2011
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Special Feature: David Fincher movie marathon
With the English language film adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – the first book in the late Swedish crime writer Stieg Larsson’s bestselling Millennium trilogy – due for release in the UK on Boxing Day (26 December) featuring an all-star cast including Daniel Craig (returning as Bond next year in Sam Mendes’…
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DVD Review: ‘A Separation’
★★★★☆ Widely regarded as one of the most emotionally engaging films released this year, before first viewing Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation (2011) certainly commands some high expectations. Fortunately, Farhadi’s latest effort succeeds as an intricately-woven drama that delivers in every single department, from its array of supremely impressive performances through to its morally-challenging…
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DVD Review: ‘Horrible Bosses’
★★☆☆☆ Horrible Bosses (2011) – the farcical comedy from director Seth Gordon – is certainly a surprise, though possibly not of the pleasant kind. With an A-list cast including Arrested Development’s Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Jamie Fox and Donald Sutherland, the humorous elements of the film are…
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DVD Review: ‘Deadly Blessing’
★★☆☆☆ Deadly Blessing (1981) has the potential to be a classic, but ultimately fails to deliver what matters most in a horror film – namely horror. Terror maestro Wes Craven’s fifth directorial outing, and the first main feature for an as yet unknown Sharon Stone (the infamous ‘base’ years were still some way off), this…
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DVD Review: ‘Underwater Love’
★★★★☆ ‘Pink film’ is a Japanese phenomenon that conveys complex political issues of gender and sexuality through sex and sexual violence. However, Underwater Love (2011) is a mixture of surrealist comedy, musical and softcore pornography and happily forgoes the sexual violence route. Directed by Shinji Imaoka and featuring Christopher Doyle as director of photography, Underwater…
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DVD Review: ‘One Life’
★★★☆☆ Hoping to capitalise on the success of current BBC One ratings hit Frozen Planet and the Christmas home entertainment market, this week BBC Earth release One Life (2011) on DVD and Blu-ray following its theatrical run in July of this year. British actor Daniel Craig – returning in the role of 007 for Bond…
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Red Carpet: ‘Happy Feet Two’ UK Premiere
In a flurry of fake snow and Arctic-themed decorations, Happy Feet Two (2011) premiered earlier today in Central London. Directed by George Miller, the movie brings back the talents of Elijah Wood (Mumble), Robin Williams (Ramon/Lovelace) and Hugo Weaving (Noah the Elder) as the voices of the singing and dancing penguins, and also sees the…
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Jameson Cult Film Club: ‘Back to the Future’
Spirits were high on Wednesday night as hundreds queued outside Manchester’s Town Hall for perhaps the most hotly-anticipated of this year’s Jameson Cult Film Club screenings. For one night only, the beautiful gothic surroundings of the Great Hall were transformed into the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance, as a full house eagerly watched Marty McFly…
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Film Review: ‘Snowtown’
★★★★☆ Daniel Henshall and Lucas Pittaway are both phenomenally assured in Justin Kurzel’s debut Snowtown (2011), an uncomfortably harrowing and gritty account of Australia’s most notorious serial killer (John Bunting) and the infamous ‘bodies in the barrels’ case which shocked the world. Sixteen-year-old Jamie (Lucas Pittaway) lives with his mother and two brothers in a…
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Film Review: ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1’
★★★☆☆ So, another successful franchise is gearing up towards its end: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011) – directed by Bill Condon, starring Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner and released this Friday – is in fact the first, penultimate installment of the finale for the Twilight series, the love story…