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 2011The 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

The best film booksForgotten 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 2010The 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 2009The 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 2009The 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

Last Updated: 03 May 2012