The Hollywood rumour-mill is constantly turning, and there is no shortage of people ready and willing to help it perpetuate. Hell, this post makes me as culpable as any. Earlier this week the suggestion was leaked that Warner Bros might be looking to make a prequel to The Shining, Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 masterpiece of horror … Continue reading Pretty Vacancy: The Perpetuation Of The Prequel
Year: 2007 Director: David Fincher Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal (Robert Greysmith), Mark Ruffalo (Inspector David Toschi), Robert Downey Jr. (Paul Avery), Anthony Edwards (Inspector William Armstrong), Chloe Sevigny (Melanie), John Carroll Lynch (Arthur Leigh Allen), Brian Cox (Melvin Belli) Genre: Crime Drama David Fincher makes beautiful looking films, but beautiful in a way different from most other A-list … Continue reading Why I Love… #24: Zodiac
Okay, first of all, is anyone enamoured by purposefully misspelled words anymore? Seriously. Just because a ‘k’ has a sharper sound (and shape) than a ‘c’ does not make it cool to play add-or-replace. And even if Electrick Children as a title is supposed to be a pun around the word ‘trick’… it doesn’t work. … Continue reading Review: Electrick Children
So, The Dark Knight Rises, then. A film that has been ‘coming soon’ since August of last year. Teaser trailers… more posters than you can shake a stick at… It all boils down to this. This film. This event. Christopher Nolan’s crowning of the most legitimate of comic-book franchises. 2008’s The Dark Knight was a … Continue reading Review: The Dark Knight Rises
Year: 1971 Director: Robert Altman Stars: Warren Beatty (John McCabe), Julie Christie (Constance Miller), Rene Auberjonois (Sheehan), William Devane (The Lawyer), Michael Murphy (Sears), Antony Holland (Hollander) Genre: Western It begins unlike most other Westerns, and so it continues. Where so many before it presented us the dust plains of the West, McCabe & Mrs Miller … Continue reading Why I Love… #23: McCabe & Mrs Miller
The Hunter is a film by Daniel Nettheim, based on the book of the same name by Julia Leigh. The film stars Willem Dafoe as Martin David, a hired hand for a research company looking to obtain biological data from the Tasmanian tiger; a species thought long extinct. Martin travels to Tasmania in order to … Continue reading Review: The Hunter
“The world is full o' complainers. An' the fact is, nothin' comes with a guarantee. Now I don't care if you're the pope of Rome, President of the United States or Man of the Year; somethin' can all go wrong. Now go on ahead, y'know, complain, tell your problems to your neighbour, ask for help, … Continue reading Review: Killer Joe
Year: 1968 Director: Stanley Kubrick Stars: Keir Dullea (Dr Dave Bowman), Gary Lockwood (Dr Frank Poole), William Sylvester (Dr Heywood Floyd), Douglas Rain (Voice of HAL-9000), Leonard Rossiter (Dr Andrei Smyslov) Genre: Science Fiction Where the fuck do you start with this? Like the mysterious monoliths that signal key shifts in the film’s drama, 2001: … Continue reading Why I Love… #22: 2001 A Space Odyssey
Year: 1945 Director: Michael Curtiz Stars: Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce), Jack Carson (Wally Fay), Zachary Scott (Monte Beragon), Ann Blyth (Veda Pierce), Eve Arden (Ida Corwin), Bruce Bennett (Bert Pierce) Genre: Melodrama / Film Noir Michael Curtiz’s Mildred Pierce is a film of pure class. The kind of film that feels like an indulgence to … Continue reading Why I Love… #21: Mildred Pierce
***originally written 28 June 2012*** You wait five years for a Cronenberg film, then two of them turn up at once. Typical. This week sees the DVD release of his wordy psychological drama A Dangerous Method, whilst on the big screen his latest work Cosmopolis is weirding-out the unsuspecting public up and down the country. … Continue reading Review: Cosmopolis
Year: 1986 Director: David Lynch Stars: Kyle MacLachlan (Jeffrey Beaumont), Isabella Rossellini (Dorothy Vallens), Dennis Hopper (Frank Booth), Laura Dern (Sandy Williams), Dean Stockwell (Ben), George Dickerson (Det. Williams) Genre: Mystery / Thriller When Blue Velvet first came to DVD, it was in a hell of a state. Dirty, dingy, faded… it did not look … Continue reading Why I Love… #20: Blue Velvet
***originally written 2 June 2012*** ***THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. BIG ONES*** Still here? Okay. Hype. Hype and expectation can be funny things in the film industry. They can make or break a film. Creating them is the master craft of the marketing department. Product placement. Trailers. Tie-in promotions. Journo exclusives. And in the modern world, … Continue reading Review: Prometheus
***originally written 27 May 2012*** You can tell a Wes Anderson film a mile and a half away. Make that 2 miles. Make that 9. More-so than any of his peers, Anderson has created and maintained such a strong visual style as to have almost become a genre by himself. All of his movies take … Continue reading Review: Moonrise Kingdom
***originally written 23 May 2012*** This movie was not designed for me. I’ve never seen Iron Man or Iron Man 2. I’ve never seen any iteration of the Incredible Hulk. I’ve not seen Thor or Captain America. In fact, when it comes to HUGE-budget summer blockbusting comic book films, I pretty much label them “not … Continue reading Review: Marvel’s Avengers Assemble
Year: 2001 Director: Joel Coen Stars: Billy Bob Thornton (Ed Crane), Frances McDormand (Doris Crane), James Gandolfini (Big Dave Brewster), Michael Badalucco (Frank), Scarlett Johansson (Birdy Abundas), Tony Shalhoub (Freddy Riedenschneider), Richard Jenkins (Walter Abundas), Jon Polito (Creighton Tolliver) Genre: Film Noir / Comedy Pick your favourite Coen Brothers movie. Go on, pick. Got one? … Continue reading Why I Love… #19: The Man Who Wasn’t There
