Cinema 2013
All (or, at least, most of) UK cinema releases from 2013, with choice reviews and star ratings from British film critics
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32 titles
- DirectorJ.A. BayonaStarsNaomi WattsEwan McGregorTom HollandThe story of a tourist family in Thailand caught in the destruction and chaotic aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.Marshalling formidable technique and force of feeling, Juan Antonio Bayona’s tale of courage and empathy in the face of catastrophe fulfils his debut’s promise, its harrowing conviction hammered home even harder by the spot-on casting … Kevin Harley, Total Film ****
- DirectorDustin HoffmanStarsMaggie SmithMichael GambonBilly ConnollyAt a home for retired musicians, the annual concert to celebrate Composer Giuseppe Verdi's birthday is disrupted by the arrival of Jean (Dame Maggie Smith), an eternal diva and the former wife of one of the residents.A frothy and often charming directorial effort from Dustin Hoffman, his first in a Hollywood career that's spanned five decades, that will keep 'Downton' fans happy … Anna Smith, Empire ***
- DirectorGabriele MuccinoStarsGerard ButlerJessica BielDennis QuaidA former sports star who's fallen on hard times starts coaching his son's football team as a way to get his life together. His attempts to become an adult are met with challenges from the attractive football moms who pursue him at every turn.Awful romcom starring Gerard Butler as a troubled ex-footballer … Ken McIntyre, Total Film *
- DirectorBruno DumontStarsDavid DewaeleAlexandra LemâtreChristophe BonIn a village on the French Opal Coast, a drifter engages in a perplexing relationship with a young woman who has suffered abuse.The vagueness won’t win Bruno Dumont new fans, but his enigmatic allegory of intertwined good and evil does linger in the mind … Simon Kinnear, Total Film ***
- DirectorDavid MorrisJacqui MorrisStarsHarold EvansDon McCullinMichael ParkinsonTo many, Don McCullin is the greatest living war photographer, often cited as an inspiration for today's photojournalists. For the first time, McCullin speaks candidly about his three-decade career covering wars and humanitarian disasters on virtually every continent and the photographs that often defined historic moments. From 1969 to 1984, he was the Sunday Times of London's star photographer, where he covered stories from the civil war in Cyprus to the war in Vietnam, from the man-made famine in Biafra to the plight of the homeless in the London of the swinging sixties. Exploring not only McCullin's life and work, but how the ethos of journalism has changed throughout his career, the film is a commentary on the history of photojournalism told through the lens of one of its most acclaimed photographers.This fascinating documentary chronicles the thrills, spills and deep moral quandaries of life as an intrepid photojournalist … Adam Woodward, Little White Lies ****
- DirectorJohn LuessenhopStarsAlexandra DaddarioTania RaymondeScott EastwoodA young woman travels to Texas to collect an inheritance. Little does she know that an encounter with a chainsaw-wielding killer is part of the reward.A clunky, lumbering sequel that, like its masked protagonist, has no redeeming features … Kim Newman, Empire *
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsJack NicholsonFaye DunawayJohn HustonA private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.Roman Polanski's labyrinthine state-of-the-nation noir remains as caustic, daring and horrifically shocking as it did in 1974 … Adam Lee Davies, Little White Lies *****
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsCatherine DeneuveIan HendryJohn FraserA sex-repulsed woman who disapproves of her sister's boyfriend sinks into depression and has horrific visions of rape and violence.If hell is in the details, Roman Polanski has captured it here in his disturbing portrait of falling into psychosis … Kim Newman, Empire *****
- DirectorTom HooperStarsHugh JackmanRussell CroweAnne HathawayIn 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The decision changes their lives forever.Occasionally, like its characters, ragged around the edges, this nevertheless rings with all the emotion and power of the source and provides a new model for the movie musical … Helen O'Hara, Empire ****
- DirectorRuben FleischerStarsSean PennRyan GoslingEmma StoneIt's 1949 Los Angeles, the city is run by gangsters and a malicious mobster, Mickey Cohen. Determined to end the corruption, John O'Mara assembles a team of cops, ready to take down the ruthless leader and restore peace to the city.Typified by Penn’s blustery performance, 'Gangster Squad' is sleek, stylish but superficial. Easy on the eye, even easier on the brain, it doesn’t last long in the memory … James Mottram, Total Film ***
