Film review archive

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B — 1209 results

• Butt Boy (2019)

  Review preview for Butt Boy

  Whatever else you think of it, it’s clearly a labour of love.

  After a child goes missing, a newly sober detective comes to suspect that his sponsor has a super power that makes animals, objects, and humans disappear up his backside.
• Buñuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles (2018)

  Review preview for Buñuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles

  Simó works hard to capture the same oddness of perspective and association that marks out Buñuel's own films, succeeding more often than not.

  Animated feature about the master of Spanish surrealist cinema.
• Bye Bye Love (1974)

  Review preview for Bye Bye Love

  Alternating between road movie formula and surrealist exploration of interior landscapes, Bye Bye Love is full of striking imagery, and it resolutely avoids playing by the rules.

  Two young people undertake a doomed summer road trip through Japan, which in turn reflects on the dissipating promise of 1960s counterculture and free love.
• The Bystanders (2022)

  Review preview for The Bystanders

  A small scale triumph.

  Invisible immortals watch over their human subjects and intervene in (or interfere with) their lives.
• By Design (2025)

  Review preview for By Design

  Nobody seems to notice that this unresponsive woman is not in fact paying attention to them, and Kramer spins this out impressively, building drama from a mixture of monologuing and imagination.

  A woman swaps bodies with a chair, and everyone likes her better as a chair.
• By The Grace Of God (2019)

  Review preview for By The Grace Of God

  Ozon does not smooth over the rough edges and the icy roads stay icy.

  When Alexandre learns that the priest who abused him as a boy is still working with children, he and other victims take action against the perpetrator.
• Beach Rats (2017)

  Review preview for Beach Rats

  British actor Dickinson – surely on the first step to a lot more film roles – slides seamlessly into Frankie’s groove, the accent and the body language spot on.

  A Brooklyn teen struggles with his sexuality.
• Bear City (2010)

  Review preview for Bear City

  Part coming out story, part romcom, and utterly uninspired throughout.

  A conventional young gay man struggles to come to terms with his attraction to bears and inadvertently falls in love in the process.
• Beasts Of No Nation (2015)

  Review preview for Beasts Of No Nation

  The result is a gripping, disturbing experience, though one which risks numbing as much as it informs or shocks viewers.

  Based on the namesake novel by Uzodinma Iweala, Beasts of No Nation tells the story of the young Agu, recruited as soldier to fight in a civil war in an African country.
• Beasts: The Complete Series (1975)

  Spooky series from the 70s.
• Beast Of The Bering Sea (2013)

  Review preview for Beast Of The Bering Sea

  ...the most rubbish monster and also the cutest to reach our screens for some time.

  ,A search for sunken gold inadvertently disturbs a nest of sea vampires.
• The Beast Stalker (2008)

  Review preview for The Beast Stalker

  Hurtles along to a satisfying climax, with well-sustained tension and audacious plot twists that will keep your jaw on the floor.

  A cop responsible for a child's death, recklessly tangles with a kidnapper despite the possible consequences.
• The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years (2016)

  Review preview for The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years

  Howard’s documentary is candid and enlightening.

  A compilation of found footage.
• Beatriz At Dinner (2017)

  Review preview for Beatriz At Dinner

  The satire feels a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, with Strutt so monstrous he's an easy target.

  A masseuse clashes with a real estate developer over a mansion meal.
• Beats Of The Antonov (2014)

  Review preview for Beats Of The Antonov

  This is a film more interested in life than death, even if death is often hovering above.

  Documentary, capturing the lives of Sudan's displaced population.
• Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest (2011)

  Review preview for Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

  Few music documentaries manage to pull together this many top contributors.

  The story of the legendary hop hop act, from high school to superstardom and beyond.
• Beaufort (2007)

  Review preview for Beaufort

  The cast put in an excellent performance and manage to be distinct in a film where uniforms, dirt and camouflage face paint make it difficult to tell men apart.

  A look at the lives of Israeli soldiers serving in Lebanon at the end of the 20th century.
• Beautiful Boxer (2003)

  Review preview for Beautiful Boxer

  Beautiful Boxer documents Nong Toom's odyssey towards womanhood with considerable colour.

  True story about transgender kick boxer Nong Toom.
• Beautiful Creatures (2000)

  Review preview for Beautiful Creatures

  The body count is Shakespearean and the plot twists wicked.

  Pitch black comedy about an unlikely friendship.
• Beautiful Kate (2009)

  Review preview for Beautiful Kate

  Beautiful Kate challenges familiar narratives of incest and abuse, presenting a far more subtle portrait of the disintegration of a group of people in a quietly desperate situation.

  Drama sees old wounds reopened when a man returns home to his dying father.
• Beautiful Losers (2008)

  Review preview for Beautiful Losers

  Art is a kind of freedom, a balance between revolution and recognition.

  Generation Graffiti evolves from Nineties punk art to New York fame.
• Beauty And The Beast (1991)

  Review preview for Beauty And The Beast

  The sheer craftsmanship, through script, story, song, and unadulterated uplifting emotion is nearly peerless.

