Reviews by Amber Wilkinson

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Beyond The Edge (2013)

  Review preview for Beyond The Edge

  Pooley and cinematographer Richard Bluck bring the story to life - along with the vivid possibility of death - and the big screen is the place to see it.

  A docudrama about Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary's historic ascent of Everest.
• 
  Big Boy (2012)

  Review preview for Big Boy

  Shino is interested in memory and experimentation, ditching traditional narrative in favour of a Super-8 stroll through the echoes of the past.

  Little Julio's family try hard to make him grow bigger.
• 
  Big Fan (2009)

  Review preview for Big Fan

  Paul may in many ways be the ultimate ‘loser’ but he feels like a ‘winner’, so this becomes not just a study of obsession but of the essence of self-delusion and its importance in many people's lives.

  Being the world's greatest New York Giants' fan proves tricky after an altercation with the team's star player.
• 
  The Big Melt (2013)

  Review preview for The Big Melt

  There is steel here, both of the physical and more metaphorical kind.

  Celebration of the steel industry.
• 
  Big Men (2006)

  A man's relationship with his grandad.
• 
  The Big Sick (2017)

  Review preview for The Big Sick

  Each of the characters here, presumably because they are rooted in truth, is given room to breathe and shows an ability to be changed by circumstance.

  A couple struggle to maintain their culture-clash relationship... and then one of them falls ill.
• 
  Bike Thief (2006)

  Mockumentary about a thieving ned.
• 
  Birds (2006)

  Dogs shake their slo-mo thang to a Vitalic track.
• 
  Birth Of Big Air (2010)

  Review preview for Birth Of Big Air

  A solid primer, a celebration and, as for Hoffman? He's totally rad.

  Story of BMX pioneer Mat Hoffman.
• 
  Blackfish (2013)

  Review preview for Blackfish

  Tilikum, whose last victim Dawn Brancheau died in 2010, is still performing at SeaWorld - after watching this documentary, you'll think long and hard about taking your family to see him.

  The plight of killer whales in captivity.
• 
  Blacksmith (2013)

  Review preview for Blacksmith

  Blichfeldt keeps things simple and lets the process tell its own story.

  Documenting the work of a smithy.
• 
  Blackthorn (2011)

  Review preview for Blackthorn

  Like many an Old West prospector's treasure, while Mateo Gil's movie has a good- looking gloss its substance is more fool's gold that fortune.

  What would have happened to Butch Cassidy if he hadn't died in Bolivia?
• 
  Black Code (2016)

  Review preview for Black Code

  Cinematographer-turned-documentarian de Pencier has an eye for a good image but less of an ear for consistent argument.

  Examining the human rights pros and cons of the internet in terms of citizen journalism and global surveillance.
• 
  The Black Dahlia (2006)

  Review preview for The Black Dahlia

  Everything is so hurried that the wheels begin to come off.

  Two cops hunt a killer in 1940s LA.
• 
  The Black Virgin (2008)

  Review preview for The Black Virgin

  For a film that has a strong theme of romance and seems intent on exploring grey areas between superstition and religion, reality and fantasy, there are an awful lot of things being presented in black and white.

  A town's church virgin begins granting favours... but people should be careful what they wish for.
• 
  Blanka (2015)

  Review preview for Blanka

  Hasei's story may be simple but it is warm, unsentimental and has plenty to recommend it, particularly for older children.

  A Manila street kid tries to save up to buy a mum.
• 
  Blood Brother (2013)

  Review preview for Blood Brother

  An affecting, unusual and intensely personal film, although it works more effectively on an emotional level than a fact-disseminating one.

  Story of a man's commitment to an orphanage for children with AIDS and HIV.
• 
  Bloom (2004)

  Review preview for Bloom

  It's not often that magic realism creeps into short film but Martin Gent uses it to great effect here.

  Grass - and romance - grow.
• 
  Blue Eyelids (2007)

  Review preview for Blue Eyelids

  The will they/won't they nature of the romance - as different in essence to your average Hollywood hug-in as chalk from chihuahuas - is beguiling for those who can cope without the usual romcom signposts.

  A pair of lonely people come together in offbeat romance.
• 
  Blue Ruin (2013)

  Review preview for Blue Ruin

  Visually arresting, impressively taut and enjoyably idiosyncratic.

  Unexpected news transforms an easy-going vagrant into a man bent on revenge.
• 
  Blue Valentine (2010)

  Review preview for Blue Valentine

  There's potential with no pay-off, desolation with little downslide.

  A couple love and lose.
• 
  Body (2015)

  Review preview for Body

  Malgorzata Szumowska takes a playful approach to the subjects of eating disorders and grief with suprisingly effective results.

  A police officer struggles with his daughter's anorexia.
• 
  Bones Of Contention (2004)

  Documentary about the scandal surrounding whale bones on the Island of Coll.
• 
  Bonne Année (2008)

  Review preview for Bonne Année

  Berberich shoots the film in a series of stylised, long single takes – a restriction he turns into a virtue.

  The events leading up to a hit gone bad.
• 
  Bon Jovi Live: This Left Feels Right (2003)

  Review preview for Bon Jovi Live: This Left Feels Right

  With the trappings of the stadium taken away, this is cosy Bon Jovi, in lovely soft suede, with barely a whiff of leather in evidence.

  Bon Jovi unplugged.
• 
  Boogie Woogie (2009)

  Review preview for Boogie Woogie

  Less the free-form, jazzy ensemble satire on the art world it aspires to be than an over-elaborate and under-funny undertaking by high quality actors who should know better.

