Richard James Havis

Brad Davis in Midnight Express.

Arts & Music

Midnight Express: 1978 prison-break movie is a rip-roaring thriller

19 Oct 2018 - 11:04pm

Director Eli Roth’s gothic horror is like a poor man’s Tim Burton, with jokes that fall flat and few shocks, but there is no denying the stars’ talent, and the film is passably entertaining

Film & TV

The House with a Clock in Its Walls review: OK children’s fantasy

17 Oct 2018 - 7:02pm

This drab stab at reviving the slasher flick that John Carpenter’s 1978 classic started is short on shocks and gore, with just a few snatches of nasty surprises to keep the genre’s aficionados happy

Film & TV

Hell Fest review: vaguely passable horror just for Halloween

17 Oct 2018 - 7:03am

Bradley Cooper’s version of the classic music industry story is simplistic and melodramatic, but there is definite chemistry with Lady Gaga

Film & TV

A Star Is Born review: Lady Gaga shines in crowd-pleasing remake

14 Oct 2018 - 9:03pm

Researchers studying the benefits of taking pyschedelic drugs think they work by removing constraints the brain places on how we see the world

Health & Wellness

Depressed, terminally ill or addicted? Ecstasy, LSD can help, studies show

15 Oct 2018 - 7:27pm 2

This story of a man’s search for his lost teenage daughter through the internet is unpredictable, believable and full of suspense. Cho shines as the frantic father

Film & TV

John Cho anchors enthralling hi-tech thriller Searching – review

14 Oct 2018 - 8:03am

Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep in a still from Kramer vs. Kramer (1979).

Arts & Music

Despite tension, Streep and Hoffman gave their best in Kramer vs. Kramer

12 Oct 2018 - 7:48pm 2

Why Melissa McCarthy and Elizabeth Banks chose to appear in such a tasteless film is almost as much a mystery as why Brian Henson, son of Muppets creator Jim, decided to direct it. A stinking t*rd all round

Film & TV

Worst film in years: sex and puppets in The Happytime Murders

10 Oct 2018 - 7:05am

The opposite of Before Sunrise, this is hate at first sight; two guests flying to a destination wedding verbally destroy their fellow guests and themselves

Film & TV

Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder in darkly amusing Destination Wedding – review

9 Oct 2018 - 12:55pm

Fear of sex, suicidal tendencies that manifested in her life, and her memories of the second world war figure prominently in this intellectually absorbing film that portrays the unique vision of the world’s most expensive female artist

Film & TV

Kusama – Infinity review: artist profiled in superb documentary

2 Oct 2018 - 7:00am

Javier Bardem as Pablo Escobar and Penelope Cruz as Virginia Vallejo in a still from Loving Pablo (category IIB, English, Spanish), directed by Fernando Leon de Aranoa.

Film & TV

Loving Pablo review: Escobar biopic is confused and unenlightening

2 Oct 2018 - 3:45pm 1

Director Paul Feig explores some dark psychological territory, with lots of laughs, but the fact the proactive leading roles are played by women is what sets it apart from others in this genre

Film & TV

Film noir A Simple Favor turns tables by putting women in leading roles

1 Oct 2018 - 5:16pm

The auteur’s tale of injustice, starring the formidable Charo Santos-Concio, is an existential film that explores the human condition

Arts & Music

Golden Lion winner The Woman Who Left coming to Hong Kong

28 Sep 2018 - 7:48pm

A still from Last Men in Aleppo. Pictures: Grasshopper Film.

Arts & Music

Oscar-nominated documentary shows human courage against horror of war

21 Sep 2018 - 7:53pm

Garner shows her action chops, but her talents are wasted in this crude tale of a mother taking revenge on the gangsters who killed her family. The plot is clumsy and full of holes and racial clichés and the villains are stereotypical

Film & TV

Peppermint review: Jennifer Garner wasted in tasteless revenge tale

19 Sep 2018 - 7:02am

Those who like old-fashioned Hammer horrors will certainly enjoy this film that has no shortage of fake blood, ghoulish make-up, and inverted crosses, but overall the planned terrifying bits are telegraphed far in advance

Film & TV

Gothic atmosphere, horror tropes, no discernible plot – The Nun reviewed

17 Sep 2018 - 7:25pm

Björn Andrésen (left) and Dirk Bogarde in Death in Venice.

