Film Reviews by TE

This is a great cinematic experience from start to finish. Everything is blended together with careful skill: the characterisation of the brothers and the father; the stunning visual setpiece scenes; the music; the colour palette; the terse dialogue. It all works together magnificently.

The younger brother gives one of the best child performances in movie history.

I saw this when it was released and many images stayed in my mind. Seeing it again has made me realise what a landmark in cinema history this film is.

Being a Werner Herzog fan I wanted to like this film, but it really is irredeemably awful.

Apart from some occasional stunning scenic shots there is nothing to recommend here.

The script is full of laboured philosophising that would not look out of place in a corny Facebook gif. There is no consistency in the narrative and no comprehensible background to the clumsy environmental 'message'.

It's as if Herzog wasn't sure whether to make a human interest story or a fully fledged allegory. The film ends up somewhere in between...and not in a good way.

This looks like an extended student movie short. Violence of pretty much every kind is queasily relished.

Shouty young men with awful haircuts make the mistake of taking on fighty older men with awful teeth. Yawn.

The main problem, however, is that there is not one single character who is in any way likeable or sympathetic. I suspect that we are meant to empathise a little with the central character, a pudgy-faced thug who is actually the worst of the lot.

This is a story of intrinsic interest, and Beatty's direction does a worthy job of covering some of the main aspects.

The period evocation is good, and Diane Keaton is on fine form. Even Jack Nicholson manages to give an appropriately restrained performance.

If anything the film tries to cover too much ground, timewise and location-wise. This tends to happen at the expense of depth of characterisation, but it's not hard to see why Beatty won an Oscar for his directorial role.

The word portentous crops up a few times in these reviews, and it sums this film up.

It lacks any of the funky energy of the original.

The budget must have been spent on special effects and the two big name male leads, because there is a severe lack of context footage. The whole thing seems to take place in some rarified zone with little connection to the wider dystopian world.

Ryan Gosling is particularly disappointing, phoning in a passive and limply wooden performance.

This is worth watching just for the back-story it gives to the life of the cultural phenomenon that was Tom of Finland.

Having said that, it captures little of the playful bawdiness of his art.

It's a kind of low-energy lightbulb when it should be more of a flashing disco light!

There have been many representations of the problems faced by gay people in the 1940s and 1950s. The film dwells too long in that period and then rushes through the rest of his life, leaving many questions unanswered.

Interesting insight into some of the more hidden aspects of life in China, in this case the petty criminal underbelly.

This world is beautifully contrasted with the fantasy world of pop music and trashy entertainment.

As the film's title suggests, it is a dark story with a relentless sense of entrapment.

Fine performance by the male lead.

This is an extraordinary work by a great film director. It is a gripping mixture of fictional narrative, documentary and unscripted slice of life in a changing world, with a dash of spacecraft from another world throw in.

One of the bonuses of immersion in world cinema is the insight gained into daily life in other countries. This film delivers many riches on that score. We are given fascinating glimpses into Chinese life at a time of harsh transition.

At the same time, the director engages us fully in the twin tales of search for loved ones.

Most of the actors are non-professionals, and the two leads give an acting lesson in 'less is more'.

This is another entry in the catalogue of post-apocalypse paranoid fantasy movies. It's better than some in that it deliberately strips things down to a simple story and a credibly desperate situation.

It's a kind of home movie as made by a family met by the wayside in Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road'.

I give it one more star than the previous two reviews because I like the ending - it's suitably hopeless and pessimistic!

Couldn't disagree more with the one reviewer on here so far.

This is a genuinely original and brave film. The acting is superb, and for once it is worth watching the 'making of' part of the disc extras. This gives some clues as to how such amazing performances from the children came about.

The dream-like final sequence is haunting and tragic as cheesy fantasy is evoked as the only escape from the real world of the projects.

This is a scattergun display of urban amorality. Nothing wrong with that, except that there is little internal consistency or character development in the film.

The best thing about it is the effortless way that Isabelle Huppert holds the screen for pretty much the entire movie.

The reason the rape theme is so problematic is not just in its explicitly portrayed violence, it is because Michele makes herself a victim again even after finding out who the perpetrator is. There is therefore a queasy suggestion that she enjoys it, and this makes Verhoeven's motives very questionable.

Even in the final pay-off Michele is not allowed to be the agent of her abuser's retribution, it is another male character who saves her.

What a wonderful film! Very assured direction and camera work enhance a good story with rounded characters.

It manages to be 'feel good' without the usual sentimental syrup...just a simple joy to watch.

There are shades of dark in the tale, but the sisterly bonds are beautifully conveyed.

It's rare to watch a film and wish that it was a whole box-set, but I wanted to see how their lives progress.

My only concern was how they manage to stay so slim given all the very delicious food that is featured throughout!

A real time drama of everyday macho life in a 'mean streets' area of Copenhagen.

It presents a nihilistic analysis of a materialistic culture where no loyalties or bonds are sacred.

Show weakness or fellow feeling and you are dead.

This is a good film in terms of landscape, storyline and (as commented on by another reviewer) the excellent performance of the lead actor.

Unfortunately the narrative is heated up too quickly and the events become unrealistic.

It ends up being a mix of slow-burn and fast pace, with nothing in between.

Well worth watching but it could have been much more.

A classy film, with 4 separate stories that have only chance connections. Each tale has its own power, with a unifying theme based round the impacts of China's transition to an elitist capitalist economy.

The ever-widening gap between rich and poor is the mainspring of all 4 stories.

High production values and excellent cinematography throughout.