Raindance Film Festival — A–Z of films

Sometimes cinema tickles the senses, sometimes it tugs at the heartstrings, sometimes it exercises the intellect – but La Antena transmits to all three at once.

Colouring the palette with romance and sad music is no distraction and only adds to the fact that this film is deeply unfulfilling.

A hilarious screwball comedy

What might sound vibrant or at least quirky on paper ends up falling very flat on screen.

It has been a long time since I’ve heard such an affecting tale of abuse.

The action sequences are stunning, the special effects impressive.

You forget you are watching a fictional narrative for long stretches of the film, so completely do the actors inhabit their characters.

As gratuitous and confrontational a story as you’re likely to come across.

Highly recommended.

This is slickly professional, and gorgeous.

By focussing so intently on the minutae of the nursery Barnett creates a drama on the nature of existence

Hawke’s writing is hot on the money, as close as you know to the false bravado and insecure hope of a lost boy.

Road movies come with clichés attached. Thanks to dialogue that strips convention to the bone, they have no effect here because they wouldn’t survive the verbal onslaught.

This is a dark, perverted, gritty, romantic comedy that, like a new relationship, comes with big indie warts-and-all.

A reasonably polished film considering the minuscule budget.

Rattles along at a cracking pace, attaining a truly epic feel despite an obviously limited budget.

A moody, raw piece of cinema.

Did he cheat, lie, fake it, fudge it, fiddle the facts, remove evidence, fabricate evidence, spin the wheel, orchestrate the action? Probably.

Despite the rather distracting appearance of hypnotist Derren Brown in a minor role it is still a nice idea.

Twenty four minutes is a long time to stretch a single joke.

Like the best works of art, John Carney’s Once is both melancholy and beautiful, a fragile poem that seems almost too delicate for the big screen.

Sure to delight young and old alike.

There are many remarkable things about this unusual movie.

Among the welter of films I am watching in the course of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, it is the images from Phantom Love that continually haunt me.

Waters' immaculate and freshly starched style, penetrating insight, wit and gentle but brutal honesty, provide a safety net so that we can identify with him rather than running out of the cinema or feeling personally attacked.

Shankland dispenses with subplots almost as quickly as bodies, but his debut rattles along at a nice, taut pace.

Instantly forgettable but enjoyable enough.

There are moments of joy, so sublime you feel your heart swell with the sound of the children’s voices and segments of sadness as sharp as a scalpel.