Reviews by Chris

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  2046 (2004)

  Review preview for 2046

  Moments are frozen into memory in a way that overrides context.

  A trip to a place where the past remains unchanged - but is it all in the mind?
• 
  24 Frames Per Second (1977)

  Review preview for 24 Frames Per Second

  A short and interesting novelty.

  A short, experimental film exploring mystical imagery.
• 
  2 Birds (2008)

  Review preview for 2 Birds

  Brilliantly structured, touchingly beautiful and sensitive.

  A group of teenagers experiment with ketamine and find themselves out of their depth.
• 
  2 Days In Paris (2007)

  Review preview for 2 Days In Paris

  If a film filled with jealousy and bickering is your idea of a fun night, you could definitely have some laughs with Two Days in Paris.

  A couple try to hold their relationship together on a weekend in Paris.
• 
  2 Or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967)

  Review preview for 2 Or 3 Things I Know About Her

  Although it is one of Godard’s cleverest and most rounded attacks on capitalism, the film comes into its own as he questions the nature of reality.

  An exploration of capitalism, its effect on individuals, and the nature of reality.
• 
  300 (2006)

  Review preview for 300

  It feels like a two-hour descent into Mordor that makes Gladiator look gay.

  An adaptation of the Frank Miller comic about the real life struggle of 300 Spartan soldiers to hold a pass against the full might of the Persian army.
• 
  42nd Street (1933)

  Review preview for 42nd Street

  It establishes the genre in spectacular style, breaking boundaries of perspective, camera technique, dance as spectacle and of choreography as written especially for the screen.

  A chorus girl understudy steals the show on Broadway after the leading lady is unexpectedly incapacitated.
• 
  5 Days (2005)

  Review preview for 5 Days

  The film stands on its own merits as a professionally made documentary and should be accepted as such, the same as films made in and about Palestine, irrespective of prevailing politics.

  Documentary following the removal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip.
• 
  Adam's Apples (2005)

  A priest who believes in the essential goodness of everything struggles to deal with a neo-Nazi in his church.
• 
  All The King's Men (2006)

  An ordinary man enters politics and finds himself drawn into corruption.
• 
  Alpha Dog (2006)

  Review preview for Alpha Dog

  Alpha Dog could be an unremarkable and formulaic film but is enlivened by strong performances.

  The party-hearty lifestyle of bored Californian rich kids is rocked to the core when a botched drug deal has tragic consequences.
• 
  Anatomy Of Hell (2004)

  French intellectual take on kinky sex between a gay man and a suicidal woman.
• 
  Antichrist (2009)

  Review preview for Antichrist

  The main horror element is a deep psychological manipulation that stays with you for days afterwards.

  A couple whose child has died retreat into the woods and discover very dark things.
• 
  An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

  Review preview for An Inconvenient Truth

  If [Al Gore] was a school-teacher, no-one would have ever skipped class.

  Al Gore investigates global warming.
• 
  Apocalypto (2006)

  Review preview for Apocalypto

  What is worrying, and makes it gripping if not exactly entertaining, is the extended, gratuitous violence running almost from beginning to end.

  A captive, destined for sacrifice, Jaguar Paw is determined to escape and save his wife and child.
• 
  The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)

  Review preview for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

  Great effort has gone into making even small details as authentic as possible and we genuinely feel as if we are glimpsing through a window into history.

  The title says it all...
• 
  Atonement (2007)

  Review preview for Atonement

  Excessively high production values, superlative acting, and a generally interesting story, blind to us the moral bankruptcy of our tale.

  A young couple are torn apart by a confused girl's accusation, by class prejudice and by war.
• 
  At Land (1944)

  Review preview for At Land

  The fact that At Land works so well reminds us that Meshes was no accident.

  Surrealist avant-garde classic following a woman's journey of discovery.
• 
  Australia (2008)

  Review preview for Australia

  The catch-phrase, “Just because it is, doesn’t mean it should be,” is applied to anything that stands in the way, such as recouping investments at the box-office.

  Sprawling epic sees English toff and drover bond over cattle and kids.
• 
  Across The Universe (2007)

  Review preview for Across The Universe

  The love songs have gone terribly well with attractive leads, making no great demands on their acting skills. But launch the film into extended tragedy and their inexperience sadly shows.

  A look at the Flower Power era in America through the eyes of an outsider.
• 
  Aeon Flux (2005)

  Futuristic sci-fi post-animated superagent is acrobatic in her desire to save paradise from reactionary forces.
• 
  All That Heaven Allows (1955)

  Review preview for All That Heaven Allows

  A paean to the American dream of self-determination that many Americans have never learnt how to aspire to.

  A widow falls in love with a handsome young gardener and faces social vilification as a result.
• 
  Amazing Grace (2006)

  A dramatic look at the legal and cultural processes which led to the abolition of slavery.
• 
  American Translation (2011)

  Review preview for American Translation

  There simply is not enough going on plotwise, even if it is a reasonably fascinating psychological study.