  Modern animated classic based on the famous fable. Will be given a re-release 3D makeover in June 2010.
• Beauty And The Beast (2017)

  Review preview for Beauty And The Beast

  You see the money on the screen, which is good, but not the love

  Live action version of the Disney animated fairy tale in which a spoilt prince is turned into a beast and a pretty girl from the village proves that looks aren't everything
• Beauty In Trouble (2006)

  Review preview for Beauty In Trouble

  It is the depth of the characters coupled with the breadth of the acting talent that make this film so watchable.

  A woman falls for an older man after her husband is locked up for stealing.
• Beauty Mark (2017)

  Review preview for Beauty Mark

  Thornton is assured throughout.

  A desperate young mother tries to get money from the man who abused her when she was a child.
• Because I Said So (2007)

  Cake baking mom-from-hell attempts to control her youngest daughter's love life.
• Because of Winn-Dixie (2005)

  A lonely girl finds companionship in a scraggy mutt.
• Becoming Chaz (2011)

  Review preview for Becoming Chaz

  It's the emotional insights, and the laughter, that lift Becoming Chaz above the average observational documentary and give it wide-ranging appeal.

  Born with a female anatomy, the child of musicians Sonny and Cher, Chaz Bono is now transitioning to live as a man, and he discusses his experiences in this very personal documentary.
• Becoming Zlatan (2015)

  Review preview for Becoming Zlatan

  It isn't doing anything new, but it does do it well, and entertainingly.

  Documentary about Swedish football player Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
• Bedazzled (2000)

  The Devil offers the office goof seven wishes in exchange for his soul.
• Bedtime Stories (2008)

  Review preview for Bedtime Stories

  When you're relying on cameos from Carmen Electra you should know you're in trouble.

  A hotel handyman glimpses the prospect of success when the bedtime stories he tells his nephew and niece start to come true.
• Been Rich All My Life (2006)

  Review preview for Been Rich All My Life

  The rhythm of life is a powerful beat - and this affectionate and revealing documentary is sure to get even the most world-weary feet tapping.

  Chorus line dancers recall their past and celebrate their present.
• Beerfest (2006)

  Review preview for Beerfest

  [Beerfest's] two leads, who, whilst affable and sympathetic, don't really have enough charisma to carry it.

  Two naive Americans encounter a secret German beer-drinking society and must start training in order to defend their honour.
• Beeswax (2009)

  Review preview for Beeswax

  This carefully played comedy sees characters buzz around each other whilst a network of words and expectations, often subtly misunderstood, seems to bind them to mutually frustrating situations.

  Two twins face choices as they reach adulthood.
• Before I Forget (2007)

  Review preview for Before I Forget

  Before I Forget is a study not only of one man's journey but also of a way of life which, in brittle contact with the modern world, is fast disappearing.

  An HIV positive man comes to terms with age, illness, and the death of his lover.
• Before I Go To Sleep (2014)

  Review preview for Before I Go To Sleep

  Who do you trust?

  A woman wakes up each day with no memory of what has gone before
• Before Night Falls (2000)

  The life of homosexual Cuban writer, from poverty through persecution to freedom.
• Before Snowfall (2013)

  Review preview for Before Snowfall

  Zaman is not looking to rush to judgement of his characters but to explore what makes them tick and give a feel for how traditions get passed down the generations.

  A youngster from Kurdistan tracks his sister across Europe after she flees before her wedding.
• Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

  Review preview for Before The Devil Knows You're Dead

  The way the plot manipulates every worst case scenario is fiendishly clever. Seldom has an ensemble cast meshed so effectively.

  Damage limitation after a jewellery heist goes wrong.
• Before The Fall (2008)

  Review preview for Before The Fall

  There is plenty of imminent danger to provide a gripping narrative.

  A family face a serial killer... and the apocalypse.
• Before The Flood (2004)

  Documentary charting the relocation of the people of Fengjie, a city that will shortly be submerged beneath the Yangtze river.
• Before The Music Dies (2006)

  Modern music is going to hell in a handbasket - or so this documentary would have us believe.
• Before The Rains (2007)

  Review preview for Before The Rains

  Roache acquits himself well, but the rest of the cast clearly struggle with the awful dialogue.

  A sweeping period romance set in Colonial India.
• Begin Again (2013)

  Review preview for Begin Again

  It feels right, it feels good, it feels as sweet as a summer's day

  A chance encounter between a disgraced music-business executive and a young singer-songwriter new to Manhattan turns into a promising collaboration between the two talents.
• The Beguiled (2017)

  Review preview for The Beguiled

  Coppola’s desire for a new “soft” approach seems to have emasculated the original material while failing to engross our senses with her storytelling techniques.

  Civil War drama about an injured Yankee soldier who seeks refuge in girls' boarding school.
• Behave (2006)

  Review preview for Behave

  Rather than heaping condemnation on everyone involved – as you might expect – Ramos just tells it like it is.

  Fly-on-the-wall look at the juvenile detention system in Brazil.
• Behind Enemy Lines (2001)

  Owen Wilson is shot down in Bosnian Serb territory and Gene Hackman tries to rescue him.
• Behind The Sun (2001)

  Fable about a boy ordered to avenge his brother's death.
• Beijing Bicycle (2001)

  A country boy, working for an express delivery service in Beijing, has his bicycle stolen.
• Beijing Flickers (2012)

  Review preview for Beijing Flickers

  The depiction of this generation whose boats have not been lifted by China's economic tide seems a fair one.

  When his life falls apart, a man finds support and positive opportunities in a community of outcasts.