Reviews by Amber Wilkinson

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Classe Tous Risques (1960)

  Review preview for Classe Tous Risques

  Ranging and enjoyably unpredictable.

  A gangster goes on the run with his family.
• 
  Class Enemy (2013)

  Review preview for Class Enemy

  Rok Biček's film shows that the drive to go against the grain can have as much to do with running with the pack as with embracing individuality.

  A teacher finds his class start to turn on him after tragedy strikes the school.
• 
  Cleaning (2006)

  A day in the life of a cleaner.
• 
  Closed Circuit (2013)

  Review preview for Closed Circuit

  Plot black holes quickly emerge and start to suck all believability out of the film.

  A barrister and a special advocate with a shared history find themselves in trouble after taing on a high-profile terrorism case.
• 
  The Closer We Get (2015)

  Review preview for The Closer We Get

  Emotional weight grounds the film and gives it a resonance beyond the confines of this single family home.

  Auto- biographical documentary about an apparently ordinary family having to stoically deal with broken dreams and hidden secrets.
• 
  The Cloud (2006)

  Review preview for The Cloud

  The sort of movie that would be a great jumping off point for class discussions in senior schools.

  A girl tries to take her brother to safety after an accident at a nuclear power plant.
• 
  Cloudy Times (2014)

  Review preview for Cloudy Times

  What makes Ullón's film stand out is the poignancy of its personal journey.

  An intensely personal consideration of how we care for our parents in old age.
• 
  Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 (2013)

  Review preview for Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2

  Rich and strange, although its trippy, LSD vibe becomes almost overwhelming in places.

  Flint heads back to Swallow Falls to retrieve his mutant-creating food machine.
• 
  The Club (2015)

  Review preview for The Club

  Larraín's judgement when it comes is fiercely Old Testament - harsh, unexpected and fast.

  A group of priests of various ages lives together with Mónica, a nun, in a house on the Chilean coast. When they are not praying and atoning for their sins, they train their greyhound for the next race.
• 
  C.O.G. (2013)

  Review preview for C.O.G.

  Despite Alvarez's good work with his actors, the oil of Sedaris's satirical characters and water of Alvarez's indie sensibilities refuse to mix.

  A student takes time out in Oregon and learns some life lessons.
• 
  Cold In July (2014)

  Review preview for Cold In July

  The plot may thicken but it never becomes stewed.

  After killing a home intruder, a small town Texas man's life unravels into a dark underworld of corruption and violence.
• 
  The Color Of The Chameleon (2012)

  Review preview for The Color Of The Chameleon

  Will best reward those who are prepared to pay attention and stick with its twirls and pirouettes until the complex pay-off.

  A young misfit is recruited to infiltrate a book club as a spy, with comic consequences.
• 
  Colossal (2016)

  Review preview for Colossal

  Vigalondo's film is very funny in places but the characters are undercooked.

  A going-nowhere party girl discovers a mysterious connection between herself and a giant monster wreaking havoc on the other side of the globe.
• 
  The Colours Of The Mountain (2010)

  Review preview for The Colours Of The Mountain

  Shot almost entirely from the children's perspective, Arbeláez tackles universal themes of conflict and its impact on ordinary people without getting mired in specific politics.

  A boy and his pals in a mountainside village find their lives under the threat of conflict.
• 
  Comandante (2002)

  Review preview for Comandante

  As it would have probably taken another 30 hours to prise out more substantial detail from the man, you have to give Stone credit where it is due.

  Oliver Stone interviews Fidel Castro.
• 
  The Coming War On China (2016)

  Review preview for The Coming War On China

  A powerful reminder, underscored recently by Trump's election to the White House that terminology can be used to normalise objectionable ideas or at the very least distract from their true weight.

  John Pilger's 60th film for ITV suggests we are on the brink of conflict in the Pacific.
• 
  Complete Unknown (2016)

  Review preview for Complete Unknown

  The film itself has a fluid identity, part will they/won't they romance, part mystery and part unsettling thriller.