  Young love has never been so menacing.
• 
  Andy Warhol's Heat (1972)

  A former child star tries to get by in Hollywood by taking an older lover.
• 
  And Everything Is Going Fine (2010)

  Review preview for And Everything Is Going Fine

  For anyone who ever doubted Soderbergh’s artistic integrity, this unassuming film is a minor monument to excellence of execution and the enduring validity of his work.

  Tribute to the writer and performer Spalding Gray.
• 
  Angel-A (2005)

  Paris & philososphy, black & white, rom & com.
• 
  Angels In The Dust (2007)

  Review preview for Angels In The Dust

  This is the third film by award-winning director Louise Hogarth, and her third film about AIDS. Will this one make a difference?

  Documentary about a wealthy, privileged family who build a community for children whose lives have been devastated by HIV/AIDS.
• 
  Ants In The Mouth (2004)

  A thriller set in Cuba under the Batista regime.
• 
  Apart From That (2006)

  An exploration of the lives of a group of partygoers.
• 
  Art School Confidential (2006)

  An artist learns to adapt his vision to the world around him.
• 
  Ask The Dust (2006)

  The love affair between a budding Italian-American writer and a Mexican waitress during The Great Depression.
• 
  Asylum (2005)

  Infidelity at an institution for the criminally insane.
• 
  Away From Her (2006)

  Review preview for Away From Her

  Mesmerising, heart-wrenching, and a remarkably intimate vision.

  A married couple come to terms with Alzheimer's. Enjoying a limited Valentine's re-release in some London cinemas.
• 
  Babel (2006)

  Modern melodrama, tracing four interlocking stories across three continents.
• 
  Baise-Moi (2000)

  Review preview for Baise-Moi

  Apart from its stand against censorship and the way it deals with rape, the film is lacking in many respects.

  A prostitute and her friend go on the rampage after being gang raped.
• 
  Ballad Of Narayama (1958)

  Review preview for Ballad Of Narayama

  The film is visually and musically arresting. It doesn't rely on 'realism' to create an effect.

  A grandmother prepares for her last journey - to be taken to the mountains to die - but her son struggles to accept her fate.
• 
  Baraboo (2009)

  Review preview for Baraboo

  Although it is beautiful to look at, it goes on doing that for an hour and a half.

  People come and go in a Midwestern small town motel.
• 
  Bande À Part (1964)

  Review preview for Bande À Part

  Bande À Part is continuously light and frothy, relishing its own resourcefulness and serving up a stream of delights.

  Two misfits and a pretty student conspire to burgle a big house.
• 
  The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2004)

  A young heavy, following in his father's violent footsteps yearns for something more.
• 
  Becoming Jane (2007)

  A young Jane Austen learns the rules of the marriage game before her pen displays a pride in its prejudice.
• 
  Belle De Jour (1967)

  Review preview for Belle De Jour

  Couture by Yves Saint Laurent and lush photography drown us in luxurious chic.

  Bunuel's story of a chaste housewife who gets a job in a brothel still has the power to shock after 40 years. Out now on re-release.
• 
  Better Things (2008)

  Review preview for Better Things

  Creative films of this calibre risk giving Britain a good name.

  Award-winning short filmmaker makes his feature debut with a story of fractured relationships.
• 
  Black Book (2006)

  Review preview for Black Book

  On the one hand, the film has been minutely researched, based on actual events and characters, and on the other, it has the larger than life gloss we might associate with, say, James Bond.

  Paul Verhoeven returns to Europe for an epic wartime tale.
• 
  Blue Velvet (1986)

  Review preview for Blue Velvet

  In some of Lynch's later films, surreal flights into fantasy can be subtle and obligatory. But in Blue Velvet, the audience is left to decide.

  A young man befriends a woman in trouble and discovers a sinister side to life in his small town.
• 
  Bobby (2006)

  Review preview for Bobby

  This is a leisurely, detailed and lovingly crafted film

  Who was in the hotel on the night that Robert Kennedy was shot?
• 
  The Boss Of It All (2006)

  Review preview for The Boss Of It All

  A hilarious screwball comedy

  An IT company trying to sell up hires an actor to pose as its president.
• 
  The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

  Review preview for The Bourne Ultimatum

  The Bourne Ultimatum is one of those spy-flicks that looks great first time round and far too silly to ever watch again.

  The chase goes on for the rogue CIA assassin in his search for recognition and revenge.
• 
  Brain Damage (1988)

  Review preview for Brain Damage

  Creative tension, daring storyline and genuinely unsettling dreadfulness.

  A man becomes attached to a parasite that gives him an unnatural high.
• 
  Breakfast On Pluto (2005)

  An Irish transvestite, searching for the mother who abandoned him, is caught up in terrorist violence and hilarious goings on in London.