Reviews by Anton Bitel

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Tales Of The Riverbank (2008)

  Review preview for Tales Of The Riverbank

  A family movie of considerable appeal.

  Hammy the hamster and pals get a re-imagining.
• 
  I've Loved You So Long (2008)

  Review preview for I've Loved You So Long

  Essentially this is a drama about the solitude of suffering, the curse of blood and the possibility of rebirth, but it masquerades as a thriller.

  Estranged sisters reunite under difficult circumstances.
• 
  Eden Lake (2008)

  Review preview for Eden Lake

  Not so very far from where we all live today.

  A young couple spending a romantic weekend in the woods fall foul of an angry group of teenagers.
• 
  Times And Winds (2006)

  Review preview for Times And Winds

  A beautiful film, shot with a fluid lyricism.

  A haunting portrait of life in a remote Turkish mountain village.
• 
  Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

  Review preview for Hellboy II: The Golden Army

  Cinema is full of monsters, but few in recent memory have been so capable of eliciting our sympathy and understanding.

  Hellboy confronts an Elven prince determined to raise an ancient army and destroy the world of men; and has domestic troubles to deal with at the same time.
• 
  Robot Chicken: Star Wars (2007)

  Review preview for Robot Chicken: Star Wars

  The tone may be cheeky and playful, but it is always affectionately so.

  Animated sketch show takes you to The Silly Side of George Lucas's sci-fi empire.
• 
  CJ7 (2008)

  Review preview for CJ7

  A Chaplinesque transformation of a drab world into a place where everything is colourful, over-the-top and silly.

  A strange toy transforms the life of a lonely young boy from an impoverished home.
• 
  Baby Mama (2008)

  Review preview for Baby Mama

  The runt of a bountiful litter.

  Two women, one apartment and the nine months that will change their lives.
• 
  Puffball (2007)

  Review preview for Puffball

  Its conception seems stunted from the outset by an inability to engage.

  Isolated in a remote farmhouse, a pregnant woman begins to feel threatened by her envious neighbours.
• 
  Gruesome (2006)

  Review preview for Gruesome

  A modest yet impressively assured psycho-mystery.

  An infernal Groundhog Day as a student seems destined to relive the day of her murder.
• 
  Carver (2008)

  Review preview for Carver

  This is an exploitation movie that exploits exploitation movies.

  Co-eds try not to lose their heads in the backwoods.
• 
  Zoo (2007)

  Review preview for Zoo

  Zoo ought to present insurmountable problems to any artist working in a visual medium – but Devor turns every obstacle into a virtue.

  Documentary triggered by a man's death by bestiality.
• 
  Ben X (2007)

  Review preview for Ben X

  As vital as it is virtual.

  A bullied teen takes refuge in a world of online gaming.
• 
  WALL·E (2008)

  Review preview for WALL·E

  A charming pastiche of the whole SF genre.

  A robot - Wall·E, left alone on Earth begins to explore the cosmos with a companion, the sleek and sultry EVE.
• 
  Ghost Game (2006)

  Review preview for Ghost Game

  As a grim commentary on the whole reality television phenomenon Ghost Game really grabs the attention and stands out from the horror crowd.

  Controversial Thai horror, pushing reality TV to its limit.
• 
  My Winnipeg (2007)

  Review preview for My Winnipeg

  One man's quirky, hilarious, and ultimately moving examination of where he has come from, and what he has lost along the way.

  "Docu-fantasia" blurring fact and fiction.
• 
  The Incredible Hulk (2008)

  Review preview for The Incredible Hulk

  Predictable popcorn pap - this feels exactly like the holiday filler that it is.

  On the run, Bruce Banner must come to terms with his alter ego, the Hulk, in order to defeat a hostile version.
• 
  Taxi To The Dark Side (2007)

  Review preview for Taxi To The Dark Side

  An angry powder-keg of a film, exploding the reactionary myth that under certain circumstances torture can be acceptable, serviceable or even necessary.

  An unflinching look at the Bush administration's policy on torture.
• 
  Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2009)

  Review preview for Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull

  As each of the Indiana Jones films has demonstrated, iconic talismans from the past can still conceal an awesome power.

  The whip-cracking archaeologist hero returns.
• 
  The Abandoned (2006)

  Review preview for The Abandoned

  A haunted house movie par excellence.

  A Russian-born American returns to her homeland to be confronted by horror at her family home.
• 
  My Kid Could Paint That (2007)

  Review preview for My Kid Could Paint That

  Like all good art, this raises difficult questions.

  Documentary about a four-year-old who has sold $300,000 of paintings - but is she a genius or an exploited child?
• 
  Eyes Without A Face (1960)

  Review preview for Eyes Without A Face

  Franju is carefully slicing along the line where the concrete rigours of modern science intersect with the abstractions of youth, beauty and ephemerality.

  A surgeon abducts girls - attempting to transplant their faces on to that of his disfigured daughter.
• 
  Outpost (2008)

  Review preview for Outpost

  In short, Outpost is exactly what a horror film should be.

  A group of soldiers find themselves facing an ancient and seemingly unstoppable enemy.
• 
  Charlie Bartlett (2007)

  Review preview for Charlie Bartlett

  Downey Jr's brilliance serves, paradoxically, to highlight the film's many flaws.

  A bright but troubled rich kid unexpectedly finds himself in the American ‘public school’ system – and finds a novel way of beating the bullies.
• 
  The Jim Jarmusch Collection: Volume 1 (2008)

  Review preview for The Jim Jarmusch Collection: Volume 1

  Be throughly out-cooled by America's finest hipster.

  Trio of films from the king of dead-pan cinema, featuring Permanent Vacation, Stranger Than Paradise and Down By Law.
• 
  Stranger Than Paradise (1984)

  Review preview for Stranger Than Paradise

  A complex of narrative symmetry and existential ennui pointing to something far more resonant than the sum of its parts.

