Director – Valéry Carnoy – 2026 – Belgium, France – Cert. 15 – 91m ***1/2 A promising young school boxer’s mindset changes following an accident which damages his arm – out in UK cinemas on Friday, May 1st This starts off with the camera darting nimbly around a boxing ring in a gym in which two […]
Health issues prevent Jeremy Clarke from attending the Critics’ Picks at the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, but he manages to watch the films anyway. 2025 has been a strange year for me personally, not least because of my ongoing fight against cancer. Which, I am happy to report, I appear to be winning. To cut a very long story […]
Director – Mohamed Ali Nahdi – 2025 – Tunisia, Cyprus, Qatar, Saudi Arabia – 85m ***** A young boy is diagnosed with a tumour in his arm, and his parents must guide him through his ensuing medical treatment – premieres in the Critics’ Picks Competition of the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival My third Critics’ Picks entry […]
Director – Jurgis Matulevičius – 2025 – Lithuania, Taiwan, Poland, Czechia – 96m ***** A former champion kickboxer whose career has been destroyed by his poor anger management attempts to find direction in life – premieres in the Critics’ Picks Competition of the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival World champion kickboxer Osvald Gurevicious (Marius Rapsys) has it all, but […]
Director – Jonathan Entwhistle – 2025 – US – Cert. 12a – 94m ***** Latest franchise entry plays by all the rules that you would expect, yet somehow manages to completely break the mould and come up with something fresh and original – out in UK cinemas on Wednesday, May 28th All a Karate Kid […]
Director – John Woo – 1996 – US – Cert. 15 – 108m *** Woo’s second US outing pits Christian Slater against nuclear stealth bomber co-pilot turned bad John Travolta in the Arizona desert – part of Art of Action, a major UK-wide season celebrating the artistry of real action choreography at cinemas across the […]
Director – David Hinton – 2023 – US – Cert. 12a – 129m ***** Martin Scorsese talks about the seminal British filmmaking duo, and how they inspired his own movies – out in UK cinemas on Friday, May 10th As a child, Martin Scorsese suffered from asthma and would constantly find himself at home while […]
Director – Shinya Tsukamoto – 1995 – Japan – Cert. 18 – 87m ***** Shinya Tsukamoto ventures outside his Tetsuo trappings to deliver further explorations of the ‘New Flesh’ in boxing movie garb. On Arrow Channel from Friday, September 22nd. This review is an amalgam of my reviews for What’s On In London and Manga […]
Director – Anton Dyakov – 2020 – Russia – 15m 15s ***** A pencil-thin ballerina becomes involved with a rough, stocky boxer. Some things seem destined not to be… And yet… – nominated for Best Animated Short in the 2021/22 (94th) Oscars Olya and Evgeny live near each other’s flats. When running to catch the […]
Director – Takashi Miike – 2019 – Japan – Cert. 15 – 108m ***** A boxer with no fear of death. Japanese yakuza, Chinese triads. A bag of drugs. A girl sold into prostitution. Miike orchestrates his potent cocktail with pace, panache and energy – cinemas Friday, February 14th, home video Monday, February 24th And […]