Category: Film reviews
REVIEW: SHAME
Velvet soft silk sheets swirled like gorgeous waves of hair surround an apathetic figure looking longingly into the distance. The blue hue of the sheets, Michael Fassbender’s slightly amorphous pale body, and the bright light blend into one smooth washed out piece of cinematic minimalism. It is this restraint that made director Steve McQueen’s debut [...]
REVIEW: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL
The Mission: Impossible franchise returns with Ghost Protocol, the fourth entry in there series in which superspy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) must struggle to clear his name and save the world after being framed for a nuclear terrorist plot. Still eminently likeable despite any off-screen weirdness, Cruise leads team-mates Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg and Paula [...]
REVIEW: 50/50
Cancer is never an easy subject to tackle on film, not least in comedy, yet director Jonathan Levine and writer Will Reiser pull it off with 50/50, a comedy/drama in which Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a seemingly healthy young man suddenly diagnosed with a rare form of the disease. Loosely based on screenwriter Reiser’s own experience [...]
REVIEW: THE RUM DIARY
Johnny Depp stars in The Rum Diary, an adaptation of acclaimed writer Hunter S. Thompson’s second novel, in which American journalist Paul Kemp attempts to stay afloat as he struggles with political corruption, artistic integrity and 100 proof liquor on the beaches of Puerto Rico. Kemp is something of a Thompson surrogate, and the film [...]
REVIEW: THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN – THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN
King of the blockbuster Steven Spielberg returns to the adventure genre with The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, a thoroughly satisfying family popcorn movie based on Hergé’s classic comic book series. As fans of Hergé’s opus will know, Tintin follows the eponymous boy reporter, his wire fox terrier Snowy and friendly seafaring [...]
FILM REVIEW: SENNA
The scorching sound of burning rubber and the smell of petrol explodes from the screen in this exciting documentary about the late great Formula One driver Ayrton Senna. Beginning with Ayrton’s early carting career, the film uses a series of documentary style clips, news footage and behind the scenes footage to create a rich tapestry [...]
REVIEW: EFTERKLANG AT CARDIFF GLOBE
Efterklang are a five piece band from Copenhagen, Denmark. Their music contains a combination of orchestral and electronic music, hence creating a somewhat unique style and sound. The ambience created by the incense and the orange hue of the lighting when entering The Globe created what seems to be the perfect atmosphere for this kind [...]
REVIEW: NO DRESS REHEARSAL BY NAOMI SMYTH AT BRISTOL CUBE
The fetchingly scruffy theatre of Bristol’s Cube Multiplex filled thick and fast for the screening of Naomi Smyth’s indie film documentary ‘No Dress Rehearsal’. The great unwashed of Stokes Croft and surrounding arty pods filed in to enjoy the micro-funded piece filmed from 2006 to 2010 in and around the venues taken over by the [...]
REVIEW: HONEMOONER FILM AT BRISTOL WATERSHED
For a movie that begins with the line ‘no one should be alone on their wedding day’, Honeymooner is spectacularly uplifting and fun. Filmed on a £45,000 budget it takes director, Col Spector’s, script, some brilliant acting and intersperses it all around the pubs and pretty locations in Camden Town. The giggles start early when [...]
REVIEW: TITANIC 2 DVD
Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, James Cameron and a $200 million budget. These are just a few elements that Titanic 2 doesn’t have. It’s also the most unintentionally funny film of all time. Set in the present day, a rich millionaire called Tom (Shane Van Dyke) has financed a re-creation of the Titanic, which is taking [...]
EFTERKLANG TO SCREEN FILM AT CARDIFF GIG AND IN HOMES ACROSS THE REGION
Danish indie band Efterklang will be screening their film An Island as part of their European tour this month. The film, made with Vincent Moon, will be aired as an opener to their live shows – including one at Cardiff Globe on February 22. There is also a free screening of the film at The [...]
REVIEW: THE LAWNMOWER MAN DVD
If you go by the title alone this could be some weird thriller starring Alan Titschmarsh and Flymo, but thankfully this film is a classic bit of cyber-punk paranoia. A scientist called Dr. Angelo (Pierce Brosnan) performs experiments involving intelligence enhancing drugs and virtual reality on a simple-minded gardener called Jobe (Jeff Fahey). He puts [...]
REVIEW: SUCK DVD
If you live for Rock’n’Roll and are digging the whole vampire thing at the moment then you can’t help but get excited by the all star line up for Suck. There’s Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop and Henry Rollins – each putting in remarkably convincing performances as a Vampire bartender, wise old producer and radio DJ, [...]
REVIEW: BURNING BRIGHT DVD
A film with a tiger, a hurricane and Meat Loaf is hardly a recipe for success on paper, but thankfully Burning Bright is pleasant surprise. At an ultra-tight 80 minutes the film tells the story of Kelly (Briana Evigan) who is juggling the twin priorities of looking after her autistic brother Tom while trying to [...]
REVIEW: SONS OF CUBA DVD
This startling documentary takes a look at the uncompromising and sometimes cruel world of the children’s boxing scene in Cuba. The Havana Boxing Academy is a Cuban boarding school that takes 9-year-old boys, and turns them into the best boxers in the world. Sons of Cuba follows the stories of three young hopefuls through 8 [...]
REVIEW: KICK ASS DVD
Any film which includes a loving father teaching his 11 year old daughter how to take a bullet in her kevlar vest before heading off for ice cream is well worth watching. The comic book adaptation has exploded in recent years with mixed results. Thankfully this film manages to poke fun at the genre whilst [...]
REVIEW: LEBANON DVD
War is hell, so the saying goes. With shop shelves groaning under the weight of films full of bloody combat and cliched characters a few films set themselves apart and reveal the trauma, humanity and inhumanity that war brings. Set entirely within the claustrophobic confines of a tank during the 1982 Israeli/Lebanese conflict the story [...]
