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reviews
The International Writers Magazine: FILM SPACE - Debate about Film - Archive

FILM TALK
2000-2024
Lee

Twisters
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
7.19.24
Stars: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell,
Sam Hawksmoor review
Thrills and Chills - definitely wear a helmet in Oklahoma

Promethean Mystique De La Femme
James Campion 3.23.24

In Praise of Poor Things
Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things is a masterpiece of filmmaking ...
Drive Away Dolls
Starring Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein
Road Movie on Diversion 3.20.24

*
Lee ***
Harrowing bio-pic with standout performance from Kate Winslet

Wes Andersens 'Asteroid City' **
Mission Impossible 7 (Part 1) *****
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ***
Oppenheimer *****
Dumb Money ****
The whole Gamestop stock adventure vs the evil Hedge Funds brought poignantly to life. Starring Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, and more.
The Creator ***
Big budget Ai sci-fi movie with a plot borrowed from so many other movies. Worth seeing but you keep rooting for Ai to win.

Review of 'Wrong Side of the Tracks'
(Netflix drama)
'Leroy B. Vaughn
1.5.23
Gritty Spanish Crime Drama (2 seasons)
Running Up That Hill
Sam Hawksmoo
r
The power of the soundtrack on Stranger Things

Michelle Yeoh
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Sam Hawksmoor review
5.20.22
Written & Directed by Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
Starring Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis *11 Oscar nominations
‘Now, you may only see a pile of receipts, but I see a story.  I can see where this story is going.  And it does not look good.  It. Does. Not. Look. Good.’
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Xochitl Gomez, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams
A silly adventure fantasy that doesn't break new ground Dont Look Up
Don’t Look Up (2021)
Dir: Adam McKay

Story David Sirota
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill
Satire in dire need of an edit
The Politics, Culture & Spirit of Soul
James Campion 7.16.21
In Praise of Summer Soul

Musician and filmmaker, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson may well have made the seminal concert film of the age – the rock/soul/funk/gospel/blues American age.
THE GHOSTS OF HATE & FREEDOM
In Praise of Jojo Rabbit – The Best Film I Have Seen in a Decade
James Campion

We have to dance to show God we are grateful for being alive
The Docks of New York (1928)
Dean Borok

The critical and commercial success of “The Artist” proves that the art of black and white silent cinema still holds value as a kind of celluloid (to coin an antiquated, but still charming expression) Kabuki Theater, where broad acting, exaggerated reactions and mime techniques convey the progress of the story line in place of spoken dialogue.

The Summer of 'Annie Hall' at 40.
James Campion

Alvy and Annie’s relationship reveals the deeper truths in the insecurity of the dating world circa mid-70s (Alvy insists that he and Annie kiss in the middle of their first date to avoid nausea later)

Free Fire
Director Ben Wheatley
Helen Reynolds review

Free Fire tries to be a lot of things – from a 70s western, to a mafia stitch up – but namely it tries to be fun.
Get Out
Director: Jordan Peele
with Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford,
Helen Reyolds review

Get Out is a horror suitably set in suburban America and rather than demons, ghosts and creepy kids, this film makes nightmares from deep-rooted racism.
The Great Wall
starring Matt Damon & Tian Jing
Director Zhang Yimou
Helen Reynolds review

For a movie that has a monster acting as a metaphor for greed, it’s surprising just how engaging it is to watchSLOW WEST review
Director: John Maclean
Stars: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Michael Fassbender, Ben Mendelsohn
Charlotte March review

Somehow found myself charmed by Michael Fassbender in a stetson the other day in Slow West: easily the best film I’ve seen all year ...
Silmido (South Korea 2002)
Director: Woo-Suk Kang
Dean Borok

Like repels like. Positive charges reject each other. No finer example of this rule exists than the Korean peninsula, which has been engaged in a vicious civil war for over six decades.
Dr Strange
Directed by Scott Derrickson, starring Benedict Cumberbatch
Dr Strange - spectacular and stylish
Catching Fire:
Hunger Games - Part Two

Sam North review
The second one is always a hard task.  Do you remind everyone about what happened in the first or just get into it?  If you didn’t see part one – well why the hell not?
The Hunger Games:
Mockingjay - Part One

starring Jennifer Lawrence
Directed by Francis Lawrence

Sam North review

Dark, oppressive, moody – Mockingjay Part One reflects our times in more ways than one.

