Based on the 1982 children's novel by Michael Morpurgo, War Horse charts the life of a horse born and raised in Devon who gets drafted into military service. It was initially adapted into a highly successful stage play before Steven Spielberg announced his intentions to turn it into a Hollywood film. Hiring Richard Curtis and Lee Hall to write the screenplay, Spielberg himself … [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...]
Review: A Christmas Story (1983)
For a Christmas film to do its job, there are certain boxes that it needs to tick. Firstly, and most obviously, it needs to be set at Christmas. Secondly there needs to be something that the main character is striving for, with obstacles constantly appearing in his way. There should be a nice feeling of nostalgic sentimentality to everything, preferably some snow and children … [Read more...]
Review: Hugo (2011)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B0064YON8G][/pullquote] Rarely in this age of cinema where box offices are dominated by hulking great franchise films like The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and Transformers: Dark of the Moon do you expect to find a high-budget independently-spirited, world … [Read more...]
Review: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00A6HL7S6][/pullquote] In recent years Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga has become a global phenomonen to rival Harry Potter. Originally best-selling novels, it wasn't long before the rights were snapped up and a film mega-franchise was born. Casting Robert Pattinson … [Read more...]
Review: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00A6HL7S6][/pullquote] The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is the third film in the ultra-popular franchise. Following on from Twilight and New Moon, Eclipse moves the action onto a new group of vampires spawned under the leadership of franchise newcomer Xavier Samuel. Unlike … [Read more...]
Review: The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00A6HL7S6][/pullquote] The staggering success of Twilight meant that the sequel was green-lit almost immediately after release. The Twilight Saga: New Moon recasts Kristen Stewart as moping, angst-filled teenager Bella and Robert Pattinson (R-Patz) as brooding, … [Read more...]
Review: Twilight (2008)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00A6HL7S6][/pullquote] After the staggering success of Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter franchises, it was only a matter of time until Stephanie Meyer's insipid Twilight Saga was put on the silver screen, with the usually capable Catherine Hardwicke chosen to … [Read more...]
Review: Spider-Man (2002)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B007I1QUYE][/pullquote] Director Sam Raimi cut his teeth in the film world with the cult horror trilogy Evil Dead. His blend of horror and comedy worked perfectly for the low budget adventures of Ash, but in 2002 his skill was tested with a bigger budget and the start … [Read more...]
Review: Ghost World (2001)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B0000649JX][/pullquote] Forget American Pie or even the The Inbetweeners Movie, films which offer inclusivity by asking you to follow the exploits of teens who find themselves socially excluded. However uproariously funny, those movies give you an outsider's … [Read more...]