Film Reviews by TE

Same old same old western tale of the good little man having to take up the gun in order to defeat the baddies and defend hearth and home.

This version takes darkness to extremes, literally. You need good eyesight to understand what is going on at times.

John Cusack is always good value, though here he just needs to look pale and menacing by candlelight.

Emile Hirsch, so good in Into the Wild and Killer Joe, tries for the Brad Pitt Award for Terrible Irish Accent (and succeeds).

An extra star for the realistic settings and the Shane-like mud.

This is a magnificent film that defies criticism with its sheer honesty and emotional punch.

At times the abject poverty and the marginal lives of the children are almost unbearable to watch. Zain al Rafeea's performance is incredibly good (and he doesn't look anywhere near as old as 12, the age he is supposed to be). The baby is, of course, not acting...but even so he deserves his own Oscar.

It is helpful to watch the short special feature film of life on the set. This offsets concerns as to the treatment of the children in the film, though the director certainly tests the boundaries of what is ethically acceptable.

Nadine Labaki goes from strength to strength as a film-maker.

A typically slow burner of a film from Nuri Ceylan.

The characters and the setting are intrinsically interesting, and Ceylan allows this to come through with quiet intensity.

This film seems more fully realised than his previous work, good as all those movies are.

This is a highly original take on the familiar theme of Family and Drug Cartels.

By going back to the early years of the drug trade between Latin American countries and the USA, Gallego is able to explore the grey areas between family traditions and capitalist business. As in real life, it is the latter that wins out, and by the end we could be watching any given episode of Narcos.

The rule of business and violence is reflected in the changes of dress, homes and language. However, the older spirits are never completely banished, as can be seen in the quietly constant presence of significant birds.

The prevailing message of the film is that we never learn and that cycles of revenge and greed produce a bitter nihilism.

This is a film that fails to work on any of the levels it aspires to.

As a narrative it is hopelessly lost in a scattergun array of flashbacks. As sci-fi it has nothing new to say. As arthouse cinema it is miserably pretentious and dull.

Juliette Binoche must have owed Claire Denis a big favour to have allowed herself to be part of this awful turkey of a film.

Another fine film from the South Korean stable of intelligent directors.

The movie starts as if it is going to be an entertaining absurdist comedy, but things get darker. Jongsu's isolation (especially in company) is emphasised by his recurrent masturbation fantasies. He is the abandoned child with the frozen persona and the vivid inner life.

Is Ben a playboy serial killer? What happened to the lissom Haemi?

These key narrative questions become less important than the brooding build up of tension.

This is a real oddity. Made only 23 years ago, but it feels as if it was made much earlier, even allowing for the fact that it is based on a crime committed in the mid-1950s.

It has the bawdy energy of a knockabout comedy, despite the seriousness of the events portrayed. And contemporary viewers will find some of it quite problematic e.g. the way that the murderer (who in real life turned out to be a vicious sex offender) is presented as a victim of a domineering landlady and her "precocious" 13 year old daughter.

That 13 year old is played by Laura Sadler, who later joined the cast of Holby City before her terrible and untimely death.

An object lesson in the dangers of trying to be too clever. The basic story within the film is fine, but it's hidden behind the woozy smokescreen that wafts around Patricia Clarkson's semi-comatose homicide detective.

I like Patricia Clarkson, and I have liked Carol Morley's films up to now (especially Dreams of a Life) but this is just too precious and ponderous.

Sheer brilliance: the music, the voice, the backdrop, the heart and the soul.

This is a wonderful recording of Aretha in full flow. I'd love to have seen her perform live, but this is the next best thing.

Shane Meadows is at the very top of his game in this extremely powerful mini-series.

The tension builds relentlessly towards a magnificently handled conclusion. But, do watch the Extras at the end of the second disc for equally credible and brilliant alternative endings.

Stephen Graham has become one of the finest actors around, and his performance here is magnetically good.

As ever with Meadows, the domestic and community settings are perfectly captured.

It's hard to say more without giving the core of the story away, suffice to say this is absolutely top drawer film making.

Despite the fantasy sequences this film purports to tell a credible story, but the cruelties and the inconsistencies are just too relentless.

It becomes an inflated melodrama rather than a tragedy, but with a ludicrously happy ending tacked on seconds after the shocking culmination of the chain of nastiness.

It has the feel of a student project which has somehow attracted enough funding to support a feature length film.

Pretty much the perfect rock music documentary, long enough to do justice to the brilliance of its subject, and with some great 'special features' as well.

Big Star's three albums are now recognised as artistic triumphs: the first two are packed with sublime tunes and lyrics that blend exuberance with pain. The third album has some fillers, but also has a core of astonishing songs, a suite of gorgeous melodies combined with bitterly tragic lyrics.

The film gives an excellent record of the band and of the individuals concerned.

This film deserves 10 stars let alone 5! A fascinating satirical take-down of Silvio Berlusconi, in which the satire is administered via both a velvet glove and a sledgehammer.

As with The Great Beauty, the filming is simply gorgeous. Every frame is like a beautiful still composition in itself.

The sets are sumptuous, and the soundtrack lives up to Sorrentino's reputation for being the world's best director of sound and image.

The clinching brilliance in Loro is the way in which Sorrentino reveals Berlusconi as a prototype for Donald Trump, in background, in personality, in megalomania, and in sleaze.

This is Sorrentino back at the top of his game.

Worth 1 extra star for the energetic performance by Florence Pugh, otherwise this film is a ragbag of every tired old cliche to be found in movies about sport.

Professional wrestling is so completely scripted and rigged that it hardly qualifies as sport. It is more like a clownish soap opera with acrobatics thrown in. This makes the triumphant ending quite bizarre. How can you celebrate someone "winning" when it has all been scripted and agreed in advance? That's showbiz I suppose!

It's tempting to write a lengthy piece in a vain attempt to convey the glories of this trilogy.

I'll resist that temptation and just say that it is essential viewing for anyone with even a passing interest in film history, or a passing interest in the human species.

The film explores timeless moral questions.

Don't be put off by the 9 hour length. Savour it, it's more than worth it.