Reviews in a nutshell
It’s fairy-tale time, another favourite ideas pot that Hollywood likes to dip into around the holidays to produce a film in time for family viewing. This time it’s the turn of Jack and the Beanstalk, a tale of man verses giant that should whet the appetite of any potential cinemagoer with a longing for some …
General consensus on reality TV is less than favourable most of the time, even though it can be equally addictive as curiosity takes over. Gomorrah director Matteo Garrone and his co-writers have taken this concept and produced a fascinating, modern-day Italian tragedy that gradually creeps under the skin. It’s as eerily disturbing as it is …
Another Jason Statham action film brings thrilling news for some who love seeing their gruff screen hero doing what he does best to bad guys, and groans of déjà vu from others, weary at yet more stylised action sequences, bad accents and corny one-liners that are the Statham trademark. However, to dismiss the actor’s new …
It has been almost six years since Bruce Willis last donned his iconic vest and saved the day but he should have waited a bit longer for a better script to come along because this has to be the worst Die Hard movie in the franchise’s 25 year history. In his now infamous interview on …
Once in a while there is a film that on paper seems totally different to how it’s actually perceived, and because of its plotline could be a hard sell at the cinema. Writer-director Ben Lewin’s The Sessions is such a film. However, appearances are truly deceptive here, and this feel-good drama is full of inspirational …
From one book to three separate features, Peter Jackson’s transformation of the classic Tolkien children’s novel has been a labour of love indeed for the LOTR director. The argument that will rage after viewing it on the big screen is just how necessary was it to create three films – regardless of how great the …
Never, ever underestimate the power of the open road – it does things to a person to release their inner being, good or bad. Ben Wheatley’s black comedy of hilarious proportions, Sightseers, about a couple who caravan around Northern Britain’s more unusual sights with deadly consequences is full of creepiness, delicious surprises, shocks and irony. …
Jay Roach’s new comedy is more in the vein of his slapstick work of Meet The Parents/Fockers and Austin Powers, so those expecting a clever political satire ridiculing the recent Romney and Ryan shenanigans, say, of current US politics will be mildly disappointed. However, there are enough subtle undertones to admire and to suggest writers …
Brad Pitt reunites again with writer-director Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) to adapt George V. Higgins’s novel, Cogan’s Trade for the big screen. It’s another successful outcome, entitled Killing Them Softly – referring to hits by strangers on strangers in the underworld. As Cogan, Pitt embodies his standard …
