Reviews 1040 results

Retro Movie Review – Jackass 3D

Just in time for the holidays, another round of my favourite form of regression therapy, the Jackass franchise and this time in the now almost obligatory 3D (for sequels at any rate). Now matter how much one simulates the facade of maturity, expose them to juvenile pranks such as this and the boy who laughs at the basest of humour comes out. It almost becomes secondary weather the material warrants it or not, it’s just plain fun to be this kind of kid again. As for the now included 3D ...

Retro Movie Review – Knight and Day

The comic elements of this film provide the viewer with the most entertainment and Cruise is at his best when he tones down his more strident nature on-screen. Cameron Diaz provides just the right amount of wide-eyed innocence to sell her side of the story and together they actually have a fair amount of chemistry.   //   The story, as is the case in most films of this type (a tale of spies and double crosses) is almost completely preposterous and that really just adds ...

Retro Movie Review – In The Loop

The film is predominantly dialogue based and a lot of the humour is quite quick so attention must be paid but it’s a hilarious world to enter. A place where everyone has their own agenda and is not afraid to do what ever they can to make things happen. Morality and virtue definitely take a backseat to self-serving and narcissistic behaviour.   //   The television show’s documentary style and handheld camera look is mostly kept intact as are the chances for the actors ...

Retro Movie Review – Argo

The story revolves around the efforts of a CIA operative Tony Mendez (Affleck) who concocts and implements a fantastical plan to help six American diplomats escape from Tehran during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. The plan to have them escape by posing as members of a film crew making a science fiction film called Argo sounds like a plan that only Hollywood types could come up with and that is partially true.   //   Two real tinsel town insiders’ help with the plan ...

Watch the trailer for The Translators – in Aussie cinemas September 17!

The eagerly awaited final book of a best-selling Dragon Tattoo-esque French trilogy is about to be globally released, and nine international language experts have been hired to translate it into their native tongues (English, Danish, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Greek and German). With the stakes so high, the supercilious publisher (Lambert Wilson) has them on lock-down, confined together in a bunker – without any contact to the outside world – until the task is ...

Bill & Ted Face The Music Movie Review

First, it must be said that the initial appearance of Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) slightly jars the senses with how old they actually look but that soon plays into the film’s storyline. The movie years have not been kind to the duo and their successes and failures are laid out for all to see.   //   It’s their daughters this time out that actually become the heroes of the day and Billie (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and Thea (Samara Weaving) have engaging ...

Retro Movie Review – Girls Trip

There are not a lot of surprises in store via the script but what they get just right is the chemistry between the four friends and how shared time together actually does build a bond that can transcend time. The humour runs the gambit from adult humour to juvenile shenanigans that are every bit as childish as dude road movie’s stock in trade.   //   Friends getting back together after life has driven them apart is a tale often told on screen but there is a genuine ...

Retro Movie Review – Dallas Buyers Club

Back in 1993 when McConaughey starred in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused as the twenty something loser David Wooderson, few would have imagined an Oscar in his future but the almost complete transformation of both his appearance and acting skills in Dallas Buyers Club is nothing short of amazing. From rom-com lite to serious leading man.   //   His character in DBC, Ron Woodroof is a homophobic rodeo cowboy past his prime who contracts HIV from heterosexual ...

Retro Movie Review – Black Swan

I’ve read director Darren Aronofsky sees this as a companion piece to his 2008 film, The Wrestler and it’s easy to see why. Both are an examination on the extremes one will go to for their art. However in this case he ramps things up visually and thematically into a full-scale assault on the senses. This film engenders absolutely no passive feelings.   //   The demand Aronofsky places on the audience is a mirror of the demands he placed on his cast members and the ...

Retro Movie Review – 127 Hours

James Franco plays Aron Ralston, a hyper young man who can climb, cycle and navigate with the best of them while sprouting existential dialogue and giving all those around him a running travelogue. Unfortunately for him in this case, his loner characteristics take over and he ventures forth into Robbers Roost, Utah by himself. The isolated area, once used as a hide out by Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch gang is filled with huge rock formations and an almost hidden underworld between the ...