Review: How I Spent My Summer Vacation****
Not to be confused with the 1997 teenie film of the same name, this is Mel Gibson’s new drama, How I Spent My Summer Vacation that for those in the know seems part like a film version of Rusty Young’s brilliantly gripping Marching Powder. It seems that Gibson – who needs a career/personality boost and is the co-writer on this film – has possibly taken some ideas from this novel about the real-life experiences of a drug dealer in a Bolivian jail run like a miniature city. In terms of a Gibson revival after the rather odd and equally retrospective…
Review: Safe***
British bulldog Jason Statham always manages to beguile you on screen with his seemingly boundless choreographed energy and corny one-line growls that have become his reliable trademarks. Without such qualities of seasoned action veterans like Schwarzenegger and Stallone in their heyday, the Statham flick would be dead in the water, like an action flick of a bygone era. Paradoxically, there is also a very fresh and contemporary feel to a Statham film too, in its video-gaming context that combines style and a breakneck editing pace that often defies reality. Writer-director Boaz Yakin’s Safe is in this category, as The Transformer…
Review: Piggy**
London seems to be awash with potentially violent males lurking on every street corner, ready to explode with pent up rage given the right situation – if homegrown cinema is anything to go by. Debut writer-director Kieron Hawkes’ Piggy is another depressingly gritty tale of modern-day woe from the UK capital’s ‘mean’ streets that follows a vengeful angle to justify its brutal onslaught. Even the most hardened viewer will find this genuinely beautifully shot film tough to stomach, with little respite or acceptable explanation as to how its protagonist goes from loathing violence to cold-hearted and mindless thuggery. Mild-mannered and…
Review: Strippers Vs Werewolves***
Director Jonathan Glendening of 13Hrs werewolf notoriety doesn’t move that far away from his furry feral fiends in his latest grizzly flick, Strippers Vs Werewolves. This exceptionally daft, tongue-in-cheek pastiche of the erotic slasher B-movie also taps into the comic-book filmmaking fascination of recent years with deviant glee, but all with the sole purpose of entertaining in the most blood spewing and badly acted way. And for those who never tire of Robert ‘Freddy’ Englund cameos, there’s a treat for fans too. After werewolf Mickey (Martin Kemp) is accidentally killed in strip club Vixens, the girls who work there have until…
Review: Avengers Assemble (3D)****
The wait is over, and it’s been well worth it to see the likes of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) join forces with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) in a superb superhero finale to save the planet. And opposite every hero should be a worthy component to do battle with – in this case, Thor’s ego-bruised stepbrother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Director Joss Whedon’s offering allows each Marvel member a chance to shine and retain their mighty personality, hence, going to satisfy fans of each character…
Review: Battleship***
Love it or hate it; John Carter star Taylor Kitsch is here to stay, and even though his latest movie, Battleship, is monumentally moronic, there is still a huge amount of over-the-top, double entendre theatrics and bombastic action to giggle gleefully at. The added draw for some of director Peter Berg’s (hopefully) satirical ode to all recent sci-fi action movies will be pop star Rihanna or perhaps True Blood’s man mountain Alexander Skarsgård? Either way, Battleship goes forth with all guns blazin’ to bring down an alien enemy and any shred of credibility. The plot is a simple one: based on Hasbro’s…
Review: Titanic (3D)***
Our fascination with the last few hours onboard the doomed 1912 passenger liner Titanic and its now eerie, watery grave – to quote Celine Dion – “will go on and on and on”. James Cameron took this then moulded it into a classic love story for the big screen back in 1997, and the film and its young stars, Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio, encapsulated the emotions of hope, fear and determination. The story itself is still as powerful and goose-pimply as the first time and simply made for big-screen viewing. Everyone knows the ending – Titanic sinks, but for…
Review: La Grande Illusion****
La Grande Illusion is Jean Renoir’s poetic 1937 anti-war masterpiece that triumphs international unity while poignantly and good-heartedly mocks man’s egotistical obsession with gaining power. It has some genre-defining performances from Jean Gabin and Pierre Fresnay that surely influenced later, like-minded films, such as those of The Great Escape, Catch 22etc. It also quirkily explores war as the ultimate class leveller, doing away with conventional social barriers and creating newer, temporary (if irrelevant) ones, making for a fascinating and witty dynamic filled with contemporary value. During the First World War, two French airmen – wealthy aristocratic officer De Boeldieu (Fresnay)…
Review: Headhunters*****
Norwegian actor Aksel Hennie is the ultimate, contemporary cinematic scoundrel in director Morten Tyldum’s electric crime thriller Headhunters as Roger, the country’s most accomplished corporate headhunter. Like a young Christopher Walken in looks, temperament and acting prowess, Hennie is a truly exciting revelation to discover and took 2011’s London Film Festival by storm. Roger has it all: luxurious lifestyle, stunning and smart wife Diana (Synnøve Macody Lund) and a high-flying career. But it’s not enough, and he conceals a dark alter ego. When his art dealer wife introduces him to handsome businessman Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) – a former deadly…
Review: Mirror Mirror**
The crux of the Snow White story is oddly missing in Tarsem Singh’s adaptation of the classic fairy-tale – namely the dominant power of the mirror that controls the destiny of all who stares into it. This cocky, camp modernization attempts a blend modern-day austerity/irony with family-friendly humour that doesn’t quite mesh. Its lead star Julia Roberts as the wicked stepmother is neither convincingly evil nor devishly funny, and spends the majority of the time merely looking smug at all her screen time – Singh has certainly got his A-list exposure for his money. The story is a very 21st Century…
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