Sha Po Lang (SPL): 9.75/10
All the best bits of classic Hong Kong film distilled down into one potent brew. There’s not a single thing I would change. (Todd) 10/10

Hands down the clear winner of the festival for me. A gritty crime drama punctuated by jaw dropping, girl-squealing action sequences. The best film to come out of Hong Kong the last ten years. (Mack) 10/10

The grimmest Hong Kong actioner I can remember (and the grimmest film I saw on a night shared with all 3 Pusher films) this wins a million points for a surprisingly small amount of amazing fight scenes with shots held for ages, no visual cheats and amazing choreography. This film crackles with intensity. (Mathew) 9/10

HK cinema has a new shining star in the Firmament. Enough praise cannot be heaped on this new classic in the genre. (Kurt) 10/10

Pusher II: 9/10
Quite simply stunning. Incredible performances, great visual style, a script loaded with subtext. (Todd) 9/10

Following Frankie’s disgraced sidekick Tonny, played by Mads Mikkelsen, this is again another unbelievably strong character piece with Mikkelsen drawing you in, breathless, till the final, unbelievable resolution. (Mathew) 8/10

Bringing family into the equation elevates the sequel above the original. Stunning performance by Mads Mikkelsen. (Kurt) 10/10

A History of Violence: 9/10
Successfully walks the delicate line between genre and drama. It is a mainstream film with something to say and another solid entry into the fascinating Cronenberg canon. (Kurt) 9/10

Caché: 9/10

Creepy and unsettling take on racism, classism and terrorism. The violence in the film is about 5 seconds long, but it will haunt you for a while. (Kurt) 9/10

The Grönholm Method: 9/10
My biggest surprise of the festival which creates a new grifter-classic by blending the styles of Mamet, Lumet and LaBute. (Kurt) 9/10

Pusher: 8.8/10
The opening film in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher trilogy is a stunning opening to one of the finest trilogies of crime films ever produced anywhere. A near perfect balance of style and substance. (Todd) 8.5/10

The visceral introduction to the Pusher series, each of the films stand alone but this one is probably the most individual, with Kim Bodnia’s characterization as low level drug dealer Frankie making you forget it’s only a film. I was completely wrapped up in his disintegrating life and loved it. (Mathew) 9/10

Gritty, visceral and willing to go to the bitter end with the story. Drug films are rarely this good. (Kurt) 9/10

Sympathy For Lady Vengeance: 8.8/10
Chan Wook Park’s latest opus is a quieter, more subtle affair than Oldboy but it still packs a punch. Surprisingly willing to tread in the world of religious imagery to make its point that vengeance is pointless. (Todd) 8.5/10

Park Chan-wook concludes his vengeance trilogy with another knockout. Religious undertones abound in this stylish tale of revenge and a third act that hits you in the pit of your stomach. Not for the weak. (Mack) 8/10

A sublime closure to the Vengeance Trilogy, which appropriately deals with Atonement. Great visuals and direction anchored around a complex performance by Yeong-ae Lee. (Kurt) 10/10

Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit: 8.5/10
Nick Park is an animation god and he does his best known creations proud in their first big screen outing. Absolutely fantastic. (Todd) 9/10

The best animated film I saw this year. Expansion of the W&G universe and British whit still work and provide a laugh a minute visual feast. Great fun. (Mack) 8/10

Citizen Dog: 8.25/10

The constant narration will likely put some off but Wisit Sasanatieng has visual style to burn and his latest film is a fine piece of fantasy driven whimsy. (Todd) 7.5/10

Sasanatieng’s use of colour alone would make this film a wonder to behold if it wasn’t wrapped in some of the most charming storytelling and well chosen music you could imagine. A heart-warming love story, unless you are seriously the kind of person who didn’t like Amelie (you heartless monster!). (Mathew) 9/10

