Reviews in a nutshell
The promise of a musical number with Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah in it may cause some to stuff cheese in their ears and run for the proverbial hills for cover. Others may welcome the idea as a chance for some vocal chemistry and sparkle on screen. Add in the gospel-singing aspect, and there should …
The dynamic trio of filmmakers, Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon and Bruno Romy who gave us the delightfully enrapturing Rumba in 2008 have brought their dance/mime format back for another outing, The Fairy (La fée). Theirs is an old-fashioned, visual performance art that translates brilliantly on screen and is simply delightful to watch and totally unique …
There is a heady and rousing whiff of corruption, scandal, passion and Enlightenment to delight the avid period drama fan in Danish director Nikolaj Arcel’s A Royal Affair. The fact that it is based on the true story of 15-year-old English princess Caroline Mathilde who was married off to unhinged King Christian in the 18th …
Penned by the author who gave us the equally schmaltzy Dear John, The Last Song and The Notebook, The Lucky One is another pubescent girl’s wet dream, starring former Disney poster boy Zac Efron no doubt. It’s the kind of predictable romance-by-the-numbers that young girls can swoon over and mature females – who ought no …
Our fascination with the last few hours onboard the doomed 1912 passenger liner Titanic and its now eerie, watery grave – to quote Celine Dion – “will go on and on and on”. James Cameron took this then moulded it into a classic love story for the big screen back in 1997, and the film …
Forget 2012; finally, the games have arrived. Author Suzanne Collins’s post-apocalyptic world is projected for all to watch on the big screen. The obvious parallels between the existence we are introduced to in The Hunger Games and the possible collision course we are on are eerily not lost – it’s just a shame that the …
Writer-director Andrew Stanton tries his hand at live action this time, putting some of his fun Pixar magic from the likes of award-winning Finding Nemo and Wall-E into John Carter, an other-worldly adventure staged on Mars – or Barsoom, as adapted from Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs’s work, A Princess of Mars. Whatever faults this …
Welsh director Marc Evans (Patagonia, My Little Eye) returns with a nostalgic take on growing up in small-town Wales in 1976 in the midst of the summer heat and raging hormones. Schooldays films are ten-a-penny and ever enticing as we get to reminisce at a safe distance at the thrills and fears of our teenage …
The prospect of another, more contemporary Lawrence of Arabia that focuses on relevant current affairs in the region today, and with big acting names involved is an attractive proposition, especially as Black Gold has been producer Tarak Ben Ammar’s long-time goal by bringing the finer points of Hans Ruesch’s rousing novel South Of The Heart …
