In the late 1980s and early 1990s there were no bigger stars in music and film as Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. It made sense at the time to put them together in order to increase their profiles and deliver a sure-fire box office hit. Taking over $410m, The Bodyguard did just that. Originally written with Steve McQueen and Diana Ross in mind, the script hung around … [Read more...]
Review: Tsotsi (2005, South Africa)
Tsotsi is a teenager gangster in the slums of Johannesburg. He's a bad guy “ this much is clear, or at least that's what he wants everyone to think. His façade at least is all tough guy “ maybe that's how he's survived, a creation of his environment. Take the opening sequence in which he and his gang murder a man on the train for his cash. When one of their number, Boston, … [Read more...]
Review: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2012)
September 11th, 2001 is a day that will forever live in the memories of those who were alive when it happened. The whole world came to mourn the tragic loss of life as various targets around the US were attacked, most notably in New York where the World Trade Centre was destroyed by commandeered planes. From this moment on, security was tightened, peoples sensibilities toward … [Read more...]
Review: A Dangerous Method (2012)
Based on The Talking Cure by Christopher Hamptons and A Most Dangerous Method by John Kerr the David Cronenberg-directed A Dangerous Method explores the birth of psychoanalysis and the key people involved in its inception Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Sabina Spielrein. It is a Canadian-English production and was one of the films that helped star Michael Fassbender win the London … [Read more...]
Review: The Counterfeiters (2007, Austria)
The Counterfeiters was the winner of the Best Foreign Language Film at the 80th Academy Awards. It's an extraordinary story, based on real events, although some have been fictionalised to slightly to fit the narrative. The protagonist is Salomon ˜Sally' Sorrowitz, based on the real Salomon Smolianoff. A Russian Jew living in Germany just prior to the outbreak of World War 2, … [Read more...]
Review: Jane Eyre (2011)
Jane Eyre is one of the most famous literary works of Charlotte Bronte and one that has been adapted numerous times for stage and screen. 2011 saw the release of Cary Fukunaga's take in the canonical work, using the script penned by Moira Buffini sees the casting of Mia Wasikowska as the titular character and Michael Fassbender as her Rochester. It took a healthy $32m at the … [Read more...]
Review: Carnage (2012)
Best known for his 1970s horror classic Rosemary's Baby, Roman Polanski is no stranger to apartment-set dramas. In Carnage, based on the stage play God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, he takes four of the finest actors working in Hollywood and sticks them in a New York City apartment for almost the entire running time film. The film set was actually designed and shot in Paris … [Read more...]
Review: Like Crazy (2012)
Long distance relationships are always difficult, with couples failing to keep in touch, communication inevitably breaks down “ out of sight out of mind. Like Crazy is an art house and ˜stylishly' made film that tries to test the distance theory. When two people are so deeply in love and devoted to each other, breaking the bond is difficult; oh how naive can one be. And so … [Read more...]
Review: Inglourious Basterds (2009)
It's the 40s “ World War II to be precise “ and Nazi Germany are spreading their fascist views as far across the globe as possible, including France. Cities are infiltrated and countryside havens are terrorised by the Anti-Semites. Hitler is also unaware that his about to get his ass handed to him on a plate in the slightly fictional Inglourious Basterds. Brad Pitt heads the … [Read more...]
Review: The Front Line (2011, South Korea)
January 1953 and the Korean War has been dragging on for two and a half years. Negotiations for a peace treaty have broken down again over a minor quibble about where borders between the north and the south should be drawn yet again. Kang Eun-pyo, an intelligence officer in the South Korean army, in his frustration, lets off too much steam in public and finds himself in … [Read more...]