Reviews by Keith Hennessey Brown

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  21 Grams (2003)

  Review preview for 21 Grams

  An equal, not a sequel from one of cinema's brightest hopes.

  The lives of a junkie and ex-con and a college professor intersect.
• 
  Abouna (2002)

  Review preview for Abouna

  This Chad/France co-production is pleasant enough viewing, but felt somewhat calculated, polished and ersatz to me.

  Two brothers from Chad are affected in different ways when their father leaves home.
• 
  Alien Vs Predator (2004)

  Review preview for Alien Vs Predator

  The over-abundance of cliched and banal action movie situations - the would-be witty one-liners, the should-have-been-impressive set-pieces etc - that never seem to have quite the impact the film-makers desired.

  Alien vs Predator, with man in the middle.
• 
  All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)

  Review preview for All About Lily Chou-Chou

  The writing is spot on, with characters, situations and dialogue that are, unfortunately, all too believable.

  A disaffected teen finds solace in music and fan chat rooms.
• 
  Amadeus - The Director's Cut (1984)

  Review preview for Amadeus - The Director's Cut

  Amadeus is a damn fine film. Milos Foreman's direction is assured without being showy.

  Superior biopic of the Austrian composer.
• 
  The American Soldier (1970)

  Review preview for The American Soldier

  While some of the noir/expressionist compositions are undeniably effective as images, there is the sense of a certain lack of integration into the whole.

  A Vietnam vet who finds himself in a romantic mess after being contracted by cops to kill some gangsters. Out to own now on the RW Fassbinder Commemorative Collection: Volume 1.
• 
  Amores Perros (1999)

  Review preview for Amores Perros

  This film is - sorry, but it has to be said - the dog's bollocks.

  Interlinking stories, connected by a car crash and dogs.
• 
  Au Revoir Taipei (2010)

  Review preview for Au Revoir Taipei

  Such a sweet and fun little film that it's hard not to warm to it and be utterly won over by the time its hour and a half is up.

  Lightweight and funny crime caper about a desperate man trying to score an air fare.
• 
  Air Guitar Nation (2006)

  Review preview for Air Guitar Nation

  When a documentary is as entertaining as Air Guitar Nation, you have to ask if you really need it to have redeeming social value or to advance the art form in any way. And, to be honest, the answer has to be no.

  A documentary about the air guitar craze in America.
• 
  Almanya - Welcome to Germany (2011)

  Review preview for Almanya - Welcome to Germany

  Undeniably well put together at all levels.

  Who or what am I - German or Turkish?' is the main question of this comedy about a Turkish family living in Germany since the late Sixties.
• 
  American Splendor (2002)

  Review preview for American Splendor

  The performances are finely nuanced, capturing the complexities of real life individuals and avoiding caricature.

  True story about misfit who creates a popular comic series based on his own life.
• 
  Anatomie (2000)

  Review preview for Anatomie

  After a promising start it quickly degenerates into a series of horror/thriller cliches.

  An anatomy student encounters creepy goings on at med school.
• 
  Andrei Rublev (1966)

  Biopic tracing the life of the Russian painter.
• 
  Another Public Enemy (2005)

  Review preview for Another Public Enemy

  Inside every bloated two-and-a-half hour would-be epic there's a lean 90-minute movie trying to get out

  A prosecutor crosses swords with a corrupt businessman.
• 
  Antibodies (2004)

  Review preview for Antibodies

  A technically assured, well acted and, above all, thought-provoking piece of crossover cinema

  A serial killer plays mind games with a policeman.
• 
  The Art Of Losing (2004)

  Review preview for The Art Of Losing

  Slickly orchestrated by director Sergio Cabrera with good performances.

  Columbian corruption, a decomposing corpse, a hard-drinking reporter and a tearful tart.
• 
  Art School Confidential (2006)

  An artist learns to adapt his vision to the world around him.
• 
  The Avenging Fist (2001)

  Review preview for The Avenging Fist

  There's little beyond the impressive eye-candy on show.

  Hong Kong martial arts stylefest, inspired by computer game and incorporating superhuman powers.
• 
  The Ballad Of Genesis And Lady Jaye (2011)

  Review preview for The Ballad Of Genesis And Lady Jaye

  The film appears to have had a long and somewhat troubled genesis of its own.

  Documentary depicting the love story between Genesis P-Orridge and Lady Jaye.
• 
  Ballad Of Narayama (1958)

  Review preview for Ballad Of Narayama

  Unquestionably one of the most beautiful films I have seen, every shot is designed, composed, lit and photographed to perfection.

  A grandmother prepares for her last journey - to be taken to the mountains to die - but her son struggles to accept her fate.
• 
  Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress (2002)

  Review preview for Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress

  Adapting his own autobiographical novel, director Dai Sijie's intimacy with his subject allows for a remarkably assured mise-en-scene.

  Boys sent for re-education get the hots for local seamstress.
• 
  Bangkok Haunted (2001)

  Review preview for Bangkok Haunted

  Both men over-emphasise style, but have little real substance to back it up.

  Three supernatural tales from Thailand.
• 
  Battle Royale II: Requiem (2003)

  Review preview for Battle Royale II: Requiem

  All that really comes across is a muddle of vague liberal humanist sentiments that sits awkwardly alongside an unquestioned command of action mayhem.

