Reviews by Russell George
Jon Ronson 'So You've Been Publicly Shamed'
Russell George
I am only three quarters of the way through Jon Ronson's new book, So You've Been Publically Shamed, so when he begins reading an excerpt from the ;Afterword', written for the paperback, I'm ...
9 years ago
Jon Ronson 'So You've Been Publicly Shamed'
The Top Films of 2014
Russell George
Top 8 Films of 2014
1. '71
Tight, tense, visceral thriller about a soldier separated from his unit in Belfast during the troubles. Jack O’Connell is outstanding, but the pace of the film is ...
10 years ago
The Top Films of 2014
Rich Hall
Russell George
Rich Hall is good at quite a few different things. Firstly, he’s a brilliant at ranting, whether it’s about ready meals, internet dating or the NRA. His dry, caustic delivery works ...
11 years ago
Rich Hall
Stories We Tell [12A]
Russell George
Stories We Tell is the sort of documentary that stays with you long after the final shot. On the surface, it’s a film about the director’s search for her mother, who died when she was ...
11 years ago
Stories We Tell [12A]
The Gatekeepers [15]
Russell George
The Gatekeepers is a very complete and politically insightful documentary. It comprises interviews with the six surviving former heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security organization, since ...
12 years ago
The Gatekeepers [15]
Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival 2013
Russell George
When someone says that they like your new shirt, do you actually believe they hate it? And when you recall the holiday you took last year, do you find it easier to remember the argument you had with ...
12 years ago
Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival 2013
Mark Thomas: Bravo Figaro!
Russell George
Time has an enduring quality of moving full-circle. Once part of the new wave of 80s alternative comedians, whilst Mark Thomas’ political ire hasn’t diminished, he can now quite ...
12 years ago
Mark Thomas: Bravo Figaro!
The Lottery Of Birth
Russell George
Raoul Martinez’ The Lottery of Birth is a documentary about ideas: historical, political, psychological, sociological. It’s a post-Marxist critique of capitalist society, a polemic that ...
12 years ago
The Lottery Of Birth
The Master [15]
Russell George
It’s testament to Paul Thomas Anderson’s (Magnolia, There Will be Blood) skills as a director, and those of Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman as actors, that The Master is a ...
12 years ago
The Master [15]
The Forgiveness of Blood [12A]
Russell George
Albania is an extraordinary country. Having been locked into communist isolation right up to the early 1990’s, there’s a sense that it still hasn’t quite come out of the ...
12 years ago
The Forgiveness of Blood [12A]
The Imposter [15]
Russell George
Watching The Imposter is the definitive exercise in suspending your disbelief. It’s the true story of a 23 year old Frenchman, Frederic Bourdin, who in 1997 assumed the ...
12 years ago
The Imposter [15]
The Hunter [15]
Russell George
The Tasmanian Tiger, or Thylacine, was the largest carnivorous marsupial. It is thought to have become extinct at some point during the 20th century, though there are still periodic sightings. ...
12 years ago
The Hunter [15]
Oxfringe Festival 2012
Russell George
Did you ever have a teacher who grabbed your attention by being funny and also a bit odd? Someone who you listened to, attentive and alert, because you weren’t quite sure what they were ...
13 years ago
Oxfringe Festival 2012
Into The Abyss [12A]
Russell George
Whatever your views on the moral legitimacy of the death penalty, watching convicted prisoners waiting to die holds a horrific fascination. It’s the nightmarish, other-worldly quality of it. ...
13 years ago
Into The Abyss [12A]
The Top Ten Films of 2011
Russell George
1) SennaI have no interest in motor racing, but found Senna utterly enthralling. Done well, documentary can be so much more powerful than fiction. Senna doesn’t need a narrator to embolden what is ...
13 years ago
The Top Ten Films of 2011
Contagion [12A]
Russell George
Wow, this was dull. For a disaster movie, Contagion has all the suspense and tension of the average trip to a supermarket. Hollywood has the unerring ability to strip reality of any sense of the ...
13 years ago
Contagion [12A]
Tyrannosaur [18]
Russell George
Paddy Considine, who both directed and wrote Tyrannosaur, is perhaps best known as Shane Meadows’ main collaborator and a character actor with a flair for the comic. But he’s clearly more ...
13 years ago
Tyrannosaur [18]
The New Libertines (Writing from the Edge of Acceptability)
Russell George
If, like me, you have pretentions to write your way to eternity, The New Libertines already strut their literary stuffPerforming rhymes and novels bluff.The Albion Bookshop is their stage; eclectic ...
14 years ago
The New Libertines (Writing from the Edge of Acceptability)
Point Blank [15]
Russell George
The sheer pace of Point Blank takes your breath away. From the frantic opening shots to the menacing final twist, this is a tightly packed, stylish thriller that drags you relentlessly through the ...
