• Pages

  • Site Sections

  • Tags

  • Archives

2 Days in New York – July Delpy Comedy of Manners set in New York

Tweet          2 Days in New York – July Delpy RomCom yes – ComRom no. 2 Days in Paris was a witty, stylish, quirky romantic comedy with a refreshing edge. Marion’s (Delpy) then boyfriend Adam was comfortable with having sex but distinctly discomposed at talking about it en famille, en ville, just about en-anywhere. […]

Delicacy (La Délicatesse) – David and Stephane Foenkino

Tweet         Delicacy – David and Stephane Foenkino I’m worried about Audrey. That girl is far too thin: painfully thin. I just don’t think she’s eating properly: not looking after herself. She needs feeding up and pampering for a couple of weeks. I’d offer but I’m not sure my wife would agree. I’m also […]

Marley – Kevin Mcdonald: Purity of heart is to will one thing – Kierkegaard

Tweet      Marley – Kevin Mcdonald Kierkegaard wrote: “Purity of heart is to will one thing.” Again: “Be that self one truly is.” And: “During the first period of a man’s life the greatest danger is not to take the risk.” Having fathered 11 children from 7 different women Robert Nesta Marley, in his […]

Avengers Assemble – Joss Whedon. Outsourced Law and Order – the gang’s all here

Tweet        Avengers Assemble – Joss Whedon There are things I get but don’t get; know what I mean? I get that this breathless, rampaging action romp with a profligate excess of super-heroes (6 or 7 depending on whether you count Banner/Hulk as one or two) inserts an intravenous adrenalin drip into us from the […]

Salmon Fishing In The Yemen – Lasse Hallström

Tweet    Salmon Fishing In The Yemen –  Lasse Hallström Personally I’d introduce one-legged clog-dancing to Mongolia if Emily Blunt would agree to help me. Britain’s two sexiest actresses hold this affectionate, if slight little romantic comedy together: Ms Blunt and the indefatigable Kristin Scott Thomas. KST, after some pretty heavy roles of late, has […]

Mirror Mirror: bizarre, wry, post-modern re-working of the Snow White Fairy Tale

Tweet      Mirror Mirror – Tarsem Singh This bizarre, wry, post-modern re-working of the Snow White Fairy Tale has its moments: themselves bizarre, and wry but sadly not frequent enough. Out go Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy and Dopey: in come real dwarfs (dwarves?) Napoleon, Half-Pint, Grub, Grimm, Wolf, Butcher and Chuckles. Being […]

Headhunters: Morten Tyldum – Nesbø fills the Larsson vacuum

Tweet      Headhunters – Morten Tyldum The stunning success of Scandinavian crime fiction over recent years is now being replicated on film. Of course Stig Larsson’s posthumous triumph with the Millennium Trilogy drew world-wide attention though Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander series of novels already enjoyed a wide readership in the UK and the rest of Europe sustaining a long-running […]

The Hunger Games – Gary Ross post-apocalyptic pursuit thriller – death for TV

Tweet      The Hunger Games – Gary Ross This is an intriguing, tense pursuit thriller distinguished from the banal by an impressively assured performance from Jennifer Lawrence. To carry a movie at 21 with relatively little experience has the unmistakable mark of an instinctive actress. Although as Ree in Debra Granik’s bleakly brilliant Winter’s Bone, […]

Safe House – (Richard Pearson overseen by Daniel Espinosa) – a 3-line pitch action movie

Tweet      Safe House – (Richard Pearson overseen by Daniel Espinosa) Nobody does Denzel better than Denzel does Denzel. Unfortunately Denzel nowadays only ever does Denzel: result – too much Denzel. Yes Denzel lady fans: hard to believe, but it’s true. The only way to access the considerable talent of this fine screen actor, it seems to me, […]

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – John Madden. A masterclass in film-acting

Tweet      The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – JohnMadden If I were an artist I would want to paint her; I wish I were a better poet that she might read one of my poems; and if my life-long ambition, which will not now be fulfilled, to Direct a movie came true – I […]