- DirectorJen SoskaSylvia SoskaStarsKatharine IsabelleAntonio CupoTristan RiskThe allure of easy money sends Mary Mason, a medical student, into the world of underground surgeries which ends up leaving more marks on her than her so-called "freakish" clients.Katharine Isabelle is phenomenal in one of the most original and politically engaged horrors of recent years, even if the second half isn’t a patch on the first … Matt Glasby, Total Film ****
- DirectorLenny AbrahamsonStarsJack ReynorFionn Ó LoingsighGavin DreaA promising young man about to start university suddenly throws his life into uncertainty when he accidentally commits a serious crime.A tough, impactful film that offers a sometimes uncomfortable but always gripping examination of cause and effect … Helen O'Hara, Empire ****
- DirectorDavid GelbStarsJiro OnoYoshikazu OnoMasuhiro YamamotoA documentary on 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his renowned Tokyo restaurant, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu.This moving profile of an enigmatic Tokyo-based sushi chef transcends its humble subject matter … Liz Haycroft, Little White Lies ****
- DirectorScott LeberechtStarsZak KilbergMaya ParishJo D. JonzForced by a disease to drink human blood, Jacob must control his violent tendencies as local law enforcement narrow their focus on him as a suspect in a series of grisly murders.Scott Leberecht plays games with vampire lore, but skirts around it with a subtlety and delicacy that lends his film emotional depths rare in low-budget horror … Philip Kemp, Total Film ***
- DirectorMichele PlacidoStarsDaniel AuteuilMathieu KassovitzOlivier GourmetA detective hunts for the marksman who foiled the plan to catch a notorious team of bank robbers.This bullet-riddled French-language B-movie from Michele Placido suffers from a serious crisis of identity … David Jenkins, Little White Lies **
- DirectorStuart UrbanStarsKevin BishopJack DoolanFrances BarberA Banksy-style vigilante cycles round London killing scumbags. In their last moments, filmed and posted on social media, they agree to die: WTF! Is this a hoaxer? Hero? Or psycho? A new Comedy Thriller.The most misguided film of 2013? … Matt Glasby, Total Film *
- DirectorDonald RiceStarsFelicity JonesLuke TreadawayElizabeth McGovernA young woman frets upstairs in her family's country manor on her wedding day, fearful she's about to marry the wrong man. Downstairs, her fiancé and her former lover grow increasingly anxious.Buckling under the influence of 'Downton Abbey', Donald Rice apes its style but none of the substance to create an amiable study of posh hypocrisy without any real satire or social feeling … Simon Kinnear, Total Film **
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsBrian AherneElissa LandiCyril McLaglenA working-class love story set in and around the London Underground of the 1920s. Two men, gentle Bill and brash Bert, meet and are attracted to the same woman on the same day at the same Underground station. But the lady chooses Bill, and Bert isn't the type to take rejection lightly.Treated to a typically slick restoration by the BFI, Anthony Asquith's subterranean melodrama is a fascinating journey back in time … David Parkinson, Empire ****
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJamie FoxxChristoph WaltzLeonardo DiCaprioWith the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.Not a masterpiece, but a funny, violent, very entertaining crowdpleaser … Jonathan Crocker, Little White Lies ****
- DirectorBen LewinStarsJohn HawkesHelen HuntWilliam H. MacyA man in an iron lung who wishes to lose his virginity contacts a professional sex surrogate with the help of his therapist and priest.Aided by a committed, awards-ready performance, 'The Sessions' transforms ‘taboo’ subject matter into a humorous, humane and uncomplicated pleasure … Ellen E. Jones, Total Film ****
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsShirley HendersonJohn SimmShaun KirkThis film charts the relationship between a man imprisoned for drug smuggling and his wife and is being shot over the course of five years, a few weeks at a time.The endlessly creative Michael Winterbottom scores another success in this meticulous account of a family under pressure, filmed over five years … Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian ****