Elysium
Director & Writer: Neill Blomkamp
Sam Hawksmoor review

Being a big fan of District 9 I approached Elysium with enthusiasm and certainly the look and feel of the movie is ambitious. LA in 2154 is every bit as depressing as one would suspect it will be
Oblivion
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Sam Hawksmoor

a thinking persons sci-fi movie, stylish, beautiful to look at channeling Tarkovskiy
The Blackboard Jungle
Dan Schneider review

Any film that stars Sidney Poitier is going to rise and fall on the basis of his presence. He is one of those classic actors, like a Jimmy Cagney, Spencer Tracy, or John Wayne, that simply captures the attention of an audience, for good or ill.
56 Up
Dan Schneider

Watching Michael Apted’s latest installment in the great The Up Series- whose films he’s all directed, save the first, helmed by Paul Almond, 56 Up, sees a film that is an exercise in expectation and disappointment
Osaka Elegy - Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
Dan Schneider

Osaka Elegy (Naniwa Erejii) is an early black and white film from the canon of Kenji Mizoguchi, one of the Big Three Film Masters from Japan, along with Yasujiro Ozu and Akira Kurosawa.
Almanac Of Fall
Dan Schneider

Having already seen Bela Tarr’s later film canon, it was an interesting excursion back in time, to see his 1984 color (yes, a color film from Tarr!) film, Almanac Of Fall (Öszi Almanach).
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?
Directed by Robert Aldrich
Dan Schneider
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? is one of those films that almost everybody has a wrong opinion of, from critic to fan to hater. First, it’s simply not a Grand Guignol film. Why? It simply does not play out on a large enough scale.
November 6, 2012: The Night of Living Dead Racists
Gunter Chang
The last 4 years have seen the biggest deterioration in political and social civility since Homo sapiens started dating Neanderthal women.
Why So Much Violence?
James Morford on Guns and Strangers in Film

That the United States teems with violence is no surprise. Although biologists and psychologists assure there is no universal aggressive instinct, television, newspapers and magazines, daily report children assassinated, adults slaughtered, and geriatrics mutilated
The Docks of New York (1928)
Dean Borok

The critical and commercial success of “The Artist” proves that the art of black and white silent cinema still holds value as a kind of celluloid (to coin an antiquated, but still charming expression) Kabuki Theater
Moonrise Kingdom
Directed by Wes Anderson
with Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman
Sam Hawksmoor review

In what must be Wes Anderson’s most complete and coherent movie yet, Moonrise Kingdom arrives and is like a perfect summer picnic
Maximillian Day: The Continuing Adventures of an inveterate film-maker - James Evans
Films start, they go into production and you do your best with them, but for various reasons they don’t always get finished

The Expendables
Dir: Sylvester Stallone
Dean Borok review
Nobody is more sensible than I to the allure of seeing somebody lose his dental work in a flood of sputum as the result of a perfectly aimed flying hook kick.
Glo-America on Parade
James Campion
25.02.2011
The Oscars is the only award show worth watching, an annual fury of unchecked wagering (some larger than others) on the outcomes of Best Costume, Most Likely to Gaffer or some such.
Movies without frontiers in Asia
Jules Kay
Thailand attracted plenty of Hollywood stars in 2010 with some of next year's top movies being filmed in the Kingdom
Inception
Written & Directed by Christopher Nolan
Music Hans Zimmer
Starring Leonardo de Caprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ellen Page, Cillan Murphy, Marion Cotillard. Tom Hardy
Finally an adult film that engages all the emotions and is visually stunning. Surely the best movie of 2010 by far.
Filming Action and Martial Arts in 3D
Creates Both Challenges and Opportunities
Antonio Graceffo
“In some ways, 3D is like real life. It’s the way we see the world normally.”3D Guy, Al Caudullo.
Couch Potato Film Festival
Dean Borok

I didn’t really see the point of attending the Cannes Film Festival this year. Since my pal Madoff lost his French yacht and got locked up for eternity-plus-150 years, I wouldn't have anybody to hang out with anyway.
Avatar- A critique
Saleem Ayoub Quna
A Navi native's point of view
Not a Vintage Year
Movie Round-up 2009
District 9 to Where the Wild Things Are
Waltz With Bashir (Vals Im Bashir) (2008)
Directed and written by Ari Folman.
Paul Rumble
A pack of twenty six snarling dogs rampage through a middle eastern city, slavering and snarling, sending pedestrians and tables scattering.
Videodrama
Jack Clarkson
Videogames and Hollywood have never really got along all that well. The games industry keeps making awful games that cash in on blockbuster movies. What I want to ask is why?
Donnie Darko
Written and Directed by Richard Kelly- Michael Webb
"Twenty-eight days, six hours, forty two minutes, twelve seconds… that is when the world will end."
This Means War: Sex and the City & the Assault on Modern Man - Kennedy Heather
Being that I inhabit the western hemisphere and am either (a) a female or (b) a gay man, one of my central leisure pursuits is, of course watching Sex and the City. The show is definite in its demographic; this is part of its appeal. You wouldn’t invite your dentist bra shopping and by the same token you don’t expect your straight male pals to cosy up for a full-on SATC sesh. Such are the unspoken codes of civil society.
Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki
David Gordon on anime
Real Horror in Anime
Kayt Solomon on Hadashi No Gen

