This is a flashback on history that for me was unfamiliar and enlightening. In 1986 the riots between the Protestant and Catholic Church were becoming a regular backdrop to everyday life. Simultaneously, Northern Ireland qualified for the World Cup for the third time, travelling to Mexico to compete against the best in the world. Shooting…
The nature of romantic comedy has changed in the past 20 years. Sleepless in Seattle, Pretty Woman – these movies provided a fairytale aspect to the idea of romance: Prince Charming, the one person made for you. Nowadays, a hyper-realistic brand of rom-com has sprung up, grounded less in idealised perfect moments and more in…
“You can either do good, or do well.” Such is the backdrop of this British attempt at a zero gadget spy film. Spooks: The Greater Good starts slow, introducing a nice bit of brooding menace via Kit Harrington, followed by Elyes Gabel’s coldly passionate antihero. The first real spycraft is actually quite well done, creating…
The Dressmaker follows Myrtle Dunnage (Kate Winslet), returning from Paris to the town she grew up in, where her mother “Mad Molly” (Judy Davis) has all but lost her memory. She has to face the realisation that she may have murdered a young boy as a child, and even though she does not recall the…
Fade in on London in the 1960’s. A female voice (Emily Browning) narrates our story. The story of the Crays twins, infamous Gangster Princes of the East End. One suave and loquacious, the other gritty and a little bent. Legend’s first hour is exceptional. It’s what I was expecting walking in, with Tom Hardy playing…
Romantic comedies, as a rule, tend to get a bad rap. About half the time it’s deserved, as cliché follows cliché while subpar acting combines with flimsy plot development. (Doesn’t mean I don’t love them.) Learning to Drive, however, strays as far from this stereotype as possible while still falling under the rom-com umbrella. In the…
I remember a time. A special time, when around every corner was another secret waiting to be discovered, another story to be told. It was a time that could never end. Of course it did end. We grew up. Reality intertwined our perception and the tales we’d created faded into insignificance. Pan asks us to…
I’ve done a lot of travelling in my time. There was a lot of dancing, more music than I could shake a glowstick at, and enough glorious (at the time) experiences that there’s definite “nostalgia” (cringeworthy recollections) to be “remembered fondly” (blatantly denied). We Are Your Friends captures all of that and then some. At its heart,…
This movie is good. Like, really, non-cliché, good. I’d rewatched the previous, Timothy-Olyphant-starring Hitman film in preparation for this one. I’d enjoyed it. It wasn’t a cinematic masterpiece, but still an enjoyable film. After watching Hitman: Agent 47 however, it simply pales in comparison. Agent 47’s action sequences are superb, and the stunts leave you…
I love “hard man” films. Dirty Harry, Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude, Seagal, Jet Li, Statham; the one thing they all possessed was a sense of controlled violence waiting to be unleashed. Unfortunately, Transporter Refueled has all the danger of a kitten playing with a ball of string. Ed Skrein manages the walking tall part adequately, but instead…
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