Cannes Film Festival Day 3 (Friday)

Sorry for the tardiness of this update. Very busy at the festival!

I saw 5 films on Friday! And in amongst that I got time to chat with Amazing Radio and Marlow FM in  my usual weekly slots to talk about being at the festival.

Here's my reviews of all 5 films:

The Captive (Captives)  

Wild Tales (Relatos Salvajes)

The Blue Room (La Chambre Bleue) 

The Salvation 

Red Army

Wild Tales is still my favourite of the festival so far but closely followed by another film I saw on Day 4 and also the excellent documentary Red Army. And here's some pics I took today:

Spring Breakers 2 poster

Open air screenings list

Marlow FM wanted me to tweet a selfie

Not very good at these things

The press at the gala red carpet

End of Watch, The Hunt, Sightseers

Three of the best films of last year, David Ayers' End of Watch, Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt and British Ben Wheatley's Sightseers are all either just out now on DVD and Blu-ray or are released this coming Monday for you to buy or rent.

I reviewed all three of these films for Static Mass Emporium when they were in cinemas last year and now that they are out for home release, my reviews are proudly sitting on the front page again today.

David Ayer’s End Of Watch is a blistering look at a pair of LAPD cops played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña and the bravery it takes to fight drug dealing cartels.

Mads Mikkelsen stars in Thomas Vinterberg’s powerful Danish drama The Hunt, a tense tale of a teacher accused of a crime against a child that he did not commit.

With Sightseers, director Ben Wheatley follows Kill List with a pitch black British serial killer comedy that lets loose psychotic lovers on a caravan driven killing spree through Yorkshire.

All three of these films made it in to my top 20 films of 2012 with End of Watch and The Hunt taking the 3rd and 2nd places respectively just behind The Dark Knight Rises at the number one spot. Sightseers came in just outside the top 10 at number 12.

I'm very proud of these three reviews and even more proud to be sharing positive reviews of three films that really deserve to be seen by as many people as possible. End of Watch you've no doubt heard of and if you are a British reader, you likely saw a poster or trailer for Sightseers but I'm sure not everyone heard of or even got a chance to see The Hunt. Now is the time to rectify that.

Please click all the above links and check out my reviews of End of Watch, The Hunt and Sightseers. I'm sure that at least one of these great films will take your fancy!

Let me know your thoughts!

The Hunt (Thomas Vinterberg, 2012) Review

Definitely one of my favourite films of the year, Thomas Vinterberg's brilliantly bleak Danish drama The Hunt stars Mads Mikkelsen and is an absolute must-see. I have reviewed it in full over at Static Mass Emporium and you can read the review here.

I loved it so much I had to immediately go and watch Vinterberg's 1998 Dogme film Festen which I had been meaning to see for a long time but had never got round to. Luckily it was free to stream at Lovefilm. It was another absolutely fantastic family drama that centred around allegations of sexual abuse. I'm not sure why Vinterberg is so hung up on this subject matter but he sure knows how to elicit powerful performances from his casts.

Mads Mikkelsen is exceptional in The Hunt and I hope he is recognised this year at the Oscars for his performance. Thomas Bo Larsen gives exquisite performances in both Festen and The Hunt and I'm surprised this guy isn't making movies in Hollywood by now.

Here's a quote from my review of The Hunt at Static Mass Emporium: “It shows the devastating result of one little seed of doubt and mistrust being planted in just one person’s mind. Though it’s filled with boys being boys and the consequences of their behaviour, it’s a little girl’s little lie and her headteacher’s nagging doubts that cause the most devastating impact.”

It's an absolutely gripping film that has superb performances and deserves to be seen by a wide audience. I hope subtitles will not ruin The Hunt's chances of success at the box office.

Seen it? What did you think?