  An enigmatic woman walks back into the life of a man she knew before.
• 
  Comrade Kim Goes Flying (2012)

  Review preview for Comrade Kim Goes Flying

  If you didn't know this film was made in North Korea, you could be forgiven for thinking it is a South Korean parody of a propaganda movie.

  A romantic, musical tale about a coal miner who dreams of becoming a trapeze artist.
• 
  Concerning Violence (2013)

  Review preview for Concerning Violence

  A collage of archival footage, carefully curated to create a provocative think piece.

  An examination of colonialism.
• 
  Convento (2011)

  Review preview for Convento

  Alterman's camera languidly soaks up the landscape, lingering long enough so that we can appreciate both the beauty of the setting and the surprising dialogue created between it and Christiaan's artwork.

  A dreamlike documentary about an unusual family of artists who live in an old monastery.
• 
  Conversations With Other Women (2005)

  Review preview for Conversations With Other Women

  The perspective feels forced and wrong.

  A man and a woman have a one-night stand.
• 
  Cool And Crazy (2001)

  Review preview for Cool And Crazy

  The good humour of all those involved, including the wives, is infectious.

  Norwegian documentary telling the tale of a male voice choir and its members in the remote fishing village of Berlevag.
• 
  Cool Blue (2002)

  Review preview for Cool Blue

  There is no dialogue - a clever trick which adds to the atmosphere - and sound and music are used to good effect.

  A thief gets more than he bargained for when he tries to steal a car.
• 
  Couscous (2007)

  Review preview for Couscous

  Aside from a slight flabbiness in some areas, Kechiche is to be praised for exploring the nature of change on a personal and a community level - and packing the result with some emotional wallop.

  The head of a Tunisian immigrant clan tries to realise his dream of opening a couscous restaurant.
• 
  Crab Trap (2009)

  Review preview for Crab Trap

  This is the sort of film that will be lapped up by arthouse cinema lovers who thrive on films with bucketloads of atmosphere and a teaspoon of plot.

  A newcomer explores a troubled paradise
• 
  Creature Comforts: Vol 1 (2003)

  Aardman brings out the animal in all of us.
• 
  Creed (2015)

  Review preview for Creed

  Coogler draws on the traditional elements of Rocky's success - strength of character in adversity, old-fashioned romance and, of course, a climactic fight - and tricks them out for the mobile phone generation to give them a new lease of life.

  Apollo Creed's illegitimate son begs his dad's former friend and rival Rocky to train him in the ring.
• 
  The Crimson Wing (2008)

  Review preview for The Crimson Wing

  Inevitably, with its story purporting to follow one chick as she grows, there are Disney elements here but it could be argued that this sort of poetic anthropomorphism makes the film more accessible to a family audience.

  A year in the life of Lake Natron's flamingos. Plus read our exclusive interview with filmmakers Matthew Aeberhard, Leander Ward and writer Melanie Finn.
• 
  Cronies (2015)

  Review preview for Cronies

  There is an unvarnished authenticity to these men and their situation.

  Old friendship is tested by a day out with a new buddy.
• 
  Crow Moon (2006)

  Review preview for Crow Moon

  Cobley's style is well-suited to mythical subjects, with her flowing lines feeling old and new simultaneously.

  Crows do battle with darkness.
• 
  Crude (2009)

  Review preview for Crude

  In airing the opposing viewpoint, through the use of the petroleum giant's videos and spokesmen, he gives Chevron just enough rope to hang itself with.

  The inside story of the “Amazon Chernobyl” case in the rainforest of Ecuador, the largest oil-related environmental lawsuit in the world.
• 
  Crystal Fairy (2013)

  Review preview for Crystal Fairy

  A diverting, if not entirely satisfying, curiosity that is worth a look if only for Hoffman's fully committed and gripping performance.

  A callow American goes on a road trip to take mescaline.
• 
  CSI: 6.1 (2006)

  Review preview for CSI: 6.1

  The cinematic technique is never less than cutting-edge, although occasionally, things get too stylish for their own good.

