Category Archives: International

Philomena review

Directed by Stephen FrearsWritten by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, based on a book by Martin SixsmithWhen Philomena Lee (Judi Dench) was a teenager (Sophie Kennedy Clark) in Ireland, she got pregnant. For her sins, the nuns at the Roscrea convent made her work in the laundries, seven days a week for four years, and…Read More

About Time review

Written and directed by Richard Curtis Dear Richard, I've very much enjoyed your work. Especially your writing, going back to Blackadder, The Tall Guy, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and The Girl In The Cafe. Your style is so identifiable—foul-mouthed and hilarious middle-class-to-posh Brits, bumbling, awkward leading men, bland American women, and a…Read More

Shadow Dancer review

Colette (Andrea Riseborough) was born into a family tied to the IRA. It’s 1993 and she’s caught carrying a bomb onto the London Underground. Mac (Clive Owen), the British intelligence’s man in Northern Ireland, gives Colette one chance to avoid life in prison away from her young son: report to the Brits on what her…Read More

The World’s End review

Directed by Edgar Wright | Written by Wright and Simon Pegg | 109 min | On Demand You nerds know this: The World's End is the third and final film in Wright's Cornetto Trilogy, all made with buddies Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The thematic thread is pretty thin, but basically these three British guys…Read More

Only God Forgives review

Written and directed by Nicolas Winding RefnOnly God Forgives is a bloody and relentless operatic noir set largely in nighttime Bangkok, bathed in neon scarlet, emerald, topaz, and gold. Imagine a film conceived by Gaspar Noe—he's thanked in the credits—written by David Lynch circa Lost Highway, and directed by Stanley Kubrick somewhere between The Shining…Read More

Trance review

Directed by Danny Boyle Written by Joe Ahearne and John Hodge Like Steven Soderbergh, Danny Boyle is that rare filmmaker who can be called an auteur without really being a screenwriter. And just like Soderbergh, Boyle is so friggin' talented and confident in his camerawork, editing, and general cinematic verve that he can make the…Read More