The Red Right Hand
  www.theredrighthand.co.uk






























   

Ss


SAHARA (Breck Eisner)
6/10
'I thought I was going to really hate this film, turns out it's a quirky little number that's rather well done and worth while'


SAIBOGUJIMAN KWENCHANA (Chan-Wook Park)
[I'm A Cyborg - Korean]
7/10
'Inventive in a One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest sort of way but a little too mad to really settle'


SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (Steven Spielberg)
9/10
'Harrowingly gritty war epic but a little too American-happy to be dubbed 'accurate''


A SCANNER DARKLY (Richard Linklater)
7/10
'Incredibly loyal portrayal of Dick's classic SF novel, delivered with style and grace'


SCARFACE (Brian De Palma)
9/10
'Exceptional work, one of De Palma's best'


SCARY MOVIE (Keenon Ivory Wayans)
4/10
'A promising comedy turned out to be nothing more than dick and fart jokes... thoroughly disappointing'


SCARY MOVIE 2 (Keenen Ivory Wayans)
2/10
'Puerile... just awful'


SCARY MOVIE 3 (David Zucker)
6/10
'Thanks to the Wayans being booted and Zucker taking over, this film is actually quite amusing'


SCARY MOVIE 4 (David Zucker)
3/10
'Pitiful observations that will only appeal to the childish  and the braindead, looks like the Date Movie writers were allowed back onto the writing team.. damn'


SCHINDLER'S LIST (Steven Spielberg)
10/10
'One of the most depressing, yet vitally important movies ever made'


SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS (Todd Phillips)
3/10
'Dull remake; Billy Bob Thornton is certainly no Alastair Sim!'


SCREAM (Wes Craven)
8/10
'Engrossing satirical slasher that will always hold a place in my flint-like heart'


SCREAM II (Wes Craven)
7/10
'Hate to admit it, but this is actually a fairly solid sequel'


SCREAM III (Wes Craven)
5/10
'Immense fall from grace for the final act'


THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES (Gina Prince-Bythewood)
5/10
'Overly-sappy, saccharine release (not sure if that's a flaw from the novel or not) but well acted and sort-of worth it - providing you can stomach the emotional force-feeding'


SEMI-PRO (Kent Alterman)
2/10
'Long gone are the days of decent Will Ferrell flicks'


SERENITY (Joss Whedon)
9/10
'Science Fiction excellence that rivals that of anything Hollywood has produced since the seventies'


A SERIOUS MAN (Ethan Coen & Joel Coen)
9/10
'As with most Coen releases this film certainly isn't for everyone but as an intellectual analysis of the human condition and our desperate search for a place in this world it is truly astounding'


SEVEN (David Fincher)
[Se7en]
10/10
'Extraordinary crime thriller and a completely successful resurrection for Fincher following the Alien 3 nightmare'


SEVEN POUNDS (Gabrielle Muccino)
6/10
'Thoroughly convoluted mess that tries so hard to convey honest atonement but falls apart all too quickly'


SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET (Jean-Jacques Annaud)
4/10
'Steeped in a great deal of fictionalised bullshit, this tale of Tibet's history is probably one to best avoid'


SEVERANCE (Christopher Smith)
4/10
'With average scares and pitiful jokes, Severance feels like a wasted opportunity. The BBC gave this film 4/5, so I gave it 4 as well.. but I mark out of 10'


SEX AND THE CITY (Michael Patrick King)
4/10
'It felt like a dick-and-fart joke/early Adam Sandler movie for women or the bitter, twisted side of a rom-com that focuses on the heartbroken female as opposed to the stupid male who has to fix things. Oh how the mighty hath fallen... well, not mighty but certainly better than this'


SEX DRIVE (Sean Anders)
6/10
'John Hughes-esque Geek chic meets American Pie gross-out humour making for a surprisingly effective teen comedy'


SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE (E. Elias Merhige)
6/10
'Underrated horror release that feeds off of both Malkovich and Dafoe's performances'


SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (John Madden)
8/10
'Immensely fun romantic comedy but a little too over-awarded at the 1999 Academy Awards'


SHALL WE DANCE? (Peter Chelsom)
4/10
'Lack of chemistry between Gere & Lopez ruins a ....well, it's a rather dull film'


THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (Frank Darabont)
10/10
'One of the most emotionally uplifting films available'


SHERLOCK HOLMES (Guy Ritchie)
7/10
'Probably a little too steampunk for most Holmes fans but a worthy addition to the continuing legacy and a promising start for Ritchie's series'


SHERRYBABY (Laurie Collyer)
5/10
'Fantastic performance from Maggie Gyllenhaal hidden in a fairly bland movie'


SHE'S THE MAN (Andy Fickman)
4/10
'Granted, Shakespeare's comedies weren't actually that funny, but Twelfth Night wasn't that bad. I'm not saying this is Shakespeare but considering it's loosely based upon it I have to say it's not all that bad'


SHI MIAN MAI FU (Yimou Zhang)
[House Of Flying Daggers - Chinese]
8/10
'Visually breathtaking, emotionally draining - a wholly beautiful experience'


SHICHININ NO SAMURAI (Akira Kurosawa)
[Seven Samurai - Japanese]
10/10
'Epic, stunning, legendary; sheer excellence'


SHINE A LIGHT (Martin Scorsese)
7/10
'I'm a Stones fan. I'm a Scorsese fan. How could I not be impressed?'


SHOOTER (Antoine Fuqua)
7/10
'Sleeper action hit from the director of Training Day'


SHROOMS (Paddy Breatnach)
2/10
'Typically dim-witted slasher film'


SHUTTER ISLAND (Martin Scorsese)
8/10
'Not nearly the most original of concepts but certainly a monumentally riveting achievement from all involved'


SIDEWAYS (Alexander Payne)
9/10
'Everything a comedy should be'


THE SIEGE (Edward Zwick)
5/10
'Interesting take on events that would eventually come to pass but certainly Zwick's weakest release'


SIGNS (M. Night Shyamalan)
7/10
'People always moan about Shyamalan's insistence on twisting the plots of his films but I rather enjoyed Signs, you should too'


THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (Jonathan Demme)
10/10
'Excruciating release that changes everyone who watches it; truly in a league of its own'


SILENT HILL (Christophe Gans)
6/10
'The perfect video game-based film, which is good if you're a gamer, not so if you've never played one'


THE SIMPSONS MOVIE (David Silverman)
7/10
'An entertaining piece that is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny in places but feels a little empty and may leave audiences saying, "Is that it?"'


SIN CITY (Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller)
10/10
'YOU NEED THIS FILM IN YOUR LIFE!'


A SINGLE MAN (Tom Ford)
10/10
'A visually stunning and devastatingly beautiful story and without a doubt one of the year's best'


THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS (Ken Kwapis)
7/10
'Strong performances throughout this sweet teen-drama'


THE SIXTH SENSE (M. Night Shyamalan)
9/10
'Original and gripping supernatural thriller'


DET SJUNDE INSEGLET (Ingmar Bergman)
[The Seventh Seal - Swedish]
10/10
'Chilling, surreal and surprisingly funny but completely remarkable'


THE SKELETON KEY (Iain Softley)
5/10
'As predictable as every other American Kôji Suzuki adaptation but worth a watch'


SLEEPERS (Barry Levinson)
7/10
'Outstanding release sparking the careers of a great many but just a tad exploitative'


SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE (Nora Ephron)
7/10
'Hopelessly sappy romantic comedy but certainly worth it'


SLEEPY HOLLOW (Tim Burton)
9/10
'Both spellbinding and enchanting; one of Burton's finest moments and the perfect Halloween flick'


SLITHER (James Gunn)
6/10
'Classic B-Movie style comic horror flick, well lead by Nathan Fillion'


SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (Danny Boyle)
10/10
'Quite simply, one of the most profoundly beautiful and moving pieces I have ever had the pleasure of reviewing'


SMOKIN' ACES (Joe Carnahan)
6/10
'Too messy to produce anything of true worth but the degree of fine acting compensates when the script cannot'


SNAKES ON A PLANE (David R Ellis)
5/10
'Stupid Samuel L Jackson driven horror-cum-comedy is such a disappointment... we all knew it would be awful but I couldn't wait to see it never-the-less. Plus, snakes are first time flyers.. go easy on them, they don't know the routine!'


SNATCH (Guy Ritchie)
9/10
'Exceptional follow-up to Lock, Stock & Two Smokin' Barrels and one of Ritchie's best'


SOLARIS (Steven Soderbergh)
5/10
'Poor adaptation/remake of stellar material, though not without its moments'


SOLDIER (Paul W.S. Anderson)
4/10
'The performances are largely laughable but it has its moments'


SOME LIKE IT HOT (Billy Wilder)
10/10
'Immortal comedy well ahead of its time'


SOMERSAULT (Cate Shortland)
4/10
'Beautiful to look at but don't look too close, there's not much there'


SON OF RAMBOW (Garth Jennings)
5/10
'Entertaining but not as heart-warming or endearing as it should have been'


SON OF THE MASK (Lawrence Guterman)
1/10
'Poorly conceived, badly written, naff to watch - A generally bad film, in every sense of the word'


SPACE CHIMPS (Kirk De Micco)
2/10
'Poorly written, stupid comedy with almost nothing going for it... except Patrick Warburton'


SPACE COWBOYS (Clint Eastwood)
7/10
'Shut up! This film was both funny and enjoyable!'


SPANGLISH (James L. Brooks)
5/10
'Simplistic and unentertaining, bit of a let down from Sandler & Brooks'


SPECIES (Roger Donaldson)
5/10
'Fairly entertaining exploitation sci-fi romp'


SPECIES II (Peter Medak)
3/10
'Typically terrible sequel focusing on the worst elements of the original'


SPECIES III (Brad Turner)
2/10
'Although the series should not have been resurrected, it does have a few redeeming qualities'


SPECIES IV: THE AWAKENING (Nick Lyon)
1/10
'Utterly worthless tripe; I know I argued that Species III had a few saving graces, this has nothing going for it'


SPEED RACER (Larry Wachowski & Andy Wachowski)
5/10
'Looked great but made me feel like I was on LSD; end of story'


SPIDERMAN (Sam Raimi)
8/10
'Brilliant origin tale, definitely one not to be missed'


SPIDERMAN 2 (Sam Raimi)
9/10
'To my mind, the only sequel that surpasses the original'


SPIDERMAN 3 (Sam Raimi)
5/10
'An entertaining feature but too many issues regarding quality leave a rather nasty aftertaste'


THE SPIRIT (Frank Miller)
5/10
'As an homage to camp, cheesy comics of the forties, The Spirit does a relatively good job... but in all honesty, who the hell would want to see that?'


SPLASH (Ron Howard)
5/10
'Sappy rom-com typical of 80's Howard. No doubt the whole thing was pitched with the statement 'she's like a fish... out of water' we'll sort the script out later'


THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE (Stephen Hillenburg)
4/10
'Nausea enducing but probably entertaining for the very young'


SPY GAME (Tony Scott)
5/10
'Typical Scott action nonsense with just a slice of espionage intrigue'


SPY KIDS (Robert Rodriguez)
6/10
'A little tacky but relatively enjoyable as a family blockbuster'


SPY KIDS II: ISLAND OF LOST DREAMS (Robert Rodriguez)
4/10
'Watered-down rehash that barely warrants a look'


SPY KIDS III: GAME OVER (Robert Rodriguez)
4/10
'The series is getting stale but performances from Stallone and Montalban salvage a great deal'