Arts & Music

Visconti’s Death in Venice: art house masterpiece or ‘superficial’?

14 Sep 2018 - 7:47pm

Director Antoine Fuqua forgoes slick special effects and cinematography and goes for gritty, bone-crunching violence in this film that harks back to 1970s Death Wish

Film & TV

Old-school action, Denzel Washington in The Equalizer 2 – review

11 Sep 2018 - 12:03pm

There’s a much better film struggling to emerge from A.X.L., which is good on science but bad on human characters and story

Film & TV

Like Monster Trucks but not as satisfying – A.X.L. review

10 Sep 2018 - 12:51pm

Vivienne Westwood at her spring/summer 2008 show in Paris. Picture: AFP

Arts & Music

Vivienne Westwood film fails to win punk designer’s approval

7 Sep 2018 - 7:30pm

Tough performance by Woodley, playing Tami Oldham – who, with fiancé Richard Sharp, was caught in a hurricane while sailing a boat to its new owners and improvises a sail to reach land – takes some liberties but is well made, neatly structured and portray effectively her grim battle with the sea

Film & TV

Adrift review: Shailene Woodley stars in engrossing true-life survival tale

4 Sep 2018 - 2:09pm

Poor boy finds alien gun in Detroit, his ex-con half-brother, in trouble with a gang boss, finds it handy; this odd mix of crime film, road movie and family drama that morphs into Battlestar Galactica sends a stupid message

Film & TV

Boy in a balaclava with alien ray gun does hold-up? This isn’t funny

3 Sep 2018 - 6:00pm

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in Grease (1978).

Arts & Music

It might be 40, but Grease is still the ultimate high school musical

31 Aug 2018 - 7:44pm 1

Avendale Kindergarten in Parkside, Tseung Kwan O

Education

Giving children control over their learning

6 Sep 2018 - 11:49am 2

Director Jason Reitman is never on the same wavelength as Theron, who delivers a gritty, insightful turn as a mother with postnatal depression who is coaxed back to health by a night nurse. A magic-realist approach might have served Diablo Cody’s story better

Film & TV

Charlize Theron gains 23kg to play depressed mother in Tully – review

29 Aug 2018 - 9:30pm

Spacey is not the worst thing about this ill-conceived film. Based on a real-life swindle and double murder, it sets out to convince viewers the killer is innocent and that his victims were slain by his sharp-suited friends

Film & TV

Kevin Spacey flop Billionaire Boys Club is a horrible film

28 Aug 2018 - 6:00pm 3

Set before the events of the original Purge film from 2013, The First Purge has some good shocks but its storyline is downright dumb and its attempts at social commentary are marred by its simple desire to ladle up thrills and kills

Film & TV

The First Purge review: violent prequel takes aim at US far right

27 Aug 2018 - 8:03pm

Directed by the Shanghai-born Terence Young who brought Bond to the big screen, the psychological thriller is as terrifying today as it was in 1967

Arts & Music

Audrey Hepburn classic Wait Until Dark still scary after 50 years

24 Aug 2018 - 7:35pm

The attempt to mix laughs and extreme violence seems to have failed, and the attempts at vulgarity fall flat, but the comedy scenes work in isolation and there’s some chemistry between McKinnon and Kunis

Film & TV

The Spy Who Dumped Me review: schizophrenic action comedy

22 Aug 2018 - 11:14am 1

Saturday Night Live comedian McKinnon teamed up with Mila Kunis and Fogel to make an action film that gives nods to various films and doesn’t stint on the violence, while keeping the humour intact

Film & TV

The Spy Who Dumped Me: an action buddy film made by women

22 Aug 2018 - 7:53pm 3

As much a work of ethnography as storytelling, the film meditates on the brutal realities of life