Tristram Shandy: 8.2/10
Blazingly smart, blazingly funny. Winterbottom is back, he’s got a brilliant cast stocked with the cream of the current UK comedy crop and he knows how to use them. (Todd) 8.5/10

Despite the comparisons never quite as clever as Kaufman’s work, Tristram Shandy is carried along by the brilliant performances from the leads Coogan and Brydon. A truly funny film, remarkable for the amount of Coogan’s life that is used as material. (Mathew) 8/10

24 Hour Party People meets Adaptation. Not a single moment of this film is unfunny. (Kurt) 8/10

C.R.A.Z.Y.: 8/10
Fantastic coming of age story driven by the director’s obvious visual skills, a dead solid cast and a killer soundtrack. A bit long and saddled with an unnecessary epilogue, but otherwise perfect. (Todd) 8/10

My Dad Is 100 Years Old: 8/10
Short from Canadian auteur Guy Maddin perfectly balances his own stylistic impulses with the confessional nature of Isabella Rossellini’s script. (Todd) 8/10

The Devil and Daniel Johnston: 8/10
Johnston might be the wizard behind his own curtain as the director conjectures but this documentary is still the terribly upsetting look at the life of a mentally ill musician struggling with his demons. A powerful documentary that makes excellent use of material collected over Johnston’s life. (Mathew) 8/10

April Snow: 8/10

Pitch perfect tone and acting. The nature of the subject may cause some to find it a tad slow though. You’ll find yourself comparing this to In the Mood for Love, and it is just not quite up to that standard. (Kurt) 8/10

Bangkok Loco: 7.8/10
Bizarre genre mash up from Thailand with either entrance or confuse. I’m one of the entranced. (Todd) 8.5/10

With roughly a million references to pop culture from across the globe, fantastic songs and a good dose of humor, the film of Bay’s attempt to become the Drum God while on the run for his Landlord’s murder is yet another symbol of Thailand’s all conquering cinematic excellence, even if it's ending is terribly unsatisfying. (Mathew) 8/10

Thai Insanity that manages success despite overwhelming odds. One of the best opening credits sequences in a film. EVER. (Kurt) 7/10

Adam’s Apples: 7.75/10
More tight writing and bleak humor from Denmark’s answer to the Coen Brothers, Thomas Anders Jensen. Very funny and featuring a fantastic cast, but the characters are sacrificed a little to the ideas. (Todd) 7.5/10

Pitch black comedy which is audacious and warmly charming. It breaks nearly every form of political correctness with a certain glee and gets away with it too. (Kurt) 8/10

Pusher III: 7.7/10
A bit of a step back from the first two films, a little more playful but still horrifically violent by the end. (Todd) 8/10

While this centers on what could be considered my favourite character of the previous two Pusher films, Milo, this study of Milo’s disintegrating life and dependence on drugs has been called the blackest of black comedies but I just found it profoundly disturbing. Very entertaining, but just suffers from Godfather III syndrome (but is still a bit better than that, though). (Mathew) 7/10

Hard hitting, and often blackly comic, the third entry of the trilogy is the weakest, but only barely so. (Kurt) 8/10

The District!: 7.5/10
Despite the absurd premise and biting satire the ‘East European South Park’ plays it surprisingly straight with its characters. Smart, funny, and the South Park comparisons do absolutely no justice to the quality of the animation, which is fantastic. (Todd) 8/10

The most original animation style I have witnessed since Flatland. Straight up brilliant and vulgar tale of race, romance and Hungarian hip-hop. (Mack) 7/10

Far cleverer than the mere rough reworking of Romeo and Juliet that you might fear it is from the first 20 minutes, the sophisticated blending of 3D animation, traditional animation and photography with fantastic Hungarian rock and rap and a sharp edged satire make The District one of the most fun films of the fest. (Mathew) 8/10

Gorgeous Animation, well executed idea. Curiously light on humour. You have to read fast if you want to keep up with the subtitles of Hungarian Gangster Rap. (Kurt) 7/10