  An unlikely trio head for Florida in search of paradise.
• 
  Permanent Vacation (1980)

  Review preview for Permanent Vacation

  Jarmusch's script shows a sophistication beyond the budding filmmaker's years.

  Jarmusch's low-budget debut traces a bored hipster's picaresque journey through New York.
• 
  Nim's Island (2008)

  Review preview for Nim's Island

  Those members of the audience over the age of ten may find themselves a little undiverted

  Agoraphobic writer and lonely imaginative girl unite.
• 
  Appleseed: Ex Machina (2007)

  Review preview for Appleseed: Ex Machina

  A quest for the human beyond (or at least within) the machine.

  Eyeball-scorching post-apocalyptic anime sequel
• 
  Timber Falls (2007)

  Review preview for Timber Falls

  If there is the germ of an interesting idea in Timber Falls, a hack job is made of turning it into a reality.

  A couple’s camping trip turns into a gruelling nightmare.
• 
  Mother Of Tears (2007)

  Review preview for Mother Of Tears

  Never comes close to matching the stunning colour-saturated aesthetic of its two predecessors.

  A witch wreaks death and destruction in the final part of the Three Mothers trilogy.
• 
  Moomin - The Complete Series One (1990)

  Review preview for Moomin - The Complete Series One

  In its gentle, meandering way, this show can be highly addictive to the pre-tweenie market.

  Animated fantasy about Moomintroll and his pals.
• 
  The Saragossa Manuscript (1965)

  Review preview for The Saragossa Manuscript

  A true masterpiece of modernism.

  Labyrinthine set of stories-within-stories that take place during the Napoleonic Wars.
• 
  Protégé (2007)

  Review preview for Protégé

  It is difficult to shake the feeling that Yee's latest film is a collection of interesting research data, with a plot stitched together from other, superior films, and tacked on, apparently, as an afterthought.

  A drug lord unwittingly grooms an undercover cop to be his successor.
• 
  Chaotic Ana (2007)

  Review preview for Chaotic Ana

  A glossy, superficial affair, leading up to a climactic sequence too laughable to impress in any way.

  An artist who joins a commune tries to uncover her past lives to end a cycle of violence.
• 
  The Zone (2007)

  Review preview for The Zone

  At once a noirish thriller, a social drama, a morality tale, a coming-of-age story and a compelling allegory of 'fortress' USA.

  Residents of an affluent Mexican city enclave seek vigilante justice.
• 
  La Antena (2007)

  Review preview for La Antena

  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.

  Dystopian fairytale about a 'city without a voice'.
• 
  Deficit (2007)

  Review preview for Deficit

  Bernal proves to be a vibrant director, his swooping steadicam and queasy close-ups placing the viewer right in the middle of the party.

  After a spoiled, rich kid hosts a party, unexpected guests bring tensions to boiling point.
• 
  Lars And The Real Girl (2007)

  Review preview for Lars And The Real Girl

  Every performance in it is perfect.

  A quiet young man falls in love with a woman who is perfect in every way - except that she's inflatable.
• 
  Untraceable (2008)

  Review preview for Untraceable

  Tries to deal with matters that are far too grave to be dished up as a thrilling genre entertainment (and a derivative, cliché-riddled one to boot).

  A cyber crimes expert hunts a serial killer who posts videos of his murders on the internet.
• 
  Benny's Video (1992)

  Review preview for Benny's Video

  Unsettles us by exposing our own voyeuristic tendencies and sadomasochistic urges.

  A boy obssessed with violent films begins to lose his grip on reality.
• 
  Persepolis (2007)

  Review preview for Persepolis

  Seen purely in aesthetic terms, Persepolis is an object of rare beauty, with no obvious precedents or parallels in the history of anime.

  A girl's eye view of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
• 
  Sharkwater (2006)

  Review preview for Sharkwater

  If Stewart had focused more on sharks and less on his own misadventures, then the sharks could have had their day in the court of cinema without any needless and unhelpful interjections from their own defence team.

  Documentarian champions the cause of the shark.
• 
  Be Kind Rewind (2008)

  Review preview for Be Kind Rewind

  Oddball, endearing, and very, very funny.

  After accidentally wiping all the tapes in the video store where they work, two enterprising clerks decide to re-shoot the films themselves.
• 
  The Phantom Carriage (1921)

  Review preview for The Phantom Carriage

  Sjöström's film is not just an early horror, but an argument for the moral validity of cinema itself.

  A ghostly morality tale about a spirit doomed to drive a ghostly chariot.
• 
  Margot At The Wedding (2007)

  Review preview for Margot At The Wedding

  Margot ought to be a plum rôle, but Kidman withers it to a prune.

  A neurotic woman undermines her whole family and her sister's impending marriage.
• 
  Tales From Earthsea (2006)

  Review preview for Tales From Earthsea

  A seaworthy effort, both as an impressive debut from someone who has never previously worked in animation, and as a fine (if somewhat bewildering) piece of synoptic adaptation.

  A young prince is caught up in a titanic struggle of sorcerers.
• 
  On The Ice (2008)

  Review preview for On The Ice

  Sikumi is certainly stark, and yet there is room even in this cold, austere backdrop for the warmth of the human spirit.

  An Inuit hunter inadvertantly witnesses a murder.
• 
  Bunny Chow (2006)

  Review preview for Bunny Chow

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

  A group of Johannesburg stand-up comedians take a roadtrip to perform at a rock concert.
• 
  Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest (2006)

  Review preview for Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest

  A true feast for the eyes.

  Two young men with a shared past set out to try and rescue an imprisoned Djinn fairy, learning about themselves in the process.