[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B006GP30M8][/pullquote] Christmas Eve, 1914. A group of Scottish soldiers in a trench in Northern France strike up a song to cheer their spirits. A few hundred yards away across no man's land, a German singer picks up the tune, and steps out up out of his trench. A … [Read more...]
Review: Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010, Finland)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B005D82VM4][/pullquote] Santa. He's a jolly fat man who loves to spread joy and bring gifts to all, right? But what if that's not right? What if there were older, truer myths, where Santa is all about punishing the naughty rather than giving to the nice? What if he's … [Read more...]
Review: Infernal Affairs (2002, Hong Kong)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B004D39GG4][/pullquote] In 2002, two of the biggest names in Hong Kong cinema, Andy Lau and Tony Leung, teamed up to star in (and in Lau's case to co-direct) Infernal Affairs. The film was a box office smash in Hong Kong, and also received huge critical acclaim, … [Read more...]
Review: Oldboy (2003, South Korea)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B000TQLJ14][/pullquote] In 2003 Park Chan-Wook released OldBoy, the second in a thematically connected trilogy between Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and Lady Vengeance (guess what the theme is). As well as being part of this loose trilogy of revenger's tragedies, OldBoy … [Read more...]
Review: The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005, France)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B000C05YGI][/pullquote] The Beat That My Heart Skipped is a rarity, in that it's a ˜world cinema' remake of an American movie. The movie in question is Fingers, a 1978 thriller starring Harvey Keitel as Jimmy ˜Fingers' Angelelli, a young man torn between a career as a … [Read more...]
Review: The Orphanage (2007)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B0019GJ3ZM][/pullquote] The Orphanage (El Orfanato to give it its Spanish title) is a horror film presented by horror aficionado and all-round fantasy legend Guillermo Del Toro. As part of his plan to seemingly force through a horror film revolution in … [Read more...]
Review: The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009, Sweden)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B0051NH5OA][/pullquote] The middle film of a trilogy is the most difficult one. There are a lot of questions to consider. For example; how do you get started? You don't need to spend the first act introducing the characters, but can you assume all of your audience is … [Read more...]
Review: Let the Right One In (2008, Swedish)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B002BMZZM8][/pullquote] Oskar is unhappy. An outsider at school, he's a pallid, shy, awkward child; a child who tucks his jumper into his trousers and dreams of vengeance towards his bullies. He wanders the snow covered estate where he lives, always alone. Until one … [Read more...]
Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009, Sweden)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B0051NH5OA][/pullquote] Steig Larsson's Millennium trilogy came out of nowhere to become the biggest publishing phenomenon since Harry Potter. With the David Fincher directed Hollywood movie of the first book, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo ready for release in … [Read more...]
Review: The Skin I Live In (2011, Spain)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B005LGXFFA][/pullquote] In the late 80s and early 90s, Pedro Almodóvar and Antonio Banderas were a film-making team extraordinaire. Almodóvar directed Banderas in a series of films such as Matador, Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown and Atame! Then Hollywood … [Read more...]