The Proposition: 7.5/10
Tense, bleak western. Moody and violent, with a solid script from Nick Cave and another excellent, troubling performance from Guy Pearce. (Todd) 8/10

Gritty Aussie western which paints the taking of the interior frontier as a string of incompetent blunders. Bloody and affecting and a cast that is willing to get down and dirty. (Kurt) 7/10

A Little Trip To Heaven: 7.5/10

Intriguing Iceland-produced noir. It never quite comes together but features some fantastic performances and stunning cinematography. (Todd) 7/10

Set in America, filmed in Iceland. A truly original look, sound and feel that is coupled with a fine Forrest Whitaker performance. (Kurt) 8/10

Hostel: 7/10
Eli Roth’s unrepentant slasher flick is about nothing at all beyond the blood and gore, but there is certainly a lot of it and he knows how to use it. It’ll make a big stir in the horror scene but I think the lack of any larger meaning will give it a short shelf life. (Todd) 6/10

Most of Eli Roth’s success can be put down to Roth’s consummate skill at selling himself, but his inability to keep a straight face damages Hostel’s genuinely disturbing latter half with too much fun having been had for you to take it seriously. A likeable film that lacks a sick enough streak to truly be scary. (Mathew) 6/10

Solid entry into the genre which pumps the adrenaline and isn’t shy about the violence or the sex which are mixed nicely in the subtext. (Kurt) 9/10

Romance and Cigarettes: 7/10
The tonal shift at the end is sudden and a bit disruptive but the first two thirds are loopy, musical madness. Another one that’s two films in one, but you’ll have so much fun with the first two acts that you really won’t care. (Todd) 7/10

Linda Linda Linda: 7/10
One of my best surprises of the fest, a simple and very funny story of a teen-girl band as they work to get their act together before their show at the end of the school festival. Korean actress Bae Doona owns every scene she is in. (Mack) 7/10

Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic: 7/10
Sarah is the best working female stand-up working today. Period. Other than the opening musical number, however, drop the sketches. (Kurt) 7/10

Walk the Line: 7/10
Top-shelf performances from Phoenix and Witherspoon. Great Musical numbers. Not as dark as I thought it would be. When given the choice to print the Truth or the Legend: They should have printed the Legend. (Kurt) 7/10

Banlieue 13: 6.8/10

The birth of not one but two new French action stars in Cyril Raffaelli and David Belle. Frantic, beautifully shot, and loaded with stunning action set pieces. Raffaelli and Belle are so talented and loaded with natural charisma that you know it’s only a matter of time before they team up again. The front loaded action is a significant flaw, but forgivable given the strength of the film as a whole. (Todd) 7.5/10

Excellent and original contribution to the martial arts genre. Front loaded but it points Europe in the right direction to take a piece of the genre pie. (Mack) 6/10

A French film crackling with kinetic intensity, which suffers some bad direction and poor plotting, but makes up for it with a great soundtrack, bags of style and the uniqueness of parkour. Recommended, but the sequel is likely to be way better. (Mathew) 7/10

Shark In The Head: 6.75/10
Czech character study of a mentally ill man. Visually inventive and interesting, smart enough to stop before the central conceit of the film gets old. (Todd) 6.5 /10

Tiny, intimate film with something meaning to say about schizophrenia. Also melancholic for the loss of something that has just always been there. (Kurt) 7/10

Takeshis’: 6.7/10
For those not familiar with Kitano’s media profile in Japan and without a good working knowledge of his body of work this will likely be a confusing mess. For those who know the man it’s a fun ride with bursts of satire, slapstick and an absurdist attempt to say goodbye to his earlier work and style. (Todd) 7/10

Takeshi Kitano tackles the subject of Takeshi Kitano by looking inward, pouring out his twisted psyche which appears to be full of confusing, jumbled, repeating thoughts mostly of shooting people for hours on end. If you want 500% Kitano you’ve got it, if you want a complete film with an understandable narrative, look elsewhere. (Mathew) 6/10

