Reviews by Anton Bitel

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  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.
• 
  The Market (2007)

  Review preview for The Market

  Like any bazaar, The Market has something for everybody.

  A small-time black market trader tries to change his ways.
• 
  The Marriage Of Figaro (2009)

  Review preview for The Marriage Of Figaro

  The characters never develop, some of the performances are questionably 'broad', and the quality of the digicam images evokes a cheap telesoap.

  A hairy biker and his long-time love face comic complications as they try to get hitched
• 
  The Match Factory Girl (1990)

  Review preview for The Match Factory Girl

  Kaurismäki regular Outinen proves herself the divine muse of minimalism, conveying more emotion with her stony facial expressions than a whole marquee's worth of shrill starlets could manage.

  A production line worker tries to mend her shattered dreams through acts of vengeance. Out to own as part of the Aki Kaurismäki Collection Volume 1.
• 
  Meat Grinder (2009)

  Review preview for Meat Grinder

  There is more to Tiwa Moeithaisong's artful horror than mere visceral sensation, as the politics of gender, family and society all find their place at the perverted feast.

  A noodle soup store's recipe has a worrying 'special' ingredient.
• 
  Men's Group (2008)

  Review preview for Men's Group

  A refreshing examination of the collective male psyche through pure drama.

  Six men, each with heavy emotional baggage, meet once a week to talk, with unexpected consequences.
• 
  Metropia (2009)

  Review preview for Metropia

  The bleached-to-monochrome palette and rich textures are stunningly beautiful to behold, if also deeply unnerving.

  Futuristic animation sees a young man begin to hear voices in his head.
• 
  Me And You And Everyone We Know (2005)

  A snapshot of a family and its struggle to adjust to a new life.
• 
  The Midnight Meat Train (2008)

  Review preview for The Midnight Meat Train

  If The Midnight Meat Train starts with what sounds like a bog-standard serial killer premise, it quickly deviates into more uncharted terrains.

  A photographer stalks a serial killer who picks off his victims on the LA underground.
• 
  The Mind's Eye (2015)

  Review preview for The Mind's Eye

  The latex and practical effects, the lighting dominated by primary red and blues, and the synth-heavy score by Steve Moore, all contribute to the strong Eighties vibe.

  A drifter with telekinetic powers sets out for revenge.
• 
  Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

  Review preview for Mad Max: Fury Road

  Baroque-n-roll does not begin to describe the petrol-headed delirium on offer here.

  In a post-Apocalyptic world, survivor Max hooks up with a mysterious woman to face off against murderous gangs.
• 
  Manderlay (2005)

  Review preview for Manderlay

  Be warned: this Great Dane backs up his satiric bark with a vicious bite.

  Whether it is right to enforce democracy upon those who remain slaves.
• 
  Margaret (2011)

  Review preview for Margaret

  Divorced by many years from the context of its original conception, the film might easily be viewed as just another rites-of-passage indie – albeit an unusually multi-faceted one.

  A young woman find herself embroiled in the blame game after a bus accident.
• 
  Marionette (2019)

  Review preview for Marionette

  Marionette (Marioneta) makes special demands on its cast

  An actor begins to train a group of beggars to be more convincing.
• 
  The Master (2012)

  Review preview for The Master

  Perhaps the title of Master is best reserved for Anderson himself, who builds, as if from water and sand, a story that is messy in the very best sense, crumbling before the viewer's eyes before it can be easily grasped or penetrated.

  A troubled veteran falls under the spell of a charismatic cult leader.
• 
  Mater (2019)

  Review preview for Mater

  This is a very subtle and accomplished feature debut.

  A Croatian ex-pat is has to return home due to her mother's declining health, forcing them to face the ghosts of their past.
• 
  Midnight Movies: From The Margin To The Mainstream (2005)

  Review preview for Midnight Movies: From The Margin To The Mainstream

  Samuels' film both contextualises and celebrates these strange slices of subversive counter-culture.

  A documentary about the success of some of the most popular late night cult movies.
• 
  Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

  Review preview for Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

  Following the phenomenal sequences up on the Dubai skyscraper, it seems that the only way is down.

  Ethan Hunt is forced to become a rogue agent in order to clear his name.
• 
  Mission: Impossible III (2006)

  Review preview for Mission: Impossible III

  Fans of the first two films are likely to find the agent's journey of the heart an unwelcome distraction.

  The Ethan Hunt franchise gets personal, while chasing a psychopathic arms dealer half way round the globe.
• 
  Moana (2016)

  Review preview for Moana

  The truth is, as much as Disney wants to inspire its young viewers, it also knows what sells.

  A young woman goes on an adventure with a demi-god.
• 
  Mrs Henderson Presents (2005)

  Review preview for Mrs Henderson Presents

  The jokes, while often funny, are all basically the same.

  Celebrating patriotic nipples and a theatre that never closed.
• 
  The Muppets (2011)

  Review preview for The Muppets

  As long as this zany crew of misfits continues to raise a smile, a laugh, even a tear, there remains a place for their alchemic power to turn on- and off-stage mishaps, arch pop-culture commentary and sly self-parody into entertainment gold.

  When the Muppet Theatre is theatened, three fans must reunite its former stars to save it.
• 
  My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

  Review preview for My Neighbour Totoro

  My Neighbour Totoro is a true family film, both about, and for, families and while it is wholly concerned with good, decent, likeable people (as well as endearing rustic entities), it somehow avoids saccharine sentiments or a pat resolution.

