Why can’t the Academy remember back more than two months whenever it comes to selecting nominations for the Oscars? It may be academic anyway, given the overwhelming odds supporting a Best Supporting Actor gong for Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, but it would have been nice to see Ben Kingsley at least up there in contention. Emulating his previous subversively brilliant performance as Don Logan in Sexy Beast, he has created something completely new (and undeniably just as impressive) in his realisation of wayward psychiatrist Dr Jeffrey Squires in Jonathan Levine’s satisfying coming-of-age plodder, The Wackness.

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The dysfunctional family comedy-drama has become something of a staple for indie American films over the last decade. With his fifth film, Noah Baumbach delves into familiar territory once again. Read the rest of this entry »

James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart together on the silver screen? How can you lose? Read the rest of this entry »

Such a curious and fascinating film – it’s a real joy to see what happens when a film-maker as deeply proficient as Nolan takes on such an ambitious narrative Read the rest of this entry »

All right, I admit it. I’m just an old softie! I had very little interest in seeing this little piece of British sweetness but, damn it, it’s just a very entertaining film. Read the rest of this entry »

What if you could take a heavy subject like teen pregnancy and make it the focus of an irreverent, feel-good drama-comedy? Diablo Cody’s screenplay for Juno does just that, and the result when Jason Reitman throws it together on screen with a multigenerational cast of talented actors is pretty damn impressive. Read the rest of this entry »

The time immediately after World War II is a bit of a murky one for most of us who didn’t live through it. We get taught lots about how the war started and how it was conducted, but very little about how it was wrapped up. This is significant when you consider that many of the world’s conflict zones exist today as a result of decisions made by the victorious Allies as to how the world would be divided up politically. Set in Berlin immediately after its capture by Allied troops, The Good German turns its focus on one particularly significant episode in recent human history by throwing its protagonists into the middle of the conflicting forces that had already started to fill the vacuum left by the Axis’ defeat.

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