Few Good Men (1992) Graham Young There's more acting ability in Nicholson's eyebrows here than most actors have in their entire body in a lifetime.
Posted Jan 06, 2026  Edit critic review
Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) Birmingham Mail Staff "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" is excellent material, superbly handled by the director, Anatole Litvak.
Posted Jan 06, 2026  Edit critic review
Death Race 2000 (1975) Arthur Steele What makes such an awful idea acceptable to anyone? Presumably because the treatment is of the comic-strip, fantasy kind.
Posted Dec 21, 2025  Edit critic review
Hook (1991) Graham Young Williams performs effortlessly -- he will certainly win an Oscar one day -- and Dustin Hoffman is almost unrecognizable as the deliciously evil Hook.
Posted Dec 19, 2025  Edit critic review
The Abyss (1989) Fred Norris [The Abyss is an] underwater epic written and directed by James Cameron... that, while it is far too long and is not strong on plot, does have spectacular special effects, creates a degree of suspense and the sea creature are watery answers to ET.
Posted Dec 10, 2025  Edit critic review
4/4
True Lies (1994) Alison Jones It is Arnie who stands tall as he firmly stomps a heel on the memory of Last Action Hero.
Posted Dec 09, 2025  Edit critic review
The Wiz (1978) Arthur Steele There's a sad lack of whizz-bang about "The Whizz."
Posted Nov 18, 2025  Edit critic review
Predator 2 (1990) Graham Young The mayhem is non-stop... and some of the effects are terrific. But it would have been nice to have had a plot too.
Posted Oct 31, 2025  Edit critic review
Dracula (1979) Maurice Rotheroe It has a great deal more credibility than most of its predecessors.
Posted Oct 21, 2025  Edit critic review
Born Yesterday (1950) Arthur Steele The film is basically a plea for the simple, culture's or country life, but Miss Holliday makes it a comedy must for most people.
Posted Oct 13, 2025  Edit critic review
Desert Hearts (1985) Terry Grimley A well-made and intellignet film.
Posted Oct 12, 2025  Edit critic review
Tron (1982) Terry Grimley One of the most impressive exercises in visual style the cinema has produced in recent years.
Posted Oct 06, 2025  Edit critic review
4/4
Casper (1995) Graham Young ...this is a delicious story that mixes all the best elements from films as diverse as Ghostbusters and The Exorcist into one light-hearted rollercoaster romp.
Posted Oct 03, 2025  Edit critic review
Hard Times (1975) Arthur Steele Not in the usual run of Bronson films, but better than most.
Posted Sep 25, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
Boogie Nights (1997) Graham Young Although there are some compelling scenes and very nifty camera work in places, it's all too uneven to be worth rushing out for.
Posted Sep 24, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
Night of the Living Dead (1990) Birmingham Mail Staff A low score on the gore scale but surprisingly high in terms of suspense.
Posted Sep 18, 2025  Edit critic review
Darkman II: The Return of Durant (1995) Paul Cole It's virtually a re-run of the original -- but without any of the wit or sheer panache that saved its predecessor.
Posted Sep 12, 2025  Edit critic review
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) Terry Grimley [A] marvellous spoof documentary.
Posted Sep 09, 2025  Edit critic review
Darkman (1990) Birmingham Mail Staff It's a rollercoaster ride of thrills and spills.
Posted Aug 25, 2025  Edit critic review
4/4
Waterworld (1995) Graham Young Not perfect by any means, but Waterworld still makes a splash -- a true Ben Hur on water for the 90s indeed.
Posted Jul 28, 2025  Edit critic review
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) Fred Norris Leslie Nielsen is miscast and it is largely because of him that, for me, the spoof did not take to the air as in Airplane. Far from being naked, the gun is not even loaded.
Posted Jul 24, 2025  Edit critic review
4/4
Babe (1995) Graham Young Babe is still a real rib-tickling porker - a crackling must-see for all ages.
Posted Jul 23, 2025  Edit critic review
Guilty by Suspicion (1991) Graham Young Very slow until a rousing climax, Irwin Winkler's film is guilty of not portraying the whole truth itself.
Posted Jul 22, 2025  Edit critic review
Navy SEALS (1990) Graham Young Some of the stunts are quite spectacular, but Navy Seals lacks any sense of purpose or morality.
Posted Jul 22, 2025  Edit critic review
The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (1991) Graham Young Let's have three cheers for a comedy which actually has some belly laughs.
Posted Jul 22, 2025  Edit critic review
Red Rock West (1993) Alison Jones Almost any film starring Nicolas Cage is guaranteed a degree of eccentricity, and this is made even more wildly off-beat by casting Dennis Hopper as a Texan gun for hire.
Posted Jul 16, 2025  Edit critic review
4/4
Red Rock West (1993) Graham Young This is tightly scripted and a barrel of laughs.
Posted Jul 15, 2025  Edit critic review
Jurassic Park (1993) Alison Jones Steven Spielberg's new monster movie Jurassic Park is the stuff nightmares are made of. After seeing the first British screening yesterday, I found myself shaking as much as when I watched Jaws nearly 20 years ago.
Posted Jul 01, 2025  Edit critic review
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) Graham Young Hydraulic technology advances might have doubled the number of creature possibilities in half the pre-production time, but such savings should have gone on the script!
Posted Jun 30, 2025  Edit critic review
Superman II (1980) Maurice Rotheroe The special effects are marvelous. Flying appears even more effortless, while heat vision, super ice breath and cyclonic super breath are among the dazzling displays of technical expertise.
Posted Jun 25, 2025  Edit critic review
Return to Oz (1985) Richard Edmonds The effects were superb, although the film is mainly an effects movie without much in the way of plot or characterisation to give substance to the trimmings.
Posted Jun 20, 2025  Edit critic review
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