Watchmen (US, 2009)

I’ll ignore the question as to whether the film’s as good as the graphic novel and deal with it in isolation. It’s not a typical Hollywood action movie, though the shadow of The Matrix (1999) is still looming for the fight sequences, as it is infused with melancholy and the emotional punch is garnered through [...]

Just Another Love Story (Kærlighed på film, Denmark, 2007)

This is a brilliant neo-noir telling the tale of a frustrated dad who wants more adventure in his life and when he gets it… Well, go and watch the film. Ole Bornedal is a director new to me (he did the English-language Nightwatch (1997), but as writer-director of Just Another Love Story he is clearly [...]

The Good German (US, 2006)

Blanchett, Clooney, film noir and Soderbergh: should have been good; but it wasn’t. This is a pastiche of Hollywood noir, obvious from the title credits, and Clooney’s Jake Geismer gets battered as much as his namesake in Chinatown (1974) – also a pastiche. Similarly Berlin just after the end of World War II is a [...]

Touch of Evil (US, 1958)

As director of Sight & Sound’s perennial ‘greatest movie of all time’, Citizen Kane, Welles is guaranteed a place in the pantheon of great directors. That film was to prove a millstone around his neck and he may never have fulfilled his promise. However, despite this, he is undoubtedly one of the greatest directors. Kane [...]