The Big Short ****
Enlightens, appalls and thrills in equal measure. It does rely on a modicum of interest in the banking crisis, but it has far more opportunity to grab an audience’s imagination with the all-star cast it delivers.
Tag: Brad Pitt
LFF 2014: Fury ****
War makes for a powerful cinematic theme. It’s the backdrop for many a personal struggle. End of Watch (2012) writer-director David Ayer’s Fury is no exception. While about the physical horrors of combat, it’s also a sobering coming-of-age drama, told through the eyes of a new tank recruit. It also addresses the psychological effect on …
The Counsellor ***
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 …
World War Z ***
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 …
Killing Them Softly ****
Brad Pitt reunites again with writer-director Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) to adapt George V. Higgins’s novel, Cogan’s Trade for the big screen. It’s another successful outcome, entitled Killing Them Softly – referring to hits by strangers on strangers in the underworld. As Cogan, Pitt embodies his standard …
Happy Feet Two (3D) ***
More penguins, more dancing set-pieces is what Happy Feet writer-director George Miller gives us again, probably because they make for vibrant family entertainment. Short of the penguin musical, the second film that had some huge boots to fill after the Award-winning first is rather a colourful, sing-song whirl of incoherent plot-lines and snatched, throwaway character …
Moneyball ****
At first glance, Moneyball will ignite interest among Brad Pitt fans. On second glance, it will turn some away because of its baseball subject matter. Sports films are an acquired taste and will never fully convert those who are not into the sport in question. Therefore, as one of the latter, Moneyball is a real …
The Tree of Life ***
Film-maker Terrence Malick is an enigma, much like his films. With secrecy and speculation surrounding his latest ‘creation’ at Cannes this year, the industry prepared itself to be in awe of another Malick abstraction. And it didn’t disappoint Robert De Niro and jury, as The Tree of Lifewon the coveted Palme d’Or. Opening with a …
Megamind – 5*
Everybody loves a superhero, especially one who is not so ‘super’ at what they do, and one that has flaws we can relate to. Meet Megamind, a large, blue-headed klutz who just wants to be loved and accepted, which is what makes him so endearing from the word go. Megamind is the most brilliant super-villain …