Review: 20 Centimeters (20 Centímetros, 2005) ★★★★½
When first introduced to 20 Centimeters, I was understandably skeptical. A musical about a narcoleptic transgender woman with a 20-centimeter
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Film Reviews
Read Matthew Jones’s reviews of new releases, independent films, cult cinema, and overlooked works from across film history. Each review looks beyond whether a film succeeds or fails to examine what it reveals about identity, morality, politics, society, and the human experience.
Review: Waiting for the Hearse (Esperando la Carroza, 1985) ★★★
Films that are based on plays, or are produced by those who have spent years in theatre, are often readily identifiable,
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Review: Sightseers (2012) ★★★★
Sightseers is a 2012 horror-comedy film directed by Ben Wheatley (and co-produced by Edger Wright of the Three Flavours Cornetto
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Review: Bad Education (La Mala Educación, 2004) ★★★★½
Rating: ★★★★½ out of 5 It takes a highly nuanced approach to filmmaking and scriptwriting to create characters that are 1)
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Strike (1925) Analysis: Eisenstein’s Politics of Montage
Originally published May 10, 2017. Substantially updated September 2026. What I remembered most about Sergei Eisenstein’s Strike was not its
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Review: Les Invites de Mon Pere (2010) ★★★½
Les Invites de Mon Pere, or My Father’s Guests, is a 2010 French comedy film, written and directed by Anne
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Review: Kung Fury (2015) ★★★½
Kung Fury is a Swedish short film (with a runtime of about 30 minutes) written, directed by, and starring David
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Review: M (1931) ★★★★½
As Fritz Lang’s first sound film, M (1931) stands out as a hallmark achievement of the early sound era and
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Review: Mother’s Day (1980) a film by Charles Kaufman
Mother’s Day (1980), written and directed by Charles Kaufman (brother of Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman), tells the story of three
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Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) ★★
There is something to be said for any film that takes risks. And in a sense, every film production takes
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Review: Grabbers (2012) ★★★
Grabbers (2012) is an Irish horror-comedy pub film, written and directed by Jon Wright. The story follows an alcoholic policeman,
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Nosferatu (1922) Review: Plague, Shadows, and the Birth of Screen Horror
F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu remains visually haunting more than a century later, even when its uneven silent narrative struggles to match its images.
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Creep (2004) Review: A London Underground Horror That Loses Its Nerve
This review was originally published on April 9th, 2017. It was substantially updated on September 9th, 2026. Christopher Smith’s Creep
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Ghost in the Shell (2017) Review: A Beautiful but Hollow Cyberpunk Remake
Originally published April 4th, 2017. Substantially revised September 8th, 2026. Rupert Sanders’ Ghost in the Shell has an excellent science-fiction
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Sherlock Jr. (1924) Review: Buster Keaton and the Dream of Cinema
Silent films don’t always work for me. I can admire their historical importance while feeling that I am completing an
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