|
2/4
|
Koroshiya 1: The Animation Episode 0
(2002)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Posted Feb 19, 2005
|
|
1/4
|
Sex Lives of the Potato Men
(2004)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
This is, I hope, the only movie that has shown, or will ever show, Johnny Vegas, topless, in not one, but two gangbang scenes.
Posted Oct 31, 2004
|
|
4/4
|
Fahrenheit 9/11
(2004)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Posted Oct 31, 2004
|
|
4/4
|
The Dreamers
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
It's thrilling.
Posted Mar 18, 2004
|
|
|
Double Indemnity
(1944)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
The ultimate film noir crime picture.
Posted Mar 16, 2004
|
|
2/4
|
The Mother
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Posted Mar 16, 2004
|
|
3.5/4
|
Elephant
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Posted Mar 07, 2004
|
|
2/4
|
The Haunted Mansion
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Posted Mar 07, 2004
|
|
2.5/4
|
Big Fish
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
The story of the movie is disjointed and unaffecting, and what we remember are all the little moments, for their visual splendour, their joyful flights of fancy.
Posted Mar 07, 2004
|
|
3.5/4
|
Lost in Translation
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
The movie should have been a masterpiece of mood and character, and it almost is, revolving as it does around two wonderful performances.
Posted Mar 07, 2004
|
|
1.5/4
|
Peter Pan
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
It's not colourful, it's not fun, it's just a gaudy mess of bad aesthetic choices and cruddy CGI.
Posted Feb 24, 2004
|
|
1.5/4
|
Seabiscuit
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
TV-movie slush.
Posted Feb 24, 2004
|
|
2/4
|
Cold Mountain
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Whether we're watching the domestic struggles of Kidman or Law doing moody wandering, scenes run on randomly, and don't build into a structure with arc or emphasis.
Posted Feb 24, 2004
|
|
3/4
|
Touching the Void
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
There's something amazing about looking in the eyes of the guys telling this story.
Posted Feb 24, 2004
|
|
1.5/4
|
Freaky Friday
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Somehow people have got it into their heads that this is a good movie.
Posted Feb 24, 2004
|
|
2/4
|
Love Actually
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
It wants to swirl round the world and find love in every cranny, but it doesn't have the effortless rush of energy that it would need to make the masses of plot come together.
Posted Feb 24, 2004
|
|
3/4
|
Mystic River
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
It's not the masterpiece people have been claiming, but Eastwood does set up a gripping moody atmosphere and get some fine performances out of his actors.
Posted Feb 24, 2004
|
|
3.5/4
|
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
The arguments between Bettany and Crowe don't seem like typical leader-and-subordinate confrontations, but have real philosophical edge, and are beautifully played.
Posted Feb 24, 2004
|
|
|
Armageddon
(1998)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Where things fall apart are the scenes that try to put in characterisation, and, God help us, comic relief.
Posted Feb 23, 2004
|
|
3/4
|
Pure
(2004)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Talented performers, effectively dramatic.
Posted Feb 10, 2004
|
|
2/4
|
Cremaster 4
(1995)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Fairly straightforward, at least compared to the rest of the cycle...
Posted Feb 02, 2004
|
|
2/4
|
Cremaster 5
(1998)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Lots of classy dark colours and soaring music...
Posted Feb 02, 2004
|
|
2/4
|
Cremaster 1
(1996)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Beautiful...
Posted Feb 02, 2004
|
|
3.5/4
|
The Shape of Things
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Some critics have called the film stolid and stagy. I think the way it sits still and looks hard is just the point, and the key to its effect.
Posted Jan 04, 2004
|
|
4/4
|
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Ultimately this journey has been about the endgame, and now that we're here, we get a shattering sense of all that is at stake.
Posted Jan 04, 2004
|
|
2/4
|
Cremaster 2
(1999)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
It's a little longer than Cremaster 1, and it has extra room for more confusing craziness.
Posted Dec 22, 2003
|
|
2/4
|
Cremaster 3
(2002)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
The endurance test of the Cremaster series.
Posted Dec 22, 2003
|
|
1/4
|
In the Cut
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
A movie that moves between pretentious and incompetent, a sleazy straight-to-video-style sex and violence crapfest which ends up simply laughable when it tries to go arty.