  Art world satire.
• 
  Borderline (2005)

  Experimental film about the streets of London.
• 
  Borderlines (2015)

  Review preview for Borderlines

  Simply rendered and very effective.

  Two people struggle to share their space.
• 
  Born And Bred (2006)

  Review preview for Born And Bred

  Just as the constantly falling snow leaches the colour from the backdrop, so the emotion bleeds out of the film.

  A man's life falls apart after a tragic accident.
• 
  Born Naked (MLB) (2012)

  Review preview for Born Naked (MLB)

  There's no doubting the sincerity on display and this film would work best for teenage audiences, who will enjoy its bouncy pop soundtrack and be more happy to go with its scattergun approach.

  Documentary examining questions of gender, sexuality and identity for young lesbians in three of the most vibrant European cities: Madrid, London and Berlin.
• 
  Boyhood (2014)

  Review preview for Boyhood

  Intimate and insightful even in its weaker moments, Linklater finds strength and value in normality.

  The story of a youngster told over a 12 year period.
• 
  The Boys Of Baraka (2005)

  Review preview for The Boys Of Baraka

  Beautifully captures the kaleidoscopic element of family life.

  Disadvantaged kids from Baltimore are sent to boarding school in Kenya.
• 
  The Boy And The Beast (2015)

  Review preview for The Boy And The Beast

  For all its supernatural stylings, it's the natural connections that count.

  A runaway human boy becomes apprenticed to a supernatural beast.
• 
  The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (2008)

  Review preview for The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas

  The film’s 12A certificate is prohibitive for younger children – though with parental guidance kids as young as 10 might well get something from it – and yet the manner... is simply too simplistic for an older audience.

  The son of a Nazi officer forges an unlikely frienship.
• 
  Boy Lost Girl (2006)

  Review preview for Boy Lost Girl

  Has an energetic pop video feel.

  Boy meets girl, boy loses girl.
• 
  Brahman Naman (2016)

  Review preview for Brahman Naman

  Cements Shashank Arora - so good in gritty drama Titli and demonstrating sharp comic timing here - as an up-and-coming Indian star to look out for.

  A quiz team aim for glory, while targeting the loss of their virginity.
• 
  Brainsstorm (2005)

  An artist hears the voice of Hitler in his head.
• 
  Brand Spanking (2004)

  Animation examining a future world where the private sector run schools
• 
  Bran Nue Dae (2009)

  Review preview for Bran Nue Dae

  On stage, energetic performances can overcome slight characterisation and shallow plotting but onscreen, the wafer-thin characters and lack of plot thrust are exposed.

  A boy runs away from boarding school and goes on a surreal - and musical-number filled - roadtrip across Australia.
• 
  A Brazilian Immigrant (2005)

  Review preview for A Brazilian Immigrant

  While the animation is quite artistic, its throbbing lines are constantly vying with the subtitles, making them difficult to make out and digest.

  Documentary on the Brazilian experience of clearing Customs to enter the UK.
• 
  Breathless (2009)

  Review preview for Breathless

  Although Yang's directorial debut is overlong and unecessarily laboured in the early section, he is genuinely bringing something fresh to the table in terms of the atmosphere he creates.

  Can a schoolgirl offer salvation to a Korean gangster?
• 
  Brighton Rock (2011)

  Review preview for Brighton Rock

  Succumbing to rather too much melodrama in the final third, which undercuts the chilliness of what has gone before, this is nonetheless an interesting debut that promises better to come.

  A gangster woos a cafe waitress to save himself from the noose.
• 
  Brigsby Bear (2017)

  Review preview for Brigsby Bear

  Saturday Night Live regular Mooney, who has a twinkly mischievousness and comic timing reminiscent of a young Gene Wilder, plays James as naive, but never stupid.

  Brigsby Bear Adventures is a children's TV show produced for an audience of one: James. When the show abruptly ends, James's life changes forever, and he sets out to finish the story himself.
• 
  brilliantlove (2010)

  Review preview for brilliantlove

  Brilliantlove falls hard on its bare backside between the two stools of pornography and erotica.

  A hot summer of young love.
• 
  Brimstone (2016)

  Review preview for Brimstone

  Koolhoven wants all voyeurism of an exploitation flick while still expecting us to take his artistry seriously, and it's an unholy mix.

  Revenge tale about a mute midwife in the American West.
• 
  Britain (2011)

  Review preview for Britain

  As an artist, she certainly gets my vote.

  Join a pair of armchairs who discuss the politics around Britain today.
• 
  Britannia (1993)

  Review preview for Britannia

  Quinn cleverly mixes the natural playfulness of the animal with more sinister inclination.

  Animation about British imperialism.
• 
  The Brøken (2008)

  Review preview for The Brøken

  While it is big on atmosphere and features crafty camerawork it is running on empty when it comes to plot.

  A woman's life begins to spiral out of control after she sees her doppelganger. Read our exclusive interview with Sean Ellis.
• 
  Broken Night (2013)

  Review preview for Broken Night

  This is a quality production all round.

  A young woman and her four-year-old daughter find a road trip turns into a nightmare.
• 
  The Bronze (2015)

  Review preview for The Bronze

  After years of suffering manchildren at the cinema, we are now subjected to the womanchild.

  A bitter former gymnast takes up a coaching role on the promise of cash.