Goodbye First Love (or Un Amour de Jeunesse) is the latest film from writer / director Mia Hansen-Løve. Loosely autobiographical, it tells the story of Camille, a teenage girl who is desperately in love with her older boyfriend, Sullivan. However, he is dropping out of university in order to travel around South America. This awareness hangs over their relationship and they … [Read more...]
Children of Men (2006) review by That Film Guy
Dystopian futures are one of the most well-realised forms of science fiction in literature and film. From George Orwell's iconic 1984 all the way to films like The Road Warrior, the idea that we, as a species will inevitably destroy our own civilisation have fascinated and engaged us for decades. In 2006 Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron, fresh off dragging Harry Potter and the … [Read more...]
The Way Back (2010) review by That Film Dude
As his follow-up to 2003's excellent Master and Commander, Peter Weir made The Way Back, a film based on a supposedly true story about a group of prisoners escaping from a Gulag in Stalin-era Soviet Russia. Their journey takes them through the frozen tundra of Siberia, to Mongolia and the Gobi Desert, and finally over the Himalayas into India. … [Read more...]
Coriolanus (2012) review by That Film Dude
When people think of Shakespeare, they usually think of Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet or Macbeth. Coriolanus is not exactly a well-known play, but with any luck Ralph Fiennes' modern update on it will help bring it to more people's attention. Granted, it isn't as good as Hamlet, but then there's very little that is. At the end of the day, there's only so far wrong you can go when … [Read more...]
Dark Shadows (2012) review by That Film Guy
Based on a low-budget Gothic soap opera from the mid-1960s, Tim Burton brings us Dark Shadows, the multi-million pound reimagining that reunites regular contributors Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter. Pitched as a Gothic comedy-horror, the film ses Barnabus Collins (Depp) an 18th Century playboy spurns the advances of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) unaware that she is a … [Read more...]
Titanic II (2010) review by That Film Klown
The tagline for Titanic II is: They said it couldn't happen twice. Turns out it could. And of course it does. The early scenes are packed with heavy handed references to what we all know must follow “ the characters discuss icebergs and lifeboats, and one sailor even mentions the ironic fact that the water is exactly the same temperature as it was when the ship's predecessor … [Read more...]
How I Spent my Summer Vacation (2012) review by That Film Guy
Of all the megastars of the 1980s and 90s, none have seen a decline in popularity quite like Mel Gibson. A series of public relations disasters and a mixed bag of directorial and starring films, critically and commercially have seen the star of Lethal Weapon become something of a relic in modern cinema. It's rather apt then that his latest starring role, How I Spent my Summer … [Read more...]
Ironclad (2011) review by That Film Dude
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...]
First Blood (1982) review by That Film Guy
War is hell. It is unimaginable now to a have a war film that doesn't somehow incorporate a soldier's personal hell ideal into its narrative. Yet there was a time when soldiers were portrayed as pro-Government, 'doing their duty and loving it' role-models, exploited by the real military as poster boys for why you should sign up. Nowadays, 'War is Hell' and those fighting in any … [Read more...]
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) review by That Film Guy
Initially premiering at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, Martha Marcy May Marlene, directed by newcomer Sean Durkin, was a huge critical success. The direction and lead performances from fellow newcomer, Elizabeth Olsen (a younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley) and John Hawkes earnt the trio and the film itself numerous independent film festival awards and nominations, and on … [Read more...]