Reviews by Owen Van Spall

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  The Miseducation Of Cameron Post (2018)

  Review preview for The Miseducation Of Cameron Post

  I was won over by the whole approach of this confident sophomore feature pretty early on, from the witty, frank but also very tender script to the great casting and performances.

  1993: after being caught having sex with the prom queen, a girl is forced into a gay conversion therapy center.
• 
  Mise-En-Scene 2

  Review preview for Mise-En-Scene 2

  A genuine mixed bag of curiosities.

  Collection of South Korean shorts.
• 
  My Dog Tulip (2009)

  Review preview for My Dog Tulip

  A warm and witty tribute to man's best friend and an odd couple love story.

  Bittersweet tale of one man and his dog.
• 
  My Nazi Legacy (2015)

  Review preview for My Nazi Legacy

  Serves as a timely reminder of how keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive, and preventing another one from happening again, will require constant vigilance.

  A lawyer becomes fascinated with two men: both sons of famous Nazi Generals, and both with polar opposite views of their fathers’ hand in the war.
• 
  Nameless Gangster: Rules Of The Time (2012)

  Review preview for Nameless Gangster: Rules Of The Time

  Because the pace is kept brisk and the two lead actors play so well off each other and are so magnetic on screen, Nameless Gangster never bores.

  A corrupt customs offcer becomes involved in racketeering.
• 
  NASA: A Volta (2009)

  Review preview for NASA: A Volta

  A bizarre and off-putting perspective, but mesmerising all the same.

  A drug deal goes awry.
• 
  Nasty Baby (2015)

  Review preview for Nasty Baby

  It either, depending on how open you are to it, completely goes off the rails in the final 20 minutes and destroys its credibility, or instead delivers a provocative moral twist

  A gay couple try to have a baby with the help of their best friend... but trouble lies ahead.
• 
  National Gallery (2014)

  Review preview for National Gallery

  What comes through is a sense of the vast number of tasks the museum must carry out to cover its remit as a public service.

  A documentary exploring the National Gallery in London.
• 
  Never Goin' Back (2018)

  Review preview for Never Goin' Back

  It is a film that is sustained by the irresistible, irrepressible duo at its heart, and by the appeal of seeing the typical stoner bro movie repurposed for the female perspective.

  Jessie and Angela, high school dropout BFFs, are taking a week off to chill at the beach. Too bad their house got robbed, rent’s due, they’re about to get fired and they’re broke.
• 
  The Next Three Days (2010)

  Review preview for The Next Three Days

  A classic case of an intriguing film concept gone to waste.

  A man tries to break his suicidal wife out of jail.
• 
  The Nightingale (2018)

  Review preview for The Nightingale

  What does leave an impression is the acting, the use of locations, and the intensity of the experience; this is a bloody, angry and sad film about oppression and the consequences of it.

  A young convict in a penal colony seeks revenge.
• 
  Norwegian Wood (2010)

  Review preview for Norwegian Wood

  Despite a certain listless pace at times, Norwegian Wood benefits from an energetic soundtrack that doesn't ram home too strongly the particular period setting.

  The Beatles song prompts a man to remember the complicated romance, with devastating consequences, that shaped his youth.
• 
  Nocturnal Animals (2016)

  Review preview for Nocturnal Animals

  This is a study of bitter, sorry people hurting each other using ancient memories, propelled like bullets via the power of fiction.

  A woman is haunted by her ex-husband's novel, which she interprets as a veiled threat.
• 
  Obvious Child (2014)

  Review preview for Obvious Child

  This is really a film that rests on Slate’s charm, which fortunately she delivers in spades.

  A struggling comedian loses her boyfriend, her home and her job, then accidentally gets pregnant from a one night stand.
• 
  Ocean Waves (1993)

  Review preview for Ocean Waves

  The standard of animation is perhaps a bit more basic than the more exotic Miyazaki fare, and in terms of dramatic punch the film is very low-key.

  Anime movie in which a young japanese student recalls a love triangle he was caught up in at high school.
• 
  The Ones Below (2015)

  Review preview for The Ones Below

  There is potential in the scenario and a game cast, but Farr's film is hobbled by some clunky execution and tonal uncertainty.

  When a strange couple move in downstairs, a married pair find their happy home becomes something far more sinister.
• 
  One Million Yen Girl (2008)

  Review preview for One Million Yen Girl

  What appears on the surface to be a quirky indie comedy is actually more restrained and down-to-earth than one might expect.

