The September Issue is a documentary which follows Anne Wintour the Chief Editor of Vogue magazine through the fascinating process of creating the September Issue. Simply put, its brilliant. Whether you love Vogue or have never heard of it, this is still a very enjoyable film. Fashionistas will be in fashion heaven, and for those that prefer their trackies and sneakers will probably find the film humorous, and insightful into a whole new world of beautiful.

Imagine if Ocean’s 11 director Steven Soderbergh teamed up with shock-doc maker Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine, Sicko) to remake Free Willy…. except with dolphins. The result would look something like The Cove; an alarming documentary on the brutal dolphin slaughtering trade in Japan. Despite a title that could easily be mistaken for a horror film, The Cove is essentially all genres rolled in a single film that yanks away at every emotional string there is. It’s thrilling and chilling, amusing and moving, and if I could think of any other sensations that rhymed, The Cove would surely be those as well.

If there’s one thing taken from life on this Earth, it’s that some people don’t get the opportunity for a big break. No matter how hard they try. Then there are those that get close, usually on more than one occasion, but just can’t finalise the dream. For one reason or another, the latter would best describe the story of Anvil, the 1980s band that influenced the heavy-metal sounds of Metallica and Motorhead. Never heard of them? Perhaps that’s because they could well be Canada’s unluckiest bunch. But the bitterness is minimal; Sacha Gervasi’s documentary reveals a soft side to a metal exterior.

Even though fabricated documentaries – dubbed ‘mockumentaries’ – have been around for a while, they really only garnered mainstream appeal in 2001 with the acclaimed British sit-com The Office starring Ricky Gervais. Success struck again in 2006 with Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen’s crude dissertation of American culture, and the hilarious Australian mock-doc Kenny, which followed around a plumber as he installed portable toilets. But note that each of these examples, like nearly all mockumentaries, double as comedies. This is why director Joel Anderson’s feature debut Lake Mungo is such an inspired piece of filmmaking. Not only is it a mockumentary, but it’s also a horror film, and a damn effective one at that.

While I’ve been laughing at horror films for years, I can’t remember the last time I laughed with one. That’s what separates Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell from the recent genre offerings; not only is it genuinely scary, it’s also outrageously funny. And for once, it’s intentional.

It walks a similar line between comedy and horror that Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror did in 2007, although with more goo in place of gore. Raimi himself is certainly no stranger to the genre hybrid; before Spider-man turned his pupils into big green dollar signs, he was one of the first to explore the funny side of dismemberment in the classic Evil Dead series. Well Raimi’s well and truly back folks, and if this is what it’s like being dragged to hell, I might just have to make a reservation.

Politicians and journalists might not see eye to eye in the real world, but the two go together brilliantly in Kevin Macdonald’s (The Last King of Scotland) State of Play, making for one of the most captivating political thrillers of the past decade.  With a stellar cast and an devilishly clever screenplay, State of Play defies the norm and manages to live up to the high precedence set by the [...]