This hugely entertaining thriller excels thanks to lashings of black humour, style and action and a supporting cast hardly rivalled in terms of acting (not star quality) in recent times. Definitely to be ranked up there with its movie cousins, Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.
Reviews
The Counterfeiters
The Counterfeiters is a different kind of Holocaust movie – a more personalised tale concentrating on more of a thriller aspect without the sweeping history lesson of its vaunted Hollywood contemporaries. Nevertheless, Stefan Ruzowitzky still gives you enough open-ended moral questions to make you think and entertains along the way.
Ikiru
Iconic Japanese cinema nearly at it best but Ikiru just falls short of greatness because of a rambling, over-melodramatic climax. Well-worth a watch though for Watanabe’s performance, iconic scenes and interesting themes.
Lidice
A haunting tale of ordinary lives and genocide in Czechoslovakia during World War Two that is well told with great acting, and excellent cinematography and a musical score that complement each other perfectly.
X-Men: First Class
A somewhat return to form for the X-Men series thanks to a few star turns and a pre-dominantly riveting story spanning three decades. Just forget X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine never happened.
Sexy Beast
A workmanlike heist movie that’s given cult status by a terrifically terrifying performance by Ben Kingsley and a role that Ray WInstone was born to play.