A Field In England is bound to divide opinion; it may even be designed to do so. The latest offbeat offering from director Ben Wheatley (Kill List, Sightseers, Down Terrace) is a weird, trippy English Civil War film (a largely ignored genre thus far) shot in black and white on a micro-budget. It's not an easy watch but it's never anything but compelling. … [Read more...]
The World’s End (2013) review by That Film Guy
What do you do if you think the world is ending? If you're Edgar Wright, Nick Frost or Simon Pegg, you desperately try to finish an epic pub crawl. The boys are back in town, or in this case, the sleepy British village of Newton Haven. The trio of director Edgar Wright and stars Nick Frost and Simon Pegg return to complete their self-titled Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy with … [Read more...]
The East (2013) review by That Film Brat
The East is a political thriller (of sorts) co-written by star Brit Marling and based around a eco-terrorist group known as, well, The East. Ellen Page plays Sarah Moss, a former FBI agent working for a private intelligence firm, who are attempting to infiltrate The East. And, well, that's about all I can say. Normally, if I don't summarize a plot fully in a review, it's … [Read more...]
Trap for Cinderella (2013) review by That Film Student
Your face comprises a significant part of your physical identity, but what do you do when you discover that it is not actually yours? We are introduced to main protagonist, Mickey (Tuppence Middleton), lying in a hospital bed, unable to move or speak. The tear that trickles down the side of her face resonates with us and from that moment we are completely on her side. In … [Read more...]
Despicable Me 2 (2013) review by The Documentalist
Following the success of the excellent Despicable Me, Illumination Entertainment follow up their debut feature with this highly anticipated sequel and once again prove themselves worthy Pixar adversaries. With the last outing ending in harmony with Gru (Steve Carrell) and his three adopted daughters living happily ever after it was perhaps hard to see where a second installment … [Read more...]
This is the End (2013) review by That Film Guy
The apocalypse starts, what do you do? If you're Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel, you hunker down with your celebrity friend James Franco in his newly designed house and hope to survive. This is the End, based on a short film called Jay and Seth vs. the Apocalypse, marks the directorial debut of long-time collaborators Rogen and Evan Goldberg. … [Read more...]
The Internship (2013) review by That Film Student
Google is a search engine; its purpose is to provide immediate results. The same can be said for Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson's new film, The Internship, what you expect is what you get. You know that the predictable plot will invoke outbursts of uncontrollable laughter (involving Alanis Morissette and a cameo appearance from Will Ferrell), just as you know that Vaughn will … [Read more...]
After Earth (2013) review by That Film Guy
The potent combination of Hollywood nepotism and a quickly fading directorial star provide the backbone of science fiction action drama After Earth. In the future, the human race had to evacuate Earth and move to other planets, which brought them into contact with a race of alien hunters who can ˜literally smell your fear known as the Ursa. Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) is a young … [Read more...]
Much Ado About Nothing (2012) Review by That Art House Guy
Picture the scene. It's October 2011, and Joss Whedon is taking a holiday from post-production work on The Avengers. Having spent a a lengthy period working on one of the most hotly anticipate movies for years, dealing with the stresses of huge expectations from the legions of fans (and as we know, expectation is the root of all heartache*) and working all the plot strands into … [Read more...]
Review: Man of Steel (2013)
Man of Steel is the bold, brash, blue-ish grey reboot of the Superman mythos by director Zack Snyder. Taking the more Christopher Nolan route than the recent Marvel route, he presents to his audience a dark and brooding take on the last son of Krypton that follows Kal-El's growth from wonderkid to Super-Man and has him lead the charge into the new DC Cinematic Universe. … [Read more...]