There haven't exactly been a shortage of films based on Akira Kurosawa's classic Seven Samurai, with another remake apparently planned for the near future, and the high point of the films inspired by it is easily The Magnificent Seven, a great Western and a classic in its own right. Ironclad isn't anywhere near that good, but go into it in the right mindset and you'll still … [Read more...]
Review: The Decoy Bride (2012)
The Decoy Bride, written by Sally Phillips of Smack the Pony and I'm Alan Partridge fame is a low-budget UK romantic comedy. It stars former Dr. Who David Tennant and Boardwalk Empire star Kelly MacDonald. Made for a tiny £2.5m it has failed to make its money back at the box office based on a very limited release (only 1 screen in the US) and was released on DVD and blu-ray 3 … [Read more...]
Review: The Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists (2012)
Waiting for an Aardman film requires patience and understanding. With the advent of computer-generated animation, the wait has been reduced which leaves cinema-goers in the enviable position of having had two released within 6 months of each other. Arthur Christmas was a treat for the wintery season, but now we have a fully-fledged claymation film in the form of The Pirates! In … [Read more...]
Review: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)
The website reads "Welcome to the best exotic Marigold Hotel... for the elderly and beautiful" and it is this slogan that encourages a group of seven seniors to up sticks and move from their retirements in the UK to stay in India. Based on a novel These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is directed by John Madden, whose most famous film to date … [Read more...]
Review: The Woman in Black (2012)
School is over! Harry, (oops! I meant Daniel...sorry) has well and truly graduated from the Hogwarts School of Child Actors and puts his acting chops to the test in the quintessentially spooky The Woman in Black. Daniel Radcliffe plays Arthur Kipps, a young, widowed lawyer who is told that he must successfully travel to the north east of England and settle the estate of the … [Read more...]
Review: Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1980 (2009)
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: Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974 (2009)
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: 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: Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Based on the 2005 novel Q&A, Slumdog Millionaire became Danny Boyle's most successful film to date, including helping him win best Film and Best Director Oscars at the 81st Academy Awards. Boyle's 8th directorial feature takes the lessons he learnt from filming The Beach and improves upon them. Replacing huge film sets with handy-cams he was able to get the natural feel … [Read more...]