Film reviews and more
★☆☆☆☆ There are a mountain of problems with Declan Donnellan and Nick Omerod’s adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s novel Bel Ami, which stars Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci and Kristin Scott Thomas. A combination of weak screenplay, dreadful direction and poor performances add up to what is undoubtedly one of the most […]
★★★★☆ Nikolaj Arcel’s lavish historical drama A Royal Affair (En Kongelig Affære, 2012), starring Mads Mikkelsen, Berlinale Silver Bear winner Mikkel Følsgaard and Swedish star Alicia Vikander, is a fine example of an incredibly well-made and enjoyable costume drama that perfectly balances romance and politics against the backdrop of 18th century Denmark.Set during […]
★★★★★ Avalon (2011), directed by Axel Petersén, maintains Swedish cinema’s reputation for outstanding films with a captivating thriller starring Swedish comedian and buddy of Mick Jagger, Johannes Brost. Set in the wealthy town of Båstad on the Swedish coastline, the story follows club promoter Janne (Brost), a man who has never really grown […]
★★★☆☆ Featuring a stalwart cast of British actors in their senior years, including Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy, John Madden’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) is an initially sluggish, yet perfectly pleasant comedy drama about a group of elderly expats retiring in a dilapidated Indian hotel.A group of men and […]
★☆☆☆☆ Professing to shed some cinematic light on the ‘Yellow Belt’ oil disputes of the early 20th century, Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Black Gold (2011) presented a fantastic opportunity for the construction of a complex, sweeping Arabian epic not seen since David Lean’s 1962 masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia. Sadly, what we get instead is a […]
★★★★☆ Few actors have a résumé as diverse as Woody Harrelson’s, and even less have managed to leave a long-running sitcom and avoid the perils of audience over-familiarity and typecasting. Since Cheers wrapped, Harrelson has worked with the likes of Oliver Stone, Terrence Malick, the Coen Brothers and Robert Altman, and his turn as […]
★★☆☆☆ Safe House (2012), the new action thriller from director Daniel Espinosa – starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds – spends most of its 117-minute running time much like its central characters – tearing madly around, making a lot of noise and not really getting very far.CIA rookie Matt Weston (Reynolds) looks after […]