Film Reviews 2009-2023 (mostly taken from my Tumblr)

• Films 2000-present

• British Cinema

• International Cinema

• Pre-2000 Cinema (not in one of the above categories)

British Cinema (pre-2000)

• Aren't Men Beasts (1937) stage farce adapted to cinema

• The BBC's Ghost Story for Christmas Part One: Introduction, “The Stalls of Barchester,” “A Warning to Curious”

• The BBC's Ghost Story for Christmas Part Two: “Lost Hearts,” ““The Treasure of Abbot Thomas,” "The Ash Tree"

• The BBC's Ghost Story for Christmas Part Three: "The Signalman," “Stigma,” “The Ice House”

• The BBC's Ghost Story for Christmas Part Four: “A View from a Hill,” “Number 13”

• Devils of Darkness (1965): imitation-Hammer vampire film

• Dick Barton at Bay (1950): crime film based on radio series

• Holidays with Pay (1948): Frank Randle on holiday in Blackpool

• I'm All Right Jack (1959): Peter Sellers comedy about labour-business relations

• Jungle Street (1960): crime film with David McCallum & Jill Ireland

• Miss London Ltd. & Bees in Paradise (1943-44): 2 Arthur Askey wartime comedies

• Much Too Shy (1942): George Formby

• No Smoking (1955): comedy with Reg Dixon

• Old Bones of the River (1938): Will Hay comedy

• Old Mother Riley in Society (1940): the great Mother Riley

• On the Night of the Fire (1939): drama starring Ralph Richardson

• Over the Garden Wall (1950): cross-dressing comedy with Norman Evans

• Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1950): stylish colour fantasy with Ava Gardner & James Mason

• South American George (1941): George Formby in a dual role

• The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942): Will Hay war-time comedy

• The Black Torment (1964): period thriller/horror

• The Cuckoo Patrol (1967): Freddie and the Dreamers star in a comedy, "A Hard Day's Night" it ain't.

• The Night Caller (1965): excellent science-fiction film--aliens need Earth women

• The Night We Dropped a Clanger (1959): comedy set in WWII

• The Stone Tape (1972): BBC shot-on-video fantasy programme

• Unearthly Stranger (1963): great science fiction drama--aliens (posing as women) invade Earth

• Where's That Fire? (1940): Will Hay comedy

• Who Done It? (1956): Benny Hill in his feature film debut

• Windbag the Sailor (1936): Will Hay comedy

• You Made Me Love You (1933) : Stanley Lupino and Thelma Todd comedy

International Cinema (pre-2000)

• 1860 (1934) -- Italian historical film

• Andha Naal [That Day] (1954) -- Indian crime drama set during WWII

• Belphégor (1927) and Belphégor (2001) joint review -- French cinema

• La foire aux chimères [Carnival of Illusions] (1946) -- French drama with Erich von Stroheim

• House of the Living Dead (1974) -- South African-shot horror movie

• Massacre Gun [Minagoroshi no kenjū)] (1967) -- Japanese crime film

• Mein Leben für Irland [My Life For Ireland] (1941) -- anti-British propaganda made in Germany

• Nezlobte dědečka [Don’t Make Grandpa Angry] (1934) -- Czech comedy

• Nippon Jokyȏ-den: Gekitȏ Himeyuri-misaki [Trials of an Okinawan Village] (1971) -- yakuza vs yakuza in Okinawa

• Podvig razvedchika [Secret Agent] (1947) -- Soviet agent behind German lines in WWII

• La secta del trébol [The Clover Sect] (1948) -- Argentine comedy-thriller

• So nyun bbal jjin san [Boy Partisans] (1951) -- North Korean anti-USA propaganda

• Suspenso en comunismo [Failing Grade in Communism] (1956) -- anti-Communist comedy made in Franco's Spain

• Two Cinematic Stalkers: I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes (1948) and Feliz año, amor mío (1955) -- a Hollywood & a Mexican film both deal with stalkers