  Magical film about two girls who have adventures with the forest spirits they encounter. Twenty-fifth anniversary re-release.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  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.
• 
  Mushi-Shi: The Complete Collection (2005)

  Review preview for Mushi-Shi: The Complete Collection

  Aggression, revenge, and martial prowess are replaced by reason, curiosity, and a thirst for knowledge matched only by a love of life.

  Anime sees a 'Mushi-master' maintain a balance between humans and the primordial creatures who live, unseen, alongside them.
• 
  Mystery Road (2013)

  Review preview for Mystery Road

  Sen has crafted a tense thrill ride without ever forgetting his roots.

  An Aboriginal cop returns to his home town to investigate the murder of a teenage girl.
• 
  Mystery Train (1989)

  Review preview for Mystery Train

  Its hyperreal colours and iconic tableaux ooze retro chic.

  Trio of stories connected by a Memphis hotel and the spirit of Elvis Presley.
• 
  My Amityville Horror (2012)

  Review preview for My Amityville Horror

  This documentary offers a uniquely personal account of events in the house from an eyewitness who has never really been heard before.

  A documentary about the famous Amityville 'haunting' case focusing on Daniel, who was ten at the time and remembers something very different.
• 
  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?
• 
  My Olympic Summer (2007)

  Review preview for My Olympic Summer

  Daniel Robin demonstrates how bare images can conceal all manner of secrets about the past and lessons for the future.

  A discovery prompts a filmmaker to re-examine his parents' relationships.
• 
  My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)

  Review preview for My Super Ex-Girlfriend

  At heart a deeply misogynistic view of female empowerment.

  Super-charged break-up leads to powerful problems.
• 
  New Police Story (2004)

  A maverick Hong Kong cop takes on a dangerous gang.
• 
  New Town Killers (2008)

  Review preview for New Town Killers

  Jobson uses the inherent thrill of the hunt to pursue his concerns about the vast gulf between the haves and the have-nots, and the arrogant disconnect of those who view life as mere data on a screen.

  A skint teenager realises his life may be on the line after entering into a deadly game of hide and seek.
• 
  Niagara Motel (2005)

  Review preview for Niagara Motel

  A tragicomic ensemble piece about people on the edge and love on the rocks.

  An ensemble piece examines the fractured lives of stranded souls.
• 
  Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)

  Review preview for Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist

  Lorene Scafaria's script sparkles with breezy wit.

  Two young people are thrown together one night, as they search for their favourite band's secret gig.
• 
  Night Moves (2013)

  Review preview for Night Moves

  Reichardt observes the game coolly, yet provides more than enough detail to show the contradictions in her players' gambits.

  Three people plot an act of eco-terrorism.
• 
  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.
• 
  Ninja Scroll: The Series (2003)

  Review preview for Ninja Scroll: The Series

  Adults should best avoid, but younger viewers (and drug-users of all ages) are likely to be stimulated by its trippy visuals.

  Mercenary ninja becomes involved in a violent struggle between two clans of demons.
• 
  The Naked Island (1960)

  Review preview for The Naked Island

  Made over many months by a tiny cast and crew who themselves lived on the otherwise uninhabited island and sowed and tended the crops there, The Naked Island is both in love with labour, and a labour of love.

  The struggles of a family on an isolated island.
• 
  Nightmare Alley (1947)

  Review preview for Nightmare Alley

  The real highlight of the film is Walker's turn as the femme fatale, Lilith.

  The rise and fall of a con man in one of the darkest film noirs of the American genre.
• 
  Night Of The Living Dead (1968)

  Review preview for Night Of The Living Dead

  Though shot on cheap black-and-white film stock, NOTLD was the film that would turn the whole horror genre blood red, with its innovative use of graphically realistic gore effects.

  Film that set the template for the modern zombie movie.
• 
  Night Watch (2004)

  Review preview for Night Watch

  There is no denying the impressive visual extravagance with which Bekmambetov executes his ideas.

  The forces of Light and Darkness storm and battle through the conflicted consciousness of 21st century Moscow.
• 
  No Country For Old Men (2007)

  Review preview for No Country For Old Men

  Full of the brothers' trademark wit and surreal flourishes, but also unremittingly tense and bleak.

  A man goes on the run from a psychopath in Texas after coming across a briefcase of stolen cash.
• 
  Nowhere Boy (2009)

  Review preview for Nowhere Boy

  There is something a bit bland, a bit kitchen sink, a bit telemovie, about this portrait of the artist as a young man.

  Biopic of John Lennon's younger years.
• 
  Nymph (2009)

  Review preview for Nymph

  Eerie and enigmatic.

  Poetic exploration of marital breakdown.
• 
  Of Parents And Children (2008)

  Review preview for Of Parents And Children

  Brims with charming performances and nuanced observations, but these alone are not enough to prevent it from seeming to last an epoch.

  A retired scientist and his adult son reflect on life during their regular walk around the outskirts of Prague.
• 
  Oliver Twist (2005)

  Review preview for Oliver Twist

  Polanski has crafted something that already feels like a classic film, beautiful to look at, combining accurate period detail with a certain gothic expressionism and brimming with earthy characters and high drama.

  Lavish adaptation of Charles Dickens' tale of an orphan who crosses paths with a pickpocket.
• 
  One Eyed Monster (2008)

  Review preview for One Eyed Monster

  Funny enough (at least in a drunken crowd) to make your eyes water.

  An alien monster wreaks havoc on a porn movie set.