Tweet The Descendants – AlexanderPayne I have laughed as the world ends in a ballet of atomic explosions to the voice of Vera Lynn; at a Knight struggling to fight back having lost both arms, gushing blood, undeterred even when his legs are the next to go; even God help me, once, [...]
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Tweet J.Edgar – Clint Eastwood Little Boy, Fat Man, Operation Ranch Hand, CREEP, Operation Geronimo: respectively – Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Agent Orange in Vietnam, Watergate and the killing of Osama Bin Laden. We are all, as people, organisations or nations, tempted by the subversive moral argument that ends can sometimes justify means: but perhaps [...]
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Tweet Haywire – Steven Soderbergh Soderbergh’s pacy little action thriller has three things going for it: a heavyweight cast; the most convincing woman Black Ops agent ever; and directly linked to the last – a chance for once for a woman to credibly kick some seriously deserving male ass. Real life champion [...]
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Tweet The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius A film that unites critics; but I suspect divides cinema-goers. I find myself with a foot in both camps. The Artist is almost entirely silent throughout its 100 minutes running time. Cleverly and I think effectively, Hazanavicius has created an impressive blend of form and content: telling his Singin’ [...]
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Tweet Margin Call – J.C.Chandor Amidst all the Shame-ful noise, Iron-Lady controversy and War Horsey hype, don’t let this superb little film slip under your radar. Shot in about 17 days for under $4m it has more tension and suspense than many films costing 50 times that amount. New Director J.C. Chandor has made best [...]
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Tweet Birdsong – Philip Martin (BAFTA Preview 11.01.12) Back in the day when the Rolls Royce was the iconic symbol of engineering excellence and ultimate emblem of wealth, a rich customer visited the Rolls Royce factory to check on progress with his personal, hand-finished car and was shown round by the chief engineer. [...]
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Tweet The Iron Lady – Phyllida Lloyd Margaret Thatcher was for 15 years in British public life, the eye of calm certainty at the epicentre of a storm of chaotic energy endlessly fed by political events: from the Poll Tax riots; the ineradicable social toxicity of the Miners’ strike; the callous brutality of [...]
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Tweet The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – David Fincher Like buses, you wait for ages for a film with a charismatic, independent, strong female character: then two come along at once: first Sarah Lund (Sofie Gråbøl in The Killing I & II), and Lisbeth Salander (First Noomi Rapace, now Rooney Mara) in The Girl [...]
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Tweet Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows – Guy Ritchie Arch chums take on Arch Villain Wittgenstein said we should regard words not as things possessing meaning but as tools with which to create it. Some tools like knives and saws have general purpose application: others like screwdrivers have a specific function. I [...]
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Tweet New Year’s Eve – Garry Marshall A Pension Pot movie manufactured in 3 Acts Act 1 Scene: Office of an imaginary New Year’s Eve Executive Producer: not the real one Diana Pokorny. (I tremble at the possibilities of nicknames here: do your own thing and I’ll save the legal costs). Somewhere in Hollywood – early morning. [...]
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