  Japanese high school kids are forced to hunt down a dangerous renegade, or die.
• 
  Baadasssss Cinema (2002)

  Review preview for Baadasssss Cinema

  I only wish there was more of it.

  Documentary about the 1970s blaxploitation films.
• 
  Bad Education (2004)

  Two young school friends meet after 16 years, with tragic consequences.
• 
  Before Sunset (2004)

  Two young people meet again in Paris nine years after a romantic night in Vienna.
• 
  La Belle Et La Bête (1946)

  Timeless classic that lives up to the label.
• 
  Berberian Sound Studio (2012)

  Review preview for Berberian Sound Studio

  If you're a fan of gialli and horror all'italiana you'll enjoy playing spot the homage. If you're not a lot of the imagery and dialogue will simply go past you.

  In the 1970s, a British sound technician is brought to Italy to work on the sound effects for a gruesome horror film where his nightmarish task slowly takes over his psyche.
• 
  Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980)

  Review preview for Berlin Alexanderplatz

  There can be little question that it is a masterpiece.

  The life of a ex-con trying to go straight in 1920s Berlin is released on DVD after a massive restoration project by the original editor.
• 
  Beware Of A Holy Whore (1971)

  Review preview for Beware Of A Holy Whore

  As with most of Fassbinder's work it is very much an acquired taste, requiring that one accept the notion of film as something more than just entertainment, as a tool to make one think.

  Film within a film about a movie cast who try to make the best of a bad job when they find themselves short of funding. Out to own on the RW Fassbinder Commemorative Collection: Vol 1.
• 
  The Business (2005)

  Review preview for The Business

  The Business emerges as yet another British gangster film with nothing new or original to say.

  In the mid-80s a young man falls foul of a gangster and is sent to take money to an ex-con in Spain, who invites him to join his team.
• 
  Benjamin Smoke (1999)

  Review preview for Benjamin Smoke

  The film-makers deserve credit for even getting the film made at all.

  Documentary about an outsider musician.
• 
  A Big Girl Like You (2003)

  Review preview for A Big Girl Like You

  A confident, assured and mature handling of the coming of age story.

  A French provincial girl grows up fast in Paris.
• 
  Birth (2004)

  Review preview for Birth

  A disappointing, mundane psychological drama.

  A woman is convinced that a boy is the reincarnation of her husband.
• 
  Black Christmas (1974)

  Killer on campus causes girl fright four years before Halloween.
• 
  Black Dynamite (2009)

  Review preview for Black Dynamite

  The key to Black Dynamite’s success is that the film-makers know the difference between a good-bad movie and a bad-bad movie.

  Blaxploitation spoof.
• 
  Black Sun The Nanking Massacre (1995)

  Review preview for Black Sun The Nanking Massacre

  The Nanking Massacre suffers from the simple fact that the archival material is far, far more powerful and disturbing than the reconstructions.

  Retelling of the Second World War Rape of Nanking.
• 
  Bleak Night (2010)

  Review preview for Bleak Night

  The direction is especially impressive, particularly when you consider that this is a first feature.

  Winner of the New Current Award at the 2010 Pusan International Film Festival.
• 
  Blind Spot (2002)

  Review preview for Blind Spot

  The sort of film that is easier to admire, or appreciate, than actually enjoy.

  Gritty Slovenian drama about a girl trying to help her drug-addicted brother.
• 
  Bloody Moon (1981)

  Review preview for Bloody Moon

  It is notable that for every slasher trope there also seems to be a giallo one.

  A killer targets the students at a language school.
• 
  Boyhood Loves (2001)

  Review preview for Boyhood Loves

  Writer-director Yves Caumon notices the small details... and makes them count.

  A young Frenchman returns from the city to the rural home of his youth to visit his dying father in this subtle, effective drama.
• 
  A Brief History of Errol Morris (1999)

  Review preview for A Brief History of Errol Morris

  Macdonald's film succeeds as a 'greatest hits' type introduction.

  Documentary about the non-fiction film-maker.
• 
  Bring It On (2000)

  Cheerleaders battle to regain their national title.
• 
  Broadway Black Sea (2002)

  Review preview for Broadway Black Sea

  Neither good, nor bad. Just average.

  Documentary about a Black Sea holiday locale over one summer season.
• 
  Buena Vida Delivery (2003)

  Review preview for Buena Vida Delivery

  Straightforward, unflashy direction... is counterbalanced by well-observed and nuanced performances.

  A guy moves in with a girl, only to find she comes with a family - and business - attached.
• 
  Bundy (2002)

  Review preview for Bundy

  Bundy is bland and calculatedly inoffensive.

  Biopic of serial killer Ted Bundy.
• 
  Caesar's Park (2000)

  A filmmaker documents her new neighbourhood.
• 
  The Cat Leaves Home (2004)

  Review preview for The Cat Leaves Home

  Too cold and distanced.

  Two girls fight over men.
• 
  Cabin Fever (2002)

  Review preview for Cabin Fever

  Though none of the young leads play a particularly personable character, it is a testament to the overall quality of the piece - writing, direction and performances alike - that one nevertheless feels for them.

  Deadly virus attacks teens in the woods.
• 
  The Canterbury Tales (1972)

  Review preview for The Canterbury Tales

  'By concentrating on the bawdier Tales and disregarding their sequence, the director's interpretation obscures the way in which tales would engage in a dialogue with one another somewhat'

  Bawdy retelling of the medieval Chaucerian stories.