Dominic West

Review: Testament Of Youth

Vera Brittain's Testament Of Youth is considered to be one of the most important war memoirs ever published, a tragic real-life tale of love, loss and the atrocities of war. Its depiction of the impact of World War I on the women left behind as their men joined the army, not to mention the middle classes in general, is taught in schools both as a vital historical document and as a valuable piece of feminist literature. So bear with me while I try to criticise this film without sounding like a cynical, sexist Nazi.

Review: John Carter

Already written off as potentially "the biggest write-off of all time", it's a shame to put the boot into a film that was always going to struggle during a crowded, franchise-heavy summer. Andrew Stanton is a director with two of the finest animated films ever made on his CV (WALL-E and Finding Nemo), and he has one of science-fiction's true originals on his side in Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess Of Mars. A production this large must have taken thousands of men and women years to create – writers, runners, artists, builders, designers, extras and animators alike. You feel for them all, because there is no escaping it - John Carter is a calamitous failure; a dirty bomb of laughable dialogue, boneheaded plotting, wooden acting and uninspired direction that will leave a smoking crater in Disney's Q1 box-office returns. If it is to flop, it's so woeful it deserves it.

Review: 300

I used to think I had a penis until I saw 300. Once in a while, a movie comes along that's so extraordinarily butch, it makes even the most pumped-up gym-jockeys look like spaghetti-armed girls. 300 is so manly, if I was to re-write this article, it would take up the top 15 slots all by itself. If you step back and view 300 f...

Review: Hannibal Rising

Turning Anthony Hopkins' most memorable performance into a pretentious Jason Voorhees takes a certain, rather considerable ability. Hannibal Rising is the work of an undoubted artistic vandal: it's not an intriguing character study into the mundanity of evil. It's just an exercise in the inanity of evil. Perhaps what is mor...