• Verbena trágica [Tragic Festival] (1938) -- drama made in USA but in Spanish

• Zwei in Einer Grossen Stadt [Two in a Big City] (1942) -- romantic comedy set in WWII Germany

Hollywood (well, made in USA) Films (pre-2000)

• Brain of Blood (1971): Al Adamson horror/sci-fi

• The Films of Walt Davis: Widow Blue!, Evil Come Evil Go, Oh! You Beautiful Doll (1970-72)

• The Great Gatsby (1949): Alan Ladd in adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel

• Hell Bound (1957): crime drama starring Stuart Whitman and John Russell

• The Night of the Strangler (1972): mystery/crime drama with ex-Monkee Mickey Dolenz

• The Screaming Skull (1958): thriller that turns out to be a supernatural horror movie

• The Soul of a Monster (1944): rare example of a Columbia horror movie from this era

• Wisconsin Death Trip (1999): unusual quasi-documentary about odd occurrences in 1890s Wisconsin

Films 2000-2009 (reviews mostly written in 2009-2010)

• 2012 (2009)

• Antichrist (2009)

• Avatar (2009)

• The Bad Lieutenant (2009)

• Banlieue 13: Ultimatum (2009)

• Black Dynamite (2009)

• Blood, Boobs, and Beast (2007)

• The Box (2009)

• Brothers (2009)

• Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Apprentice (2009)

• The Cove (2009)

• Crazy Heart (2009)

• Exam (2009)

• Fish Tank (2009)

• The Fourth Kind (2009)

• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (2009)

• The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009)

• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2009) original version

• Harry Brown (2009)

• Heartless (2009)

• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

• The Invention of Lying (2009)

• The Limits of Control (2009)

• The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

• Micmacs à tire-larigot (2009)

• Moon (2009)

• My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009)

• Ondine (2009)

• Paranormal Activity (2009)

• Pirate Radio aka The Boat That Rocked (2009)

• [Rec]2 (2009)

• The Red Riding Trilogy (2009) -- Red Riding 1974, Red Riding 1980, and Red Riding 1983 (made for British TV)

• Resurrecting “The Street Walker” (2009)

• The Road (2009)

• Saw VI (2009)

• El secreto de sus ojos (The Secret in Their Eyes, 2009)

• Three Documentaries: How Little We Know of Our Neighbours (2005), Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown (2008), and Ballybrando (2009)

• Up in the Air (2009)

• Veronika Decides to Die (2009)

• Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) -- mini-review

• The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band, 2009)

• A Woman in Berlin (2008)

• Zombieland (2009) -- mini-review

2010 Films (reviewed in 2010-2011)

• Alice in Wonderland (2010)

• The American (2010)

• Les aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010)

• Black Swan (2010)

• The Book of Eli (2010)

• Date Night (2010)

• Devil (2010)

• Dinner for Schmucks (2010)

• Edge of Darkness (2010)

• The Expendables (2010)

• The Fighter (2010)

• Four Lions (2010)

• From Paris With Love (2010)

• Get Him to the Greek (2010)

• Green Zone (2010)

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One (2010)

• Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

• The Illusionist (2010)

• Inception (2010)

• Iron Man 2 (2010)

• Jonah Hex (2010)

• Just for the Record (2010)

• Kick-Ass (2010)

• The King’s Speech (2010)

• Kynodontas (Dog Tooth) (2010)

• The Last Exorcism (2010)

• Legion (2010)

• Machete (2010)

• Megamind (2010)

• Never Let Me Go (2010)

• The Next Three Days (2010) & Pour Elle (2008)

• A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

• The Other Guys (2010)

• Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

• Piranha (2010)

• Predators (2010)

• Rabbit Hole (2010)

• Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

• Red (2010)

• Repo Men (2010)

• Robin Hood (2010)

• Rubber (2010)

• Shutter Island (2010)

• Skyline (2010)

• The Town (2010)

• Toy Story 3 (2010)

• The Troll Hunter (2010)

• Tron: Legacy (2010)

• True Grit (2010)

• Unstoppable (2010)

• Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

• The Ward (2010)

• Winter’s Bone (2010)

