Reviews by David Stanners

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Sophiatown (2003)

  Review preview for Sophiatown

  This documentary is an unsentimental portrayal of a time experienced and cherished by a community at odds with a senseless vision of the world.

  Documentary about black cultural renaissance during apartheid in an area of Johannesburg in the Forties and Fifties.
• La Spagnola (2001)

  Review preview for La Spagnola

  Bitter sour and mean spirited.

  Rites-of-passage for teenage Spanish girl growing up with a manic mother in Sixties Australia.
• 
  Spare Parts (2002)

  Review preview for Spare Parts

  Slovenian punk rocker director, Damjan Kozole has opted for gritty realism at a time when issues of immigration are tight on everyone's lips.

  Drama about Slovenian immigrants being smuggled over the Italian border.
• 
  Silken Skin (1964)

  Review preview for Silken Skin

  Before making the film, Truffaut spent considerable time with Hitchcock, who's style of filming and fascination with nature's dark side is echoed here.

  A man begins an ill-fated affair with an air stewardess.
• 
  The Squid And The Whale (2005)

  Review preview for The Squid And The Whale

  Made on a shoe-string budget, it pays true homage to the spirit of independent cinema.

  Breaking up is hard to do - especially for the kids.
• The Stepford Wives (2004)

  Review preview for The Stepford Wives

  Featuring an up to scratch all-star cast, it is Close who really shines, with a cracking quirky little performance, again demonstrating her range.

  Sci-fi/comedy thriller where a seemingly perfect American suburb, with unfeasibly obedient women, raises suspicious eyebrows amongst the latest newcomers.
• 
  Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

  Review preview for Stranger Than Fiction

  Has enough quirkiness and originality in both concept and script to provide a springboard for some terrific performances.

  A fictional character fights for his life in the real world.
• 
  A Sunday In The Country (1984)

  Review preview for A Sunday In The Country

  Bertrand Tavernier has created a quiet little film, so quiet that it fails to communicate much at all.

  An ageing artist is visited at his country estate by his family.
• 
  Starsky And Hutch (2004)

  Review preview for Starsky And Hutch

  You can't go wrong here. The ingredients for a good cops-and-robbers romp are all present and correct.

  Comedy remake of the Seventies most infamous TV cop double act.
• Street Mobster (1972)

  Review preview for Street Mobster

  While the performances are okay, a lot of the time it's hard to know who's fighting whom, and for what.

  A street gangster emerges from prison and pits two high powered local gangs against each other in an attempt to gain prestige and control.
• Surviving Christmas (2004)

  Review preview for Surviving Christmas

  The comedy value is plausible for the first half hour, but after that the life gets sucked out of it and the gags fall flat.

  A highflying corporate executive finds himself lonely and confused at Christmas, so decides to relive his youth with a completely random suburban family.
• Torque (2004)

  Review preview for Torque

  In between the 1000cc revs, the squeaking leather and the speed-induced adrenalin rushes, a plot lurks.

  A two-wheel adrenaline rush, with raging testosterone, tight leathers and CGI.
• The Total Eclipse Of Sybil Price (2003)

  Review preview for The Total Eclipse Of Sybil Price

  The story packs an ethereal twist.

  Supernatural drama short.
• 
  Tour De Force (2004)

  Review preview for Tour De Force

  Lacking both gravitas and focus.

  A strong man heads for Russia to build on his 23 Guinness Book of Records titles.
• 
  The Tulse Luper Suitcases: Part One The Moab Story (2003)

  Review preview for The Tulse Luper Suitcases: Part One The Moab Story

  A self-important, prosaic and ill-defined artistic tableau.

  A meandering historical epic life story of a traveller/natural historian/writer.
• Twist (2003)

  Review preview for Twist

  This is an accomplished directorial debut.

  Very modern take on Dickens’s classic tale Oliver Twist.
• 
  United (2003)

  Review preview for United

  A lighthearted, slightly flimsy little film, which is funny and nicely executed.

  Light-hearted comedy, where one man’s obsession with playing for Manchester United threatens to tear up his relationship.
• Uno (2003)

  Review preview for Uno

  To make a documentary about a Seventies clown trick, is really not that good, is it?

  Documentary short on unicycling.
• 
  US Shorts (2006)

  A collection of shorts from over the pond.
• 
  Violent Summer (1959)

  Review preview for Violent Summer

  Violent Summer is not an epic wartime romance. It's a smaller, quieter film, reflecting people's motives, actions and truths.

  Set in the summer of Mussolini’s demise, a tempestuous love affair ensues between the widowed wife of a naval hero and a younger dodge drafting dandy.
• 
  V-Max (2002)

  Review preview for V-Max

  The trouble with V-Max is that you couldn't care less about the characters.

  A talented young mechanic is taken on as an apprentice and learns a thing or two about life.
• 
  Vodka Lemon (2003)

  Review preview for Vodka Lemon

  Dialogue is at a minimum. In films like these, less if definitely more, and, here, less works brilliantly.

  An Armenian village struggles to come to terms with economic problems and family loss amidst a very cold winter.
• 
  Waking Life (2001)

  Review preview for Waking Life

  There are moments when it treads dangerously close to pretension and self-importance, but the dream-like feel of the whole thing brings it down to earth.

  Rotoscope hero attempts to divine the meaning of life through his dreams.
• The Wedding Dress (2003)

  Review preview for The Wedding Dress

  The tension could have been heightened even more if the ending hadn't been so abrupt.

  A beautiful woman struggles to come to terms with her life, after being gang raped just before her wedding.
• 
  Welcome To Mooseport (2004)

  Review preview for Welcome To Mooseport

  A middle of the road rom-com, with decent laughs sprinkled throughout.

  Small town comedy romance, featuring a former US president pitted against a blue collar worker for mayor.
• 
  What The Bleep Do We Know!? (2004)

  Review preview for What The Bleep Do We Know!?

  A film that challenges our perceptions and encourages us to ask bigger questions about ourselves, our beliefs and our place in the universe. Not a bad thing these days.

  An unconventional half film/half documentary about the nature of quantum theory and how we perceive ourselves within the universe.
• The Who - The Vegas Job (1999)

  Review preview for The Who - The Vegas Job

  A fit, tanned Daltrey gyrates from side to side, still full of verve and youthful swagger.

  The Who’s reunion in Las Vegas, 1999.
• 
  Wild Side (2004)

  Review preview for Wild Side

  Bleak, dull and lifeless can only begin to describe director Sebastien Lifshitz's effort.

  Exploring the lifestyles of three characters involved in a bi/transsexual menage-a-trois.
• 
  With A Girl Of Black Soil (2007)

  Review preview for With A Girl Of Black Soil

  Drawing pathos from an audience for what is an inescapable plight for the family, there is little to do but feel for the young girl whose precociousness and indomitable spirit keep things watchable

  South Korean family drama about an economically impoverished family and their difficulties with one another.
• The World's Fastest Indian (2005)

  Review preview for The World's Fastest Indian

  A gem of a picture.

  A Sixtysomething New Zealander is determined to set a land speed record across the Salt Flats of Utah on his 1920s motorcycle.
• 
  You Got Served (2004)

  Review preview for You Got Served

  The subject is fine, but handled with kid gloves.

  Two rival groups of black inner city kids from L.A thrash it out for the prize of best dance crew.
• 
  Zatoichi (2003)

  Review preview for Zatoichi

  The storytelling - a benchmark of all great Japanese films - is first rate and unravels slowly and subtly, building to an almighty crescendo between two classically trained craftsmen.

  Japanese myth of the blind warrior made flesh by Takeshi Kitano.