Reviews

From start to finish, Bryan Forbes’ Deadfall (1968) glimmers with the gloss of a 1960’s classic heist thriller, very much in the vein of Ocean’s Eleven (1960) or Topkapi (1964), and presents itself as a truly attractive film with its easy-on-the-eye cast, wonderful cinematography, and classical camera work.During a stay at a sanatorium for recovering alcoholics,…

Continue

★☆☆☆☆ Not to be confused with Woody Allen’s 1982 feature A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy, A Swedish Midsummer Sex Comedy, or Äntligen midsommar! (2009) as it is known in Sweden, is the latest offering from director Ian McCrudden. First things first; here’s what the synopsis in the press notes has to say:“A beautiful waterfront house, a…

Continue

Filmed in postwar Germany in much the same way as a number of Italian Neorealist efforts, Michael Anatole Litvak’s Decision Before Dawn (1951) concerns the moral grey area of treason and treachery in regards to two German soldiers who are hired by American forces to spy on their motherland during the Second World War’s closing months. The cast as…

Continue

Andrew Marton’s The Thin Red Line (1964), an adaptation of James Jones’ novel (later adapted by Terrence Malick), is a psychological study of men of war – their intentions, fears, masculinity and interrelationships – during the Battle of Guadalcanal. The central relationship between Keir Dullea’s young, naive Pvt. Doll and Jack Warden’s fatalistic First Sgt.…

Continue

★☆☆☆☆ Picture the scene: you’re walking through your local HMV (other retailers are available) and you’re looking to buy a movie because you’ve got the boys coming over for some gaming and beers. The perfect genre to pick for such an occasion is the ‘dumb but rather fun’ action flick – a film that is…

Continue

★★☆☆☆ It’s amazing to think what a difference 5 years and an extra 76 minutes can make. Adam Salky’s Dare (2009) originally began life as a 16 minute short before evolving into its final feature form. It tells the tale of awkward drama wannabe Alexa (Emmy Rossum), closet gay lighting technician Ben (Ashley Springer) and standard “hottie” (Zach…

Continue

From the shores of France comes Richard Berry’s 22 Bullets (2010), a surprisingly average gangster thriller starring everyone’s favourite French gunsmith Jean Reno. Reno plays Charley Mattei, a former gangster who has given up the thrill of life in the criminal underworld to spend time with his children. However, a hit is put out on him and…

Continue

The original Wall Street was one of those films that defined the era in which it was made, as well as providing us with workable credos such as “greed is good” and “lunch is for wimps.” It earned Michael Douglas – already a very seasoned actor and producer – an Oscar for his role as…

Continue

★★★☆☆ Somewhere between inspired and exceptional lies Bobcat Goldthwait’s World’s Greatest Dad (2009). A pitch black comedy fashioned at the stroke of midnight in a deep, dark cave. The ever brave Robin Williams is on lead role duty as failed writer and single father Lance, a nice but spineless poetry teacher struggling to keep his seemingly disturbed…

Continue

Hands up who knows what the Ozark Mountains look like? Well, you won’t soon forget after watching this bleak thriller. Winter’s Bone (2010) has already received 4 Academy Award nominations this year and it’s not hard to see why – you haven’t seen a landscape so unwelcoming since No Country for Old Men (2007) or The Road…

Continue