Month: May 2012

Prometheus (3D) ***

Director Ridley Scott was quoted as saying that Prometheus was a film that would ‘stand on its own’, apart from the Alien series. It’s fair to say that the sweeping, opening 3D vistas and alien mutation on the IMAX screen are truly spectacular to watch, so there is a lot of genuine expectation from the …

Snow White and The Huntsman ***

This long-anticipated version of Snow White couldn’t be more different from the humourless and bland Mirror Mirror with a smug Julia Roberts. Bathed in Gothic shadows and sinister trickery it stars Twilight’s very own vamp princess Kristen Stewart as the snow-white skinned maiden doing battle with her evil stepmother, Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron). But much as …

Men in Black III (3D) ***

The fact that the second MiB film seems to draw a complete blank either means it was totally unforgettable tripe or someone’s been trigger happy with a Neuralyzer. Needless to say, it’s a happy predicament to be in as having watch the first film recently, to then watch the third in the series the latter …

2 Days in New York ****

Julie Delpy is proving as accomplished in her writing-directing as she is in her acting, bringing a cross-cultural humour that resonates with international audiences while defiantly drawing laughs from stereotypical situations. Hers is a rudimentary form of wit, the un-PC kind that still revels in pointing out our apparent differences that result in miscommunication and …

How I Spent My Summer Vacation ****

Not to be confused with the 1997 teenie film of the same name, this is Mel Gibson’s new drama, How I Spent My Summer Vacation that for those in the know seems part like a film version of Rusty Young’s brilliantly gripping Marching Powder. It seems that Gibson – who needs a career/personality boost and …

Dark Shadows ***

Once upon a time, the Burton-Depp partnership was such a sure thing with every project they entered into that they seemed to have the monopoly on quirky Gothic tales; we fell in love with Edward Scissorhands and were enchanted by Corpse Bride. So the chance to see the pair collaborate on a feature-film version of …

Silent House **

Elizabeth Olsen of Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) fame is fast becoming the thriller poster girl, with her dreamy, unreadable persona that portrays a mixture of innocence and hidden danger. In Chris Kentis and Laura Lau’s new spooky thriller Silent House Olsen keeps us guessing as to her true personality once more, like in her …

Safe ***

British bulldog Jason Statham always manages to beguile you on screen with his seemingly boundless choreographed energy and corny one-line growls that have become his reliable trademarks. Without such qualities of seasoned action veterans like Schwarzenegger and Stallone in their heyday, the Statham flick would be dead in the water, like an action flick of …

Piggy **

London seems to be awash with potentially violent males lurking on every street corner, ready to explode with pent up rage given the right situation – if homegrown cinema is anything to go by. Debut writer-director Kieron Hawkes’ Piggy is another depressingly gritty tale of modern-day woe from the UK capital’s ‘mean’ streets that follows …