Review: Romper Stomper Eight years before defying the Roman Empire, Russell Crowe starred in this gritty film about a group of Nazi skinheads causing mayhem in and around the streets of Melbourne. Hando (Crowe) is the undisputed leader and guides his gang through days of violence against Vietnamese immigrants, ending the attacks only to enjoy(…)

Review: In the Mood for Love I’d previously seen and enjoyed Kar Wai Wong’s 2046 (2004), which is the sequel to In The Mood For Love, so I’ve been eager to go back and see the first film for some time. Set in Hong Kong in 1962, a journalist Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung) moves into(…)

Review: The Deadly Bees This isn’t the first time I’ve come across a film with killer bees and as before I will avoid any awful puns if I can help it. Freddie Francis’ film follows the story of a pop singer Vicki Robbins (Suzanna Leigh) who collapses while on television due to severe exhaustion. She(…)

Review: Dumplings Fruit Chan’s dark horror looks at the lengths one woman will go to in order to delay getting older and preserve herself. Mrs Li (Miriam Yeung Chin Wah) is a former actress who is now in despair due to losing her looks while her husband Mr Li (Tony Ka-Fai Leung) is a frequent womaniser(…)

Review: In a Lonely Place  Nicholas Ray’s classic film noir is about screenwriter Dixon Steele (Humphrey Bogart) who has something of a bad temper and is not unfamiliar with violence. Meeting with his agent, Mel Lippman (Art Smith), Dix is persuaded to adapt a book for the big screen and is told to go home(…)

Review: Galaxy of Terror Bruce D. CLark’s sci-fi film was somewhat lambasted on release but has gained a cult following in the years that have followed. The film begins with two characters involved in some game. The Planet Master whose head is obscured by glowing red light decides it is time for a crew to head(…)

Review: Dragon This is at least the third pairing of Peter Chan and Takeshi Kaneshiro and that seems to be a wining combination. I’ve seen Dragon, Warlords and have Perhaps Love on the list to watch soon. This is a nice, genre-bending flick. If you expect Kung-Fu, it’s there. It’s been called ‘noir’ Kung-Fu and after(…)

Review: The Burning  Drawing on Friday the 13th Tony Maylam’s The Burning brings more terror to a summer camp and makes you wonder why people go to these places when there tends to be a resident killer lying in wait. The film begins in 1976 where a group of teenagers play a prank on Cropsy(…)

Review: Pretty in Pink  The Eighties. It was a decade of bizarre hairstyles, weird, wonderful and cheesy music and, of course, Brat Pack films. I’m slowly ticking these off my list off must-see films and Howard Deutch’s Pretty In Pink is next in line. Would it be the best of the bunch I’ve seen so(…)

Review: Idle Hands Rodman Flender’s Idle Hands tells the story of layabout teenager Anton Tobias (Devon Sawa). At the outset his parents are both murdered but their son is so often high on drugs that he doesn’t notice. After being informed by his best friends Pnub (Elden Henson) and Mick (Seth Green) of murders in town,(…)

Review: Puppet Master The Puppet Master franchise is now more than ten films but it all started in 1989 with this one. The film begins in 1939 in Bodega Bay, California, where an ageing puppeteer Andre Toulon (William Hickey) is working on living puppets. One puppet known as Blade comes racing to the hotel room(…)

Review: The Last Detail Hal Ashby’s The Last Detail tells the story of US Navy officers Billy Buddusky (Jack Nicholson) and Richard Mulhall (Otis Young) who are awaiting new orders in Virginia when they are charged with escorting a young sailor, Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid) to Portsmouth Naval Prison in New Hampshire. Meadows is guilty(…)

Review: The Virgin Spring This is my first experience of Ingmar Bergman and what a promisng start it is. The Virgin Spring is a simple tale of a Christian couple, Tore (Max von Sydow) and Mareta (Birgitta Valberg), who dote on their beautiful 15 year old daughter, Karin (Birgitta Pettersson). Also living with the family(…)

Review: Prometheus Ridley Scott returns to space for this prequel to Alien (1979). Beginning in 2089, archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and her partner Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) discover a star map deep in caves in Scotland. The images match those of other ancient cultures and civilizations across the world. Both Shaw and Holloway become(…)

Review: Sylvia Christine Jeffs’ biopic of celebrated poet and writer, Sylvia Plath, tells the true story of her relationship with her lover and later husband, Ted Hughes. Sylvia (Gwyneth Paltrow) first meets Ted (Daniel Craig) at Cambridge University in 1956 and there is mutual affection between them and not just from a love of poetry and(…)

Review: Nine Miles Down GNE Security Agent Thomas “Jack” Jackman (Adrian Paul) heads deep into the Sahara Desert to seek out a drilling station where contact has been lost with a group of scientists there. Jack finds the station is initially deserted but as he delves deeper it’s clear that something sinister is waiting for him.(…)

Review: Leatherheads  George Clooney’s film looks at the early days of American football minus the padding the players have today. Set in 1925 the film focuses on Jimmy “Dodge” Connelly (Clooney) who is Captain of the Duluth Bulldogs but sees his team disband due to lack of funding and even the league is in danger(…)

Review: 51  Area 51 has fascinated millions for quite some time. Its ties to secrecy and extraterrestrial life continue to this day. In Jason Connery’s 51 public pressure has led to the military agreeing to open the gates leading into Area 51 and allowing its secrets to be laid bare. They have nothing to hide. Well, they(…)