Tweet      Prometheus – Ridley Scott When did the octopus first become the template for space-monsters? I get why: they carry all the repulsiveness of the snake – multiplied by 8; and they are very what we might call grapho-genic. Wave the arms about a lot and our imagination comfortably believes in flying octopi […]

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Tweet          2 Days in New York – July Delpy RomCom yes – ComRom no. 2 Days in Paris was a witty, stylish, quirky romantic comedy with a refreshing edge. Marion’s (Delpy) then boyfriend Adam was comfortable with having sex but distinctly discomposed at talking about it en famille, en ville, just about en-anywhere. […]

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Tweet         Delicacy – David and Stephane Foenkino I’m worried about Audrey. That girl is far too thin: painfully thin. I just don’t think she’s eating properly: not looking after herself. She needs feeding up and pampering for a couple of weeks. I’d offer but I’m not sure my wife would agree. I’m also […]

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Tweet      Marley – Kevin Mcdonald Kierkegaard wrote: “Purity of heart is to will one thing.” Again: “Be that self one truly is.” And: “During the first period of a man’s life the greatest danger is not to take the risk.” Having fathered 11 children from 7 different women Robert Nesta Marley, in his […]

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Tweet        Avengers Assemble – Joss Whedon There are things I get but don’t get; know what I mean? I get that this breathless, rampaging action romp with a profligate excess of super-heroes (6 or 7 depending on whether you count Banner/Hulk as one or two) inserts an intravenous adrenalin drip into us from the […]

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Tweet    Salmon Fishing In The Yemen –  Lasse Hallström Personally I’d introduce one-legged clog-dancing to Mongolia if Emily Blunt would agree to help me. Britain’s two sexiest actresses hold this affectionate, if slight little romantic comedy together: Ms Blunt and the indefatigable Kristin Scott Thomas. KST, after some pretty heavy roles of late, has […]

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Tweet      Mirror Mirror – Tarsem Singh This bizarre, wry, post-modern re-working of the Snow White Fairy Tale has its moments: themselves bizarre, and wry but sadly not frequent enough. Out go Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy and Dopey: in come real dwarfs (dwarves?) Napoleon, Half-Pint, Grub, Grimm, Wolf, Butcher and Chuckles. Being […]

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Tweet      Headhunters – Morten Tyldum The stunning success of Scandinavian crime fiction over recent years is now being replicated on film. Of course Stig Larsson’s posthumous triumph with the Millennium Trilogy drew world-wide attention though Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander series of novels already enjoyed a wide readership in the UK and the rest of Europe sustaining a long-running […]

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Tweet    Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Stephen Daldry (A mystery examined) I don’t want to bang on about this film as I know that would be counter-productive. However having now seen it for a second time I do recommend that if you haven’t seen it, do not be put off of by the […]

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Tweet      The Hunger Games – Gary Ross This is an intriguing, tense pursuit thriller distinguished from the banal by an impressively assured performance from Jennifer Lawrence. To carry a movie at 21 with relatively little experience has the unmistakable mark of an instinctive actress. Although as Ree in Debra Granik’s bleakly brilliant Winter’s Bone, […]

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