You will get out of the film what information on Kitano you bring in with you. The ultimate insider film. (Kurt) 7/10

Dave Chappelle's Block Party: 6.5/10
Dave wants to throw a party and you're invited to watch. Presented as a work in progress but Dave is on top of his game delivering laughs and good music. (Mack) 6/10

Only made slightly more than a concert film by the huge personality of Dave Chappelle, even as a mere concert film it’s fantastic with brilliant sets from Dead Prez to Jill Scott. There is little chance for Gondry’s skill as a director to shine, however, though Chapplle is consistently hilarious. (Mathew) 7/10

Evil Aliens: 6.375/10
Crass, tasteless, and oh so very funny. A totally worthy successor to the spltstick films of Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson. (Todd) 8.5/10

Flat out fun splatter fest that makes you reminisce the early works of Raimi. More blood and body parts that I can count. (Mack) 7/10

A difficult film to critique as it sets out to be a very bad low budget splatter flick and succeeds, I still thought it was very bad (even if it’s entertaining) with awful acting and some dodgy directing ruining what still feels like a really nice try. I’m damning it with faint praise, however. (Mathew) 4/10

Energetic, funny, and gory entry into the Splatterfest genre. Wears its influences a little too openly on its sleeve though and ends up playing like a cover-song to innovators Raimi, Jackson and Coscarelli. (Kurt) 6/10

The Great Yokai War: 6.25/10
Takashi Miike’s latest foray into family entertainment is his biggest budget, most ambitious film to date and it’s loaded with vintage Miike moments, but crippled somewhat by an under-developed script. (Todd) 7/10

Japanese children don't need hallucinogens because they watch stuff like this. Takeshi Miike's fantastic and weird creature/fantasy film doesn't quite match last year's Zebraman for quality but it is a fun ride nonetheless. (Mack) 5/10

As much as I wanted to like this film, being made by Miike and all, it’s only just entertaining as a silly kid’s film, and while the ending is crazy I couldn’t help but be annoyed by it this time round. However, there comes a point where you just expect too much… (Mathew) 6/10

High on creativity. Pushes right through the envelope of what exactly is a family-friendly adventure. Overlong by about 15 minutes and a weakly written lead character (in parts) keep it from truly shining. (Kurt) 7/10

Isolation: 6/10

A horror film about an angry mutant cow. Moo. Plays things surprisingly straight and builds some solid atmosphere thanks largely to the fantastic performance of John Lynch. Gets a bit mad scientist-y by the end, but good fun until then. (Todd) 7/10

Social commentary on genetic engineering packaged neatly in a claustrophobic and stylish thriller. The world gets that much smaller once you’re infected by a mutated cow. Got milk? (Mack) 6/10

Does not manage to be that much more than Alien on a Farm, even with the genetic engineering subtext. Nice camerawork ruined by some poor lighting and odd editing, the fact that there is no great reveal of the mutant cow monster left me as unsatisfied as I was with the rest of the film. (Mathew) 5/10

Surprisingly solid straight-up suspenseful horror-pic. The scenes on the farm are creepier than when the film decides it wants to be Alien. (Kurt) 6/10

Dear Wendy: 6/10
If Vinterberg had been comfortable enough to break apart and reassemble Von Trier’s script this film could have been something special, as it is the director struggles within the framework set, creating a dreadfully unsatisfying near miss that lacks any strong satirical point. (Mathew) 4/10

Von Trier and Vinterberg give this rumination of what guns mean to Americans a lot of sizzle to go with the substance. The ending is telegraphed, but getting there is a blast. (Kurt) 8/10

Drawing Restraint 9: 6/10
Matthew Barney’s latest is perplexing and convoluted, filled with layer upon layer of imagery. Very odd stuff, but it pays off in the end. (Todd) 8/10