Arts & Music

Why Tian Zhuangzhuang’s The Horse Thief is a beautiful, brutal masterpiece

17 Aug 2018 - 7:34pm

Kung Fu Panda director fails to impress with this tale of children left with superpowers after surviving a deadly disease outbreak. Obvious plot details from the book have been overlooked and the filmmaking is generally below par

Film & TV

The Darkest Minds review: young adult fantasy adds little to genre

15 Aug 2018 - 7:00am

Starring the voices of Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez and Kathryn Hahn, the third film in the Hotel Transylvania series is still not as good as the first but features top-notch animation and will keep the children entertained

Film & TV

Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation review – great for kids

14 Aug 2018 - 7:01am

Daniel Wu (left) and Stephen Fung play lovers in Bishonen (1998).

Arts & Music

Bishonen: Yonfan’s tale of a romance extends beyond LGBT audience

3 Aug 2018 - 7:32pm

Henry Thomas stars in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Arts & Music

E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial might be 36 years old, but its charm is inalienable

27 Jul 2018 - 7:27pm

Detail from Chinese artist Cui Jie’s Beijing International Hotel (2017), featured in the inaugural Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art. Photo: courtesy of Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art

Culture

Chinese art in Cleveland riffs on universal themes of life in the city

24 Jul 2018 - 6:38pm

A scene from Bambi (1942).

Arts & Music

Why Bambi is still one of Disney’s best films

20 Jul 2018 - 7:29pm

‘House of the Rising Sons’ is an accurate history of the popular ’70s Hong Kong band and the music scene of the time, but for director Anthony Chan, also The Wynners’ drummer, casting his bandmates – and himself – was a challenge

Film & TV

Hong Kong’s ’70s music scene comes to life in film on The Wynners

18 Jul 2018 - 7:19pm

Some video games can be beneficial for people with ADHD, PTSD, and other mental health problems. Photo: Alamy

Health & Wellness

The video games that have a positive effect on your mental health

15 Jul 2018 - 5:22pm

The charismatic McQueen racing through San Francisco’s impossibly steep streets in pursuit of justice is as irresistible today as it was 50 years ago

Arts & Music

Why Bullitt from 1968 is one of Steve McQueen’s must-see movies

13 Jul 2018 - 7:28pm

Gene Hackman in The French Connection.

Arts & Music

The French Connection: looking beyond the movie’s iconic car chase

6 Jul 2018 - 7:18pm

The Oscar-nominated My Life as a Zucchini deals in sad reality, with its honest orphans, awful parents and respect for those left to pick up the pieces

Arts & Music

My Life as a Zucchini: stunning stop-motion ode to social work

29 Jun 2018 - 6:55pm

This horror film fails to go anywhere, it lacks imagination and the ending seems hastily made. Its potentially interesting theme is squandered and the audience will be left disappointed

Film & TV

Truth or Dare review: pointless teen horror lacks a proper finale

27 Jun 2018 - 6:00pm

Håkan Hagegård and Irma Urrila in The Magic Flute (1975).

Arts & Music

Ingmar Bergman’s beguiling movie-opera, The Magic Flute

22 Jun 2018 - 5:46pm

This story about a teenage girl with a rare genetic disorder that makes her skin unable to repair UV damage, meaning she can only go outside at night, is well meaning, if a little hard to believe. Fans of weepies will love it

Film & TV

Midnight Sun review: weepy teen melodrama doesn’t ring true

19 Jun 2018 - 7:03am

Foster rises to the challenge of playing a woman much older than herself in Drew Pearce’s seemingly Seven-influenced film about a secret hospital for wounded criminals

Film & TV

Hotel Artemis review: Jodie Foster shines in grungy futuristic thriller

18 Jun 2018 - 7:00pm

The film’s themes of honour and friendship, as well as its outlandish, stylised bloodshed, retain their relevance for a contemporary audience

Arts & Music

Hyperviolent and homoerotic: John Woo’s masterpiece The Killer

16 Jun 2018 - 5:48pm