Reviews in a nutshell
Perhaps it’s because summer is still with us that the nostalgic carefree days of yesteryear are still very much in flavour at the box office with another coming-of-age film set in the sunshine, after The Kings of Summer release last week. Writing duo Nat Faxon and Jim Rash have co-penned another poignantly funny feel-good story …
Just the title alone means business, and sounds like something from the Scream franchise will be re-enacted here. However, this is a smarter-than-average and well-paced home invasion horror that has both gore and sniggers from horror filmmaking duo, director Adam Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett, who reunite several cast members from their 2010 film, A …
It seems like ‘dumb-ass’ comedy on offer here, a goodhearted road movie that covers a lot of bumpy ground along the way. However, it has a strong will that you just can’t knock that aims to make the lives of its delinquent fake family a little more gratified in the end. Oh, and it promises …
The Kings of Summer is a film that evokes a buzz of excitement in that both director (Jordan Vogt-Roberts) and writer (Chris Galletta) are first-timers and have tuned in totally to the teenager psyche when life seems ‘tough’ and we’re itching to get away from the oldies. It’s like a funny Stand By Me, using …
There’s no surprise at the anticipation surrounding the screen adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s bestselling novel, directed by Harold Zwart (2010’s The Karate Kid). With a gap in fantasy adventure market left by the globally successful Harry Potter and Twilight sagas, studio bosses are hungry to find the next best thing. It needs the right mix …
Continue reading “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones ***”
After the gritty Contraband last year, starring Mark Wahlberg as an ex-smuggler forced to make one last haul, the actor teams up again with Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur for more action in 2 Guns. It’s a cockier, smarter-mouthed role for Wahlberg who we tend to naturally like and root for as the solid type. Add …
Those hoping for a repeat of the cool shock tactics of Kick-Ass might come away feeling rather short-changed after watching the sequel. Granted, all the key characters are back, in particular, Kick-Ass himself and the petite purple dynamo Hit-Girl that sees Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloë Grace Moretz take up their costume-clad roles respectively, verses Christopher …
A lot is being uttered about The Lone Ranger, a Disney film that reunites Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski and star Johnny Depp, in what has got to be the most expensive ‘western’ in recent years (£165million to be precise). But although battered by American critics and arriving on these shores this week …
Sandra Bullock as another uptight FBI agent sounds suspiciously like a Gracie Hart rendition from the Miss Congeniality films. True, she dons another dark suit and comfy shoes for her new role as social pariah Sarah Ashburn. What’s of greater interest is whether the on-screen chemistry between her and Bridemaids star Melissa McCarthy pays off, …
