Sweet Sixteen

Ken Loach (2002)

Kim Ki-Duk Retrospective

“Why was this old world cursed with a creep like me?” asks the troubled lead of Kim Ki-Duk’s debut film Crocodile. The director arrived on the cusp of the Korean Wave but was far more interested in the depraved end of society than any of the country’s financial muscle. So as the nights grow darker what better time to delve into the director’s work. This month Kino Arsenal showcases a whopping 17 of the directors 19 features; from the aforementioned Crocodile- concerning the tender awakenings of a bridge dweller who picks the pockets of suicide victims on the riverbed- right up to last year’s Gold Lion winning Pieta, in which a cruel loan-shark deals with some troubling mommy issues; but fellow Venice darling 3 Iron- about a young drifter’s love affair with an abused housewife- might just be the pick of the bunch. 

Room 237

Wild rumours of underlying messages in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 classic The Shining have been doing the rounds for years. For Room 237 filmmaker Rodney Ascher brings together five major fanatics to shed some light on their theories. Greatly detailed throughout, the ramblings range from interesting points on layout and design- which perhaps seem reasonable enough given the director’s infamously meticulous nature- to some fairly way out conspiracies. A large grain of salt may be required but be you sceptic or converted, this a film about the director’s lingering aura. Not some crackpot’s unsolved mystery.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Following Twilight’s dominance at the box office it was only a matter of time before something new arrived to keep that demographic all hot and bothered. Adapted from the first book of another bestselling series, City of Bones follows a young woman named Clary (Lily Collins, daughter of Phil) as she juggles with revelations about  her past, pesky demons and  boy troubles while trying to unearth some sacred cup. Miserable stuff (unless you’re into that sort of thing) but hey, at least the werewolves are Irish.

Storm Surfers 3D

Two aging championship surfers spend the southern hemisphere’s winter months trekking out to big-wave hot spots off the Australian coast, using someone called a ‘surf forecaster’ – which is a real job apparently- to monitor oceanic swells and predict what region to hit. There’s some painfully staged basecamp stuff and a rather clumsy narrative but with Red Bull-who have become the Medici of this sort of ludicrous behaviour- .providing some serious equipment, whenever we look to the ocean, Storm Surfers offers plenty to get the heart racing.