Chimpomatic

Buried

Tense and inventive one-man thriller that piles on the suspense, but wears a little thin as you might expect.

#JustWatched
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#CSF

1st Jan 2013

The Bourne Legacy

Jeremy Renner runs into M Damon's shoes in this efficient franchise extension. Rachel Weisz roped in.

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1st Jan 2013

The Princess Bride

Witty, totally enjoyable fairy tale romp, with Homeland's Saul sans beard. Modern classic.

Halliwell says: Rather strained fantasy with occasional bright moments.*

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31st Dec 2012

Valley Girl

Influential teen-punk-rock-angst movie template. High on cred, low on plot.

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#CSF

31st Dec 2012

What Just Happened?

Engaging, stylish black comedy with DeNiro on rare decent form. Great Bruce WIllis beard cameo.

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31st Dec 2012

Moon

Ambitious, stylish, old fashioned low-budget sci-fi that takes a while to find it's feet, but pays off nicely.

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30th Dec 2012

Sherlock Holmes, A Game of Shadows

Noisy, shapeless sequel, sacrificing pace and clarity for style and set pieces.

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30th Dec 2012

The Sitter

Lame attempt to modernise the brat pack movies of the 80s. Light on LOLs.

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29th Dec 2012

2046

Incomprehensible, semi-futuristic rehash from Wong Kar Wai, who is seemingly out of fresh ideas and fading fast.

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29th Dec 2012

Foul Play

Chevy almost plays it straight in this late 70s comedy-thriller, while Goldie Hawn does the screwball.

Halliwell says: Sometimes sprightly, sometimes tired rehash of Hitchcock elements, rather on the level of the similar Silver Streak.*

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28th Dec 2012

The Guilt Trip

Seth Rogen & Barbra Streisand drive each other a bit nuts. Amiable momcom, good chemistry underused.

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28th Dec 2012

Bad Santa

Unflinchingly depraved Xmas comedy, with a career-defining performance of Lebowski-esque proportions.

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27th Dec 2012

It's A Wonderful Life

Inspiring, slow-burning sentimental Christmas classic with vintage waterworks finale. \#BTTFII.

Halliwell says: Superbly assembled small-town comedy drama in a fantasy framework; arguably Capra's best and most typical work.****

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26th Dec 2012

The Adventures of Tintin

Spielberg brings a bit of mo-cap Indiana Jones action to the Belgian man-child.

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26th Dec 2012

Hugo

Touching homage to cinema from that guy that did Goodfellas, tucked away behind a broad brushstrokes kids film.

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25th Dec 2012

Celeste & Jesse Forever

LA divorcecom. Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg try to stay BFs post-breakup. Nicely judged.

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23rd Dec 2012

Hope Springs

Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep learn to get it on again with Steve Carrell's guidance. Muted romcom.

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23rd Dec 2012

The Watch

More loose dudecom antics, Richard Ayaode joins Stiller/Hill/Vaughan on suburban neighbourhood patrol.

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23rd Dec 2012

Men In Black 3

Time travel thrown into the MIB template, Josh Brolin makes a good 60s Tommy Lee Jones.

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23rd Dec 2012

Total Recall

Total forget.

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23rd Dec 2012

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Tepid dud, sacrificing tension for coincidence and cheap laughs via Simon Pegg.

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21st Dec 2012

Jack Irish

Utterly derivative, but still entertaining PI series - with Guy Pearce doing an Aussie version of Wallander.

#TV

20th Dec 2012

Midnight In Paris

Light, fun time travel romcom with proxy Woody Allen Owen Wilson meeting 1920s boho greats at night.

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17th Dec 2012

Seven

The edgy extremities may have worn with time but David Fincher's masterpiece still packs an accomplished punch.

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16th Dec 2012

Safe House

Decent coming-of-age CIA thriller, despite the usual OTT Denzel Washington.

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15th Dec 2012

Ladyhawk

No Can Do

I stupidly under-rated this album for a few weeks. So many hooks.

#OnRotation
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#CSF

12th Dec 2012

In The Mood For Love

Another retread of the usual WKW themes compensated by great art direction and cinematography.

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9th Dec 2012

Timecrimes

Ingenious Spanish thriller that ties itself up in all kinds of knots.

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6th Dec 2012

Contagion

Exciting, ambitious, ensemble medical thriller from Soderbergh - hampered by a dodgy turn from Jude Law.

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#CSF

4th Dec 2012

Weekend

Stylish, accomplished feature about a burgeoning romance ...that gets a bit drawn out.

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30th Nov 2012

Tiny Furniture

Clinical 90s indie throwback, with lots of middle-class art students talking about themselves.

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25th Nov 2012

The Final Countdown

Underdeveloped time-travel flick that pits an 80s aircraft carrier against the 40s Japanese.

