Reviews by David Stanners

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  16 Blocks (2006)

  Review preview for 16 Blocks

  The concept of 16 Blocks is nothing new... Unfortunately, the concept outweighs the result.

  For a New York cop and his witness, the distance between life and death is 16 blocks long.
• 
  28 Days Later (2002)

  Review preview for 28 Days Later

  Garland needs to get back to the drawing board and look up the term 'character development' in his notes.

  Survivors run from infected killers after apocalyptic rage virus devastates Britain.
• 
  50 First Dates (2004)

  Review preview for 50 First Dates

  There are some good gags along the way.

  Adam Sandler is a marine biologist in Hawaii who falls for a girl with no memory.
• 
  Anacondas: The Hunt For The Blood Orchid (2004)

  A group of scientists encounter a hostile batch of serpents as they plunge into the jungles of Borneo on a research expedition.
• 
  Assault On Precinct 13 (2005)

  Review preview for Assault On Precinct 13

  This isn't a bad adaptation, but as a thriller is not a patch on the original.

  Remake of the John Carpenter classic.
• 
  Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004)

  In this second instalment, Cody Banks jet sets to London, in an attempt to thwart a lethal mind-controlling device.
• 
  American Splendor (2002)

  True story about misfit who creates a popular comic series based on his own life.
• 
  The Aristocrats (2004)

  Review preview for The Aristocrats

  Never could the warning, 'Stay away if you're easily offended,' be more appropriate.

  Documentary about a filthy joke, told by a succession of professional comedians.
• 
  The Baker (2007)

  Review preview for The Baker

  Its thin, sketchy plot relies heavily on little moments of comedy irony to pull it up by the bootstraps.

  Comedy thriller where a hit man, takes refuge from his boss by finding work as a baker in a quiet Welsh village.
• 
  Bee Season (2005)

  A father immerses himself in a quest to make his daughter a spelling champion while his family slowly falls apart.
• 
  Being Julia (2004)

  Rumpy-pumpy and Pimms in Thirties theatre-land.
• 
  Benzina (2001)

  Review preview for Benzina

  Doesn't have a great deal to say.

  Two lesbian lovers attempt to disguise a dead body, while being chased by local hoodlums.
• 
  The Big White (2005)

  Review preview for The Big White

  The main problem lies with predictability and a fundamental lack of originality.

  Black comedy set in Alaska revolving around a death, a cover up, a swindle and a vendetta.
• 
  Billy And Albert: Billy Connolly Live At The Royal Albert Hall (1987)

  Billy Connolly takes his anarchic stand-up comedy act to the Sassenach heartland.
• 
  Black Books: The Complete Third Series (2004)

  The Black Book Trio are back with even more morbid humour in their third series.
• 
  Blinded (2003)

  Review preview for Blinded

  All credibility and tension, manifested during the bulk of the film, is completely robbed at the final hurdle by a ludicrous ending.

  A Danish backpacker faces sinister consequences after his work on a rundown farm leads to romance.
• 
  Blind Mountain (2007)

  Review preview for Blind Mountain

  Once again Li Yang, has directed a fascinating portrayal of the contradictions inherent in the world’s fastest growing economy.

  Looking for work in rural northern China, a female student is kidnapped by a businessman posing as her employer, and sold into a family as the son’s bride to be.
• 
  Blind Shaft (2003)

  Review preview for Blind Shaft

  This is a simple tale, carrying simple messages.

  Moral parable about greed and deception in rural China.
• 
  Blind Spot (2002)

  Gritty Slovenian drama about a girl trying to help her drug-addicted brother.
• 
  A Boy's Life (2002)

  Review preview for A Boy's Life

  If it weren't for the fact that A Boy's Life is set in the bedrock of white trash Mississippi, this would be no more than an extended social services report.

  Documentary about a dysfunctional boy and his family in small town Mississippi.
• 
  Cathy Come Home (1966)

  Review preview for Cathy Come Home

  It just goes to show that for tens of thousands, the Sixties was a distant cry from sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.

  Gritty socio-economic analysis of homelessness in Sixties Britain.
• 
  Catwoman (2004)

  Review preview for Catwoman

  Catwoman is a hybrid of superhero/romance, with a feminist touch.

  A weak-willed designer is murdered and reborn as Catwoman.
• 
  Coffee And Cigarettes (2003)

  Review preview for Coffee And Cigarettes

  The film's charm is the feeling of spontaneity and randomness.

