It˜s testament to modestly-budgeted 1987 fairy tale The Princess Bride that decades later, the mere mention of this film elicits gushing from young and old viewers alike, followed by recollections of everyone's favourite quotes and characters. Most will either wax lyrical over the love story between Buttercup (Robin Wright - before the Penn) and her farm-boy turned … [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 Muppets (2012)
The Muppet Show was a much treasured children's TV Show created by Jim Henson in 1976. It was a great success, and was one of the first children's shows that could be enjoyed by adults just as much as it could be enjoyed by kids. This was down to it's witty scripts, enjoyable characters, and smart humour. In 1979, we got the first big screen Muppet adventure, appropriately … [Read more...]
Review: The Sitter (2012)
Jonah Hill is a talented comic actor whose career has seen him star in a host of Judd Apatow produced films and writer and performing on the legendary US TV show Saturday Night Live. His breakout performance was as a foul-mouthed teenager in Superbad and since then his career has moved in a steady trajectory with films such as Get Him to the Greek and in 2011 he gave his best … [Read more...]
Review: The Guard (2011)
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: 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: Midnight in Paris (2011)
More so than almost any director, Woody Allen makes films with a clear voice. His voice. In his earlier works he would star in his films, but as age has caught up with him, he has inserted various actors into his films to speak the words and opinions that he writes. Having never quite achieved the same critical success of his early films like Annie Hall and Manhattan, each new … [Read more...]
Review: Scrooged (1988)
Christmas time is a season of giving, recieving and all-round merriment. It is no coincidence then, that Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol is one of the most enduring tales of the period. It is so popular that for years people have attempted to recreate, reimagine and reuse the story in the medium of film. From Scrooge to The Muppet Christmas Carol, the story of a … [Read more...]
Review: Love Actually (2003)
Love Actually is a predominantly British cast, portmanteau Christmas film written and directed by Richard Curtis, a man most famous for his writing credits on Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral. He has an incredible knack for creating sweet, sentimental films without them being over-bearing or too saccharine. His previous body of work deftly combines uplifting, … [Read more...]
Review: Christmas Vacation (1989)
What your about to see isn't pretty, in fact its rather shambolic. Chevy Chase once again takes to our screens as Clark Griswold in National Lampoons: Christmas Vacation (1989). The Griswold family including a young and fresh Juliette Lewis and Beverly D'Angelo as the mother, attract chaos wherever they go, whatever they do. This time is no exception. Its Christmas time and … [Read more...]