Monthly Archives September 2013

September 30, 2013, Posted in  Reviews

Director: John S. Baird

Cast: James McAvoy, Eddie Marsan, Jamie Bell, Imogen Poots, Jim Broadbent, Shirley Henderson, John Sessions

Cert: 18

Running time: 97mins

Year 2013

The lowdown: A bent copper movie based on a novel from Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh, you know Filth ain’t gonna be pretty. But, little can prepare for you this coke n’ booze fuelled blast through the Christmas period of James McAvoy’s particularly unwell policeman. McAvoy is a revelation as the sick dick, manipulating and taunting those around him, while indulging in all kinds of naughty business. Exhilarating, shocking, stylish and with laughs that get stuck in the throat, this is all the right kinds of wrong.

The full verdict: Fitting in some ways that Filth is set at Christmas time, as John S...

September 29, 2013, Posted in  Reviews

Director: Maggie Carey

Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Johnny Simmons, Alia Shawkat, Donald Glover, Bill Hader, Jack McBrayer, Andy Samberg, Clark Gregg, Connie Britton

Cert: 15

Running time: 104 mins

Year: 2013

The lowdown: Lewd, crude, non-judgemental and kinda sweet, Maggie Carey’s debut feature is likely to split audiences. Aubrey Plaza heads up this early 1990s set sex comedy as a brain boning up on sexcapades before embarking on her college years. With chuckles and naughtiness that would make American Pie heat over, this is the movie your parents warned you about.

The full verdict: Certain comedies get by on the likeability of their cast...

September 28, 2013, Posted in  Reviews

Director: Howard J. Ford & Jonathan Ford

Cast: Joseph Millson, Anand Goyal, Meenu Mishra

Cert: 18

Running time: 92mins

Year: 2013

The lowdown: The Ford Brothers return with this follow-up to their 2010 sleeper hit The Dead. Relocating the action from Africa to India, they offer another zombie movie to sink your teeth into. Blending Indian locations and culture into a classic odyssey story, like its predecessor this once more offers a fresh take on an overpopulated genre.

The full verdict: Despite having made two previous movies, Howard and Jonathan Ford broke through with The Dead. An unusual, dreamlike take on zombie lore, part Nicolas Roeg, part Lucio Fulci, it was the first zombie movie to be shot in North Africa.

The Fords clearly like their firsts – The Dead 2: India is the first fo...

September 28, 2013, Posted in  Features

Striking zombie horror movie The Dead 2: India is released on DVD on Monday 13th July. A follow-up to the original shocker, The Dead, part 2 transports the action from Africa to India, but keeps the imagination and unique flavour for a sequel that surpasses the first instalment.

The Dead 2 opened 2013’s FrightFest, joining the likes of Pan’s Labyrinth, Oldboy and The Guest as films to launch the premiere horror and fantastic film festival.

We caught up with the sibling team behind The Dead 2: India, Howard and Jon Ford, at the festival to discuss how they brought their memorable zombie action screaming and biting to the big screen.

[Click here for our four star review of The Dead 2: India.]

“We knew we’d have problems...

September 20, 2013, Posted in  Reviews

Director: Brad Anderson

Cast: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Michael Eklund, Morris Chestnut, Michael Imperioli

Runtime: 95 minutes

Cert: 15

Year: 2013

The lowdown: It’s high concept hell for Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin who deserve better than this formulaic 90’s throwback that should be cut off long before its demented denouement.

The Verdict: The Call begins with 911 operator Jordan (Berry) leaving her job after a fatal lapse in judgement. Six months on, still traumatised, she’s training new recruits on how to handle the pressures of work. When an inexperienced operator receives a call from Casey (Breslin), an abducted teenage girl imprisoned in the trunk of a car, Jordan reluctantly takes over and has a chance to save Casey and redeem herself.

Originally created as a televisi...

September 20, 2013, Posted in  Reviews

Director: Woody Allen

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Andrew Dice Clay, Bobby Cannavale, Louis C.K

Running time: 98mins

Cert: 12

Year: 2013

The lowdown: Cate Blanchett will surely be clutching a golden statue come March 2014’s Oscars for her astonishing performance in this sensational Woody Allen drama. As Jasmine, a pampered Manhattan socialite brought to Earth with a stony broke bump, she commands the attention with a turn of incredible complexity.  Alec Baldwin, Sally Hawkins and even Andrew Dice Clay also impress in this ambitious examination of the haves and have-nots, corporate greed and the lies we tell ourselves.

The full verdict: Woody Allen nowadays is as much miss as hit...

September 17, 2013, Posted in  Reviews

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel

Cast: Naomi Watts, Naveen Andrews, Juliet Stevenson, Geraldine James

Cert: 12

Running time:113 mins

Year: 2013

The lowdown: The most misjudged celebrity biopic since Mommie Dearest or Caligula, Diana is bewilderingly bad. Clearly aiming to be cast in the same mould as The Iron Lady and The Queen, this account of Lady Di’s final two years and relationship with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan is sunk by tin-ear dialogue, a script part Mills & Boon, part Hello! and drab movie-of-the-week type visuals. No one survives with any credibility in a movie that’s less Queen of Hearts, more fart in a spacesuit.

The full verdict: “The legend is never the whole story” breathlessly pants the Diana poster.

Hmmmm...

September 13, 2013, Posted in  Reviews

Director: Beebon Kidron

Cert: 15

Running time: 89mins

Year: 2013

The lowdown: Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit and Bridget Jones sequel director Beebon Kidron turns her viewfinder toward the Internet’s effect on young people. But, the Web is a big place and Kidron’s attempt to squeeze everything into 89 minutes leaves this documentary rather less than 3G.  Plus, there is the grumbling sense the director has never used Facebook or Twitter or the other elements of the Web of which she seems very suspicious.

The full verdict: Internet porn’s affect on young men and women’s attitude toward sex. The youth of today’s obsession with social media enabled gadgets. Teen dating in a virtual age. Gaming addiction. Web celebs. Cyber-bullying.

InRealLife could not be accused of lacking ambi...

September 11, 2013, Posted in  Reviews

Director: Ron Howard

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bruhl, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara

Cert: 15

Running time: 123mins

Year: 2013

The lowdown: Ron Howard shifts into high gear for a riveting retelling of James Hunt and Niki Lauda’s fierce rivalry on and off the 1970s Formula 1 track. Boasting pole position performances from Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl as Hunt and Lauda, two very different men with different approaches to racing, it stands as a strong contender for Howard’s best work to date. A great movie even for those not interested in F1 (or perhaps especially so), the race for Oscar starts here.

The full verdict: When not supervising one of the greatest sitcoms ever made (Arrested Development) or making more money than God with anonymous blockbusters (The Da Vinci Co...

September 8, 2013, Posted in  Reviews

Director: Zhao Lin Shan

Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Liu Yi-Fei, Qui Xin-shi Alec Su, Hiroshi Tamaki

Cert: 15

Running time: 103mins

Year: 2012

The lowdown: Lavishly presented historical epic in the Curse of the Golden Flower tradition, charting the dying moments of the Han Dynasty which spanned 200 BC – 200 AD. Chow Yun-Fat is Chancellor Cao Cao, a warlord who has vanquished enemies threatening Alec Su’s foppish Emperor Xian. But, power plays in the Emperor’s court plus assassins targeting Cao Cao for death continue to threaten the nation’s peace. Low-key despite sumptuous visuals and beautiful costumes, this is still compelling historical drama.

The full verdict: Zhao Lin Shan makes a confident directorial debut with this drama about one of China’s (many) turbulent eras.

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