Kinetic. If nothing else, Danny Boyle's films are always this. There's a forward striving momentum to both the man and his work which has made him something of a charmed poster-boy for UK filmmaking over the past two decades. Since Trainspotting his movie choices have set him globe-trotting, even breaching the Earth's orbit and hurtling … Continue reading Review: Trance
Craig Zobel's film Compliance is based on true events, and goes to great pains to underline that fact before the story unfurls. Great towering letters the size of the screen. It also boldly states that nothing has been exaggerated. As the next 90 minutes pass, the audience is repeatedly asked to question the credulity of … Continue reading Review: Compliance
Year: 1996 Director: David Cronenberg Stars: James Spader (James Ballard), Elias Koteas (Vaughan), Deborah Kara Unger (Catherine Ballard), Holly Hunter (Helen Remington), Rosanna Arquette (Gabrielle) Genre: Drama / Literary Adaptation I've wanted to do a piece about David Cronenberg's Crash for a while now. Since I started this series, actually. Oddly the main, ahem, driving force … Continue reading Why I Love… #45: Crash
Worst video-game-to-movie adaptation ever. This movie had nothing whatsoever to do with the 1984 Atari game. There was only one scene of someone delivering papers, then it was about something else completely! Score: 0/5 ... Okay, yeah, I'm sorry about that. Couldn't really resist. Call it my inner troll. The Paperboy is of course not based on … Continue reading Review: The Paperboy
Year: 1955 Director: Robert Aldrich Stars: Ralph Meeker (Mike Hammer), Cloris Leachman (Christina Bailey), Maxine Cooper (Velda Wickman), Albert Dekker (Dr G. E. Soberin), Fortunio Bonanova (Carmen Trivago), Paul Stewart (Carl Evello), Marian Carr (Friday). Genre: Film Noir Well, what a nasty piece of work this is. Deliciously so. Based on Mickey Spillane's bestseller, Robert … Continue reading Why I Love… #44: Kiss Me Deadly
So, with Sam Raimi's Oz The Great And Powerful receiving middling reviews across the board, let's turn the clock back nearly 30 years to the last time Hollywood took a trip down the yellow brick road... and smashed it to pieces. Walter Murch's Return To Oz holds a special place in my heart, for both the magical touch … Continue reading Pretty Vacancy: Just How Scary IS Return To Oz…?
Robot & Frank, directed by Jake Schreier, dabbles with sci-fi elements to tell an altogether engaging tale about aging, illness and companionship. Think of it as the light alternative to Michael Hanake's Amour. Warmer, easier, and with 100% more robots. But don't be fooled. Let your guard down and Robot & Frank might just touch you every … Continue reading Review: Robot & Frank
So, then. The battles have been fought and the war is over. The victor is, largely, Argo. It's been a scrappy one, not quite so clean cut as others past. Life Of Pi (quite ridiculously) managed to steal some of the glory. And what of Lincoln? Daniel Day-Lewis not withstanding, Steven Spielberg's long-gestated biopic of the Unites States' … Continue reading Review: Lincoln
"Do you want to go to see a film and feel miserable? I mean really fucking miserable. Then for shit's sake go and see Lore." At 1:30 this morning, and after a few drinks, I came home and decided, well, wouldn't this be the perfect time to start my review of Lore? The above is what I … Continue reading Review: Lore
My David Mitchell experience is limited at best. I made it about a third of the way through number9dream before giving up - something I don't easily do with novels out of abject stubbornness. Whilst I appreciated it's cocksure narrative booby traps, I also found them somewhat tiresome. Cloud Atlas I haven't attempted. And now here's … Continue reading Review: Cloud Atlas