14 years ago
Point Blank [15]
Senna [12A]
Russell George
Enthralling and compelling. You certainly don't need to enjoy motor racing at all. Beautifully pieced together from behind-the-scenes footage as well as media interviews and race footage, it's ...
14 years ago
Senna [12A]
Win Win [15]
Russell George
There’s something about Paul Giamatti’s face that eases the soul. It’s a rather flabby face, neither glamorous nor handsome, but there’s an emotional intelligence which gives Giamatti’s ...
14 years ago
Win Win [15]
Norwegian Wood [15]
Russell George
An air of touching melancholy hangs over Trần Anh Hùng's adaptation of Haruki Murukami’s Norwegian Wood. The dialogue is often sparse; the cast beautiful yet fragile, like porcelain ...
14 years ago
Norwegian Wood [15]
Never Let Me Go [12A]
Russell George
Kazuo Ishiguro, the author of the novel on which Never Let Me Go is based, said two particularly interesting things in the Q&A session after this preview showing. Firstly, he described his books ...
14 years ago
Never Let Me Go [12A]
True Grit [15]
Russell George
There is a point as you watch True Grit when you suddenly become aware that, along with Ethan and Joel Coen, Steven Spielberg is also involved. As Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and debutant Hailee ...
14 years ago
True Grit [15]
The Way Back [12A]
Russell George
The Way Back is the apparently true story of a group of seven men who escaped from a Soviet gulag in 1942. It’s based on the memoirs of Slavomir Rawicz, and follows their journey from the arctic ...
14 years ago
The Way Back [12A]
Robinson in Ruins
Russell George
This is one of the most baffling and obtuse documentaries I’ve ever seen. My film tastes do generally gravitate towards ‘indie’, and I’m usually pretty receptive towards the avant-guard, but ...
14 years ago
Robinson in Ruins
Inception [12A]
Russell George
Don't believe the hype - this is a special effects blockbuster with a pretentious plot that takes itself oh so seriously. There's a good idea in there somewhere - something about reconciling ...
14 years ago
Inception [12A]
Aidan Meller Gallery
Russell George
Did you know that you can see an original Andy Warhol in a small shop in the centre of Oxford? As crowds of tourists visit Christ Church and the rest, gazing at weighty portraits in heavy ...
14 years ago
Aidan Meller Gallery
White Material [15]
Russell George
Amidst the dusty roads and rusty machinery, Maria Vial (Isabelle Huppert) tries to run a coffee plantation. Her workers are leaving, her son is reclusive, and her (ex-) husband wants to sell ...
14 years ago
White Material [15]
Robin Hood [12A]
Russell George
Brilliant fun. Despite Russell Crowe having the acting ability of a rotting piece of driftwood, this was thoroughly enjoyable. There were scenes when I literally didn't understand a word he said, ...
14 years ago
Robin Hood [12A]
Lourdes [U]
Russell George
I’ve heard that Lourdes is quite a depressing place. Mainly visited by desperate and otherwise hopeless people craving divine intervention to heal body and mind, a tacky tourist industry has also ...
15 years ago
Lourdes [U]
No One Knows About Persian Cats [12A]
Russell George
This may not be the most glowing first sentence in a film review, but I really enjoyed the last five minutes of this. The rest, apart from the series of short music videos which punctuate the story ...
15 years ago
No One Knows About Persian Cats [12A]
A Prophet [18]
Russell George
A Prophet is both a prison drama and a crime thriller, and a very good one too. Full of menace and intrigue, there is a guttural and almost claustrophobic feel to much of the film, with scenes of ...
15 years ago
A Prophet [18]
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll [15]
Russell George
In about 1978, a friend of mine was at a Kilburn and the High Roads gig and met singer Ian Dury in the toilet. The bassist hadn’t been on stage during the band’s set, so my friend asked Ian where ...
15 years ago
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll [15]
Avatar [12A]
Russell George
When is America going to get over itself? Here's the plot to Avatar: a US mining company has invaded an alien planet called Pandora to mine for the rare and extremely valuable mineral 'Unobtainium'. ...
15 years ago
Avatar [12A]
The Men Who Stare At Goats [15]
Russell George
The Men Who Stare at Goats is a wonderfully silly film. Absurd physical humour, exaggerated one-dimensional characters, a razor sharp script, and plot lines which make little sense beyond connecting ...
15 years ago
The Men Who Stare At Goats [15]
Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee [15]
Russell George
It’s difficult to do a rock mockumentary without This is Spinal Tap becoming the ultimate elephant in the room, but somehow Shane Meadows has managed it. Le Donk, filmed in just 5 days and on a ...
15 years ago
Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee [15]
Peter Hook Book Signing
Russell George
There aren’t many nightclubs that can claim to have started a musical and cultural revolution, forming the epicentre of a whole new ‘scene’. Manchester’s Haçienda is one of the ...
