Buried (2010)
★★★☆☆
One man, one coffin and 90 minutes’ oxygen, Rodrigo Cortés Buried is a deliciously claustrophobic one-hander for Ryan Reynolds. But can Cortés play by the rules?
★★★
Winter’s Bone (2010)
★★★☆☆
Set deep in the bone-chilling Ozark woods, Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone rides high on the national spectre of repossession and will make Jennifer Lawrence a star.
The Horde (2009)
★★★☆☆
Jam-packed with gore, Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher breathe new life into the undead with their hybrid gangster/horror flick The Horde.
L’Illusionniste / The Illusionist (2010)
★★★☆☆
Based on a script by Jacques Tati, Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist is a lyrical love story for sugar daddies and sweet dreamers. As well as residents of Dunedin.
Mother (2009)
★★★☆☆
When her simple son is sent to prison for the murder of a local girl, Boon Joon-Ho’s Mother springs into action. Thank you, Mommie dearest.
Hideaway / Le Refuge (2009)
★★★☆☆
With a heroin junkie and her dead lover’s gay brother hiding away together, François Ozon’s Le Refuge is a subdued meditation on parenthood and loss. It’s baby boom and bust.
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2009)
★★★☆☆
As a passionate affair between two 20th century icons, Jan Kounen’s Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky is a perfumed symphony of style. But where are the heart notes?
Frontier Blues (2009)
★★★☆☆
Set in a border backwater in Northern Iran, Babak Jalali’s Frontier Blues follows four men rapidly losing the plot in a land without women.
Film Review: Bluebeard / Barbe Bleue (2009)
★★★☆☆
A faithful adaptation of Perrault’s fairytale, Bluebeard nevertheless conceals a bevy of Catherine Breillat’s favourite themes. But where’s the eroticism?
South Of The Border (2009)
★★★☆☆
Über-director Oliver Stone’s latest documentary film South of the Border offers a provocative glance at the US media’s take on Latin American politics.
Ivul (2009)
★★★☆☆
Biting into the forbidden apple of incest, Andrew Kötting’s Ivul charts the fall of civilisation in a Russian émigré family. Or is he barking up the wrong tree?
When You’re Strange (2009)
★★★☆☆
A medley of grainy super-8 footage, Tom DiCillo’s When You’re Strange strips The Doors down to no-holds-barred exuberance. Or is it just wallowing in the mire?
Villa Amalia (2009)
★★★☆☆
Cheerfully nihilistic, Benoît Jacquot’s Villa Amalia stars Isabelle Huppert as a pianist reinventing her life from scratch on the coast of Naples. O sole mio.
Women Without Men (2009)
★★★☆☆
Iranian visual artist, Shirin Neshat’s directorial debut focuses on the lives of four women set against a backdrop of political turmoil in 1950s Iran.