Ghost graduation, 2012 - ★★★★★

It's hard to imagine seeing a more enjoyable film at the festival. Described as The Breakfast Club with ghosts this is more than just a homage to Hughes, it also takes in the style of Ghostbusters, other seminal films of the 80s and even Glee. The overall story elements may not stand up to scrutiny but the smaller moments that make up the script are perfectly structured. Hilariously funny in places the film knows exactly what it's doing and how much cheese it can get away with.

There's always a reluctance to not give high scores to "fun" films but this was a 5 star experience that I can't wait to relive.

November 14, 2013 at 07:54AM

Computer Chess, 2013 - ★★★

A strange mess of structure, style and story which has it's moments but is ultimately disappointing. It feels like there is a great film bursting to get out but it's lost even before things get weird.

November 14, 2013 at 07:38AM

Child's Pose, 2013 - ★★★½

Cornelia, the central character in Child's Pose is "not the nicest person in the world" and, from what's shown here, tries to manipulate her way through life to get exactly what she wants, although not necessarily succeeding. I don't think it was the unlikeable character that I failed to connect with because it's a great performance and fascinating to watch. I didn't feel fully engaged until the final scenes and even then I wasn't sure if there was meant to be an element of doubt surrounding her sincerity.

If I'd been less tired I think I may have appreciated the film a lot more.

November 13, 2013 at 11:57PM

The Retrieval - ★★★★

The Retrieval is a fantastic piece of film making, even more so for being independent and presumably low budget. It feels like a much bigger film but never gets too big for it's boots and bows out in a satisfying climax although I can't help but think the director's original ending would have been more powerful.

November 13, 2013 at 11:21PM

A Touch of Sin, 2013 - ★★

There usually comes a point during a film festival when festival fatigue kicks in and no matter how good the film is you just can't focus on it. I though this might have happened tonight as I struggled to connect in any way to A Touch Of Sin. On paper and screen everything theoretically should have just worked but it didn't and fortunately I wasn't alone in thinking this.

Any brief moments of caring about a character are diluted by the boredom that surrounds them. The spurts of revenge were occasionally satisfying but the violence served no real purpose (which I think may have been the point) and the whole thing dragged out for what seemed like an eternity.

November 11, 2013 at 11:35PM

The Expedition to the End of the World, 2013 - ★★★★

Informative and entertaining, the documentary wisely focuses on the slightly eccentric crew rather than the environment they are exploring. Despite being uncharted territory there would have been a familiar feeling if this had been documented in the traditional way. But instead of Sigur Ros, we get Metallica and meditations on the meaning of life, what it means to be an artist and why we should all just become pirates.

November 11, 2013 at 01:29PM

The German Doctor, 2013 - ★★★★

One of the many joys of seeing a film at a festival is that it's possible to enter a screening knowing absolutely nothing about a film. This was the case with Wakolda and I didn't even have the benefit of the English title. From the start The German Doctor is a mysterious character but so is everybody else surrounding the family he encounters. The mystery slowly builds throughout and it was never obvious where the film was heading. I didn't even know what strand of the festival it was screening in and at one point thought it could turn to science fiction and/or horror which may have been terrible but the fact it seemed plausible is a credit to the film makers.

November 11, 2013 at 12:31PM

Rififi, 1955 - ★★★★

From the start of the heist this really is fantastic, thrilling and inspirational.

November 10, 2013 at 11:38PM

The Great Hip Hop Hoax, 2013 - ★★★

Really interesting story, perhaps lacking the heart of Sound It Out but a great documentary nonetheless.

November 10, 2013 at 11:56AM

Nebraska, 2013 - ★★★★★

I adored absolutely everything from start to finish and don't know what else to say.

I've been making a secret list of scenes of the year and there are at least three in this film that I want to add: the cemetery, the compressor and the final drive home.

November 10, 2013 at 11:46AM

The Third Man, 1949 - ★★★★

A few moments into The Third Man I remembered how I'd been disappointed with it other times that I'd seen it. It's a slow build up (and difficult to follow due to the terrible acoustics for dialogue in Leeds Town Hall) but full of classic well known moments. Basically any time Orson Welles is on screen, or in the shadows, the film is amazing. The rest of the time the cinematography is fantastic but not a lot is happening.

November 10, 2013 at 11:33AM

HK: Forbidden Super Hero, 2013 - ★★½

And the award for downright WTAF goes to...

Completely crazy but decreasingly entertaining as the joke wears very thin quite quickly.

November 10, 2013 at 11:25AM

Bushido Man, 2013 - ★★★

Slowly build to a wonderful over the top finale.

November 10, 2013 at 11:21AM

After School Midnighters, 2012

Watched on Sunday November 10, 2013.

November 10, 2013 at 12:04AM

The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, 1974 - ★★★★

Watched on Saturday November 9, 2013.

November 09, 2013 at 02:09AM

The Future, 2013 - ★★★

Watched on Saturday November 9, 2013.

November 09, 2013 at 02:05AM

Heli, 2013 - ★★★★

Watched on Saturday November 9, 2013.

November 09, 2013 at 02:04AM

Sign Painters - ★★½

A really interesting, largely unknown subject matter, and really interesting characters but the same points are just raised over and over again without really revealing much. Pretty much everything in the film was covered by the trailer. Disappointing.

November 07, 2013 at 11:32PM

Gravity, 2013 - ★★★★½

A technical marvel with some of the most amazing cinematic choreography and sound design. Tense in all the ways a suspense film should be, occasionally very funny but perhaps lacking in story and script.

The 3D works because it's part of the film and not a distraction. As Mark Kermode said the film is all pointing and falling which are the only things that really ever work in 3D. The CG also works amazingly well, constantly looking real where so many other films look fake.

November 06, 2013 at 11:03PM

Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs, 2008 - ★★

So far I've not really enjoyed either of the two DVD movies I've seen and wondering if I should bother with the rest. It doesn't feel like the TV show I remember fondly. There is a story stretched over the feature length running time but it's so often disrupted by random events it never really holds any interest. I'm not sure if this is the case (especially as these films were eventually split into series episodes) but it also feels like they are trying to hard to be edgy now that they are not on TV. Despite all that there are still some funny moment but far to few.

November 05, 2013 at 10:39PM

Like Father, Like Son, 2013 - ★★★★

Once you know what Like Father, Like Son is about you start to question how it's possible to resolve such an impossible situation. The film draws you into everybody's dilemma but never offers any easy answers.

Part of me wished the film had ended when the poster photo was taken and left the audience wondering what would happen next. What follows is handled so well that I'm glad the film continued to it's conclusion.

November 05, 2013 at 10:34PM

Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages, 1922 - ★★★

A bizarre mixture of documentary and narrative that mostly works to provide an interesting overview of witchcraft. This was one of the longer versions and it did feel like certain elements were repeated too often or dragged out for too long. Fascinating to think of the time it was made and compares to nothing else, although I could easily imagine Lars Von Trier attempting something similar.

November 05, 2013 at 10:21PM

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, 2010 - ★★½

There are great moments when Guillermo del Toro's involvement is obviously on show but nowhere near enough. Resorting to every horror cliché feels like a huge disappointment. Once again CGI is over used to show things that would have remained more terrifying if left to the imagination.

November 05, 2013 at 10:14PM

Insidious, 2010 - ★★★

Starts of quite well but the second half is a bit of a mess. Makes the all too common mistake of showing far too much and not becoming scary as a result

November 03, 2013 at 11:15PM

The Crazies 2.5/5 (R)