Agora (2009)

She wanted to know who left their panties at her house during the orgy...

How does a republic die?

How would you make your last stand in a doomed battle?

How do you like living in the all-new, all-improved Christian Rome?

Read my full review at Fridae.com, first published on 25 February 2010.

Summer Wars (サマーウォーズ) (2009)

He was hoping the reflection from his cellphone would turn the Medusa into stone

What keeps society together?

Is it the family, with its building blocks of kinship networks?

Or is it civil society, with the voluntary associations of relationship networks?

Read my full review at Fridae.com, first published on 25 February 2010.

A Serious Man (2009)

It was then that he realised he needed to drill a hole into the back of his head...

Think you have a bad day, week or month?

Do you really want to ask "Why me?"

And do you really want to know the answer?

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 18 February 2010.

A Bright Star (2009)

A portrait of the artist as a consumptive young man

How easy is it for a Romantic poet to fall in love?

This being the England of Jane Austen, how easy is it for a earn a living, become respectable, and win a lady's hand?

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 18 February 2010.

The Wolfman (2010)

Going somewhere, Mr Anderson?

Do you miss the old days of horror movies?

Do you think old school prosthetics, fur, makeup and masks are far superior than CGI?

Well then, let's do the monster mash!

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 18 February 2010.

Nine (2009)

Who were you expecting, Fellini and Mastroianni?

Would you watch an animated adaptation of a Disney "On Ice" adaptation of a Disney cartoon?

Would Disney even make an animated adaptation of a Disney "On Ice" adaptation of a Disney cartoon?

Why oh why then are we getting these hollow adaptations of vapid musical adaptations of Fellini classics?

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 18 February 2010

Little Big Soldier (大兵小将) (2010)

Can there be a Chinese martial arts film that doesn't make an obligatory political statement about how glad everyone is to have one tyrant ruling the land?

Is there such a thing as an anti-war Chinese martial arts film?

Will Wang Leehom escape with no psychological scars from a movie's worth being bound, gagged, tied, and humiliated by Jackie Chan?

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 10 February 2010.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (2010)

Can Chris Columbus not make a shallow, tired adaptation of a popular children's fantasy series?

Does he have what it takes to turn Riordan's books into actual cinema?

And what's with all the campy cameos and his naughty revisioning of Greek mythology?

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 10 February 2010.

14 Blades (锦衣卫) (2010)

Will Daniel Lee stumble and falter once more before the end of the first act of his new movie?

What wonderful, far-fetched premise does he draw upon this time in his wuxia tale?

How does he fail miserably (but still, entertainingly!) to fulfil this premise?


Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 3 February 2010.

Kisses (2008)

Can we stop making movies that give a blinkered notion of childhood and innocence?

Have we forgotten Huckleberry Finn and The 400 Blows on their depiction of real childhood?

Well, the director of Kisses believes he can set things right. Welcome to the world of runaway kids in Dublin!

Real my full review at Fridae, first published on 3 February 2010

Armoured (2009)

Was Werner Herzog right? Does a recession really inspire good film noir?
Will Nimrod Antal do the genre right with his East European film credentials?
Or will having too many celebrities spoil his creative control of the film?

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 3 February 2010.