After years of Lock Stock clones and claims of 'the next Trainspotting/Full Monty/Four Weddings.....' Britain finally releases a decent, fresh, dark film that has helped restore my faith in British films (alongside Shaun of the Dead of course). Dead Man's Shoes masterfully juggles disturbing scenes of horror with pitch black comedy creating an edgy yet entertaining film that may baffle some but should win over many. The film is propelled by an outstanding performance by Paddy Considine who plays an ex-SAS soldier bent on revenge on a group of small town thugs for the abuse of his mentally challenged brother. He manages to create a character that's both psychopathic and almost warm too in the scenes with his brother. Its really his movie as he dominates every frame he appears in, although the supporting cast, tight pacing and direction are also strong points in this great film. The whole film is very stark and simple, but at the same time very powerful. It reminded me of The Driver in a way as both are very bleak sort of art-house action/thrillers. The main difference between this and The Driver is the humour though which runs throughout and may seem out of place to begin with, but works well in making some of the more disturbing scenes more effective. All in all this is a very good film that won't appeal to all tastes because of its shifts in tone, but if you're after something dark, original and home-grown then look no further.
Oh, and on a sidenote - the film is the first feature length production by Warp Films - an off-shoot from Warp Records, so naturally the soundtrack is excellent. 9/10
(From Insomniac Mania)
A light, enjoyable, and at times touching comedy-drama from Australia, The Dish is a great little movie. It boasts a decent script and very likeable performances from all involved. Theres not a lot to dislike about this film. It does occasionally get a bit sentimental, I didn't like the dodgy old-man book-ends (see also The Green Mile), but it never gets sickeningly sweet. I liked the way it made people like me, that weren't around at the time of the space race, fully appreciate the impact the moon landing had on people. Also, it made a great fable for how single people can make a difference in the grand scale of things. But now I'm getting too sentimental. Oh well.. 8/10
Dogma is a very unusual film by the maker of Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy. Its a religious action comedy, which is not one of Hollywoods most popular genres, and certainly makes for a quirky and often hilarious combination. It is a very funny film, but to try and make its religious side look a little stronger, Kevin Smith has included a huge number of characters and stories from the bible (and added some of his own), which make the film a little overloaded, creating a number of scenes involving explanations after explanations which can get a bit confusing, and often annoying. However, the humour does save the film from getting boring, and there are some great scenes and a number of good performances (especially Alan Rickman), so it is still worth seeing. 6/10
Donnie Darko is easily the most original film I've seen for a long while, featuring a giant demonic rabbit, time travel and a freak plane engine falling from the sky to name but a few of the quirky elements of this impressively fresh film. All of these bizarre details, mixed with some very interesting characters and all put in a middle-American suburban setting reminded me very much of a David Lynch film, although this has a bit more of a teen angle. Its a film that can scare you, make you laugh and also really mess with your mind - after watching it for the third time (a friend has it on DVD) with some people that hadn't seen it, we couldn't stop talking about it for hours. It truly is a must see film, especially given the poor quality of the recent crop of sequels, remakes and cash in's coming out at the moment. That's not to say it's perfect - there are a number of plot holes and the ending doesn't work as perfectly as it tries to suggest, but that can be partialy excused because of the surrealistic nature of it all and the fact that time travel is a major issue here, and when making a film/story about time travel it is near impossible to not have major inconsistencies (see the Back to the Future trilogy). That aside though, if you are sick of the rubbish being dragged into the mulitplexes week after week and want to see something totally new, you have to watch this film. 9/10
