Reviews in a nutshell
Mary Poppins is a seasonal classic, and The Blindside director John Lee Hancock’s ode to her creator, Saving Mr Banks, the closing film of BFI LFF 2013, is likely to evoke the same euphoric highs. It hits all the right notes in an utterly charming, funny and well-meaning manner; part in thanks to the great …
Writer-director Peter Landesman’s Parkland gives another relatively new angle on tragic events following the death of US President John F Kennedy on 22nd November 1963 in Dallas, Texas, offering the hospital portrayal at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital. It’s a solid piece of drama set to provoke the same disbelief from those who remember on the day …
The ‘most Hollywood of French directors’ Luc Besson has some fun with his new black comedy, The Family, toying with an impressive A-list cast, and placing lead actor Robert De Niro straight back into his Mafioso comfort zone – even spoofing it at the end. The film may seem a tad odd tonally, but it …
It’s the perfect time of year for a scary movie about killer flu wiping out a population. Simply named Flu, this is a typical disaster movie, South Korean style, from The Warrior writer-director Sung-su Kim. However, it contains the drama within the boundaries of the district of Bundang, the suburb of Seoul – supposedly one …
Part 2 brings the next cinematic chapter of The Hunger Games saga to waiting fans – and it does just that and no more, filling in the next part of the story before the inevitable revolution breaks out. The film hangs on the natural appeal of its lead, Jennifer Lawrence as the stoic and fearless …
It’s hard to fathom the big picture of the anticipated Ridley Scott-Cormac McCarthy collaboration, The Counsellor, apart from the obvious that greed is bad news, as is being embroiled in the drugs trade at any level. As a thriller, it’s stuffed with well-intentioned but wordy statements uttered by a crowd-pulling cast looking rather grand, including …
The promise of Sandra Bullock and George Clooney battling to stay alive in Space, within a 2001: A Space Odyssey context is a great pull, as much as Gravity itself. The added buzz is the film is Children of Men director Alfonso Cuarón’s creation. All good so far. However, Space alone is mesmerising to watch …
Cinematic portrayals of the trials and tribulations of a more mature love saga usually go hand in hand with an obvious comedic sentiment that forgives any flaws or misdemeanours in the actions of the older protagonist. In 1989’s Shirley Valentine, say, the middle-aged heroine played by Pauline Collins was mocked for having a mid-life crisis, …
Boy A director John Crowley’s new British thriller starts by meaning business with the shocking but understated power of CCTV in its opening scenes that prompt us that we’re all under surveillance. Indeed, the UK is one of the most ‘watched’ lands, but how much good does it do us? This is one of two …