• The Wolfman (2010)

• Youth in Revolt (2010)

2011 Films (reviewed 2011-12)

• The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

• The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

• Apartment 143 (2011)

• Apollo 18 (2011)

• The Artist (2011)

• Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

• Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

• Carnage (2011)

• Contagion (2011)

• Cowboys and Aliens (2011)

• Creature (2011)

• A Dangerous Method (2011)

• Drive (2011)

• Drive Angry 3D (2011)

• Fast Five (2011)

• Final Destination 5 (2011)

• Fright Night (2011)

• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

• God Bless America (2011)

• The Green Hornet (2011)

• Green Lantern (2011)

• The Guard (2011)

• The Hangover Part II (2011)

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

• Hobo with a Shotgun (2011)

• Horrible Bosses (2011)

• Hugo (2011)

• Insidious (2011)

• Intruders (2011)

• Killer Elite (2011)

• Limitless (2011)

• The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

• Melancholia (2011)

• Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)

• Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

• Paul (2011) & Burke and Hare (2010)

• Priest (2011)

• Rango (2011)

• Real Steel (2011)

• Red State (2011)

• Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

• The Rum Diary (2011)

• Scream 4 (2011)

• Seeing Justice (2011)

• Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

• Source Code (2011)

• Thor (2011)

• Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

• Unknown (2011)

• Water for Elephants (2011)

• We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

• X-Men: First Class (2011)

2012 (reviewed in 2012-3)

• 21 Jump Street (2012)

• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)

• The Avengers (2012)

• Battleship (2012)

• Byzantium (2012)

• The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

• Chronicle (2012)

• Citadel (2012)

• Cockneys vs. Zombies (2012)

• The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

• Dark Shadows (2012)

• The Dictator (2012)

• Django Unchained (2012)

• Dredd 3D (2012)

• The Expendables 2 (2012)

• Grabbers (2012)

• The Grey (2012)

• The Hunger Games (2012)

• Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)

• Jack Reacher (2012)

• John Carter (2012)

• Lawless (2012)

• Life of Pi (2012)

• Lincoln (2012)

• Looper (2012)

• The Lords of Salem (2012)

• Men in Black 3 (2012)

• ParaNorman (2012)

• Piranha 3DD (2012)

• The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012)

• The Possession (2012)

• Prometheus (2012)

• Safe House (2012)

• Savages (2012)

• Sinister (2012)

• Skyfall (2012)

• Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

• Taken 2 (2012)

• Ted (2012)

• The Three Stooges (2012)

• Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie (2012)

• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2012)

• Total Recall (2012)

• The Woman in Black (2012)

• Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

• Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

2013 (reviewed in 2013-4)

• American Hustle (2013)

• Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)

• Bad Words (2013)

• Broken City (2013)

• The Congress (2013)

• The Conjuring (2013)

• The Croods (2013)

• Despicable Me (2010) and Despicable Me 2 (2013) dual review Dom Hemingway (2013)

• Elysium (2013)

• Evil Dead (2013)

• The Family (2013)

• Fast & Furious 6 (2013)

• Filth (2013)

• Frozen (2013)

• G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)

• A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)

• The Hangover Part III (2013)

• Her (2013)

• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

• Ida (2013)

• The Immigrant (2013)

• Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

• Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)

• Iron Man 3 (2013)

• Kick-Ass 2 (2013)

• The Last Exorcism Part II (2013)

• The Last Stand (2013)

• The Lone Ranger (2013)

• Lone Survivor (2013)

• Mama (2013)

• Man of Steel (2013)

• Monsters University (2013)

• Oblivion (2013)

• Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

• Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

• Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

• Pacific Rim (2013)

• Pain & Gain (2013)

• Prisoners (2013)

• Red 2 (2013)

• Riddick (2013)

• Side Effects (2013)

• Snitch (2013)

• Snowpiercer (2013)

• Stand Up Guys (2013)

• Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

• This is the End (2013)

• Thor: The Dark World (2013)

• Under the Skin (2013)

• Warm Bodies (2013)

• We’re the Millers (2013)