  After Nick's brush with death, the forensics team investigate more violence in Las Vegas.
• 
  CSI: 6.2 (2006)

  Review preview for CSI: 6.2

  While many a primetime drama has ended up drowning in soap, CSI could do to take a shower in it a little more often.

  Second half of the sixth season, sees Brass run into trouble. Out to own from June 4.
• 
  CSI: Miami - 4.1 (2005)

  Review preview for CSI: Miami - 4.1

  Like global warming, Miami just gets hotter.

  Emotions are running high in the fourth season of the popular crime drama.
• 
  CSI: Miami - 4.2 (2005)

  Review preview for CSI: Miami - 4.2

  Some of the most explosive episodes the CSI Miami team have put together to date.

  Love spells trouble for Horatio in the fourth season of the hit crime procedural show.
• 
  CSI: NY - Season 3, Part 1 (2006)

  Review preview for CSI: NY - Season 3, Part 1

  Despite a new-found element of the touchy-feelies, the clever, cryptic plotlines which mark this series out are still in place.

  Mac's back with the rest of the team as the writers put the emphasis on relationships.
• 
  CSI - Season 2, Part 2 (2002)

  Crime drama with a technical twist.
• 
  CSI: Season 3, Part 1 (2003)

  Third TV season of the popular Las Vegas crime investigation series.
• 
  The Cuban Game (2001)

  Baseball in Cuba - and its impact in a historical context.
• 
  Cyrus (2010)

  Review preview for Cyrus

  If the plot development lurks on cusp of credibilty, the characters feel genuinely complex and are given a real sense of humanity by Tomei Reilly and Hill.

  A recently divorced guy meets a new woman... and her son.
• 
  The Czech Connection (1975)

  Review preview for The Czech Connection

  Even Nemec's darkest works contain a certain mordant humour and here he plays up the absurdity.

  Short experimental film conceived by the director as a metaphor for his own death.
• 
  Dance Flick (2009)

  Review preview for Dance Flick

  The main problem is its sheer laziness.

  Dancefloor lavatorial lampoonery.
• 
  The Dance Of The Memory (2014)

  Review preview for The Dance Of The Memory

  Ruvalcaba has crafted an appropriately memorable consideration of memory, its mutability and its importance to the present.

  Documentary considers the notion of memory.
• 
  Dara Ju (2017)

  Review preview for Dara Ju

  The large amount of plot poses two problems for the fledgling director, in that it's hard to fit all the character and story development into the 90-minute runtime and, as the film progresses, he also finds it difficult to decide where his focus lies.

  A young Nigerian-American Wall Street financier, struggles under the pressure of family, his girlfriend and his own ambitions.
• 
  Darfur Now (2007)

  Review preview for Darfur Now

  A powerful testimony to the changes that may come when people make an effort to let their voices be heard.

  Documentary about those trying to raise the profile of genocide in Sudan.
• 
  The Dark Is Rising (2007)

  Review preview for The Dark Is Rising

  It's important, when criticising some of the more clichéd elements here - the dark versus the light, the Tolkein parallels, the quests - to bear in mind that this film is aimed at older children, not your average jaded film critic.

  A teenager discovers he is the earth's last hope in the battle between darkness and light.
• 
  Dark Skull (2016)

  Review preview for Dark Skull

  Russo's approach is much more impressionistic than you might imagine, seeking to retain an air of mystery even though he takes a largely neo-realist approach.

  A young man finds himself no other option but to replace his dead father down the mine.
• 
  Dark Touch (2013)

  Review preview for Dark Touch

  De Van appears to think that throwing every horror cliche in the book at something will make for atmosphere.

  A child is haunted by abuse.
• 
  Das Fraulein (2006)

  Review preview for Das Fraulein

  As a character study, this feels as real as a knife cut, slicing to the heart of shattered dreams, long-forgotten hopes and aspirations which may go unfulfilled.

  Two women from the former Yugoslavia have their perceptions and dreams altered by a young Bosnian with a lust for life.