Matthew Barney might be one of the most celebrated visual artists working in America today but when his film is less visually interesting than practically any other film I saw this festival something seems wrong to me. I wasn’t looking for a good narrative but the visuals bored and the film was only saved by a magical score from Bjork. (Mathew) 4/10

China Blue: 6/10
A very small scale documentary that only points out the problems of the west’s urge for cheaper and cheaper goods that is so easily filled by china’s abuse of workers, concentrating on just one worker, it can’t do much more because cinema cannot change the world. But this film makes you wish it could. (Mathew) 6/10

The Sun: 6/10
Fascinating in bursts but severely flawed look at Emperor Hirohito’s surrender of Japan to American forces. (Todd) 6/10

I Am: 6/10
Stunning photography but there’s a fundamental breakdown between content and presentation. (Todd) 6/10

Saints-Martyrs-des-Damnés: 6/10

Visually and thematically interesting, but a little bit overwrought at times and just it didn't completely grab me. A bit too similar to Twin Peaks. (Kurt) 6/10

Workingman’s Death: 6/10
Dull as ditchwater documentary with visuals to die for (and which feature a lot of death, but mostly of cattle). Hugely enjoyable as an exercise in documentary cinematography, otherwise uninteresting. (Mathew) 6/10

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey: 6/10
Introspective into the culture and devout followers of heavy metal music. Sam Dunn takes you on a fascinating and funny journey into the music, the artists and the fans. (Mack) 6/10

Souvenir of Canada: 6/10
Let’s celebrate the mediocrity of Canadiana. Go Canadian Shield! (Kurt) 6/10

The Willow Tree: 6/10
It’s hard to like the selfish main character in the film, but you can feel his pain as he has to cope with the gift of restored sight after 38 years of blindness. It is watchable, but nothing special. (Kurt) 6/10

Thank-You For Smoking: 6/10
Lightweight and unabashedly mainstream satire. Not as good as Wag The Dog (although it really wants to be). The large ensemble of talented actors are game for Jason Reitman's sprawling meanderings. (Kurt) 6/10

Le Temps Qui Reste: 5.75/10

The latest from Francois Ozon is surprisingly pedestrian. Well made but not really bringing anything new to the table. (Todd) 6.5/10

Lightweight Ozon. Melodrama which offers a fresh take on 3-way sex, but doesn’t say much new on the subject of dealing with a terminal disease (Kurt) 5/10

Manderlay: 5.5/10
The second entry in Von Trier’s America trilogy is still a solid film, still controversial and loaded with ideas and political ranting, but hamstrung a little by a cast that is still perfectly solid but suffers by comparison to Dogville. (Todd) 7.5/10

Lars Von Trier hates everything and everyone, expressing it through dull direction and unconvincing stylistic decisions. With all the subtlety of a sledgehammer and mostly poor acting this is awful. (Mathew) 2/10

Solid, but slightly more conventional than Dogville. Lack of a couple key actors from Dogville hurt the film a tad. (Kurt) 7/10

Tideland: 5.5/10
Gilliam returns with a film sure to divide audiences. I loved it, thanks largely to the fantastic performance of young Jodelle Ferland. (Todd) 8/10

The film is watchable, but should have been a 45 minute short, not a 2-hour film. Rambling and redundant at times. A disappointment from a director that can’t seem to get a break these days. (Kurt) 3/10

Revolver: 5.5/10
Existentialism wrapped up in the gangster genre. If you can find the right movie for you inside this movie then you'll have a good time. (Mack) 5/10

Guy Ritchie’s attempts at the deconstruction of the art of the con are not nearly as smart as he think it is, but the film is harmless fun. (Kurt) 6/10

The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes: 5.5/10
Visually stunning but it employs too many narrative tricks that may work fine in shorts but don’t quite cut it over the length of a feature. (Todd) 6/10

The Quay Brothers have an endless imagination and the film looks great. It is way too long, and the (intentional) lack of narrative coherence becomes intolerable around the 80 minute mark. (Kurt) 5/10