- DirectorMatt Bettinelli-OlpinDavid BrucknerTyler GillettStarsCalvin Lee ReederLane HughesAdam WingardWhen a group of misfits are hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire a rare VHS tape, they discover more found footage than they bargained for.This horror anthology feeds off its found-footage predecessors, but there's a lot of smart, original creepiness, too … Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian ****
- DirectorChristian BonkeAndreas KoefoedStarsVyacheslav 'Slavik' KryklyvyySlavik (34) from Ukraine, former world champion in Latin American dancing is making a last and final comeback with Anna, his new dance partner and girlfriend. Slavik is addicted to the limelight and the dance and misses the rush. However, his aging body is causing him severe pains these days, and his flaring temper puts his relationship with Anna at risk. The road to reclaiming the championships is a long, tough struggle. Slavik literally puts everything on the line in his ultimate push for the throne. Failure is not an option, yet failure is so difficult to avoid.Anybody hoping for glamour will be disappointed: this is an icily dispassionate portrait of grinding routine in the pursuit of perfectionism … Simon Kinnear, Total Film ***
- DirectorRay BurdisStarsChristina AndrewBhrina BachePatrick BerginThe true-life story of Paul Ferris.John Hannah, Denis Lawson and Rita Tushingham all memorably steal scenes but this brutal rise-to-infamy flick descends into a smug, profanity-choked endurance test … Oliver Pfeiffer, Total Film **
- DirectorPete DocterDavid SilvermanLee UnkrichStarsBilly CrystalJohn GoodmanMary GibbsIn order to power the city, monsters have to scare children so that they scream. However, the children are toxic to the monsters, and after a child gets through, two monsters realize things may not be what they think.Another chance to see Pixar's most dazzling premise, now spruced up with a third dimension … Helen O'Hara, Empire ****
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDaniel Day-LewisSally FieldDavid StrathairnAs the Civil War rages on, U.S President Abraham Lincoln struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on his decision to emancipate the slaves.Steeped in the bitter political divisions of the Civil War, Steven Spielberg’s thrilling film about hardwon freedoms is immersed in its own time, but speaks eloquently to ours … Kate Stables, Total Film ****
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsJessica ChastainJoel EdgertonChris PrattA chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L.s Team 6 in May 2011.Kathryn Bigelow's rapid response to the death of Osama Bin Laden is a taut and morally ambiguous procedural for the ages … Simon Crook, Little White Lies *****
- DirectorKim Jee-woonStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerForest WhitakerJohnny KnoxvilleThe leader of a drug cartel busts out of a courthouse and speeds to the Mexican border, where the only thing in his path is a sheriff and his inexperienced staff.The one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger returns in an entertaining, old-school, cops-and-drug-barons action movie … Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian ***
- DirectorYeon Sang-hoStarsYang Ik-joonOh Jung-seKim Hye-naJong-suk and Kyung-min meet up to talk about their high school past, it's been 15 years since they last talked. It brings up all kinds of memories.Rarely does an animé etch itself onto the mind so indelibly …
Oliver Pfeiffer, Total Film **** - DirectorDaniel BarnzStarsViola DavisMaggie GyllenhaalHolly HunterTwo determined mothers, one a teacher, look to transform their children's failing inner city school. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy, they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children.The union forever? Not in this treacly but undeniably enjoyable tale of two women attempting to remove the bureaucracy from the US school system … Joe Walsh, Little White Lies ***
- DirectorMichael AxelgaardStarsEmily PlumtreeSam StockmanJessica EllerbyOn holiday in the English countryside, two young couples uncover an ancient evil.Proceedings switch from quietly creepy to loudly exasperating as relationship woes replace scares, the early promise proving a largely empty threat … Matt Glasby, Total Film *
- DirectorElizabeth BanksSteven BrillSteve CarrStarsEmma StoneStephen MerchantRichard GereA series of interconnected short films follows a washed-up producer as he pitches insane story lines featuring some of the biggest stars in Hollywood.Just no … Kim Newman, Empire *