Review

Swaggering down mean streets previously occupied by Elite Squad and various Ringo Lam skull-crackers, Everardo Gout’s Mexican crime epic starts with a bracingly stylised snarl and ends in a muddle. Covering 12 years linked by three footie World Cups, the frantic action subjects idealistic cop Lupo (Tenoch Huerta) to a …

True Blood 6.04 “At Last” TV REVIEW (opens in new tab) Episode 6.04 Writer: Alexander Woo Director: Anthony Hemingway THE ONE WHERE Sookie and Jason (independently) leap to the conclusion that Ben is Warlow; Andy’s faerie offspring enter their troublesome teens; Eric sires Governor Burrell’s daughter; lots of men strip …

Continuum 2.09 “Seconds” (opens in new tab) Episode 2.09 Writer: Raul Sanchez Inglis Director: Michael Rohl THE ONE WHERE Julian is released from jail and instantly finds himself being courted by the various factions of Liber8. Before he can choose his future, however, he has to deal with the fact …

Further proof that kids these days are a bunch of little shits comes from Ciaran Foy’s fresh, eerie twist on the urban horror, which sees young agoraphobic father (Aneurin Barnard, excellent) tormented by feral youths who seem barely human. Inspired by Foy’s own experience of being attacked, Citadel is at …

When we first meet the Reynolds – a middle-class New York State couple waiting for their eldest daughter Lauren (Mackenzie Davis) to leave the nest – they seem ordinary, untouchable, even uninteresting. Music teacher dad Keith (Guy Pearce) makes tuna melts for lunch, mum Megan (Amy Ryan) sends out family …

Iain Softley’s ( Backbeat ) return to Brit-film after US hiccups like K-PAX is welcome, but his stylish yet silly thriller takes too much swallowing to qualify as a happy-ever-after. Single White Female and Diabolique haunt this second riff on Sébastien Japrisot’s novel (there was a 1965 adap), where Tuppence …

Making unheard voices heard is the thrust of this poignant, playful and politically charged coming-of-ager from Haifaa Al-Mansour (Saudi Arabia’s first female director and the first person to shoot a whole movie in SA) . Waad Mohammed is effortlessly winning as Wadjda, a rebellious kid with a longing for a …

Our magicians from various corners of the trickster universe (smarmy street magician Jesse Eisenberg, escape artist Isla Fisher, down-on-his-luck hypnotist Woody Harrelson, sharp-witted pickpocket Dave Franco) are assembled by a mysterious benefactor and dubbed ‘The Four Horsemen’. After a run of sell-out shows, they’re booked for one night only at …

More Spiceworld than Spinal Tap , this OAP’s own adventure sees rockers Frances Rossi and Rick Parfitt go AWOL in Fiji after stumbling upon a local Russian-roulette operation. It’s a scrappy, scribbled-on-a-napkin script – speedboats appear to save the day, chases end when pursuers get bored – but newcomer Laura …

Israeli director Michael Mayer nimbly tackles a volatile cocktail of racism and homophobia in his emotionally charged debut. Student Nimr (impressive newcomer Nicholas Jacob) and lawyer Roy (Michael Aloni) fall for each other after meeting in a Tel Aviv bar. The only problem: Nimr’s from Palestine and Roy’s from Israel… …