One would expect nothing less than a charming and quintessentially British romantic comedy from Richard Curtis, and that is exactly what you get from About Time. Underlined with subtle humour, Curtis surpasses our expectations with this wonderful story involving time-travel managing to get the balance right between a Doctor Who sci-fi side and a sentimental romance without … [Read more...]
Mulholland Drive (2001) review by That Film Journo
Few directors have such a cultural impact that a style of film is named after them. Hitchcockian, Kubrickian, Tarantinoesque are the few that spring to mind along with Lynchian. And no-one makes films like David Lynch. … [Read more...]
Pain and Gain (2013) review by That Film Brat
After the mega-blockbuster smash hit Transformers: Dark Of The Moon, Michael Bay, the infamous filmmaker that consistently churns out terrible film after terrible film yet keeps making embarrassing amounts of money, comes back to our screens two years later with his, quote, "great character piece". Pain & Gain is an odd film to review, since it's based on the true story of … [Read more...]
Only God Forgives (2013) review by That Film Brat
In 2011, Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling teamed up to create Drive, a stylish, 80s-esque neo-noir masterpiece that was my film of 2011 and one of my favourite movies of all time. Now, Gosling and Refn are back for another collaboration, this time with the revenge thriller Only God Forgives. As I said above, I was a big fan of Drive, so I was looking forward to this film … [Read more...]
Frances Ha (2013) review by That Art House Guy
New York seems to inspire filmmakers like almost no other city “ its iconic buildings provide an instantly recognisable backdrop to any number of movies. For residents, this is a double-edged sword. There's the pleasure of seeing your neighbourhood on the big screen, but cinema has also taught us that when aliens attack, zombies start to walk the earth or a giant gorilla is … [Read more...]
Almost Famous (2000) review by That Film Guy
Loosely based on director Cameron Crowe's experiences as a teenage rock journalist for Rolling stone magazine, Almost Famous is a coming-of-age drama set in 1973. … [Read more...]
Spring Breakers (2012) review by That Film Guy
Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers was cleverly advertised with the promise of former tween favourites Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez getting wild. Using the exploitation elements of the story to draw in a young, male audience it proved a box office success taking over $30m worldwide from a small budget of $5m. … [Read more...]
Seven Samurai (1954) review by That Film Dude
The huge international success of Rashomon in 1950 had cemented Akira Kurosawa's reputation as the most famous Japanese filmmaker in the world, and given him an enormous amount of clout for his future projects. Having had great success with that period piece, Kurosawa decided to make a true samurai film, something he had never done before, and so was born Seven Samurai, the … [Read more...]
The Experiment (2010) review by That Film Guy
In 1971 US psychologist Philip Zimbardo ran a sociological study known as the Stanford Prison Experiment. The idea of the experiment was to see how a diverse group of people would respond to being placed into the positions of prisoner and guard in a prison. The experiment was stopped after only six days after the guards began inflicting psychological torture on the prisoners. … [Read more...]
Blade Runner (1982) review by That Film Doctor
Blade Runner was a genre-defining film. Made at a time when the world's technological capabilities were increasing quicker than our ability to use them all properly, it tapped into all those futuristic dreams (or anxieties) that characterised societies across world. Even the futuristic-sounding musical score by Vangelis was carefully crafted to add to the fantastical atmosphere … [Read more...]