Being There
Directed by Hal Ashby
Dan Schneider review

Hal Ashby made a series of quirky films in the 1970s that were highly regarded, then succumbed to a drug addiction and died before the 1980s were through. The most famous of these were Harold And Maude, Shampoo, Coming Home, and Being There.
A World Apart
Gabriela Davies on two film
'Things we lost in the fire' comes as a clean break from the happy endings we are used to. The narrative is strong, yet simple
Eastwood is Eastwood
Gabriela Davies
Some films are just a collection of clichés. These films can disappoint, they can comfort, they can bore, or they can turn everything on its head and surprise us
Vinicius - Dir Miquel Faria Jnr
Celebrating the Bossa Nova
Gabriela Davies
Floating Weeds Directed by Yasujiro Ozu's
Dan Schneider
Yasujiro Ozu was perhaps the greatest obsessional filmmaker in history
Vincent & Theo
Dan Schneider 
Vincent & Theo, may be the worst film ever made by a major director who has made a great film.
In The Mood For Love
Dan Schneider

Watching Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love, was an interesting experience: the 99 minute long film is clearly a superior work of art and cinema

Civil War
Civil War
– directed by Alex Garland
Sam North review
4.27.24
Starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson
Babylon
Directed by Damien Chazelle
Sam North review
1.21.23
Starring Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Tobey Maguire, Jovan Adepo
It’s a mess, but kind of like a road crash you stay to rubberneck as things unfold before you
In Praise of Coda
James Campion April 2022
Heder’s story is original and steeped in symbolism presented in a less opaque style prized by outside-the-mainstream films that openly trade in that artistic currency.
Hindi Film Legend Dilip Kumar - 1922 - 2021

Harsh Thakor

In the history of Hindi film industry no actor ever took intensity to such mythical proportions or regions as Dilip Kumar.
Our Monster Fixation
James Campion

What Godzilla vs. Kong Tells Us About Our Times
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Written & Directed by
Quentin Tarantino
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Dakota Fanning
Nostalgic and affectionate focus on the lives of actors in 1969
The Graduate at 50
James Campion

Celebrating My Favorite Film with Author Beverly Gray
The Graduate, which is now a half century old. It is, I believe, as flawless a work of art as I have absorbed for now 35 of those years.
The Camera Never Lies
(Except on Location)
Robert Yareham

Nobody really believes that the world portrayed in the cinema is the real world, even when the film in question claims to be based on ‘real events’ or a ‘true story’.
The Development of Cross Gender Spectatorship Theory: A Survey of Contemporary Theory and its Application - Etan Jonathan Ilfeld
The Brother From Another Planet
Director John Sayles (1984)
Alex Sheremet review

Pulp (1972) DVD review
Dan Schneider review

Actors: Michael Caine, Mickey Rooney, Lionel Stander, Lizabeth Scott, Nadia Cassini
Director: Mike Hodges
Three Resurrected Drunkards
Dan Schneider DVD review

a sometimes fun and amusing comedy-absurdist drama...
The Days Of Wine And Roses
Dan Schneider review

October 2nd, 1958 Playhouse 90 episode called The Days Of Wine And Roses, scripted by J.P. Miller, and directed by John Frankenheimer.
Twenty-Four Eyes - a Keisuke Kinoshita film
a Dan Schneider review

Twenty-Four Eyes ... is one of the worst filmic disappointments I can recall.
Italian Fascism In Color
Dan Schneider

Fortunately, what saves the film from being a disaster is Benito Mussolini and his thugs
The Roaring Twenties
Dan Schneider

Watching Raoul Walsh’s black and white gangster film, The Roaring Twenties, from 1939, is watching the tail end of an era of genre films that had run its course, and was pretty hollowed out.
I Vitelloni
Dan Schneider
Sometimes, after achieving a certain level, an artist makes a slight regression before hitting the heights of greatness. Such an arc is apparent to me after having watched Federico Fellini’s 1953, black and white Neo-Realist film,I Vitelloni
Ten Tiny Love Stories
Dan Schneider review

a film that should be seen, and in its best scenarios, embraced
Hands Over The City
Dean Borok