15 years ago
Peter Hook Book Signing
Coco Before Chanel [12A]
Russell George
I left Coco Before Chanel wondering why someone thought the story of Gabrielle Chanel’s life prior to her fame as a fashion designer worthy of being filmed. This is a dull and lifeless film. A ...
15 years ago
Coco Before Chanel [12A]
The North Wall Festival 2009
Russell George
The North Wall Arts Centre Summer Festival continued tonight with two more stand-ups auditioning new material for the Edinburgh Fringe. And unlike Sunday’s rather awkward if certainly memorable ...
15 years ago
The North Wall Festival 2009
The North Wall Festival 2009
Russell George
In the early summer months, every comedian worth his or her salt is testing, tweaking and refining material for their Edinburgh fringe shows. And tonight, the subdued and in some cases haughtily ...
15 years ago
The North Wall Festival 2009
A Girl Cut in Two [15]
Russell George
A Girl Cut in Two is a film which reeks of French cinema: extra marital affairs, writers and bookshops, mopeds and other 60’s motifs, an older man who is somehow attractive to an array of younger ...
16 years ago
A Girl Cut in Two [15]
Looking for Eric [15]
Russell George
For my undergraduate dissertation, I wrote 20,000 average yet quite pretentious words on Ken Loach’s use of realism, watching his early films such as Up the Junction and Cathy Come Home. I ...
16 years ago
Looking for Eric [15]
Star Trek [12A]
Russell George
Witty, exciting, nicely paced, well acted and definitely not aimed at a Trekkie demographic - I left the cinema smiling. The semi-naked green lady is a bit of a shock, but hey, this is sci-fi! A ...
16 years ago
Star Trek [12A]
Lars and the Real Girl [12A]
Russell George
In the ever so disturbing documentary Guys and Dolls (Nick Holt, 2007), we came face to face with several men who were happy to be filmed discussing their purchase of a blow up girlfriend. One even ...
16 years ago
Lars and the Real Girl [12A]
The Crucible
Russell George
Let me start this review by saying that I didn’t read The Crucible at school, unlike half of Oxfordshire’s current adolescents who thronged in their multitudes to see the opening night of the ...
16 years ago
The Crucible
Che - Part Two [15]
Russell George
If Part One of Che is a tale of unlikely triumph, Part Two of Steven Soderbergh’s impressive epic is the dark side of revolutionary agitation. It is perhaps the more significant film, if only ...
16 years ago
Che - Part Two [15]
Che - Part One [15]
Russell George
There are quite a few biopics around at the moment; from Coco Chanel to Tolstoy, Charles Darwin to Charles Bronson. But surely none of these figures has the sheer romantic pull of Ernesto "Che" ...
16 years ago
Che - Part One [15]
Slumdog Millionaire [15]
Russell George
It might have been because I had indigestion from rushed pub food beforehand, but the ‘feel-good film of the decade’ left me cold. I agree with an earlier reviewer that there are 2 parts to this. ...
16 years ago
Slumdog Millionaire [15]
Milk [15]
Russell George
Harvey Milk was the first openly gay publically elected official in the US. In 1978, he became a San Francisco City Supervisor, a role which would lead to his assassination just 11 months later. He ...
16 years ago
Milk [15]
Waltz with Bashir [18]
Russell George
The adverts you see in cinemas at this time of year either promote expensive Swiss watches or darkly violent video games. And there are moments in Waltz with Bashir when you could be watching another ...
16 years ago
Waltz with Bashir [18]
Changeling [15]
Russell George
Changeling would seem unbelievable if it had not been based on real-life events. In 1928 in Los Angeles, 9 year old Walter Collins went missing. When a boy claiming to be Walter was discovered in ...
16 years ago
Changeling [15]
Free Beer Show - current season
Russell George
It’s a freezing Monday night in December, a week or two before the Christmas party season. But the Cellar Bar is heaving, its walls soaked in something approaching sweat (though perhaps evidence of ...
16 years ago
Free Beer Show - current season
I've Loved You So Long [12A]
Russell George
This was great. Leaves you with a a few questions at the end, but beautifully shot, and the perfect film to watch if you are tired of yet another Hollywood blockbuster based on superheroes.
16 years ago
I've Loved You So Long [12A]
Hunger [15]
Russell George
Hunger, set in 1981 in the Maze Prison, Belfast, is not for the faint hearted. Directed by the Turner Prize winning Steve McQueen, it is a visceral and unrelenting portrayal of the struggle of ...
16 years ago
Hunger [15]
Control [15]
Russell George
‘Control’ is a bit like Joy Division themselves. Good - very good in parts - but not easy to enjoy. It is ultimately the heart wrenching tale of a man who marries the wrong woman at the wrong ...
17 years ago
Control [15]
