Reviews by Adam Micklethwaite

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  While the City Sleeps (1956)

  Review preview for While the City Sleeps

  Certainly not as influential nor provocative as Lang’s very best work, While The City Sleeps is nevertheless a very good slice of Fifties noir.

  A newspaper's staff compete to find a serial killer.
• 
  Bellamy (2009)

  Review preview for Bellamy

  Though well executed, there isn’t a great deal to elevate the story beyond a solid genre piece.

  A detective enjoying a quiet holiday in southern France finds himself caught up in an intriguing mystery.
• 
  Rumba (2008)

  Review preview for Rumba

  Very capable of raising of smile.

  Offbeat comedy in the style of Tati.
• 
  Lucky Star (1929)

  Review preview for Lucky Star

  What makes this particular romance so touching is the undeniable chemistry between Farrell and Gaynor.

  Romance blossoms between a repairman and a petty thief.
• 
  Liliom (1930)

  Review preview for Liliom

  In many ways the film is representative of the transience of Borzage’s genius.

  A serving girl falls for a fairground barker.
• 
  Rich Hall: Hell No I Ain't Happy (2009)

  Review preview for Rich Hall: Hell No I Ain't Happy

  The second half of the show is a brilliant set from Hall's Otis Lee Crenshaw alter-ego, which provides arguably the best moments of the DVD.

  The stand-up comic on stage at the Hammersmith Apollo.
• 
  Street Angel (1928)

  Review preview for Street Angel

  Borzage makes extensive use of shadow, to emphasise menace and threat.

  An impoverished woman turns to prostitution before, while trying to escape the law, she goes on the run with a circus.
• 
  7th Heaven (1927)

  Review preview for 7th Heaven

  An elegant, inspiring piece of silent cinema, which is strongly recommended for any hopeless romantics out there.

  A street-washer falls for a street waif.
• 
  Public Benches (2009)

  Review preview for Public Benches

  The juxtaposition between comedy and meditation on contemporary life does throw the viewer off-guard a little bit, but it is no the less effective for doing so.

  Ensemble film that sees a regular day at the office shattered when the staff notice a banner on the building opposite reading: Man Alone.
• 
  Momma's Man (2008)

  Review preview for Momma's Man

  My patience with the central character expired long before the film eventually dragged itself towards the end of its running time.

  A man in mid-life crisis retreats to his parents' loft.
• 
  Oasis (2002)

  Review preview for Oasis

  This is a film which explores ‘otherness’ and what it truly means to be ‘abnormal’.

  An ex-con suffering from mental illness falls for a woman with cerebral palsy.
• 
  Spring Of Life (2000)

  Review preview for Spring Of Life

  The film is beautifully shot, well scripted and well produced.

  The story of the Nazi's dream of creating a 'master race' of Aryans.
• 
  The St Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)

  Review preview for The St Valentine's Day Massacre

  An excellent example of Corman’s prodigious oeuvre and phenomenal versatility.

  A historical thriller about Al Capone's bloody war with Bugs Moran.
• 
  Have You Another Apple (2007)

  Review preview for Have You Another Apple

  The film ultimately leaves the viewer with a bitter aftertaste, as though what has gone before will not be redeemed by what is to come.

  In a future dystopia an unlikely hero takes on an oppressive regime.
• 
  A Hill In Korea (1956)

  Review preview for A Hill In Korea

  The problem with this film is that for all its big name cast, relatively strong script and commanding performances, it lacks individuality and a distinctive identity.

  A patrol gets lost behind enemy lines during the Korean War.
• 
  This Way Up (2008)

  Review preview for This Way Up

  An excellent combination of charming pop-culture parodies and subtle mockery of the stiff upper lip of the central characters.

  Laying the dead to rest has never been so much trouble.
• 
  Harvester (2008)

  Review preview for Harvester

  Intriguing and enjoyable.

  A fruit collector sparks the wrath of a forest.
• 
  In Girum (2008)

  Review preview for In Girum

  A clever and interesting fusion of sound and image.

  Fourth in a series of short film collaborations between electroacoustic composer Dr Tim Howle and the filmmaker.
• 
  The Dust Of Time (2008)

  Review preview for The Dust Of Time

  It’s a real shame that the director doesn’t show enough interest in his own story or characters to make them anything more than sketches and surfaces.

  A film director's past and present blend when, while shooting a film about his parents, his teenage daughter goes missing.
• 
  Mammoth (2009)

  Review preview for Mammoth

  The plot and characterisation feel subordinate to the social commentary.

  Multi-strand story about life changes, sees a businessman affected by a trip to Thailand, his family affected by their Filipino maid, and the maid's family's trials without her.
• 
  Coyote (2009)

  Review preview for Coyote

  An impressive documentary, which spotlights human trafficking without passing judgement on the participants.

  A documentary look at human trafficking from Central America to the US.
• 
  Short Cut To Hollywood (2009)

  Review preview for Short Cut To Hollywood

  An extremely black comedy with a painfully alienating central premise.

  An ageing boy band try to make it big in the States.
• 
  It Might Get Loud (2008)

  Review preview for It Might Get Loud

  Intelligent, well-constructed visuals work effectively in tandem with what is being said by the musicians and save us from the stale talking-heads format.

  The history of the electric guitar from the point of view of Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White.
• 
  Eden Is West (2009)

  Review preview for Eden Is West

  This fable for our times manages to be touching, comedic, and poignant.

  Odyssey of a migrant in search of 'paradise'.
• 
  Garapa (2008)

  Review preview for Garapa

  A powerful and moving documentary, which appears to give a thorough and frank portrait of its subjects and the impact of poverty and malnutrition upon their lives.

