Posted on August 19th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet The Bourne Legacy – Tony Gilroy Fast, furious and slick. Gilroy’s extends the Bourne franchise neatly with enough narrative linkage to the absent Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) and the ending of The Bourne Ultimatum to carry credibility and engage us in the exploits of Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) number 5 operative in […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Action, Drama, General, Hollywood, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Tony Gilroy | No Comments »
Posted on June 2nd, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Prometheus – Ridley Scott When did the octopus first become the template for space-monsters? I get why: they carry all the repulsiveness of the snake – multiplied by 8; and they are very what we might call grapho-genic. Wave the arms about a lot and our imagination comfortably believes in flying octopi […]
Filed under: 3 star, Action, Drama, Fantasy, General, Hollywood, Horror, Ridley Scott, Sci-Fi | No Comments »
Posted on February 26th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
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 […]
Filed under: 4 stars, Comedy, Drama, Extended essay, Hollywood, John Madden | No Comments »
Posted on February 25th, 2012 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Rampart – Oren Moverman When did the Hollywood Dream factory re-tool to produce nightmares? Was there a key year; a definitive film? I always feel the repressed misogyny in largely male directed movies finally crossed a borderline with Brian de Palma’s 1980 Dressed To Kill: the first film I remember where I was, […]
Filed under: 2 star, General, Hollywood, Oren Moverton | No Comments »
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 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 December 29th, 2011 by Zettel Film Reviewer
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 […]
Filed under: 4 stars, David Fincher, Detective, Drama, General, Hollywood, Romance, Thriller | No Comments »
Posted on December 3rd, 2011 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Technical Entertainment Hugo (3D) – Martin Scorcese A technical tour de force. It is fascinating to see major Directors of regular 2D films grappling with the possibilities and limitations of 3D stereoscopic filming. Fast on the heels of Spielberg’s performance capture 3D Tin Tin we have Scorcese taking a radically […]
Filed under: 3 star, 5 stars, Drama, Extended essay, Fantasy, Historical, Hollywood, Martin Scorcese, Romance | No Comments »
Posted on October 31st, 2011 by Zettel Film Reviewer
Tweet Technical Entertainment The Adventures of Tintin – Steven Spielberg and the use of 3D and Performance Capture – Essay/Review Spielberg: at last the Directorial penny drops on the use of 3D. What David Yates made innovative use of in the final Harry Potter film, Spielberg exploits rigorously throughout his Tintin movie to make it the […]
Filed under: 2 star, Animation, Comedy, Detective, Drama, Extended essay, Fantasy, Hollywood, Steven Spielberg | No Comments »