• White House Down (2013)

• The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

• The Wolverine (2013)

• The World’s End (2013)

• World War Z (2013)

2014 films (reviewed in 2014-15)

• 22 Jump Street (2014)

• 3 Days to Kill (2014)

• 300: Rise of an Empire (2014)

• American Sniper (2014)

• Calvary (2014)

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

• Divergent (2014)

• Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

• The Expendables 3 (2014)

• Frank (2014)

• Fury (2014)

• Godzilla (2014)

• Gone Girl (2014)

• Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

• Horrible Bosses 2 (2014)

• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (2014)

• Inherent Vice (2014)

• Interstellar (2014)

• The Interview (2014)

• The Lego Movie (2014)

• Lucy (2014)

• Need for Speed (2014)

• Neighbors (2014)

• Non-Stop (2014)

• Oculus (2014)

• Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014)

• Robocop (2014)

• The Salvation (2014)

• Taken 3 (2014)

• They Came Together (2014)

• Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

• White Bird in a Blizzard (2014)

• X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

2015 Films (reviewed 2015-16)

• Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

• Brooklyn (2015)

• Colonia (2015)

• Everest (2015)

• Furious 7 (2015)

• The Hateful Eight (2015)

• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay–Part 2 (2015)

• Inside Out (2015)

• Insurgent (2015)

• Jurassic World (2015)

• Knight of Cups (2015)

• Liza the Fox-Fairy (2015)

• The Lobster (2015)

• Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

• Maggie (2015)

• The Martian (2015)

• Minions (2015)

• Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)

• Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015)

• The Revenant (2015)

• Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)

• Sicario (2015)

• Spy (2015)

2016 Films (reviewed 2016-7)

• Allegiant (2016)

• Arrival (2016)

• Assassin’s Creed (2016)

• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

• Captain America: Civil War (2016)

• The Conjuring 2 (2016)

• Criminal (2016)

• Deadpool (2016)

• Doctor Strange (2016)

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

• The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

• The Magnificent Seven (2016)

• Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016)

• The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

• Star Trek Beyond (2016)

• X-Men Apocalypse (2016)

• Zootopia (2016)

2017 Films (reviewed 2017-18)

• Despicable Me 3 (2017)

• Dunkirk (2017)

• Get Out (2017)

• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

• John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)

• The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

• Lady Bird (2017)

• The LEGO Batman Movie (2017)

• Life (2017)

• Logan (2017)

• Okja (2017)

• Phantom Thread (2017)

• Split (2017)

• Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

• War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

2018 Films (reviewed 2018-19)

• Cold War (2018)

• Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

• Deadpool 2 (2018)

• Halloween (2018)

• Incredibles 2 (2018)

• The Meg (2018)

• Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

• Overlord (2018)

• Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

• Roma (2018)

2019 Films (reviewed 2019-20)

• Avengers: Endgame (2019)

• Avengers: Infinity War (2019)

• Glass (2019)

• John Wick 3 (2019)

• Parasite (2019)

• Us (2019)

Last update: 21 January 2023

Comments? davewilt55NOSPAM@gmail.com (remove NOSPAM if you aren't a spammer)

You may wonder why the reviews of "current" films cover 2009-2019. In Fall 2008 I started teaching cinema at The George Washington University, and decided I'd better start watching "new" films again so I'd be able to discuss them with my students. After seeing a fair number of films in cinemas in the 1970s and early 1980s, I'd spent most of the next several decades watching videotapes (then DVDs), cable television, and (when it was invented) the Internet, and rarely "going to the movies." Since a lot of my research was focused on Mexican cinema, propaganda, and other topics, there weren't many contemporary films on my radar (I'd catch up with some of them when they came out on VHS/DVD/streaming, etc. ) But as you can see, I gave myself a crash course in "new movies" for a few years (still mostly watching things that appealed to me, rather than "everything"). However, I've backed off from this gradually, preferring to spend my time watching films that fit my research and/or personal interest criteria. I have access to various important and/or highly popular (critically & commercially) films, but when will I get around to watching them? Life is short.