Savage Streets, 1984. Directed by Danny Steinmann. Starring Linda Blair, John Vernon and Sal Landi. SYNOPSIS: Brenda (played by the pixie faced Linda Blair) and Heather (80’s scream queen Linnea Quigley) are two very close sisters. Brenda keeps her young deaf sister under her watchful eye at all times, until one fateful day when a […]

It’s taken pretty much for granted in modern cinema that, for a Chinese film role, you cast a Chinese actor. Just as leading men no longer black up in boot polish to play Othello, actresses long ago stopped painting their eyes slanted to look Chinese. It’s daft, it’s unconvincing, and to the actors turned away […]

Green Lantern, 2011. Directed by Martin Campbell. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Mark Strong, Angela Bassett, Tim Robbins, Temuera Morrison, Taiki Waititi, Jon Tenney, Jay O. Sanders, Geoffrey Rush, Michael Clarke Duncan and Peter Sarsgaard. SYNOPSIS: Cocky test pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) is granted cosmic super-powers to help defeat an intergalactic foe. You know […]

Hanna, 2011. Directed by Joe Wright. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Tom Hollander, Olivia Williams, Jason Flemyng and Cate Blanchett. SYNOPSIS: A teenage assassin s dispatched on a mission across Europe where she is tracked by a ruthless intelligence agent and her operatives. Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice) shifts gear with this audacious espionage […]

Liam Trim on the transition from page to screen of Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep… Raymond Chandler’s 1939 novel The Big Sleep, the first to star PI Philip Marlowe, was ready made for the big screen. It had a zippy, twisting and engrossing plot, propelled at pace by short, sharp chapters that feel like scenes […]

The Future, 2011. Directed by Miranda July. Starring Miranda July and Hamish Linklater. SYNOPSIS: When a couple decides to adopt a stray cat their perspective on life is changed dramatically. Following her fantastic multi award winning (most notably Camera D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival) debut Me, You and Everyone We Know, Miranda July’s The […]

Hobo with a Shotgun, 2011. Directed by Jason Eisener. Starring Rutger Hauer, Pasha Ebrahimi, Brian Downey, Molly Dunsworth and Rob Wells. SYNOPSIS: Hobo (Rutger Hauer) comes into Hope ‘Scum’ Town on a freight train and after being disgusted by the Drake family and their murderous torture games, he decides to enact some vigilante justice with […]

Rabbit Hole, 2010. Directed by John Cameron Mitchell. Starring Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart and Dianne Wiest. SYNOPSIS: A married couple struggle to return to their everyday existence after the loss of their child. Nicole Kidman’s performances can simultaneously win her further legions of adoring fans and additional ranks of grumbling haters. She is wonderful to […]

X-Men: First Class, 2011. Directed by Matthew Vaughn. Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Lucas Till, Zoë Kravitz, Caleb Landry Jones, Álex González, Jason Flemyng, Oliver Platt and Ray Wise. SYNOPSIS: Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) work together to try and prevent […]

As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me, 2001. Directed by Hardy Martins. Starring Bernhard Bettermann, Iris Böhm and Anatoliy Kotenyov. SYNOPSIS: A German soldier escapes a Siberian labour camp and must brave 8,000 miles of unforgiving terrain, freezing temperatures and constant danger to reunite with his wife and child. Last year Peter Weir made […]