The Imitation Game Movie Reivew
It had a high profile cast (for its time) in Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Saffron Burrows, Jeremy Northam and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who would, later on become much more famous as a pivotal character in an obscenely popular medieval TV show. There's a problem with Enigma, however and it's the fact the filmmakers substituted the real-life homosexual mathematician, Alan Turing, for a fictional heterosexual mathematician named Thomas Jericho and indeed the story centres around his very hetero...
Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Movie Review
Mexican writer and director Alejandro González Iñárritu has delivered a story inside a story about a past his use by date movie star, Keaton, who previously reaped the riches and empty adulation that went with his role of playing the big screen superhero Birdman. He is seeking redemption (artistically and humanly) by writing, directing and starring in his own Broadway play.
Alejandro uses music masterfully as the first three quarters of the film is set to a drum solo and not the ...
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Movie Review
The plague created by Will Rodman's Alzheimer's ‘cure’ has spread throughout the globe and decimated the human population and, presumably, empowered ape populations worldwide. Caesar's simian refugees build a growing community in the redwood forest while a splinter group of human survivors eke out an existence within the ruins of San Francisco. The diminishing fuel supply the human's require for electricity generation inevitably bring them into contact with Caesar's community who ...
Jersey Boys Movie Review
It should be noted that Eastwood's film is not a musical but rather features performances of The Four Seasons' music to signpost defined periods within the band's chronology. Correspondingly, the film is perfectly suited for those who love The Four Seasons music but do not possess a commensurate love of musicals (like me!) and as such appeals to a slightly different market. A smaller market it would seem given the film does not appear to be as successful as its theatrical predecessor.
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The American Movie Review
The story revolves around a hit man played with icy cool by George Clooney who is on the lame after the tables have been turned on him and he finds himself an intended target for termination. He hides out in a small Italian town that seems familiar to him and pretends to have a somewhat normal life.
Unfortunately this normalcy is only applicable to someone with no discernable job but lots of money and one whose only real human contact is with a priest with a secret and with a hooker with ...
Snow White and the Huntsman Movie Review
The story is not helped by the casting of Hollywood’s blandest starlet in Kristen Stewart nor in Chris Hemsworth whose main claim to fame so far is a comic book character. In Hemsworth's defence, though, he doesn't have much to do bar getting angry and hitting things with a hefty weapon and somehow falling in love with the heroine (I'm still not sure exactly where in the story this happened but it did… apparently). After half an hour it's abundantly clear this is going to be a generic ...
Cheri Movie Review
Indeed all the familiar parameters are in place: unrequited love, the scheming matronly type (Kathy Bates standing in for Glenn Close), the virginal victim, well-camouflaged comments aimed at the jugular, bustles and opulent architecture. But Cheri begs the question… Where’s the flesh and blood?
Set in 1906, Cheri (Rupert Friend) is a handsome, petulant playboy already tainted by too much of the good life. After accepting a seductive invitation from family friend and former courtesan ...
Gangster Squad Movie Review
The story line mainly focuses on real-life gangster Mickey Cohen and the extremes the authorities back in the day used to bring him down. Cohen’s real life story makes for fascinating reading but the movie only taps into a fraction of that but the parts they do use succeed in making Penn as Cohen one of the most over the top villains in screen history. He chews up and spits out so many gangster clichés, it become quite hilarious.
The original cut of the film was modified after the ...
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Movie Review
It’s set in India and uses that colourful and frenetic local as an integral part of the storyline. It’s a tale of redemption amongst an older generation of Brits that are bucking against feeling like they have reached their used by dates. They end up at a hotel in India under false pretences and find that the luxury hotel the ads spoke about has been replaced by a run down complex run by Sonny (played with good humour by Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire).
The set up is somewhat ...
Elysium Movie Review
The story follows Max (Matt Damon), a downtrodden underclassman vying for asylum in the privileged celestial city of Elysium. Like his poverty-stricken brethren, Max is an oppressed would-be saint crushed under the iron heel of an elitist upper class that is evil beyond redemption.
Emotionally-laden key words such as 'homeland security' and 'no-fly zone' are bandied about to ensure we don't miss the point and one of the bad guys is Apartheid incarnate with his penchant for authoritarian ...
