Kate Stables
Kate Stables is a film reviewer and monthly contributor to Sight & Sound and Total Film magazines.
Online articles
Damsels in Distress Review
The erstwhile laureate of satires of the American preppie heart, Whit Stillman breaks his 13-year silence with a decidedly tongue-in-cheek college comedy. Kate Stables wonders if its frivolity is for real. from S&S May 2012
Jane Russell, 1921-2011 Obituary
Famed Hollywood actress and sex symbol who proved skilled at comedy. from S&S March 2012
Carnage Review
Four bourgeois Brooklynites trapped in one room descend into conflict and misery in Roman Polanski’s elegant and unsettling adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s hit play. By Kate Stables. from S&S February 2012
The DVDs of 2011 Poll
23 critics and curators pick out their releases – and rediscoveries – of the year. Web exclusive, January 2012
Wuthering Heights Review
Stripping away the literary, romantic and supernatural trappings of Emily Brontë’s famous novel, Andrea Arnold’s elemental new reading is powerful if lop-sided, says Kate Stables. from S&S December 2011
The Debt Review
A sturdy psychological suspense thriller about a botched Mossad kidnap mission, The Debt focusses intriguingly on the dilemmas of a female lead agent until an implausible last act, says Kate Stables. from S&S October 2011
Beginners Review
Sweet but terminally meandering, Mike Mills’ coming-to-terms-with-life story leans heavily on an ebullient sideshow from Christopher Plummer, says Kate Stables. from S&S August 2011
Forgotten pleasures of the multiplex
Poll
Unloved, unlauded but no longer alone: 80 mainstream movies from the past 30 years that were either commercially or critically buried. from S&S June 2011
Third Star Review
A Welsh bromance cum valedictory road movie, this burnished feature debut from director Hatti Dalton and writer Vaughan Sivell never truly sheds its disease-drama trappings, says Kate Stables. from S&S June 2011
Meek’s Cutoff Review
Tracking three frayed families forging the Oregon Trail in 1845, Kelly Reichardt’s starkly beautiful fable casts a female view on a West “dominated by space and silence”. By Kate Stables. from S&S May 2011
Leslie Nielsen, 1926-2010 Obituary
Earnest leading man (Forbidden Planet) who was reborn as an ace comic actor in the 1980s.
from S&S March 2011
The DVDs of 2010
24 critics and curators pick out a range of often enterprisingly unheralded revivals, from early Ozu and von Sternberg to R.W. Fassbinder’s World on a Wire and Imamaura Shohei’s Profound Desires of the Gods.
Web exclusive, January 2011
La Danse The Paris Opera Ballet
Review
Frederick Wiseman’s documentary dissects both an institution and an artform with extraordinary skill and beauty, says Kate Stables. from S&S May 2010
The best online videos of 2009 Poll
With the web hosting more, and more diverse, moving images than ever, we invited critics and curators to recommend the year’s best online viewing. Nick Bradshaw surveys the tally, led by Phantoms of Nabua, It Felt Like a Kiss and Please Say Something.
Web exclusive, January 2010
The DVDs of 2009 Poll
Rediscoveries of unjustly obscure old films – Daisies, Comrades, Blood and Masters of Cinema’s ongoing Maurice Pialat collection – lead our critics’ favourites. Web exclusive, January 2010
An Education Review
Nick Hornby's adaptation of journalist Lynn Barber's memoir of teenage seduction shows his trademark understated wit. But it's the nuanced touch of director Lone Scherfig that really makes it special, says Kate Stables. from S&S November 2009
Rumba Review
Francophone mime duo Abel and Gordon revive the art of silent physical screen comedy in their elegantly absurdist second feature. Reviewed by Kate Stables. from S&S August 2009
Gran Torino Review
from S&S March 2009
Choke Review
from S&S December 2008
The Women Review
from S&S November 2008
Jar City Review
from S&S October 2008
The Edge of Love Review
from S&S July 2008
Flight of the Red Balloon Review
from S&S April 2008