Reviews in a nutshell
When a film as been lauded about so much, and its star is on the road to picking up every top acting accolade going, it’s hard to get an subjective view on whether the film itself is exceptional. Natalie Portman is definitely worthy of Academy Award recognition for her portrayal as a dancer spiralling out …
Let me tell you how to avoid this dilemma: Swiftly bypass the inviting blurb in your box office listing on (yet) another Vince Vaughn relationship comedy, and don’t be fooled by the promise of co-stars of Kevin James, Winona Ryder, Jennifer Connelly, Queen Latifah and Channing Tatum who admittedly attract interest. Astonishingly, the above title …
If perkiness is an annoying attribute in a person, you well may be floored by Rachel McAdams’ ultra-enthusiastic TV producer character, Becky Fuller, from the start, and begin gnawing at the cinema seat in demented despair. But fear not; our Becky wins you over in the end because her bubblegum cheeriness turns to hardcore ball …
By our very human nature we are fascinated by folklore, especially where wrongdoing or a supernatural element are involved. Our curiosity grows when there is an unresolved factor to the tale, and even a presence or being in the frame. Debut feature maker Aaron Schneider’s Get Low is based on one such Southern yarn about …
Not to be confused with Ryan Reynolds’ The Green Lantern, out soon, this is another superhero-story-cum-film adaptation of Trendle and Striker’s action hero drama from director Michel Gondry that stars Seth Rogen and Jay Chou as a pair of vigilantes by night, ridding downtown of its unsavoury characters and growing drugs problem. And it’s unadulterated …
Where did all the love go? Writer/director Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine is a super sensitive and tragically taunt tale of a marriage that implodes slowly over time, after one of the sweetest wooing moments seem on film in many years involving a ukulele. From the offset it you feel uneasy, that things in the visually …
Director Malcolm Venville’s new film, Henry’s Crime, has all the subtleties of a Woody Allen caper and the oddly mismatched characters of a Coen Brothers production, but without the latter’s distinguished expertise on plot development. That said, and with hindsight, it proves to be a charming and indulgent watch because of some delightful performances from …
It’s hard not to be a tad cynical about this Oscar-paint-by-numbers offering from director Tony Goldwyn and screenwriter Pamela Gray because that’s just what Conviction is: a shamelessly wanton Academy Awards contender with a double-statuette-winning leading lady in Hilary Swank to boot. It is, nevertheless, watchable. Conviction has the melodrama, the struggle, and the real-life …
Hazy about what a ‘hazing’ means, the subject of aspiring writer/director Will Canon’s feature debut, Brotherhood? Well, it’s an initiation process involving harassment, and Canon’s frenetic, coming-of-age thriller takes you along on a US fraternity one, imprisoning you in the frat boys’ van from the word go, like an unwilling witness to the tragic acts …
