Reviews by Angus Wolfe Murray

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  101 Reykjavik (2000)

  Review preview for 101 Reykjavik

  This is bizarre in its ugliness.

  A hedonistic young man gets more than he bargained for when a Spanish flamenco dancer moves in with he and his mother.
• 
  102 Dalmatians (2000)

  Review preview for 102 Dalmatians

  The film would embarrass a turkey farmer.

  Cruella gets out of the pokey and is soon back to her old tricks.
• 
  10 Again (2002)

  Review preview for 10 Again

  Ellis uses a clever device, originated in Tom & Jerry cartoons, of never showing the face of adults.

  Looking back at childhood from three different perspectives.
• 
  10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

  Review preview for 10 Things I Hate About You

  At the beginning, wit ricochets off the walls [then] the movie loses its spark.

  A high school version of The Taming Of The Shrew.
• 
  The 1:10 Scale Score (2003)

  Review preview for The 1:10 Scale Score

  The performances are spot on. The dialogue is diamond.

  Thieves plan a robbery, using a scale model of the crime scene.
• 
  12 Years A Slave (2013)

  Review preview for 12 Years A Slave

  If there is a flaw in this beautifully made film it is the relentless nature of evil

  A free black man is abducted and sold into slavery.
• 
  The 13th Warrior (1999)

  Review preview for The 13th Warrior

  The locations are breathtaking, the longships built to scale, the costumes handmade, even chainmail is constructed by the original method.

  An Arab scholar is recruited to help a group of Norsemen protect a village under seige.
• 
  15 Minutes (2001)

  Review preview for 15 Minutes

  Even De Niro cannot breathe life into a corpse.

  Famous cop and Fire Department investigator chase psychopathic Russians in New York.
• 
  1917 (2019)

  Review preview for 1917

  Action is controlled and distinguished by its restraint.

  Two British soldiers are sent on a mission through no man's land.
• 
  20/20 (2005)

  Review preview for 20/20

  Yevtushenko has the cinematic eye of a thriller maker.

  Two young Japanese tourists in London lose things and each other
• 
  2:37 (2006)

  Review preview for 2:37

  A remarkably well made film that makes no compromises to the romantic tradition of high school happy endings.

  Emotions bleed at an Aussie high school.
• 
  24 Days (2014)

  Review preview for 24 Days

  Always there is tension.

  Drama based on the true story of a Parisian telephone seller who was kidnapped and tortured.
• 
  24 Hour Party People (2002)

  Review preview for 24 Hour Party People

  What the film achieves, better than any other rock music movie, is how unorganised and stupid so much of what went on behind the scenes was.

  The short history of Madchester and the club scene, with Steve Coogan as Tony Wilson.
• 
  25th Hour (2002)

  Review preview for 25th Hour

  Benioff is so determined to avoid stereotypes and having to explain the obvious that he assumes too much from the audience.

  A drug dealer Edward Norton has 24 hours to make amends with his high school buddies.
• 
  28 Days (2000)

  Review preview for 28 Days

  Crushingly predictable.

  Sandra Bullock is an alcoholic, forced into rehab.
• 
  28 Days Later (2002)

  Review preview for 28 Days Later

  Character development has been dumped with the last remnants of logic.

  Survivors run from infected killers after apocalyptic rage virus devastates Britain.
• 
  2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

  Review preview for 2 Fast 2 Furious

  The car chases are exciting for those who appreciate hand/eye co-ordination and the stunts can be impressive.

  Sequel of The Fast And The Furious, with rap star Tyrese improving on the moody Mr Diesel.
• 
  300: Rise Of An Empire (2014)

  Review preview for 300: Rise Of An Empire

  David vs Goliath: The Rematch.

  Greek general Themistokles leads the charge against invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes and Artemisia, vengeful commander of the Persian navy.
• 
  36 (2004)

  Review preview for 36

  Directed by Olivier Marchal, an ex-cop himself, the film looks terrific.

  Power play and dirty tricks in the French police force.
• 
  37 Uses For A Dead Sheep (2006)

  Review preview for 37 Uses For A Dead Sheep

  What comes through this epic tale of migration and hardship is the Pamir's sense of humour.

  Documentary on the Pamir Kirghiz's search for a homeland.
• 
  3-Iron (2004)

  Review preview for 3-Iron

  Charming in a completely batty way, but eventually becomes absurd.

  The silent love affair between a battered wife and a respectful intruder.
• 3 Minute Meltdown (2004)

  Review preview for 3 Minute Meltdown

  So nutty, it's charming.

  Where would you eat ice cream in Dundee?
• 
  40 Days & 40 Nights (2002)

  Review preview for 40 Days & 40 Nights

  If Josh Hartnett gives up sex for Lent, DO YOU CARE? Only if it's funny. Well, it's not.

  Josh Hartnett gives up sex for Lent.
• 
  The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)

  Review preview for The 40 Year Old Virgin

  Instead of irony, humiliation and sexual inadequacy, The 40 Year Old Virgin offers sex-in-a-roll, with green salad and mayo and French fries shaped like dildos.

  American Pie for grown ups.
• 
  47 Meters Down (2017)

  Review preview for 47 Meters Down

  "I'm so scared we're going to die down here."

