Adaptations of popular television shows into films are a reasonably rare occurrence these days, but even rarer are television films that later get a theatrical release. This was however the case for the Red Riding trilogy produced by Channel 4 that was so acclaimed that all three films were released in theatres in the US in 2010. Based on the four novels by David Peace, the Red … [Read more...]
Review: The Secret in Their Eyes (2009, Argentina)
Benjamin Esposito sits at his desk and tries to make the words come. We see two scenes he's striving to describe “ lovers breakfasting together for the final time; a train pulling away from a station and separating a couple; the brutal murder of a young woman. Esposito is a retired legal counsellor and he's decided to write a novel based on a case twenty five years old, but … [Read more...]
Review: The Grey (2012)
The Grey is an American survival thriller starring Liam Neeson and directed by Joe Carnahan. Inspired by a short story called Ghost Walker, it follows a group of men who survive a plane crash in Alaska and find themselves on the run from a vicious pack of wolves. Shot in 40 days on location in Alaska, The Grey teams Carnahan up with producer Ridley Scott and star of one of his … [Read more...]
Review: J. Edgar (2012)
Hoover is a name that's synonymous with the FBI. For nearly 50 years the man built the Federal Bureau of Investigation into what it is today, battling the press, government and the general public. J. Edgar sees Leonardo DiCaprio stepping into Hoover's shoes and taking on, possibly, his most complex role to date. The film may not appeal to the general public in the same way … [Read more...]
Review: Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
Despite the title, Fahrenheit 9/11 Michael Moore's follow up to his Oscar winning 2002 feature Bowling for Columbine is not a conspiracy piece about the Twin Towers as one might expect but rather it tackles the subject of terrorism and the War on Terror. Along the way, the Bush administration takes a severe hammering and the motives for the invasion of Iraq are examined. … [Read more...]
Review: W.E. (2012)
It's no secret that Madonna likes and identifies with strong women. So when her second directional effort turned out to be about scarlet-woman du jour Wallis Simpson, no one was much surprised. W.E follows the story of rich, lonely New Yorker Wally Winthrop and her obsession with the affair which rocked the pre-WW2 nation. The split narrative jumps between the story of Wallis … [Read more...]
Review: Tyrannosaur (2011)
Tyrannosaur is the directorial debut of British actor Paddy Considine. Based on a short film written and directed by Considine called Dog Altogether, it brings back the same actors, Peter Mullen and Olivia Colman but goes into more depth about their lives in the Midlands. The story is loosely based on Considine's upbringing but is in not autobiographical. One third of the films … [Read more...]
Review: Shame (2012)
Steve McQueen is a visual artist, writer and film-maker from London whose second directorial feature, Shame, was released in 2012. His debut feature, Hunger, about the Irish hunger strike in 1981, helped launch his feature-film career and propel Michael Fassbender from aspiring actor to mainstream star-in-waiting. In this second collaboration, McQueen and … [Read more...]
Review: A Better Life (2011)
As any University student studying film will tell you, The Bicycle Thief is the most famous of the Italian neo-realist movement after World War II. The movement remained relevant for a decade between 1943 and 1953, but its influence continues to this very day, notably Chris Weitz's (The Twilight Saga: New Moon) A Better Life, which is a modern-day homage to The Bicycle Thief. … [Read more...]
Review: The Descendants (2011)
Matt King (George Clooney) is a property magnate in Hawaii whose life is turned upside down when his wife has a boating accident and slips into a coma. His daughter Alexandra (Shailene Woodley), angry with her mum about the situation tells Matt that she was having an affair with another man. Angry and betrayed, Matt begins searching for the man, juggling the responsibilities of … [Read more...]