Posted on February 22nd, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Man On A Ledge – Asgar Leth Workmanlike thriller with a central device that generates tension at first then gradually suffers from the law of diminishing dramatic returns. Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) is an ex-cop jailed for stealing a legendary diamond from ruthless tycoon David Englander (Ed Harris). Claiming he was framed, [...]
Filed under: 2 star, Asgar Leth, General, Hollywood | No Comments »
Posted on February 20th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Stephen Daldry Danny Leigh on Film 2012 about 11 year-old Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn), central character of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (ELIC): “gratingly precocious..hyper-verbal….bag of neuroses….a monster…etc”. Philip French (Guardian) on the same film: “reveals itself as a hollow, calculated, manipulative film. It uses the events of 9/11 [...]
Filed under: 4 stars, Extended essay, Philosophical, Stephen Daldry | 2 Comments »
Posted on February 18th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Woman In The Fifth -Pawel Pawlikowski Editing is the grammar of movies; their syntax and their punctuation. It renders the images and sequences accessible to us, influencing their meaning and determining the dramatic tone and pace of the film, its narrative and our reaction to both. Parallels with writing are clear: how [...]
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Posted on February 17th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Casablanca – Michael Curtiz (1942) If you haven’t seen Casablanca in the cinema, on a big screen – you haven’t really ever seen it. Critics and people who write about movies because they love them can analyse the difference this makes in rational terms but the power great films like this, and it [...]
Filed under: Michael Curtiz, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted on February 13th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet For Valentine’s Day Before Sunrise and it’s companion piece Before Sunset were recently voted 3rd most romantic films of all time. I’d have moved them up one slot. Amidst the commoditisation and trivialisation of romance and love that Valentine’s day largely represents – this is offered a snippet of dialogue that [...]
Filed under: Emotions, Love, Philosophical, Richard Linklater, Spiritual | No Comments »
Posted on February 12th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Carnage – Roman Polanski Why? – must be the first question that comes to mind when adapting a work from another medium to film. The most obvious answer is the commercial hedge it represents to take a work with a proven track record of success. French dramatist Yasmina Reza’s play Le Dieu du Carnage was [...]
Filed under: 3 star, Comedy, Drama, General, Hollywood, Roman Polanski | No Comments »
Posted on January 28th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
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, [...]
Filed under: 2 star, Alexander Payne, Hollywood | No Comments »
Posted on January 27th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
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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Posted on January 25th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
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 [...]
Filed under: Stephen Soderberg | No Comments »
Posted on January 24th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
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’ [...]
Filed under: Michel Hazanavicius | No Comments »
