Reviews in a nutshell
Ralph Fiennes makes each new directorial project feel like a burning passion, a chance to reveal new elements to an infamous character. His Charles Dickens in The Invisible Woman sheds new light on a renowned author not so famed for his private life. In the title role, Fiennes strips down the celebrity into a humble, …
Reboots are often cynically dismissed before sampling the new deal, and 2014’s RoboCop is one such example. However, director José Padilha’s film takes the bare bones of the 1987 original, starring Peter Weller in the title role, and makes the sense of sci-fi future prediction into a possible parallel ‘present day’ reality. With the advancement …
Any film relating to AIDS automatically focuses the attention and fuels expectation of a standout performance from the lead. As such, awards recognition is naturally on the cards, cynically so some might say. But director Jean-Marc Vallée’s (C.R.A.Z.Y., The Young Victoria) Dallas Buyers Club offers the career-defining role for stars Matthew McConaughey as well as …
We’ve seen conflict in Afghanistan played out on the big screen before. What makes Peter Berg’s gripping drama, Lone Survivor, a little different is the uncompromising assault on the senses that begins as soon as the four-man team of US Navy SEALs lands on a mountainside to monitor a Taliban stronghold. This film holds one …
Although the latest Coen Brothers’ film, Inside Llewyn Davis, follows a tired-out character in the misfortunate Llewyn the musician, superbly played by actor-singer Oscar Isaac, the sumptuous-looking film is as fresh and Coen cool as any before. Mostly notably, it becomes one of the filmmakers’ most memorable with its musical renditions that pause the protagonist’s …
It is with very heavy heart to inform those whose interest has been pricked by the union of two screen ‘boxing’ legends, Robert De Niro (Raging Bull) and Sylvester Stallone (Rocky) that Grudge Match is a lacklustre attempt at capitalising on the ringside magic that made them famous. The fact is the actual fight takes …
Jason Bourne has created such a high benchmark for any non-007 action film that all seem a poor imitation in comparison. Even more unfortunate is Jack Ryan is a much admired character from the Tom Clancy school of espionage brilliance and very different from Bourne, but the action part of any film adaptation will always …
If the Devil were running a company, Stratton Oakmont, the dubious stocks-and-shares brokerage house founded by infamous (former) white-collar criminal Jordan Belfort would be it. In fact, Belfort was possibly Satan incarnated. The 80s/90s antics of the real-life character – now a respectable businessman who has a cameo at the very end – is pure …
Colin Firth has done some of his finest work recently since The King’s Speech, reaffirming his dominance in British screen drama. Therefore, a film based on the memoirs of British WW2 veteran Eric Lomax, who survived the gruelling hardship of working on Burma’s railway as a POW, and starring Firth as Lomax promises another resounding …