  A girl uses a target of earning a million yen to dictate when she moves from place to place.
• 
  The Old Man & The Gun (2018)

  Review preview for The Old Man & The Gun

  If Tucker hadn’t been a real person, you would have had had to invent him so Redford could play him, so perfect is the fit.

  Based on the story of a man who escaped San Quentin at 70 and went on to commit a string of heists that captivated the public.
• 
  Oslo, August 31st (2011)

  Review preview for Oslo, August 31st

  A small, quiet, very personal piece that delivers a deeply layered and well acted tale.

  A day in the life of a young man at the end of a drug rehab programme.
• 
  Page One: Inside The New York Times (2010)

  Review preview for Page One: Inside The New York Times

  Given that his documentary only runs 90 minutes, Rossi barely has time to do more than scratch the surface of these momentous issues facing the newspaper industry.

  A documentary about the famous US newspaper and the crisis facing modern journalism.
• 
  Paju (2009)

  Review preview for Paju

  A disjointed, dark narrative of guilt and repressed desire that is well-acted but doesn't ultimately add up to as much as it promises.

  A study of one man's fraught relationships.
• 
  The Pass (2016)

  Review preview for The Pass

  It is very well acted, with an explosively complex lead performance from Russell Tovey and an equally expressive supporting turn from Arinzé Kene.

  The lives of two young premier league footballers are complicated by an impromptu kiss.
• 
  Peaches Does Herself (2012)

  Review preview for Peaches Does Herself

  This film, a bawdy and full-frontal electro rock opera constructed from live recordings of stage performances by Peaches and her support group and dancers, is as transgressive, explicit, bizarre, angry and gender-bending as they come.

  Onstage shenanigans and rock opera mayhem with the eponymous rockstar.
• 
  Pieta (2012)

  Review preview for Pieta

  Intense and committed performances from Cho Min-soo and Lee Jung-jin combined with the oppressive atmosphere Kim creates make for a raw and very sad viewing experience.

  A loan shark is confronted by a woman who claims to be his missing mother.
• 
  Prevenge (2016)

  Review preview for Prevenge

  Writer-director Alice Lowe takes a blowtorch to the picture postcard image of pregnancy.

  A pregnant serial killer is out for vengeance.
• 
  Raging Phoenix (2009)

  Review preview for Raging Phoenix

  There are too many fight scenes scattered throughout, and each really could have done with pruning in the editing room.

  A musician-turned-martial-artist takes on human traffickers.
• 
  The Reef (2010)

  Review preview for The Reef

  The director manages to craft some distinctive and atmospheric set pieces.

  A snorkling trip goes badly wrong for a group of pals.
• 
  Results (2015)

  Review preview for Results

  Bujalksi’s film, ambling on at a languid pace which would offend the five-miles-a-day Trevor, gets some mileage out of poking fun at the spandex set and their self improvement mantras, even if they are an easy target.

  Two mismatched personal trainers' lives are upended by the actions of a new, wealthy client.
• 
  Rock Of Ages (2012)

  Review preview for Rock Of Ages

  Cruise is by far the most entertaining thing in Rock Of Ages, and as with all his films, he looks like he is trying exceptionally hard.

  A young couple find their devotion to one another tested when they encounter Hollywood's wild side.
• 
  Room (2015)

  Review preview for Room

  A visually inventive, genuinely moving, yet understated drama of captivity and hope, which also sings a quiet tribute to the power of creative maternal impulses.

  A five-year-old discovers there may be more to the world than the single room in which he has been raised.
• 
  Rosewater (2014)

  Review preview for Rosewater

  A solid, and certainly heartfelt effort.

  The story of Maziar Bahari, the journalist who was detained for 188 days in Iran.
• 
  The Rover (2014)

  Review preview for The Rover

  Michôd’s film has bite, but it feels like individual elements are more satisfying than the whole.

  In the near future, a man tracks the gang who stole his car across the outback, forcing the injured man they left behind to help him.
• 
  Racer And The Jailbird (2017)

  Review preview for Racer And The Jailbird

  As entertaining as the above is with its two charismatic leads, it is not an especially novel path for a 'crime couple' thriller to take, and it is in the last act that Racer kind of goes off the rails.

  In the Belgian underworld, a secret threatens a couple's romance.
• 
  RoboCop (2014)

  Review preview for RoboCop

  Ditching the satirical elements for a more straightforward sci-fi 'issues' approach, Padhila goes for a more serious minded investigation of the man-machine control conundrum.

