October 2011

The Archives

  • 10.28.11
    THE HELP: Simplified story elevated by cast Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    THE HELP Directed by Tate Taylor. Starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney. 146 mins. Rating: Three/Five In cinemas October 26 A WONDERFUL ENSEMBLE CAST ELEVATE THE EMOTION IN A WHITEWASHED RACISM-BASED DRAMA A shrewdly popularized tale of racism in 1960s Mississippi, there was nothing subtle about Katheryn Stockett’s best-selling novel The Help, and in that sense Tate Taylor’s adaptation remains true to its source material. Eschewing any nuanced shades of grey, The Help’s characters are cartoonish archetypes; cancer subplots and revenge pies are mercilessly milked for tears and laughs; and each demographic of Oprah’s book ...
  • 10.28.11
    WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN: The Academy needs to talk about Tilda Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN Directed by Lynne Ramsay. Starring Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller, John C.Reilly. 112 mins. Rating: Four/Five In cinemas October 21 DEEPLY UNSETTLING DRAMA EXPLORES A MOTHER AND SON’S RELATIONSHIP WITH HATRED AND EVIL Is it always wrong for a parent to hate their child? What if the child is evil? Can children be evil? And if they are, is it their parents fault? A terrifying interpretation of the nature vs. nurture debate based on Lionel Shriver’s bestselling novel, Lynne Ramsay’s difficult and visceral drama We Need to Talk About Kevin is an uncomfortable exploration of maternal ambivalence, character development and ...
  • 10.28.11
    THE IDES OF MARCH: The danger of ideals Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    THE IDES OF MARCH Directed by George Clooney. Starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Evan Rachel Wood, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei. 98 mins. Rating: Three and a half/Five In cinemas October 28 CLOONEY’S POLITICAL DRAMA IS SMART AND ENGAGING, BUT ULTIMATELY SLIGHT Apparently not the season for original scripts, this fortnight’s third adaptation owes itself to Beau Willimon’s play Farragut North, loosely based around the 2004 Democratic primary campaign of Howard Dean. However, it was Obama who ultimately influenced the film, as director George Clooney delayed its production for years, reluctant to ruin America’s Obama-inspired elation with this dark and cynical representation of ...
  • 10.28.11
    POM PRESENTS: THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD*: *Title subject to sponsorship, not truth. Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    POM PRESENTS: THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD Directed by Morgan Spurlock. Featuring Morgan Spurlock, J.J. Abrams, Peter Berg, Paul Brennan, Noam Chomsky, Quentin Tarantino. 90 mins. Rating: Three/Five In cinemas now LIGHT, FUNNY DOCUMENTARY ON PRODUCT PLACEMENT IS ALL SPONSORSHIP, NO SUBSTANCE It was only a matter of time before Morgan Spurlock made a documentary like Pom Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. The affable aficionado of giving great sales pitches without ever really providing the goods to back it up, the cheeky director is perfect candidate to explore the phenomenon of product placement. Filming numerous meetings with huge corporations, Spurlock is completely transparent ...
  • 10.28.11
    ANONYMOUS: What’s in a name? Quite a lot, actually… Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    ANONYMOUS Directed by Roland Emmerich. Starring Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, David Thewlis, Sebastian Armesto, Rafe Spall, Jamie Campbell-Bower, Derek Jacobi. 130 mins Rating: Two/Five In cinemas October 28 JUMBLED EXPLORATION OF SHAKESPEARIAN CONSPIRACY THEORY NEVER FINDS ITS TONE Director Roland Emmerich has never been subtle, but his big-budget, CGI-laden movies at least have one distinct and unsubtle tone. In Anonymous, there are about twenty. Exploring the Oxfordian theory regarding the real author of the works of William Shakespeare, Anonymous boasts a terrific premise, but ultimately fails to blend its genres of political intrigue, period farce and romantic drama. Stretching the Shakespearian allusions beyond the plot, ...