Everything is Illuminated: 5.5/10
Elijah Wood gets outshone by his supporting cast. Very funny 1st and 2nd acts countered by a strong dramatic 3rd. (Mack) 5/10

Funny and warm at points and moving and meaningful at others, the adaptation of Safran Froer’s work is entertaining even if it never reaches the heights of the kind of indie films it apes, and is entirely saved by Eugene Hutz and his Balkan punk band Gogol Bordello. (Mathew) 6/10

Diameter of the Bomb: 5/10

Not as impactful as I thought it would be. Too much focus on one victim of the suicide bombing to the detriment of all the other stories. (Kurt) 5/10

Wassup Rockers: 5/10
While it’s a better film than anything else Larry Clark has done, a 50% boring skate video 50% daft teen version of the Warriors with dodgy politics isn’t really that good in all honesty. There are a few laughs, though. (Mathew) 5/10

The Giant Buddhas: 5/10
The Taliban blew up the Giant Buddhas of Bamiyan Valley, and then Christopher Frei made a very distracted film about it. Not interesting as a political commentary, only really worth it if you feel some sense of loss from the destruction in 2001. (Mathew) 5/10

Be With Me: 5/10
Two films in one! But not intentionally. Khoo breaks the rhythm and tone of the stellar first half with a lengthy digression in the late going. Beautifully shot and full of great elements but he does a good job of sabotaging his own film. (Todd) 5/10

The Duelist: 3.25/10
Big positive marks for the dazzling visuals get cancelled out by the big negatives for the schizophrenic tone of the film. If Be With Me was two films, this is four or five. (Todd) 5/10

The Faberge Egg of this year's Korean exports. All nice and pretty on the outside but once you crack it open it is an empty movie with a horrible string of genre homages that don't flow on the screen. Very disappointing. (Mack) 1/10

A horrible mess of a film which ruins all possible intensity of its central love story with an inability to keep tone or style for more than about 30 seconds. Even then it would have been largely mundane, though the final battle between Ahn and the Minister of Defence is the one good part that does it’s best to save it but fails. (Mathew) 3/10

Some gorgeous stuff in this incoherent genre-mash. Bad direction choices and inconsistent tone may be a result of my expectations, but I still didn’t like the film as much as I wanted to. (Kurt) 4/10

Beowulf & Grendel: 3/10
A liberated approach to the famed Norse folklore tale that doesn't really deliver. It looks nice though. (Mack) 3/10

The Corpse Bride: 3/10
You can't help but feel that you've seen this movie once before. Oh wait, you have. A disappointing picture that only polishes up a 10 year old classic. (Mack) 3/10

The Wayward Cloud: 3/10
Two boring characters stare at each other for ages, one of whom occasionally gets involved in boring pornographic scenes which go on for ages, all of which is brightened up by some lovely song and dance routines featuring Chinese pop hits from the 50’s. They can’t save this turgid mess, even with the last scene finally managing some level of erotic intensity. (Mathew) 3/10

Festival: 3/10
A tragic misuse of acres of comedy talent in a poorly written (poorly ad-libbed?) film about the moving, shaking and backstabbing that goes on behind the scenes at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Hilarious and melodramatic for all the wrong reasons. (Mathew) 3/10

Seven Swords: 1.5/10
Narrative chaos from start to finish. Almost incoherent, concluded with one really good action sequence. (Mack) 1/10

Biggest disappointment of the Festival. Bad acting, bad lighting, bad direction, bad storytelling and bad martial arts. Just Bad. (Kurt) 2/10

Les Saignantes: 1/10
The one film I walked out of because I simply couldn’t see the point of staying any longer. Cameroon based sci-fi film aims for satire but is painfully amateur. (Todd) 1/10

Everlasting Regret: 1/10

Boring and confusing. The skipping stone of a narrative over the cultural and political shifts in China's history bored the audience so much they forgot to clap when the credits rolled. 1/10