Space, the rebooted frontier. These are the voyages of Pine, Cumberbatch and Quinto. To boldly follow J.J. ‘lens flare’ Abrams where he’s – fairly impressively – been before. To seek out…OK, enough of that. You get the idea. Following the somewhat surprisingly successful reboot/relaunch/re-whatever of the Star Trek franchise in 2009, the young, sexy cast … Continue reading »
Brilliant barnets of Helena Bonham Carter
When it comes to hair, is bigger better? Is madder better? Depends on the person. Maybe you have to be part of the Tim Burton inner circle to pull off increasingly insane hairstyles. Whatever the case may be, watching Les Miserables recently I was impressed by how Helena Bonham Carter’s hair keeps getting bigger, brasher … Continue reading »
The Place Beyond The Pines…Schenectady
When mentioning that I was going to see The Place Beyond the Pines I referred to it as ‘the latest Ryan Gosling movie’, which is fair, given the trailer. However, it’s not an out-and-out Gosling movie, not entirely. I’ll explain, but first, the setup. Gosling plays Luke Glanton, a motorcyle stunt rider who works for … Continue reading »
Oblivion: Cruise, Kurylenko, Riseborough – an effective team?
Does Oblivion cut the futuristic mustard? Yes and no. The last Cruise sci-fi film I can recall that was any good was Minority Report (more a noir thriller, but anyway) – so this latest offering has a lot to live up to. Actually, looking back through his filmography, he’s not been in that many sci-fi … Continue reading »
Christopher Walken – oh what, wow, he’s the greatest dancer!
As an actor, Christopher Walken is unique. From his voice and delivery of lines to his undeniable screen presence and quirky nature, when he’s on form there’s something hypnotic, vulnerable and somewhat frightening about him. Indeed, he’s given some mesmerising performances over the years, sometimes for the whole film, sometimes just for a scene or … Continue reading »
End of Watch takes in-car banter to new level
Is David Ayer more of a writer than a director? His writing credits include U-571 (once described as the most historically inaccurate film of all time), Training Day (a career high), S.W.A.T. (enjoyable but unmemorable), Harsh Times (great performance by Christian Bale) and End of Watch (his best yet?). It’s probably unfair to just say … Continue reading »
Cloud Atlas – the Wachowski’s magnum opus?
Aaah, the old books to films conundrum – in this day and age are any novels truly unfilmable? In the last ten years or so the industry has brought a myriad of literary tales – all widely considered unfilmable – to the big screen: Lord of the Rings, Life of Pi and Watchmen all spring … Continue reading »
Top swordplay scenes and fencing movie moments – en garde!
Yesterday I went for my first ever fencing lesson with a group of mates. Quite an interesting sport – a lot harder than I expected. As our Hungarian instructor attempted to explain the technique behind parry and riposte, my thoughts drifted to iconic swordplay scenes from movies. Let’s look at some of my favourites: The … Continue reading »
Chastain, Bigelow and the hunt for Bin Laden
We all know the end-game right? The good old gung-ho Americans dug deep and got Bin Laden, after a decade-long hunt. A big win for the Obama regime. Question is, how did they get there? How does Bigelow take us on that journey? It’s fair to say the The Hurt Locker in 2008 represented a … Continue reading »
Top ten performances of Tom Hanks
I’m somewhat regretting starting this – I mean, TOM HANKS! The consistently high standard of films in which he’s starred, where do I start? In terms of cinematic living legends he has to be in the top ten right? It’s worth noting that – as of 2012 – his films have grossed over $4.2bn in … Continue reading »