ST. TRINIANS' (Oliver Parker & Barnaby Thompson)
5/10
'I didn't much care for The Belles of St. Trinian's and I feel the same way about this latest instalment'


STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (Robert Wise)
6/10
'Hardly a fitting opening for The Original Series but still a noteworthy flick'


STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (Nicholas Meyer)
9/10
'Star Trek's finest hour'


STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK (Leonard Nimoy)
6/10
'A bit of a lull, following Khan but still a notable addition'


STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME (Leonard Nimoy)
8/10
'Despite being responsible for causing my deeply-rooted fear of whales, Voyage Home was an incredibly enjoyable, fun piece'


STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER (William Shatner)
4/10
'Heralded as one of the worst Trek films, it's not entirely wretched but certainly a stain on the franchise'


STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY (Nicholas Meyer)
8/10
'Meyer returns to helm a fitting finale for the original crew in this fantastic epic'


STAR TREK: GENERATIONS (David Carson)
6/10
'As a crossover between The Original Series and The Next Generation crew, I actually found this movie to be quite worthwhile'


STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT (Jonathan Frakes)
8/10
'Dark, gritty and superb, similar to Wrath Of Khan, this is another example of Trek at its best'


STAR TREK: INSURRECTION (Leonard Nimoy)
3/10
'What the hell happened!? Final Frontier was pretty bad but this was bloody horrendous!'


STAR TREK: NEMESIS (Stuart Baird)
6/10
'An interesting concept of self-exploration marred only by a lack of vision and direction'


STAR TREK (J.J. Abrams)
8/10
'Helmed by a stellar cast, this thoroughly enjoyable reboot houses great potential for future releases'


STAR WARS - EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE (George Lucas)
7/10
'Not nearly as bad as everyone made out but definitely too light and fluffy to be completely enjoyable'


STAR WARS - EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES (George Lucas)
8/10
'Edging toward a return to form but still felt a little too whiney to belong in the Star Wars hall of fame'


STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (Dave Filoni)
1/10
'LUCAS! That does it! I never thought I would hate a Star Wars production but I am sick of you! I am sick of your bullying and your stupid decisions! Three good films in the seventies do not give you the right to pump out shit like this! Back away from the Star Wars universe and let someone with talent (like Genndy Tartakovsky) take over!'


STAR WARS - EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH (George Lucas)
9/10
'Everything the first two prequels should have been - Star Wars has finally returned to form'


STAR WARS - EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE (George Lucas)
10/10
'A revolutionary masterpiece'


STAR WARS - EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (Irvin Kershner)
10/10
'One of the greatest sequels, one of the greatest science fiction films, simply one of the best'


STAR WARS - EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI (Richard Marquand)
8/10
'Not nearly as good as its predecessors but that final lightsaber duel has got to be one of the all-time best cinematic moments'


STARDUST (Matthew Vaughn)
8/10
'Stardust is an original fairytale minus the contemporary cynicism of modern efforts; namely the Shrek series'


STEALTH (Rob Cohen)
2/10
'Lacking taste, vision and intelligence, Stealth will spark as much interest as the title implies'


STEP BROTHERS (Adam McKay)
6/10
'As expected, Reilly good, Ferrell, not so'


STEP UP 2: THE STREETS (Jon Chu)
2/10
'Do you like gyrating girls? Then you'll love this absolute slice of shite'


STOP-LOSS (Kimberly Peirce)
5/10
'Ryan Phillippe offers a standout performance but all-in-all, this is a bit disappointing from the director of Boys Don't Cry'


STORMBREAKER (Geoffrey Sax)
6/10
'Humorous in places and fairly thrilling but Alex Rider's no James Bond'


THE STORY OF US (Rob Reiner)
5/10
'It's kinda sweet, it's kinda sappy but that's pretty much it'


STRANGE WILDERNESS (Fred Wolf)
3/10
'Another great cast somehow fail to entertain inthis disposable comedy'


THE STRANGERS (Bryan Bertino)
4/10
'For a supposedly new take on the genre, The Strangers seems to play out every cliché available to it'


STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN-LI (Andrzej Bartkowiak)
2/10
'We all knew it would be awful, is anybody surprised?'


