Review – 300: Rise of an Empire
The side-saddle sequel to Zack Snyder’s 300 (he co-writes Rise of an Empire) is macho motivation and nothing more.
Tag Archive: movies
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Review – Nebraska
Director Alexander Payne crafts a striking portrait of a dysfunctional family and a refined piece of Americana that contains a wonderfully dry sense of humour.
Tremble before True Detective
Here’s a little piece I wrote for Graffiti with Punctuation about True Detective a few weeks ago.
Review – Lone Survivor
After years of filmmakers fist-pumping the military superiority of the United States of America in cinema, Lone Survivor comes along to demonstrate that Americans have finally crossed over into the realm of their… Continue reading
Review – Robocop
The Robocop remake is frustratingly mediocre. It’s not a complete disaster but rather an ample catastrophe. Director Jose Padilha’s reinvention is bland compared to filmmaker Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 film, but a comparison between… Continue reading
Review – Labor Day
Prepare for an onslaught of jokes about Labor Day. Gags about pies, a ridiculously long weekend, and Tobey Maguire in voiceover mode again (see: The Great Gatsby). It’s hard not to smirk a… Continue reading
Review – The Square
So often the story of a revolution is confined to history books or fragmented across news coverage. The Square is an opportunity to see an upheaval in real-time. Director Jehane Noujaim pieces together… Continue reading
Review – The Great Beauty
The Great Beauty is ripe for arty Euro film bingo. Cryptic religious imagery. Tick. More bare flesh than the nude Olympics. Tick. A dwarf. Tick. Before yelling “bingo” on co-writer/director Paolo Sorrentino’s new… Continue reading
Review – Her
During the screening of Her I attended someone’s phone let out a bleep. That person had the power to turn off their mobile device but the cinemagoer couldn’t stand to be disconnected for… Continue reading
Review – The Wolf of Wall Street
Don’t confuse Martin Scorsese’s new film The Wolf of Wall Street as a serious attempt to say too much about the great American pastime of greed. Based on the memoir of real-life stock… Continue reading
Review – Dallas Buyers Club
In 1981 the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention published a document that reported the first case of AIDS on American soil. Medical professionals, scientists and suffers have been fighting the… Continue reading
Review – Saving Mr Banks
A therapist’s couch is replaced with Disneyland in Saving Mr Banks. Author P. L. Travers (Emma Thompson) expels a few personal demons with the help of Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) and the production… Continue reading
Review – Inside Llewyn Davis
What the American public wants in the theatre is a tragedy with a happy ending. I wish I’d thought of that line but it belongs to the author and literary critic William Dean… Continue reading
The Best Films of 2013
The opening paragraph of a best films list is usually a time for critic to muse on how difficult it is to fit all their favourites into a list or the frivolity of… Continue reading
The Best Documentaries of 2013
The format of documentary filmmaking was redefined in 2013 with exceptional directors challenging the way stories are told. There has been a really good mix of traditional ‘talking head’ docos, incredible tales of… Continue reading