  When a police officer is critically injured he is brought back to life as a cyborg and celebrated as the future of law enforcement.
• 
  Room 237 (2012)

  Review preview for Room 237

  Some fans have become, as one admits, literally lost in the maze of the Overlook Hotel.

  Wander down the corridors of the Overlook Hotel in this exploration of theories surrounding Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.
• 
  The Salvation (2014)

  Review preview for The Salvation

  Levring doesn’t play with the formula, instead taking the trusty stetson-and-six-shooter vehicle out for a spin without tinkering with the engine.

  A man who kills his family's murderer faces the wrath of a violent gang - with nobody to help him.
• 
  Samsara (2011)

  Review preview for Samsara

  There are some truly breathtaking and bizarre locales to be seen here.

  A voyage of discovery where music replaces conventional narrative.
• 
  Saudade (2011)

  Review preview for Saudade

  This is a side of Japan not usually shown to western audiences in mainstream theatres.

  Ethnic tensions complicate working class lives in the industrial town of Kofu.
• 
  Seven Psychopaths (2012)

  Review preview for Seven Psychopaths

  McDonagh just about makes this ultra violent meta train ride all hang together.

  A booze-fuelled screenwriter becomes entangled in the Los Angeles underworld.
• 
  Side By Side (2012)

  Review preview for Side By Side

  You will learn a few things here, even if you are a film buff.

  Documentary exploring the science behind the development of digital cinema technology and its effects.
• 
  The Silence Beneath The Bark (2009)

  Review preview for The Silence Beneath The Bark

  The painterly 3D animation style draws the viewer in, so effectively does it depict a fantastical landscape.

  When a tree falls in a forest, two subteranean inhabits go on a journey of discovery.
• 
  Simon Killer (2011)

  Review preview for Simon Killer

  Given its slow pace, ambiguity and unlikeable and distant characters, Simon Killer will not be to everyone's taste.

  A recent college graduate goes to Paris after breaking up with his girlfriend of five years. Once there, he falls in love with a young prostitute and their fateful journey begins.
• 
  Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014)

  Review preview for Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

  There is some amusement to be had in exploring the streets of Sin City: a place where you could play spot-the-homage in for hours, should you be so inclined.

  The Senator's power may be challenged and the femme fatale's allure may be slipping but Old Town remains a dangerous place in the neon nightscape of the graphic novel
• 
  Skeletons (2010)

  Review preview for Skeletons

  An intriguing, well-acted, quietly funny film that, though it is outright weird most of the time and certainly won't be to everyone's taste, has a quirky charm and emotional heart.

  Black comedy about a two-man emotional exterminator team.
• 
  Sleepwalk With Me (2012)

  Review preview for Sleepwalk With Me

  Managing to be funny, insightful and heartfelt at the same time without slipping into melodrama or cheesiness, Sleepwalk With Me also benefits from an extremely relatable and understated performance from Birbiglia.

  A stand-up comedian with a serious sleep disorder reassesses his life.
• 
  Somi - The Taekwon-do Woman (1997)

  Review preview for Somi - The Taekwon-do Woman

  That Somi has been gathering dust in an archive for so long is a shame.

  Two young survivors of a medieval massacre are trained in martial arts and grow up bent on vengeance.
• 
  Spike Island (2012)

  Review preview for Spike Island

  It all feels a little thickly laid on, to the point of cliché.

  In summer 1990, members of a smalltime indie band desperately try to scrounge tickets for a big Stone Roses gig.
• 
  Safe House (2012)

  Review preview for Safe House

  The role of Frost, enigmatic, dangerous, with added unfathomable moral compass, is something Washington excels at and can do in his sleep, but he's played that card perhaps too many times for it to seem fresh.

  When a safe house is attacked, a young agent finds himself on the run with the man who was hiding there.
• 
  Shadow (2018)

  Review preview for Shadow

  Going along with a bonkers plot and lashings of melodramatic confrontations between the characters is a hell of a lot easier to do when you have a well-done Wuxia spectacular to delight your eyes.

  The story of a great king and his people, who will be expelled from their homeland and will aspire to claim it.
• 
  The Shop Around The Corner (1940)

  Review preview for The Shop Around The Corner

  A great showcase for the famous Lubitsch touch - mixing smart and sometimes cutting observations about people in their personal and professional lives with sweetly sentimental comedy and romance.

  Romance blooms between two quarrelsome colleagues who are unaware they are penpals.