The Guard won an unusual and well deserved award shortly after release, becoming as it remains at the end of 2011 as the highest grossing Irish independent film at the Irish box office. Directed by John Michael McDonagh, the brother of fellow director Martin McDonagh whose most famous film to date is scabrous black comedy In Bruges, The Guard was co-produced by the brothers as … [Read more...]
Review: Animal Farm (1954)
Animal Farm was a 1945 novel written by British author George Orwell. The book has become one of his most famous works. The story is a metaphor for the Russian revolution, and has been celebrated as one of the best English language books ever written. In 1954, John Halas and Joy Batchelor created an animated film adaptation which became known as the first British animated film … [Read more...]
Review: The Iron Lady (2012)
The Iron Lady is a biopic about Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the first Western female country head, the longest reigning British Prime Minister in the 20th century and a political and historical figure who polarises opinion to this day. It is directed by Phyllidia Lloyd (director of global smash hit Mamma Mia) and stars Meryl Streep in the lead role. … [Read more...]
Review: Goon (2012)
Sports comedy films have always had a problem marrying the comedic elements with the dramatic. Some get it right, like DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story and Slap Shot, while others don't, like Blades of Glory and Kicking and Screaming. Goon is an ice hockey film, based on the book Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey by Adam Frattasio and Doug … [Read more...]
Review: The Artist (2011, France)
The Artist arrives on our screens amidst a blizzard of Oscar hype. It's is a rare thing “ a genuinely silent movie. Since the advent of ˜talkies' in 1929, these have been few and far between, and there certainly hasn't been a silent mainstream cinematic release in the 21st century. Its silence is perhaps appropriate, as its story centres on silent movie star George Valentin … [Read more...]
Review: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
The Mission: Impossible movie franchise has never been widely regarded as good. I have a particular soft spot for Mission: Impossible 3, but I am the first to admit that it's mindless fluff. Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol (if most of the time a colon means a bad movie, this one has two) is the first M:I film to receive generally positive reviews. Is this a turn around for … [Read more...]
Review: Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989)
Winner of the 1989 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, Common Threads was made at the height of the AIDS crisis and tells of the devastating human cost of the disease in the US. The film takes its name from a giant patchwork quilt created in memory of the victims to be laid on the lawn opposite The White House to highlight the number of people who had died from AIDS and … [Read more...]
Review: Demons Never Die (2011)
Demons Never Die centres around a group of kids who, after a young girl commits suicide, decide to form a suicide pact and take their lives together. However, a masked killer starts killing them in brutal ways, effectively doing the very thing they wanted to do in the first place. As each of the group gets killed, the remaining people try to avoid death while trying to figure … [Read more...]
Review: The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec (2010, France)
The character Adèle Blanc-Sec first appeared in a series of comic books in the 1970s, written and illustrated by the French artist Jacques Tardi. In 2010, she was brought to the screen in The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, written and directed by Luc Besson, the man responsible for Nikita, Leon and The Fifth Element. … [Read more...]
Review: The Illusionist (2010, France)
The Illusionist is an animated movie released in 2010. It is based on a script by legendary entertainer and director Jacques Tati, in which he drew on his experience as a music hall performer. Tati wrote the script for the film in 1956, but never put it into production. The script was then given to director Sylvain Chomet (Belleville Rendevous) in the early years of the 21st … [Read more...]