Reviews by Themroc

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Accatone (1961)

  A pimp living in the slums of Rome attempts to go straight. Out to own as part of Pier Paolo Pasolini Volume One box set.
• 
  Bad Lieutenant (1992)

  Review preview for Bad Lieutenant

  Neither director nor star ever lose sight of a simple compassion that insists that no one, as long as they retain even the faintest glimmer of self-knowledge, is beyond hope.

  A corrupt police lieutenant goes from bad to worse.
• 
  Bailey On (1968)

  Review preview for Bailey On

  A rather dated, confused and inoffensive attempt to unravel the carefully constructed enigma of its subject.

  A collection of three documentaries, commissioned for television and directed by photographer David Bailey.
• 
  Based On A True Story (2005)

  Review preview for Based On A True Story

  The narrow focus, combined with Stokman’s easy-going, informal narration, mean that the documentary is neither gripping nor even particularly informative.

  Documentary about the real story behind hit film Dog Day Afternoon.
• 
  Black Book (2006)

  Paul Verhoeven returns to Europe for an epic wartime tale.
• 
  Burnt Out (2005)

  A white collar worker goes to pieces following the suicide of his best friend.
• 
  A Cock And Bull Story (2005)

  Review preview for A Cock And Bull Story

  That the whole thing works so well is a tribute to the po-faced matter-of-factness of the approach and the exuberant charm of the execution.

  The difficulty of being Steve Coogan playing Tristram Shandy in a film directed by Jeremy Northam.
• 
  Chunky Monkey (2001)

  A man's date plans are interrupted by a series of surreal events.
• 
  Crash (2004)

  Review preview for Crash

  It’s ironic that for a film seeking to address the whole notion of prejudice based on ethnicity and colour, its characters should be defined by little else.

  Slice of Los Angeles paranoia, incorporating fear, anger, racial tension and a miracle.
• 
  Dead Meat (2004)

  Review preview for Dead Meat

  In a way it’s comforting to know that an unreconstructed splatter-fest like this can still get financing, and in another, it’s a shame the film-makers hadn’t injected it with more originality.

  Citizens of rural Leitrim turn into flesh-eating zombies after contracting a rogue strain of CJD.
• 
  Destricted (2006)

  Review preview for Destricted

  Like most portmanteau films, Destricted is a fitfully rewarding and frequently frustrating affair.

  Explicit seven-part portmanteau feature examining pornography, sexuality and art.
• 
  Dear Wendy (2005)

  Allegorical story of guns and gun culture set in a mythical American mining town.
• 
  For Whom The Bell Tolls (1943)

  Review preview for For Whom The Bell Tolls

  The narrative arc is clumsy and disjointed due to inconsistent pacing, the tone varies uncertainly between grit and a kind of solemn sentimentality, and most of the scenes drag on so long and artlessly that the drama runs out of them.

  An American mercenary fights fascism in the early days of the Spanish Civil War.
• 
  The Fly (1986)

  Review preview for The Fly

  A coherent narrative and interesting, three-dimensional characters.

  A scientist invents a teleportation device, but accidentally splices his DNA with that of a housefly when testing it.
• 
  The Girl From Monday (2004)

  Review preview for The Girl From Monday

  A depressingly banal story.

  In a dystopian near future, counter revolutionaries battle the multimedia conglomerate that runs their lives.
• 
  In The Realms Of The Unreal (2004)

  Posthumous investigation into reclusive artist and writer Henry Darger.
• King's Game (2004)

  Reporters uncover political corruption before the Danish elections.
• 
  Last Days (2005)

  Review preview for Last Days

  A mood piece sustained by a kind of strange, desperate beauty.

  The final hours of a rock legend.
• 
  The Last House On The Left (2009)

  Review preview for The Last House On The Left

  A deeply unpleasant and crassly manipulative piece of work.

  A gang unwittingly take refuge in the house of the parents of a girl they have just raped.
• 
  Left Luggage (1998)

  Review preview for Left Luggage

  I don’t know what irritated me more: the film’s cosy predictability and thematic conservatism or its insufferably mawkish tone.

  A young secular Jewish girl takes a job as a nanny in a strict Hasidic household.
• 
  Love Meetings (1964)

  Review preview for Love Meetings

  It is a mistake to simply sum the film up as simply a dated portrayal of quaint early Sixties ignorance.

