Short film review archive

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J — 28 results

• Jackpot 2 (1982)

  Review preview for Jackpot 2

  An exercise in nothingness.

  Study of loneliness in a deserted Helsinki.
• Jah (2003)

  Review preview for Jah

  To bravely go is better than weakly submit to convention. Copping bravely goes.

  A smart gathering of Edinburgh folk come to view a black-and-white Bollywood song-and-dance.
• Jane Lloyd (2005)

  Review preview for Jane Lloyd

  Well acted and directed.

  One woman's life story.
• Jefferson Shuffle (2004)

  Review preview for Jefferson Shuffle

  The idea is both endless and limited, which sounds contrary, if not plain idiotic.

  Selling pop video ideas to a board of directors.
• Jeffrey And The Dinosaurs (2008)

  Review preview for Jeffrey And The Dinosaurs

  There's something in the presentation of him that grates, that discomfits. It is on par with the exploitation of children, an unkindness.

  A short documentary about a man whose struggle to overcome daily obstacles has produced an astonishing universe of outsider science fiction.
• Jemima (2002)

  Review preview for Jemima

  There is the potential for comic larceny here, but it suffers from a lack of ideas.

  A sexy girl murders her boyfriends when she gets bored of them.
• Jerry And Me (2012)

  Review preview for Jerry And Me

  This is an autobiographical film about someone's love, and love is the right word, a love of film.

  Autobiographical musings on history, gender, ethnicity and cultural identity as understood through the director's connection with comedian Jerry Lewis.
• Jetpac Willy (2002)

  Review preview for Jetpac Willy

  David Palmer's gentle comedy is lightly spinkled with stardust.

  The misadventures of a self-trained rocket scientist when he attempts to send a mouse into space.
• Jimmy (2011)

  Review preview for Jimmy

  Smith's restraint and Jimmy's drive combine to make a powerful portrait of a man and his work.

  A documentary about a disability rights campaigner who suffers from cerebral palsy.
• Jacinta (2008)

  Review preview for Jacinta

  Technically superb, the film suffers from poor pacing.

  Animation sees an old lady embroidering her destiny.
• James Baldwin: From Another Place (1973)

  Review preview for James Baldwin: From Another Place

  When he walks the streets of Istanbul, people stare at him and at the camera filming him. What, we wonder, are they seeing?

  James Baldwin muses on race, the American fascination with sexuality and the generosity of the Turks.
• Jane Austen's Period Drama (2024)

  Review preview for Jane Austen's Period Drama

  The film is superbly crafted.

  In the middle of a long-awaited marriage proposal, Miss Estrogenia Talbot gets her period. Her suitor, Mr. Dickley, mistakes the blood for an injury, and it soon becomes clear that his expensive education has missed a spot.
• Jellyfish And Lobster (2023)

  Review preview for Jellyfish And Lobster

  Despite the use of fantasy, it’s a film that is refreshing in its willingness to engage with reality.

  Brought together serendipitously in a moment of mischief, two nursing home residents form an unlikely relationship when they make an enchanted discovery.
• Journey (2021)

  Review preview for Journey

  Small touches like the shape of the buzzing of a phone give us room to reminisce.

  An animated journey by rail.
• Jo Jo In The Stars (2003)

  Review preview for Jo Jo In The Stars

  Cinematic techniques and camera angles mimic epic productions and the pressure on the imagination distorts judgement.

  Romantic escape attempt at the freak circus.
• Judge Minty (2011)

  Review preview for Judge Minty

  The first thing that needs to be said about Judge Minty is that it looks stunning.

  A Judge prepares for retirement in Mega City One - and for a new, still more dangerous life beyond it.
• Jujuba (2018)

  Review preview for Jujuba

  The tale it tells is told well enough, but this is a film that has paid close attention to process.

  The shiny red skin of the jujube brings back vague memories of the director's stepmother, recreated on expired film.
• Junk (2011)

  Review preview for Junk

  A vertiginous crane, the shadowy physicians, the Leviathan-punctuated roiling seascape all invite ever further attention.

  What happens when an obssession with junk food goes too far...
• Job Street (2004)

  Review preview for Job Street

  Cleverly shot, with good use of cinematography, the action is neatly framed and the story hard hitting and poignant.

  A day in the life of disenfranchised migrants.
• Joe's Violin (2016)

  Review preview for Joe's Violin

  Framed with deceptive simplicity, this is a charming little documentary whose brilliance stems from Cooperman's awareness of when to stand back and let things happen.

  A Holocaust survivor's violin is donated to a Bronx schoolgirl.
• Jonathan's Chest (2014)

  Review preview for Jonathan's Chest

  With three strong performances, a great score, and a crisp eye, Jonathan's Chest conceals riches.

  Everything changes for Alex, a troubled teenage boy, when he is awoken one night by someone claiming to be his brother, who disappeared years earlier.
• The Joneses (2009)

  Review preview for The Joneses

  Director Moby Longinotto finds moments of extraordinary beauty in a family's ordinary existence.

  A documentary about a family where the mother has died and the father has subsequently transitioned to live as a woman.
• Journal And Remarks (2009)

  Review preview for Journal And Remarks

  What grates is that the film cannot stand alone, but more so that even with support it falters.

  Images from the Galapagos intermingle with pages from Darwin's book A Voyage Of The Beagle.
• June 6th (2010)

  Review preview for June 6th

  When these men die, this film may be all that remains as testimony to their experience.

  Documenting the 65th anniversary of D-Day.
• Junk Food (2010)

  Review preview for Junk Food

  A neat idea and fairly well executed.

  A man has an uncanny encounter with a sofa.
• Just Before Dawn (2010)

  Review preview for Just Before Dawn

  There's certainly potential, and talent, but nothing comes of it.

  Two women try to rediscover their youth an an isolated countryside party.
• Just One Drink (2015)

  Review preview for Just One Drink

  As all the thematic strands of the film's first half are brought violently together in a symmetrical set of revenge stories, the viewer is left to pass divine judgment as to who is in the right, and who is in the wrong.

  When a man receives a party invitation from a woman he doesn't remember meeting, vengeance is on the cards.
• Just Say Hi (2013)

  Review preview for Just Say Hi

  Funny and imaginative, with the warmth of a secretly shared smile.

  Bus stop meet-cute.