Staff Picks: Nick Paris

Visual medication for the tired mind merges all my senses when I think about it, be it a rappers paean to social precepts or a wink to the delightful ink that imbues every frame of Kaurismäki's canvas. The taste of Russia comes with a slew of bitter and sour chemistry in the much anticipated Loveless, his Leviathan came up from the deep to somewhat bother me for days of winter nights after. Never defeated by all this talk of cinema's demise, each year I'm born again to unravel what gifts the directors of today serve up – step inside and get on the carousel...