Halliwell says: Quite an enjoyable bit of schoolboy science fiction, but containing no more body than an episode of Twilight Zone. The ending, as so often, is impenetrable.*

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21st Nov 2012

50 / 50

Ambitious cancer movie, with an original take and many powerful moments.

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18th Nov 2012

Alien Nation

Dated, but not unsuccessful, attempt to mash up buddy-cop and sci-fi tropes.

Halliwell says: What begins as an interestingly oblique look at the problem of racism soon turns into a lacklustre action movie.

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16th Nov 2012

In Time

Clunky, clumsy, convoluted sci-fi from Andrew Niccol. Re-treading his usual themes.

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16th Nov 2012

21 Jump St

Effective comedy reboot with @ChanningTatum making a good case to take over @Mark_Wahlberg's comedy crown.

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15th Nov 2012

Lincoln

Daniel Day-Lewis is Oscar-bait in Spielberg's history lesson, a West Wing 1860 full of wit & political drama.

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13th Nov 2012

Act of Valor

Exciting first-person action can't trump a crass plot, appalling script and diabolical non-actor leads.

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#CSF

11th Nov 2012

War Horse

Plodding, formless WWII drama with Spielberg in full schmaltz mode. Blackadder IV meets Black Beauty.

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10th Nov 2012

Win Win

Engaging, low-key, small-town wrestling comedy-drama ...with Paul Giametti and Gyp Rosetti.

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6th Nov 2012

Haywire

Note to self - never cast a stunt actor as the lead in an ensemble feature film. Steven Soderbergh disaster.

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5th Nov 2012

Haywire

Soderbergh tries action with a bare bones freelance spy thriller. Big name cast bit lost in global plot twists.

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5th Nov 2012

Crazy, Stupid, Love

Above average rom-com, with all the usual ingredients assembled in a fresh, touching way.

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3rd Nov 2012

Paranoid Park

Gus Van Sant's skateboard / whodunnit mash up meanders aimlessly, pretending 'Kids' never happened.

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30th Oct 2012

Texas Killing Fields

Shambolic, badly directed thriller from Michael Mann's daughter - set in a rainy (?!) Texas.

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29th Oct 2012

Like Crazy

Successful low budget indie, building a touching portrait of firstlove and a long-distance relationship.

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29th Oct 2012

Skyfall

Solid, stylish, well-rounded Bond - that tips its hat while also serving as something of a reboot.

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26th Oct 2012

The 40 Yr Old Virgin

Prototype @JuddApatow movie without the LOLs of Knocked Up or the confidence of Funny People.

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25th Oct 2012

Argo

(dir. Ben Affleck)

Trenchcoats, crazy CIA plans, beards and a gripping true life hostage situation - there's a lot to enjoy in Ben Affleck's latest. Following The Town and Gone, Baby Gone, this is another assured directorial job from Affleck, here channeling the spirit of 70s classics like All The President's Men and Klute to craft an intelligent, grown-up thriller that doesn't have to resort to shoot-outs to ratchet up the tension. Bonus points for Van Halen and Led Zep on the soundtrack.

Tehran 1979: Ayatollah Khomeni's revolution is in full swing, the US embassy is stormed, 52 hostages taken - but six staff members manage to escape in the confusion and seek refuge in the Canadian embassy. Back in Washington, Carter-era spooks concoct "exfiltration" plans - with "the best bad idea" being a fake Hollywood production company scouting middle eastern locations for a Star Wars rip-off.

The film keeps the potential for any "Hollywood - so CRAZY!!" stuff to a minimum - managing to contrast it with the intensity of 70s revolutionary Tehran without resorting to Get Shorty wackiness. Max graininess in the cinematography (shot with an Arri Alexa, fact fans, as well as "on film, cut in half, blown up 200%" according to IMDB trivia) combines with actual news footage to build convincing period atmosphere. 

Affleck plays Tony Mendez, the CIA agent leading the plan, a role that plays to his strengths. The rest of the casting is spot on - Bryan "Breaking Bad" Cranston, Tate "Damages" Donovan, John Goodman as Hollywood make-up expert John Chambers (responsible for Planet Of The Apes' apes and Spock's ears), Alan Arkin, Victor Garber, Rory "Dazed And Confused" Cochrane, Titus (Lost's Man in Black) Welliver, Scoot (Monsters) McNairy and a cameo from Adrienne Barbeau in the goofy Argo cast's table read.

For more background, here's the Wired article on the actual CIA operation and the real-life fake movie. It's a great read, though obviously it's pretty much the entire plot. One nice detail that gets a little lost in the film - Captain America co-creator Jack Kirby did the original comic strip-style production drawings.

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24th Oct 2012 - Add Comment - Tweet

Jumper

Teleporter playboy Hayden Christensen zips from pyramids to Tokyo, chased by a blond Sam Jackson. Fun idea, flat.

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15th Oct 2012