STREET KINGS (David Ayer)
8/10
'Despite many critics saying this was a disappointing feature, I genuinely enjoyed this star-studded crime flick. Keanu Reeves is a great actor, don't get me wrong but at moments you may ask yourself, "Is he battling with his conscience or just squinting because of the sun?"'


A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (Elia Kazan)
10/10
'Fascinating adaptation of Tennessee Williams' superb play'


STUCK ON YOU (Bobby Farrelly & Peter Farrelly)
5/10
'A much tamer offering than the Farrelly's usually produce but also devoid of significance'


SUKKAR BANAT (Nadine Labaki)
[Caramel - Lebanese Arabic]
7/10
'Fascinating and endearing character study'


THE SUM OF ALL FEARS (Phil Alden Robinson)
7/10
'Entertaining thriller romp - more movies should have the balls to just nuke the superbowl'


SUNDAY SCHOOL MUSICAL (Rachel Goldenberg)
2/10
'Who in the hell thought this would be a good idea? Why do Americans feel the need to take a popular-selling brand and infuse it with religion? I'm going to go watch Jesus Camp and get all riled up again'


SUNSET BOULEVARD (Billy Wilder)
10/10
'An exceptionally risqué piece about Hollywood that could easily be dubbed, Wilder's masterpiece'


SUNSHINE (Danny Boyle)
7/10
'Despite the setting, this is not a story for physicists, it's for psychologists and if you enter the cinema with an open mind, this is a film that will provide an entertaining and rewarding source for thought and debate'


SUNSHINE CLEANING (Christine Jeffs)
6/10
'Outside of the lead performances, this film has little to offer but thanks to two very talented female actresses it still manages to entertain throughout'


SUPERBAD (Greg Mottola)
7/10
'This film really shouldn't have been funny but appealed to the disgusting geeky teenager part of me'


SUPERHERO MOVIE (Craig Mazin)
3/10
'Despite the Meet The Spartans/Epic Movie pricks not being involved, this film is still mediocre and so very very sub-par'


SUPERMAN RETURNS (Bryan Singer)
8/10
'Metropolis lives and breathes again in this fine addition to a classic saga - may be a little too Judeo-Christian orientated for some'


SURF'S UP (Ash Brannon & Chris Buck)
6/10
'You have no idea how sick I am of bloody penguins; having said that, this isn't just another penguin movie... honest'


SURROGATES (Jonathan Mostow)
6/10
'Another reasonably impressive adaptation marred only by the decisions made during the transition from source material to screenplay'


SURVEILLANCE (Jennifer Chambers Lynch)
5/10
'A little disappointing - considering who Ms. Lynch is related to - but as a subversive thriller, it's not all bad'


SURVIVING CHRISTMAS (Mike Mitchell)
3/10
'Other than Gandolfini, I hated this assortment of festive tat'


SWAT (Clark Johnson)
4/10
'I'm quietly confident that Los Angeles' SWAT team don't carry on like this but you never know, it is bloody LA'


SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (Tim Burton)
8/10
'A wondrous Grand Guignol offering; my only real complaints arise when drawing comparisons to the original musical'


SWING VOTE (Joshua Michael Stern)
4/10
'Absurd concept coated with lousy performances; move away from the sports films, Costner!'


SYRIANA (Stephen Gaghan)
9/10
'Steeped with acting finesse and political brilliance, Syriana is the most relevant and necessary contemporary film around at the minute'


SZADBADSAG, SZERELEM (Krisztina Goda)
[Children Of Glory - Hungarian]
5/10
'One-sided, American-styled Hungarian revolutionary that is probably only partially accurate'