Palindromes
Following the surprise success of Welcome To The Dollhouse and Happiness, indie favourite Todd Solondz seems to have lost his way. Paul Clarke is sorry to report that his latest film doesn’t set him back on track
»Northfork
Like the Coen brothers, filmmaking siblings Michael and Mark Polish are known for featuring weird and wonderful characters their movies. But while the Coens inject black humour throughout their films, the Polish twins are slowly carving a name for themselves with... »
Creeping Flesh: The Horror Fantasy Film Book
Horror and science fiction has always attracted a peculiarly avid set of fans, devotees and experts, but Creeping Flesh is definitely one for the purists. The book collects a range of essays on some truly obscure sci-fi and horror films, but Paul Clarke thinks it’s too smart for its own good
»Sylvia
It’s been a bad week for the BBC. In the wake of the Hutton Report comes a fresh storm of controversy over their new film on the life of Sylvia Plath. Paul Clarke reviews the biopic nobody wanted made
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Girl With A Pearl Earring
Scarlett Johannsen is one of Hollywood’s hottest properties at the moment, following her performances in Lost In Translation, and this period tale about Vermeer’s most famous painting. Paul Clarke gets to grips with a Dutch masterpiece
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The Cuckoo (Kukuska)
Russian filmmakers are benefiting from a new interest in their work after the surprise success of Russian Ark. Paul Clarke celebrates a new film by Aleksandr Rogozhkin which explores the chaos of war and mutual misunderstanding
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Interstella 5555
French house duo Daft Punk have crafted a reputation for making some of the weirdest and funniest in music, but their latest effort has surely got to take the cake. Paul Clarke reviews their fascinating new manga musical
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Kill Bill Vol 1
It’s taken six years, several stalled projects, and enough wild rumours to fill a year’s subscription to Vanity Fair, but finally, the fourth Tarantino film has arrived. Paul Clarke reports on the kung-fu flick which proves Quentin is back – with a vengeance
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A Quick Chat with Jeff Blitz
In a special interview with kamera.co.uk, Jeff Blitz, the director of Spellbound, talks with Paul Clarke about the making of the film, the joys of credit cards, and his own standard of spelling
»Spellbound
Spellbound charts the fortunes of eight young hopefuls competing in the annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, and has garnered huge critical acclaim, as well as a nomination for best documentary at this year’s Oscars. Paul Clarke reports
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About Schmidt (DVD)
After directing the caustic high-school satire Election in 1999, Alexander Payne returned with this late-life crisis movie starring Jack Nicholson. Paul Clarke applauds a comedy about age, actuaries and the American dream
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Matrix Reloaded at the IMAX
You may already have seen the Matrix – but never quite like this. The bfi IMAX cinema in London is currently showing a new version of the film, complete with rejigged visuals and sound for a truly futuristic cinema experience. Paul Clarke reports
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Double Whammy
Despite the best efforts of the American film industry, Tom DiCillo has continued to add to his oddball catalogue of films, even if no-one gets to see them. His latest may be a "genre-defying cop-comedy-drama" – but that doesn’t mean it works, says Paul Clarke
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A Quick Chat with Tom DiCillo
A few years ago Tom DiCillo was one of the hottest indie directors around, but his most recent film didn’t even receive a cinema release in the States. Paul Clarke catches up with the ‘perennial teenager of American cinema’
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Wrong Turn
Six stranded teenagers, an isolated forest, and enough twisted hicks to fill a country log cabin. It should be the roadmap to the perfect slasher movie – but Wrong Turn is off-course from the start, says Paul Clarke
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8 Mile
Not content with being one of the world’s most successful recording artists, with Curtis Hanson’s 8 Mile, Marshall Mathers made his first move into the world of film. Paul Clarke enjoys Eminem’s latest incarnation as the Rocky of rap
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East-West (Est-Ouest)
By any stretch of the imagination, Stalinist Russia was not a nice place to live. Régis Warnier’s latest film dramatises one of the dictator’s many plots to lure traitorous Russians back to the Motherland, but Paul Clarke thinks it doesn’t go far enough
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Welcome to Collinwood
Mr Clooney may have dominated the publicity (and the poster), but this heist comedy from the Russo brothers has more to recommend it than George’s chiselled jaw. Paul Clarke tells us why
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Jackass: The Movie
Human ten-pin bowling, trampolining into ceiling fans and off-road tattooing – it could only be the big-screen version of MTV’s Jackass. Paul Clarke can’t help but laugh at the slapstick antics of Johnny Knoxville and crew
»Japón
Something of an anomaly in recent Latin American cinema, Japón is an old-fashioned slow moving art movie. Paul Clarke settles into ‘a remarkably composed vision that never falters’
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