Reviews in a nutshell
After the gritty Contraband last year, starring Mark Wahlberg as an ex-smuggler forced to make one last haul, the actor teams up again with Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur for more action in 2 Guns. It’s a cockier, smarter-mouthed role for Wahlberg who we tend to naturally like and root for as the solid type. Add …
Horror films about haunted houses and the paranormal are aplenty. Some are so contrived they are simply farcical; others lay claim to true stories backing up events that naturally elevate the chill factor. The Conjuring has just the right mix of horror troupes – most of which are featured, plus a creepy real-life back-story. However, …
When dealing with real-life subject matter of a harrowing nature, it’s important to get facts straight and be sensitive to those involved. A film such as The Frozen Ground from debut director Scott Walker is such an example, based on historic events surrounding Alaskan serial killer Robert Hansen who kidnapped and murdered roughly twenty young …
It doesn’t really matter if you don’t know your Dolce & Gabbana from your Louis Vuitton, Sofia Coppola’s film The Bling Ring – based on real-life events – is about the effects of celebrity coveting by a younger, impressionable generation, where materialistic goods plug something seriously lacking more often than not. What seems relatively ‘harmless’ …
Best way to describe Louis Leterrier’s new thriller is a ‘magical Ocean’s Eleven’. It has the gloss, the sassy style, the balls and a little extra, magic. But with all the tricks up its confident sleeve, it’s still not a pitch-perfect performance, racing away a lot of the time like the director’s Transporter films to …
‘Unpleasant’ is the word that comes to mind to describe The Seasoning House – and not necessarily in a complimentary fashion either for such a thriller. This description is not only for the obvious and upsetting subject matter of sex slavery during wartime but also how debut director Paul Hyett uses this a little too …
Dwayne Johnson usually plays larger-than-life, powerhouse characters, full of wise retorts, rippling muscle and fixed stares. In Snitch, he attempts to tone down this full-frontal ‘The Rock’ assault a notch or three, going for serious drama in a fact-based story about drugs, their consequences and the somewhat harsh US laws. Although veering into the absurd …
Brad Pitt tries his hand at some zombie dodging in Quantum of Solace director Marc Foster’s new latter-day nightmare, World War Z. Just the title alone strikes fear into our hearts of global wipe-out, least an epidemic that could kill off mankind through some failing of our own making. It’s this that initially sets the …
Michael Shannon first came to our attention fully in psychological hurricane drama Take Shelter back in 2011. Since then his natural talent for subtly portraying emotionally scarred characters dealing with inner personal turmoil has captivated and fascinated. Ariel Vromen’s The Iceman in which the actor plays the lead of the same name is the cream …