Francesco Rosi’s scathing depiction of municipal corruption in 1960’s Naples
Sunset Boulevard
Dan Schneider DVD review

Sunset Boulevard is a grand entertainment, if a bit light on enlightenment.
Teorema
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Dan Schneider

How best to describe one of the worst films I’ve ever watched?
The Quiet Duel
Director:Akira Kurosawa
Dan Schneider
Great artists have a way to make even their lesser works interesting, if not great. Such is the case with the 1949 black and white film, The Quiet Duel
Movie Town for Thailand
Jules Kay

Thailand has long been known as a popular choice for filmmakers. With a US$650-million Movie Town project scheduled to open in Chiang Mai 2012, Thailand may soon become Hollywood's favourite supporting actor.
Watchmen

Directed by Zack Snyder.
Jack Clarkson
If you’ve read the book, go watch the movie, you owe it to yourself, and frankly, they deserve the price of admission
Fanning the Flames:
how the ‘queer space’ of the internet and the writing of fan fiction enhances the fictional universe of Torchwood
Jodie Corney
Crumb - Directed by Terry Zwigoff
Dan Schnieder review

upon rewatching the film, the first thing that stands out about it is how poorly it has held up as a filmic ‘portrait of an artist’.
Control (2007)
Directed by Anton Corbijn
Russ Thomas

Starring Samantha Morton and Sam Riley Control is the tragic story of Ian Curtis, ex-frontman for Joy Division
Superbad Greg Mottola (Director),
Russell Thomas

Superbad is testament to the fact that teen movies based in and around American high schools will never be exhausted.
Borat: Dir. Larry Charles
Emma King

If there was ever a comedy that made such a phenomenal impact on its audience, it must be Borat
Day for Night
Directed by Francois Truffaut
Dan Schnieder
Critics argue the film shows how much François Truffaut loves film. So? Love without action or meaning is rather sterile- the perfect description for this well made but dull and simply pointless film.
Kung Fu Panda and The Brooklyn Monk
Antonio Graceffo

When you train, you battle yourself. You wrestle your internal demons forcing your mind and body to bend. We all know the story of the sculpture who was asked how he carved such a perfect warrior from stone. He answered, "The warrior as already there, I just removed the excess stone."
The Legend of the Philadelphia Story
The Saving of a Screen Icon’s Career
Rick Neal
Who is the greatest Hollywood star of all time? Ask six different people and you’ll get six different answers.
Chick Lit & Chick Flicks
Callum Graham
It’s sexist, elitist, self indulgent and often badly written. And you know what? It’s exactly the same as men’s
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Director: Goran Dukic
Calvin Hussey review
To judge a book, or DVD as it were, by its cover the title "Wristcutters" doesn’t exactly conjure up the most positive of images.
Wendy and Lucy
Tiffany Lee
When a film captures the deep insecurities of modern society with little but a girl and her dog, it makes you wonder, should the Hollywood majors be looking to independent films for guidance in getting it right?
9 - Directed by Shane Acker
Sam North review
This is simply the most amazing, wonderful, visually stunning and thrilling movie of the year... sadly you will probably have missed it.
Let the Right One In
Directed by Tomas Alfredson
Aby Davis review
Something spooky has come over me, in recent months I have found myself cautiously peering into the genre of horror and being pleasantly thrilled with the results.
The Film Club by David Gilmour
Gabriela M Davies review

A father and Son build their relationship around film
Sobre Las Olas and Latin Film
Dean Borok review
Of all the world’s language groups, the most fascinating and sophisticated film output derives from the Spanish-speaking countries of Europe and Latin America, with their diverse and unique historical experiences and cultural points of view
From Page to Screen: a few vexed issues to ponder upon while chewing your popcorn - Chris Mills
I have wanted to have a go at writing something about film and television adaptations of books for a while, but the subject is quite large and unwieldy to get to grips with easily and to do justice.
The Beast Of Yucca Flats
Directed by Coleman Francis.
With Tor Johnson, Barbara Francis, Bing Stafford. - Dan Schneider
how I missed this is beyond me; especially given that its lead star is the truly legendary Tor Johnson, of Plan 9 From Outer Space infamy.
Variety Lights
Dan Schneider
If you have ever wondered why Federico Fellini's film was called Eight and a Half , the reason is simple. It was the eighth full film he had directed, till that point, along with a 1/2 film credit, which was his debut effort,
Fresa y Chocolate
Directors: Alea & Tabio
Anne Marie-Dover
A bigoted and fervently heterosexual young man and an older, decadent homosexual is very promising, the plot reveals a sensitivity that has made Fresas y Chocolate one of the most celebrated Latin American films of the 90’s.
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Directed by Sam Peckinpah,
written by Rudy Wurlitzer,
starring James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan
Joesef Fiser