  Series of sketches based around coffee and cigarettes, featuring a collection of the great and the good from the indie side of Hollywood.
• 
  Chang And Eng (2003)

  A short documentary on the lives of 19th Century Siamese twins.
• 
  Charlie White (2004)

  A group of wannabe London socialites overindulge the decadent side of life.
• 
  Le Chignon d'Olga (2002)

  Review preview for Le Chignon d'Olga

  Twentysomething French director Jerome Bonnell displays incredible maturity beyond his years.

  Introspective drama focusing on the trials and tribulations of a family.
• 
  Clean (2004)

  A struggling singer attempts to pull her life together and reconcile with her son after her rock star husband dies from a heroin overdose.
• 
  Code 46 (2003)

  A futuristic sci-fi movie about a fraud investigator romantically entangled with his suspect.
• 
  Control (2003)

  Review preview for Control

  Control is a highly eclectic tableaux of darkness and humour, life and death, characters and incidents, supernatural and commonplace.

  A bizarre fictional insight into the idiosyncratic lives of Budapest’s underground train inspectors.
• 
  Creep (2004)

  A Brit chiller that will drag you down the tube, screaming and kicking.
• 
  Dance In The Rain (1961)

  A young man and woman lost in love and life, drift from cafe to cafe, dreaming of a life that may or may not exist.
• 
  Dans Ma Peau (2002)

  The odyssey of a young woman who becomes addicted to self-mutilation.
• 
  The Dawn Chorus (2006)

  A boy and girl return to where their parents’ plane crashed 7 years earlier.
• 
  Dawn Of The Dead (2004)

  Flesh-eating zombies inhabit the city centre, forcing the few remaining mortals to take cover.
• 
  The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

  Review preview for The Day After Tomorrow

  A decent concept and incredibly impressive special effects are irreparably jolted by a shoddy script, one-dimensional plot and sluggish pace.

  Dennis Quaid is a climatologist, trying to save his son, as the country is taken over by a freak ice age.
• 
  Dead Man's Shoes (2004)

  Review preview for Dead Man's Shoes

  The violence is heavy going and the atmosphere constantly fraught with a growing sense of foreboding.

  An ex-army man strolls into town, seeking revenge on his disabled brother's assailants.
• 
  A Decade Under The Influence (2003)

  Review preview for A Decade Under The Influence

  Demme and LaGravenese have done a decent job in documenting what is undoubtedly the most important era in modern US cinema.

  Documentary outlining Hollywood’s 1970s heyday.
• 
  Deep Blue (2003)

  Review preview for Deep Blue

  Deep Blue will have at least something that will drop your jaw a notch or two.

  Documentary on the beautiful and brutal realities of the undersea world.
• 
  Earthly Possessions (1999)

  Review preview for Earthly Possessions

  Sarandon is convincing, endearing, charming and real.

  Susan Sarandon is abducted by Steven Dorff after a bank raid and he steals her heart.
• Elvis - The Last 24 Hours (2003)

  Documentary outlining the final 24 hours of Elvis Presley’s life.
• EMR (2004)

  A dreamer's life starts to spiral out of control when he starts to take a new epilepsy drug.
• 
  Evil (2003)

  Review preview for Evil

  Contrived, but quietly captivating.

  A troubled Fifties Swedish teenager is sent to boarding school, where he takes it out on the bullies. Out to own as part of the European Mavericks Heart Of Darkness box set.
• 
  Fear X (2002)

  Review preview for Fear X

  Fraught and anxious, yet enigmatic, Turturro's performance is beautifully understated.

  A dark noir-ish mystery about a man looking for his wife's killer.
• 
  Fellini: I'm A Born Liar (2001)

  Documentary of a final interview with Federico Fellini, plus rare footage.
• 
  Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

  Review preview for Fahrenheit 9/11

  Fahrenheit 9/11 is powerful, thought-provoking and highly selective.

  Michael Moore's indictment of the Bush Government in the wake of September 11.
• 
  The Flying Scotsman (2006)

  Review preview for The Flying Scotsman

  Mackinnon has made a good stab at an ambitious project.

  A Scottish cyclist's biopic.
• The Football Factory (2004)

  Review preview for The Football Factory

  Probably a fairly accurate, if brutal, insight into the lives of a group of middle class thugs trying to fill a void in their dull meaningless existences.

  An open view into the degenerate lives of London football casuals.
• 
  Freaky Friday (2003)

  Review preview for Freaky Friday

  Funny, brilliantly scripted and subtly moulded.

  Screwball comedy about a mother and teenage daughter who switch bodies for the day.
• 
  Frozen Assets (2003)

  Review preview for Frozen Assets

  Every operatic ingredient is thrown into the pot.

  An operatic chiller.
• Game Over (2003)

  Review preview for Game Over

  This is something for chess fans and non-fans alike.

  Documentary about Garry Kasparov’s chess match against IBM’s computer Deep Blue