  Two sisters trapped in a shark cage and running out of oxygen have to fight to survive.
• 
  47 Ronin (2013)

  Review preview for 47 Ronin

  The plot is layered in fantasy and fiction and yet retains a powerful idealism

  A band of samurai set out to avenge the death of their master at the hands of a ruthless shogun.
• 
  The 51st State (2001)

  Review preview for The 51st State

  It should be doing a lot of things, but doesn't.

  Sam Jackson in a kilt comes to Liverpool to sell his formula for the new club scene wonder drug.
• 
  54 (1998)

  Review preview for 54

  Suffers from a surfeit of superficiality.

  Life in New York's most famous night club, seen through the eyes of a naive employee.
• 
  6ixtynin9 (1999)

  Review preview for 6ixtynin9

  Although absurd and gruesome, this Thai film has a wicked sense of humour.

  A girl finds that coming into money unexpectedly can be murder.
• 
  The 6th Day (2000)

  Review preview for The 6th Day

  The plot is absurdly complicated and durr brain simple.

  Futuristic action film where a man finds a grand conspiracy about clones taking over the world.
• 
  8mm (1999)

  Review preview for 8mm

  The plot produces one of those surprise twists that reinforces its decline into gratuitous cliché.

  Nic Cage is a PI, hired to find out whether a 'snuff film' is genuine.
• 
  8 Mile (2002)

  Review preview for 8 Mile

  Produced and directed by middle-class white men, the movie crawls through sewage to appear genuine.

  Eminem plays a budding white trash rapper in a black ghetto of Detroit
• 
  8 Women (2001)

  Review preview for 8 Women

  This is more of a dunwhat than a dunit.

  Eight women, one body and a house full of lies.
• 
  9th Company (2005)

  Review preview for 9th Company

  The acting has an energy and conviction that demands respect.

  Raw Russian recruits join an elite brigade in the mountains of Afghanistan.
• 
  9 Month Stretch (2013)

  Review preview for 9 Month Stretch

  You can do nothing but sit in a haze of expectation, waiting for the fun to ferment, which it does

  The lady judge is guilty of sexual discrepancy but what has the most hated criminal in France got to do with it?
• 
  Aberdeen (2000)

  Review preview for Aberdeen

  It is the journey, not the arrival, that matters.

  A woman is forced to confront her past and present on a trip to see her dying mum.
• 
  Abouna (2002)

  Review preview for Abouna

  There is immense charm to it, touching on the sentimental, with a tragic moment of truth near the end that is less than convincing.

  Two brothers from Chad are affected in different ways when their father leaves home.
• 
  About A Boy (2002)

  Review preview for About A Boy

  What makes About A Boy so refreshing is the surprise factor - surprisingly funny, surprisingly unsentimental, surprisingly enjoyable.

  Hugh Grant, who hates kids and loves their mums, becomes friends with an odd 12-year-old boy.
• 
  About Last Night (2014)

  Review preview for About Last Night

  Relationships based on sex and infatuation are doomed

  Follow two couples as they journey from the bar to the bedroom and are eventually put to the test in the real world.
• 
  The Abyss (1989)

  Review preview for The Abyss

  The tension is never loosened, the action seldom rests and the dialogue sounds as sharp and convincing as the actors who speak it.

  Action-packed underwater rescue thriller, with nuclear warheads, explosive relationships and extra-terrestrials.
• 
  The Acid House Trilogy (1998)

  Review preview for The Acid House Trilogy

  Instead of curbing Welsh's excesses, he platforms them. The result, with the exception of The Granton Star Cause, is unwatchable.

  Three stories told atypically - through Irvine Welsh's prose.
• 
  Adaptation (2002)

  Review preview for Adaptation

  A film of true originality...triumph of courage over conformity

  A writer wrestles with his demons - and his twin - as he tries to adapt a book for the big screen.
• 
  Adrift (2018)

  Review preview for Adrift

  Just because Tami's story is true doesn't make it worth watching

  Young and in love and lost at sea after a hurricane has practically destroyed their boat Tami and Richard struggle to survive as they wait for rescue.
• 
  The Adventures Of Rocky And Bullwinkle (2000)

  Review preview for The Adventures Of Rocky And Bullwinkle

  The worse RBTV has to offer could not match the mind numbing stupidity of this caper.

  Film version of the popular cartoon.
• 
  The Aeronauts (2019)

  Review preview for The Aeronauts

  The film blushes with good intentions and yet cannot fulfil its ultimate promise of discovering strength in originality.

  In 1862, daredevil pilot joins up with a meteorologist in a bid to fly higher than any human in history and they find themselves on an adventure.
• 
  Affliction (1997)

  Review preview for Affliction

  Schrader uses the monochrome landscape to great effect, slowly building a tension.

  A New Hampshire cop with personal demons, investigates a hunting accident.
• 
  A.I. (2001)

  Review preview for A.I.

  The effects and gadgets are secondary to David's quest. That is Spielberg all over. Wherever there is a heartbeat, he stimulates it. Wherever there are tears, he finds them.

  Scientists create a robot boy, with emotions, in a globally warmed, flooded future world.
• 
  Alexander (2004)

  An epic portrait of the legendary conqueror.
• 
  Ali (2000)

  Review preview for Ali

  A sensitive, intelligent and captivating performance.

  Intelligent biopic of the famous boxer.
• 
  Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

  Review preview for Alita: Battle Angel

  With its CGI clever-dickery the kick boxing is controlled and packed. T

  A woman with no memories tries to uncover the secrets of her past.