Posted Dec 14, 2003
|
|
1/4
|
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
There's a simple philosophy behind a movie like this: Add more squishing, add more screaming, and it'll be better. Or at least it'll make more money.
Posted Dec 14, 2003
|
|
3/4
|
Daft Punk & Leiji Matsumoto's Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
This is a film you go to for the pretty pictures, for the neon and the quirky shapes, for the mix of 80s retro style with the fashions of today.
Posted Dec 14, 2003
|
|
4/4
|
Gremlins
(1984)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
A movie that lives inside our memories of movies, and tramples all over them with a crazed, subversive joy.
Posted Dec 14, 2003
|
|
2.5/4
|
The Matrix Revolutions
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
It is not about conclusiveness, but about solving the immediate struggles of its own stupid sci-fi details.
Posted Nov 30, 2003
|
|
4/4
|
She's Having a Baby
(1988)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
It should have been the movie where Hughes got Oscar nominations; the Academy weren't going to award his comedies, but here is where he showed he could branch out and grow up.
Posted Nov 16, 2003
|
|
2/4
|
Bad Boys II
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
The Bad Boys movies are supposed to be about two cops, but all I see is a pair of actors reading descriptions of their characters.
Posted Oct 30, 2003
|
|
1/4
|
Underworld
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
The astonishing achievement of Underworld is that it's a movie without a single good moment, and they still managed to make one helluva trailer.
Posted Oct 27, 2003
|
|
4/4
|
Hail the Conquering Hero
(1944)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
The dialogue of Preston Sturges shoots and shoots, never seems to miss, and convinces you of its genius in around about a minute.
Posted Oct 22, 2003
|
|
4/4
|
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Has all the coolness and daring and wit through which Tarantino made his name. It delivers what we expected, and packs some shocking punches on top.
Posted Oct 17, 2003
|
|
2/4
|
Calendar Girls
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Places itself in a tradition of films that are fairly easy to make, looks like it's doing a professional job and still ends up failing.
Posted Oct 12, 2003
|
|
2/4
|
Ichi the Killer
(2001)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
There is a charm about the movie's crazy camera angles and insistence on grabbing for silly visual jokes, but you can't quite call it a success.
Posted Oct 12, 2003
|
|
2/4
|
Good Bye Lenin!
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
The backdrop is snatching at random political significance, and the plot just turns into a stupid and pointless comedy of errors.
Posted Oct 12, 2003
|
|
3/4
|
Matchstick Men
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Matchstick Men is a lot more engaging than a circular argument, but it's about as frustrating.
Posted Oct 12, 2003
|
|
2.5/4
|
Gigli
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
It tries a valiant effort to be smart and edgy, and feels like something that's always edging at greatness but never quite managing to break on through.
Posted Oct 12, 2003
|
|
4/4
|
Beverly Hills Cop
(1984)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
One of the great popular entertainments of our time, a film that still has a place on the top 40 list of American box-office champs, and continues to look slick and full of energy almost twenty years after opening.
Posted Sep 10, 2003
|
|
1.5/4
|
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
The first movie had grey stone and blue light and orange beams, and it just looked cooler and more together.
Posted Sep 09, 2003
|
|
1/4
|
Luster
(2002)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
A character can be intelligent and provocative by pointing out the flaws of sophisticated people, but not by posing like a rebel and ripping into stereotypes.
Posted Sep 09, 2003
|
|
2.5/4
|
Agent Cody Banks
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
The movie is bouncy and colourful, and cheesy in a nice way, but it outstays its welcome in the last half hour.
Posted Sep 09, 2003
|
|
2.5/4
|
Freddy vs. Jason
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
Misses the chance of actually being a good movie, but it feels energetic and colourful.
Posted Sep 07, 2003
|
|
3/4
|
Roger Dodger
(2002)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
The dialogue addresses our expectations, gets us laughing and stops the movie from becoming too obvious a character study.
Posted Sep 07, 2003
|
|
2/4
|
American Wedding
(2003)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
It's not that the movie is bad, it just feels awkward and not quite right.
Posted Aug 31, 2003
|
|
3/4
|
Buffalo Soldiers
(2001)
|
Ian Mantgani
|
There's a high-energy look, powering a tone of sorta satirical deadpan comedy, but problems arise when the director tries to mix his hip cynicism with a fully rounded story.
Posted Aug 27, 2003
|
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