  • 10.21.11
    PERFECT SENSE: Finding meaning in chaos Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    PERFECT SENSE Directed by David Mackenzie. Starring Ewan McGregor, Eva Green, Ewen Bremner, Stephen Dillane. 92 mins. Rating: Four/Five In cinemas October 7 BEAUTIFULLY SHOT SCI-FI ROMANCE IS AN INTIMATE EXPLORATION OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE Another impressive addition to David Mackenzie’s increasingly intriguing filmography (we’re choosing to forget You Instead), his art-house sci-fi romance Perfect Sense is a beautiful, odd and immersive exploration of intimacy during a possible End of Days. An awkward one-night stand introduces our two leads. Cold and arrogant, womanizer Michael (Ewan McGregor) can have sex with women but not sleep with them, while Susan’s (Eva Green) cutting irony and self-criticism betray a ...
  • 10.21.11
    MIDNIGHT IN PARIS: Timless beauty Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    MIDNIGHT IN PARIS Directed by Woody Allen. Starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Michael Sheen, Kathy Bates, Adrian Brody, Carla Bruni, Corey Stoll. 94 mins. Rating: Four/Five In cinemas October 7 WOODY ALLEN’S WARM, WHIMSICAL ROMANCE IS AN IRRESISTIBLE EXPLOARTION OF NOSTALGIA A darling, whimsical examination of Woody Allen’s rose-tinted view of pseudo-European sensibilities and his nostalgic longing for the past, this self-aware sleeper film reveals a director who, in his eighth decade, has finally embraced the beauty of the present. As with all of Allen’s leading men, Owen Wilson essentially plays the director himself. But eschewing his too-often too-idiotic surfer insouciance in favour of ...
  • 10.21.11
    DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK: Clue – You won’t be Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK Directed by Troy Nixey. Starring Bailee Madison, Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce. 100 mins. Rating: Two/Five In cinemas October 7 FORMULAIC HORROR OFFERS CHILLING MOMENTS, BUT ITS ANTI-SMURF DEMONS FAIL TO SCARE Depressed and lonely since her parents’ divorce, young Sally (the fantastic Bailee Madison) becomes the perfect target for murderous beings that dwell in the basement of her father’s (Guy Pearce) home. Preying on Sally’s vulnerability and her father’s belief that she’s psychologically disturbed, the light-evading beings slowly seduce Sally, promising her a better life if only she’ll join them. From the bone-chillingly atmospheric prologue, to the potential exploration of ...
  • 10.21.11
    THE THREE MUSKETEERS: All for one & one for all…cynical franchise-seeking mess Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    THE THREE MUSKETEERS Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. Starring Logan Lerman, Milla Jovovich, Matthew MacFayden, Orlando Bloom. 110 mins. Rating: Two/Five In cinemas October 12 NONSENSICAL ADVENTURE REMAKE IS ALL STEAMPUNK AND STUNTS, NO SUBSTANCE Never has the phrase “All for one, and one for all” been interpreted quite so cynically. Unabashedly stealing from countless films to transform a classic tale into the broadest, most generic form of money-spinning Hollywood tripe, this lazy rehashing owes more to Pirates of the Caribbean and CliffsNotes than to Alexandre Dumas’ novel. Not exactly renowned for his originality, Paul W.S. Anderson is best known for his work on the increasingly ...
  • 10.21.11
    PARKED: Darragh Byrne’s debut marks a director who’s going places Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    PARKED Directed by Darragh Byrne. Starring Colm Meaney, Colin Morgan, Milka Ahlroth, Michael McElhatton, David Wilmot. 94 mins. Rated: Three/Five In cinemas October 14 COLIN MEANEY IS SUPERB IN UNDERSTATED BUT EMOTIVE IRISH DRAMA With a grace, humour and understanding of the human condition that echoes the work of Tom McCarthy, Irish director Darragh Byrne uses his first feature film to explore the converging lives of three individuals straddling the fringes of society. Emigrant Fred (Colm Meaney) has returned to Ireland, only to finds himself destitute. Forced to live in his car, he strikes up a friendship with a similarly situated young drug addict, Cathal ...