A Lady in Paris

Posted in Movie review by - Jun 13, 2013
No Comments
A Lady in Paris

Hailed by Orson Welles as “the greatest actress in the world”, Jeanne Moreau was 30 when she made her breakout film, Louis Malle’s, Elevator to the Gallows. Since then she has acted in such classics as Truffaut’s Jules et Jim, Bunuel’s Diary of a Chambermaid, Michelangelo Antonioni’s La note and Jacque Demy’s The Bay of Angels. At 84, her charisma is still on show in A Lady in Paris, by Estonian director Ilmar Raag.

The story focuses on Middle aged, Estonian divorcee, Anne (Laine Mägi), having buried her mother looking for a fresh start. At …

Read More

The Internship

Posted in Movie review by - Jun 13, 2013
No Comments
The Internship

Last year’s dud comedy The Watch was a walking talking promotional campaign for Costco. This year The Internship starring Wedding Crasher buds Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn arrives giving Google the same product placement treatment. It’s an improvement on The Watch but that’s not saying much. Not even a cameo from Ferrell can lift the film beyond the mediocre.

The story centers on Nick and Billy designer watch salesman who lose their job to progress, they are dinosaurs in a modern world. So what do they do next, they apply for the Google Internship, competing …

Read More

Mud

Posted in Movie review by - Jun 12, 2013
No Comments
Mud

Directing is really about writing putting the ideas into shape and giving them structure. Jeff Nichols third film which he also wrote is one of the best American films you’ll see this year. The last Nichols film Take Shelter, set in the south memorably caught a man either in the grip of insanity or an inspired revelation. I won’t give away that ending here suffice to say it’s a cracker.

The new Jeff Nichols film is a celebration of character and storytelling inspired by Mark Twain and the great stories of the south. Told from the point …

Read More

You Aint Seen Nothin Yet

Posted in Movie review by - Jun 12, 2013
No Comments
You Aint Seen Nothin Yet

Surprisingly this is not Alain Resnais last film; a sprightly 91 year old still has a few more left in him. In a career spanning almost seventy years it’s an extraordinary canon of work. Originally a documentarian he progressed to narrative cinema with the classic Hiroshima Mon Amour in 1959 starring a youthful Emmanuelle Riva (Amour).

His latest film is based on two plays by Jean Anouilh, ‘Eurydice’ and ‘Cher Antoine.It features some of the legends of French cinema including Pierre Arditi Lambert Wilson, Sabine Azéma (who’s married to Resnais) Anne Consigny.Michel Piccoli, Mathieu Amalric, Anny Duperey and Hippolyte …

Read More

Fast & Furious 6

Posted in Movie review by - Jun 06, 2013
No Comments
Fast & Furious 6

The team is back again and after a nice retrospective over the opening credits Justin Lin the director from a script by Chris Morgan gets down to the action. Under Lin’s command the action set-pieces are superb but Morgan’s dialogue is trite and predictable.
One of the more memorable exchanges,
“aren’t you team muscle? don’t make me go over there and make you team pussy.”

This time the team are recruited by Luke Hobbs (Johnson) to bring down a crack team of criminals under the stewardship of Shaw (Evans) ex SAS black ops soldier, he’s a baddass who is building a “tech …

Read More

Still Mine

Posted in Movie review by - Jun 05, 2013
No Comments
Still Mine

Canadian filmmaker Michael McGowan hands James Cromwell a gift with the character of Craig Morrison. It’s the role of a lifetime and Cromwell seems to understand the opportunity that has been handed to him. Still Mine following the darker Amour is another journey into the challenges of growing old and protecting your independence amidst the absurdity of modern life. At its core it’s the story of an heroic individualist who just happens to be a sprightly 89 year of age.

Hauled into court and facing jail time Craig Morrison staring down a visibly unimpressed Judge asks “Do you …

Read More

Farewell My Queen

Posted in Movie review by - Jun 05, 2013
No Comments
Farewell My Queen

In film alone there have been eight representations depicting the life and times of Marie Antoinette. Benoit Jacquot’s latest interpretation comes from a screenplay that he and Gilles Taurant adapted from Chantal Thomas’s novel. Filmed largely at Versailles it looks closely at the class divide between monarch and servant and how blind love can distort your view. It’s told from the point of view of a servant blindly committed to her Queen. Visually sumptuous with a compelling narrative it skilfully avoids the dullness of many period dramas.

The story takes place during the last four days leading up …

Read More

The Great Gatsby

Posted in Movie review by - May 30, 2013
No Comments
The Great Gatsby

Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby from a script written by himself and Craig Pierce arrives in cinemas today. Like all Luhrmann films it will be loved and hated in equal measure. Its pure cinema no-one can capture the brilliance of Fitzgerald’s prose but this ambitious film is arguably Luhrmanns most mature work.

Luhrmann and Pierce frame their epic narrative through the eyes of its narrator Nick Carroway (Maguire). It is through Nick’s lens that we are swept up into 1920’s New York. Those seeking a completely faithful adaptation of the great American novel will be almost immediately …

Read More

Happiness Never Comes Alone

Posted in Movie review by - May 29, 2013
No Comments
Happiness Never Comes Alone

James Huth’s film which he also wrote with Sonja Shillito celebrates Hollywood cinema. It references classics like Casablanca, Singin In the Rain and West Side Story but plays more like Moonstruck and Notting Hill for its melding of romance and slapstick humour. Even the soundtrack features largely soulful American music. It’s glitzy, formulaic and contrived but helped by two charismatic performers has enough charm to make it a crowd pleaser.

The film begins with Sacha Keller (Gad Elmaleh), a musician playing at a jazz bar, and picking up girls for one night stands. He has everything a single …

Read More

The Hangover Part III

Posted in Movie review by - May 28, 2013
No Comments
The Hangover Part III

Todd Phillips Hangover III, from his own screenplay along with Craig Mazin leaves the funny at home. The first Hangover was inspired chaos, the second a retread of the first and the only reason for number three is to allow the cast and Phillips to receive a sizeable payday. I never thought I’d see a film where Galifianakis is not funny. But the third in the series manages to achieve that and not much else.

The film begins with Chow (Jeong) escaping from a Bangkok prison, cut to Alan driving down a freeway with a giraffe. You know …

Read More
Next Page »