Documentary, mockumentary, monsters and more
Niren Tolsi looks some of the documentary films to be featured at this year's Durban International Film Festival

I’d like to thank ...
COMEDY OF THE WEEK: The neurotic and ego-driven world of the Academy Awards in For Your Consideration. Peter Bradshaw has more

Dog eat dog
DRAMA OF THE WEEK: Shaun de Waal reviews Nick Cassavetes’s film, Alpha Dog

Nic Cage in watchable movie shock
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Shaun de Waal on Nicholas Cage's very well-made rubbish of a movie, Next

Michael Moore on the wrong side of the law
The US treasury is investigating filmmaker Michael Moore for taking sick 9/11 rescuers to Cuba for part of his documentary, Sicko, reports Charlotte Higgins in Cannes

Smell me a story
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Shaun de Waal reviews the film adaptation of Patrick Suskind's novel Perfume

Vusi Magubane's hip-hop headz
A television producer has won worldwide acclaim for a recent documentary celebrating women rappers, writes Kwanele Sosibo

Let's talk about sex
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Shaun de Waal reviews the drama Shortbus, which is overtly a film about sex

Skating on thin ice
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Will Ferrell's Blades of Glory isn’t quite as funny as Zoolander or Dodgeball, but it deserves a solid score from the judges, writes Peter Bradshaw

Caught in the web
NOT THE MOVIE OF THE WEEK: If Spider-Man III is a popcorn movie, it should whiz by with lots of thrills and little to angst over, but it drags itself out like it’s Dr Zhivago, writes Shaun de Waal

Life's a riot with spy vs spy
MOVIES OF THE WEEK: Shaun de Waal reviews Shooter and Breach, which are both opening this week and deal with plots and espionage

A lion in winter
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Shaun de Waal reviews Venus, which stars veteran actor Peter O’Toole

Michael Raeburn: adapting change
Shaun de Waal speaks to British filmmaker Michael Raeburn about his film Triomf

The search for Ingrid
Helena Nogueira has revealed the tragic life of a literary legend and is wondering what’s next, writes Shaun de Waal

Boys keep swinging
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Shaun de Waal reviews The History Boys, a film that explores the different ways of teaching, different kinds of ambitions and different kinds of relationship between teacher and pupil

Night thoughts
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Robin Williams's latest film,The Night Listener makes for engrossing viewing, especially as it gets increasingly noir in flavour, writes Shaun de Waal

Once were (gym) warriors
NOT THE MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Shaun de Waal reviews 300, the new movie about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480BC which is based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel

Road hogs
NOT THE MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Wild Hogs is amazingly puerile and relies a lot on “gay” humour, meaning jokes somehow relating to stereo­typed homosexuality, writes Shaun de Waal

Ballad of a teenage queen
NOT QUITE THE MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Marie Antoinette is a brave development on Sophia Coppola’s part, but we need less insipid characters, or more complex situations, if we are to care, writes Shaun de Waal

Laughing all the way to the fest
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Not only does Bunny Chow have laughs, it has youth, energy and style, writes Shaun de Waal

Voices of the body
'Transman' Robert Hamblin is no longer a woman, but he has always been an artist. He spoke to Shaun de Waal about his work and his journey

Women on the verge
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: As as far as Shaun de Waal is concerned it’s impossible to fault Notes on a Scandal

Losing control
Playing against type is what keeps things interesting for Judi Dench -- and her fans. Matt Wolf spoke to her

Latest DVD reviews and a chance to win
We review some the latest DVDs on the shelves

A surge in lunacy
You can measure the hallucinatory experience of living in the United States according to a range of decisions that don’t matter, writes David Thomson

Out and about
The Out in Africa South African Gay and Lesbian Film Festival's survival, and even flourishing, for so long is in itself a massive achievement, writes Shaun de Waal

The king and I
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: The Last King of Scotland is riveting from start to finish, darkly funny, deeply involving, writes Shaun de Waal

The writer and his dictator
With the film of his novel released this week, Giles Foden describes the challenge of bringing a tyrant to life

Clint’s greatest work: Eastwood
John Patterson argues that the American icon’s greatest creation was not the films he directed, but the phenomenon that is Eastwood

We could be heroes
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: In the light of Clint Eastwood's latest offerings it looks as though his career as a director has been a long tussle with the notion of heroism, writes Shaun de Waal

In pursuit of perfection
Nadia Neophytou speaks to Will Smith about his departure from big-budget blockbusters

The bold and the beautiful
UNDENIABLY THE MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Volver is yet another Pedro Almodóvar masterpiece, writes Shaun de Waal

All about the mother
Penélope Cruz speaks to us about her role in Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver

The song remains the same
NOT QUITE THE MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Shaun de Waal reviews the musical Dreamgirls, which has been nominated for eight Oscars

The same song and (belly) dance
Does traditional marriage spell misery for Muslim women or is it a convenient fiction? Khadija Bradlow reviews two mainstream movies on the subject

Rumble in the jungle
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Whatever its box-office success, Mel Gibson's latest offfering Apocalypto may not find a chorus of approval, writes Peter Bradshaw

Mayan madness
NOT EVEN VAGUELY THE MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Descendants of the Maya have already objected strenuously to Mel Gibson's version of the facts about the May in his new feature, Apocalypto, writes Shaun de Waal

The white man's burden
NOT THE MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Blood Diamond is the cinematic equivalent of American fighter jets bombing Somali civilians, with the only distinction that it also manages to be boring, writes Shaun de Waal

'I am going to die young'
Dorothy Brislin pays tribute to Richard Ishmail and his lasting contribution to the culture of change

Space oddity
NOT THE MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Darren Aronofsky’s much-bruited new movie, The Fountain simply doesn't work, writes Shaun de Waal

New movie, same story
Movies are changing and many of the old rules are crumbling, but as soon as the new ways work they become institutionalised, writes David Thomson

Nothing like a dame
Her femme fatale reputation is unshakeable, but Helen Mirren tells Simon Hattenstone it’s growing older that makes us shed our inhibitions

Blair save the queen
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: The Queen takes us into the dynamics of the tug-of-war between Britain's Queen Elizabeth and her prime minister, writes Shaun de Waal

Box-office bloopers
With this year’s output of unadulterated dross, Hollywood’s moribund movie studios look like dinosaurs of the near future, writes John Patterson

A saviour is born
CHRISTMAS MOVIES OF THE WEEK: Shaun de Waal reviews two movies that are very much Christmas movies -- but very different kinds of Christmas movies

Sexy, very sexy
Bond is back, and he has a clear run at the festive box office, writes Shaun de Waal