  A survey of attitudes to sex and sexuality undertaken by Pasolini in 1963. Out to own as part of the Pier Pasolini Vol 1 box set.
• Love & Human Remains (1993)

  Review preview for Love & Human Remains

  The film reveals itself to be just as shallow and manipulative as the characters it portrays.

  Interwoven stories of sex, love and promiscuity in early Nineties Montreal, with serial killer lurking.
• 
  Lower City (2005)

  Review preview for Lower City

  The performances are okay within the limitations of the script, but it just isn’t very interesting.

  Two friends find their loyalties tested when they both fall in love with the same prostitute.
• 
  Malefique (2005)

  Review preview for Malefique

  The good performances and largely solid direction are completely wasted on a rambling script.

  Three cellmates find a mythical journal used to perform witchcraft.
• 
  Mr & Mrs Smith (2005)

  Review preview for Mr & Mrs Smith

  An insultingly cynical excuse to create a vehicle for its two stars around a single uninteresting idea.

  Husband and wife assassins find themselves targeting each other.
• 
  The Naked Civil Servant (1975)

  Review preview for The Naked Civil Servant

  What it lacks in complexity or emotional intensity, it makes up for in entertainment.

  The story of Quentin Crisp's attempts to lead an openly gay life in pre-War Britain.
• 
  Les Noces Rouges (1973)

  Review preview for Les Noces Rouges

  Instead of bringing their desperation to life, the narrative unfolds in such a cold and detached manner, and with such austere dialogue and characterisation, that it becomes difficult to identify either with the passionate release that the lovers enjoy to

  Adultery, politics and murder in small town France.
• 
  Oliver Twist (2005)

  Review preview for Oliver Twist

  Polanski has crafted something that already feels like a classic film, beautiful to look at, combining accurate period detail with a certain gothic expressionism and brimming with earthy characters and high drama.

  Lavish adaptation of Charles Dickens' tale of an orphan who crosses paths with a pickpocket.
• 
  Pier Paolo Pasolini Volume One (2007)

  Review preview for Pier Paolo Pasolini Volume One

  Celebrate the release of this box set.

  Box set of films by the Italian neo-realist director. Featuring Accattone, RoGoPaG and Love Meetings.
• 
  The Proposition (2005)

  Review preview for The Proposition

  Following the urgency of the film’s opening scenes, the narrative pace sags badly in the middle.

  In the 1880s, an Australian outlaw is offered a pardon if he tracks down and kills his psychotic elder brother.
• 
  RoGoPaG (1962)

  Review preview for RoGoPaG

  There’s no denying that the film’s polemical message is still relevant today, but it’s an old argument, didactically constructed.

  Portmanteau film in which four directors “limit themselves to recounting the joyous beginning of the end of the world”. Out to own as part of Pier Pasolini Volume One box set.
• 
  Seven Sinners (1940)

  Review preview for Seven Sinners

  Marlene Dietrich was one of those actors whose very appearance could make even shallow, undemanding fluff such as this worth watching.

  A cabaret singer is deported from various South Sea Islands for causing fights amongst the naval officers.
• 
  The Song Of Songs (1933)

  Review preview for The Song Of Songs

  In spite of Mamoulian’s confident hand and occasionally inspired directorial flourishes, there is no question that the film belongs to Dietrich.

  An innocent moves to the city after her father’s death and finds her ideas about love and romance thwarted by cynicism. Available to own as part of Marlene Dietrich: The Movie Collection.
• 
  Twentynine Palms (2003)

  Review preview for Twentynine Palms

  What makes all this compelling is the underlying sense of brooding menace.

  A pair of lovers fight and fall apart out in the California desert.
• 
  W (2008)

  Review preview for W

  In the end I found myself won over by the charm of this film's various creative idiosyncrasies and by the charisma of Brolin’s performance.

  The life of US President George W Bush, as seen by Oliver Stone.
• 
  You're Gonna Miss Me (2005)

  Review preview for You're Gonna Miss Me

  An intimate and rather sad portrait of a shattered and deeply dysfunctional family unit attempting to come to terms with itself.

  Documentary about troubled cult musician Roky Erickson.