  Hard-hitting look at families suffering malnutrition in Brazil.
• 
  The Messenger (2009)

  Review preview for The Messenger

  There is no escaping the weightiness of the subject matter and Movermann treats it with the necessary respect, but he also shows evidence of a lighter touch, which helps to alleviate the pathos and prevents the film sliding into melodrama.

  Two soldiers form a unique bond as they cope with their assignment with the Army Casualty Notification department.
• 
  The Devil And Daniel Webster (1941)

  Review preview for The Devil And Daniel Webster

  An impressively experimental piece of cinema, which retains the power to surprise its audience more than six decades after its initial release.

  Reimagining of the Faust myth sees a New Hampshire farmer sell his soul to the devil.
• 
  In The Electric Mist (2009)

  Review preview for In The Electric Mist

  The fusion of the crime thriller’s grim reality with the otherworldly fantasy of the ghostly confederate army is, for the most part, very effective.

  A detective probing a series of murders begins to suspect they are linked to a previous case.
• 
  Ricky (2009)

  Review preview for Ricky

  Although Ozon never quite makes his mind up about the tone of the piece, the weird juxtaposition of the normal and abnormal is mostly effective.

  Story of two ordinary people who go on to have a most extraordinary child.
• 
  The International (2009)

  Review preview for The International

  A timely and well-executed thriller

  An Interpol agent and a lawyer try to uncover an international banking scandal.
• 
  Absolute Evil (2009)

  Review preview for Absolute Evil

  The script left me with the distinct impression it had been written by someone who’d been drafted in for work experience and was taking revenge for having been forced to clean the toilets.

  A damaged woman heads to Texas in the hunt for closure over her dad's death.
• 
  L'Argent (1928)

  Review preview for L'Argent

  A groundbreaking piece of celluloid history.

  Silent-era scathing attack on greed and stock market mammon.
• 
  War Requiem (1989)

  Review preview for War Requiem

  What makes the episodic, almost piecemeal direction so effective is the way in which Jarman alternates between the individual and the universal impact of war.

  An enigmatic and visually powerful statement against war.
• 
  The Brothers Bloom (2008)

  Review preview for The Brothers Bloom

  For some viewers the build up of devious plot twists may be a little overwrought but it is nevertheless an effective way of skewering the cynical viewer.

  Swindling siblings lure an eccentric heiress into their elaborate scheme.
• 
  The Man From London (2007)

  Review preview for The Man From London

  Patience may be a virtue but everyone has their limits and with The Man From London I certainly found mine.

  After witnessing a murder, a railway switchman makes a discovery which will change his life forever.
• 
  57,000 Kilometres Between Us (2008)

  Review preview for 57,000 Kilometres Between Us

  The voyeuristic experience of watching their unpleasant exhibitionism becomes a very alienating experience and as a result it is increasingly difficult to engage with, or indeed care about, any of the characters.

  A teenager struggles for connections - both real and virtual - as her step-father presents an airbrushed version of their lives online.
• 
  The Secret (2007)

  Review preview for The Secret

  Director Joko Anwar’s sophomore effort is a masterful noir thriller which showcases his versatility.

  Film noir sees a journalist get wind of a location of "a secret" with the power to kill.
• 
  A Christmas Tale (2008)

  Review preview for A Christmas Tale

  A truly innovative piece of filmmaking which mixes cinema-verité style documentary with a knowing postmodern self-consciousness.

  Ensemble drama about a family brought together - and, possibility on course to be torn apart - by the illness of their matriarch.
• 
  Rivals (2008)

  Review preview for Rivals

  Rivals takes a refreshingly ‘un-Hollywood’ approach to the police drama, which is all the more potent for its refusal to sacrifice plot on the altar of action.

  Brothers on the right and wrong side of law enforcement come into conflict.
• 
  In The City Of Sylvia (2007)

  Review preview for In The City Of Sylvia

  This is a film with no plot, no character and no sense of progression or development.

  A boy dreams of finding a lost love.
• 
  How To Lose Friends And Alienate People (2008)

  Review preview for How To Lose Friends And Alienate People

  This is a film which knows exactly what it is and what it wants to achieve and, as a result, never pretends to be something it’s not.

  Can a British journalist hack it in the New York world of a fashion magazine.
• 
  Wild Field (2008)

  Review preview for Wild Field

  The lack of character development is the director’s weakness.

  A young doctor is posted to an isolated community in sharp contrast to his previous life.
• 
  Yuri's Day (2008)

  Review preview for Yuri's Day

  Mysterious, surreal and beguiling.

  An opera singer's son disappears on a visit to an isolated community.
• 
  Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)

  Poppy, a young primary school teacher living in Camden Town, starts taking driving lessons with an instructor who is her opposite in every respect.
• 
  Hobson's Choice (1954)

  Review preview for Hobson's Choice

  Hobson’s Choice showcases David Lean’s talent for comedy as he ruthlessly exploits Victorian attitudes to class, gender and marriage.

  Trouble at t'shop when eldest daughter of tyranical Lancashire bootmaker in 1890 decides to marry his timid, downtrodden employee.
• 
  My Brother Is An Only Child (2007)

  Two brothers growing up in small town Italy in the 1960s devote themselves to opposite ends of the political spectrum. Then they both fall in love with the same girl.
• 
  The Take (2007)

  Review preview for The Take

  Furman’s carefully stylised direction never feels intrusive and his widespread use of the handicam helps to create a cinéma verité feel.

  An isolated victim of a hijacking sets out for vengeance against his attackers.