Pat Garrett is a 35 year old film about an event hundreds year ago which never actually happened, taking place in setting which, at best, only resembles the reality.
The Jimmy Show
Directed by Frank Whaley
Dan Schnieder
DVD review and analysis of this Blue Collar drama
Dynarama:RIP Ray Harryhausen
John M. Edwards

Jason and the Argonauts is the greatest movie ever made!


A Woody Allen Primer Part One
Robert Cottingham- introduction 01.07.05
Woody Allen Primer - Part Two
Robert Cottingham on Annie Hall
Woody Allen Primer - Part three
Robert Cottingham on Broadway Danny Rose and The Purple Rose of Cairo
Woody Being Woody
James Campion on Whatever Works
Allen has continued to present a freshly consistent string of darkly funny, thought-provoking satires on the human condition and modern society at large.

Desperately Seeking Students 10.01.06
Sam North on Teaching Desperate Housewives
FILM: Entertainment or Education?
Danielle Ward investigates
Douglas Coupland v P.D. James
Claire Murray
takes them both on

History in Cinema: Downfall v Kingdom of Heaven - El Branden Brazil investigates 06.01.05
Can Woody Allen still cut it at 70?
Robert Cottingham
09.02.05
Match Point - Dir Woody Allen
Rob Cottingham review
Desperate Housewives A First look
Robert Cottingham
King Arthur Take 2 (DVD review)
Dan Schnieder
Judging Kilmer
Dan Schnieder on Val Kilmer -The Salton Sea & Wonderland
Zatoichi
Dir Takeshi Kitano
Machuca Dir Andrés Wood
Guy Burton
Paradise as The 'Other ' Place
Amanda Williams debates happiness in cinema
On Being a Screenwriter
Allan Gibson
Time to cash a reality cheque
.
The Films of M.Night Shyamalan
Andrew Stuart begs to differ

Capote Dir Bennet Miller
A Dan Schneider essay
Good Bye Lenin
Dan Schnieder - a worthwhile film

Signs Dir M Night Shyamalan (DVD)
Liz Barlow
finds God
Flight 93 v World Trade Center
Holly Joy
compares two 9/11 movies
Sin City DVD Miller/Rodrigez
Claire Murray

Desperation, madness, lust, passion and loss
Iklimler (Climates)
Carly McClain
on this Turkish movie
Children of Men Dir A. Cuaron
Jen Ames review
of Sci-Fi thriller
Los Amantes del Cíclo Polar
Dir Julio Medem
A Gabriela Davis review


The Road Movie - essay - In depth look at The Road Movie in history by Sam North
Film Discussion
Hal Hartley - analysis
Sam North
Screenwriting 101 - Characters
British Film - Fade in or out?
Notes for a short film : Conflict

British Film Director Michael Winterbottom
Chameleon or Opportunist
-
24 Hour party People
The Cult of Fatal Illness in Brit cinema

Snow and Blood
Rosie Burbridge on Tarantino and Lady Snowblood
Youth, Modernisation and Japan
Richard Stirland on Battle Royale
Wither The Japanese Family in Film
Victoria Groom

Sin City

Lily J Parker

Chicago Musical v The Film
Kate Maskell
Jaws: Spielberg v Benchley
Alex Segal
Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice
Amy Barlow
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
Sally Hawksford

Dracula - Take Two (1992)
Rebecca Kingsbury
Carrie Directed by Brian de Palma
DVD review - Lucy Bailey
High Fidelity (Nick Hornby)
Holly Bates compares book and movie

Chocolat Dir Lasse Halstrom
Gemma Ayres review
Blade Runner
Dir Ridley Scott -
Michael Halmshaw review

Roswell - From Book to TV Screen
Jenny Atkins

Evita - from stage to screen
Suzannah Brooksbank

Titanic
Rebecca Kingsbury

From Hell - Jack the Ripper
Kerry Savage

All About My Mother
Dir: P.Almodovar

Gabriela Davis
Rope Dir Alfred Hitchock
Dan Schnieder review

Amores Perros
Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Gabriela Davies

21 Grams
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Gabriela Davies
Regeneration (aka Behind The Lines)
Dan Schneider
on a great war film
J.Lee Thompson
a film directors life Alex Grant



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