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On the Beach
Atmospheric, somber, slow-burning, post-apocalyptic drama that fails to ignite.
Halliwell says: Gloomy prophecy which works well in spasms but is generally too content to chat rather than imagine. A solid prestige job nevertheless.**
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6th Apr 2013
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Lockout
Hideously mis-cast, B-grade Euro-blockbuster, with Luc Besson's sticky fingers all over it.
4th Apr 2013
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RIP: Roger Ebert
America's Barry Norman, Roger Ebert has died aged 70. With presenting partner Gene Siskel, their show At The Movies ran a thumbs up/thumbs down system ...and generally got it right.
4th Apr 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Only God Forgives
New one from Nicolas Winding Refn; Ryan Gosling gets moody in Bangkok.
4th Apr 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ill Manors
Well-handled urban crime drama, that deals with the same old boring cliches.
3rd Apr 2013
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Trailer Park: Greetings From Tim Buckley
New rock bio about Jeff Buckley (looks like it's not starring James Franco after all)
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3rd Apr 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Lando Of Arabia
Never noticed how much of Lando's style there is in Omar Sharif's character Sherif Ali in Lawrence Of Arabia.
2nd Apr 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: This Is The End
Apocalypse woah: James Franco, Seth Rogen, Danny McBride etc get all "dude, it's the end of the world"
2nd Apr 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Brave
Decent fairytale about a highlands princess who can't bear tradition. Looks great, but lacks pure Pixar magic.
31st Mar 2013
Read more 3 star reviewsTrailer Park: Before Midnight
Round three: Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke walk and talk again.
28th Mar 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Promo Promo: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Epic, #NSFW video starring @LilyCole for the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs track Sacrilege.
27th Mar 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: The Wolverine
Two trailers for the upcoming Wolverine movie. Doesn't really look all that much 'harder and darker' than the last one or any of the X-Men movies....
27th Mar 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
American Psycho
Overblown, vacuous satire that is hampered further by Christian Bale's near-slapstick performance.
Halliwell says: A daft, elegant portrait of a self-obsessed, fashionable, design-conscious man descending into psychosis as a result of his obsessions.**
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25th Mar 2013
Read more 2.5 star reviewsShort Attention Span Theatre: Voice Over
Tense short from REC director Luiso Berdejo, via Short of The Week
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25th Mar 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Omega Man
Charlton Heston cruises an empty NYC by day, dodges albino mutants by night. Good start, lacks tension.
Halliwell says: "Realistic" version of a novel which was about vampires taking over, and was previously filmed unsatisfactorily as The Last Man On Earth. This nasty version rises to a few good action sequences but is bogged down by talk in between.*
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24th Mar 2013
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On The Beach
Cary Grant and Ava Gardner wait months for lethal atomic radiation to arrive down under. Apocalypse slow.
Halliwell says: Gloomy prophecy which works well in spasms but is generally too content to chat rather than imagine. A solid prestige job nevertheless.**
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23rd Mar 2013
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Last Days
Unrevealing, uninvolving, dull meander through the last days of a Kurt Cobain-esque grunge star.
23rd Mar 2013
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Peace, Love & Misunderstanding
Uptight Catherine Keener reconnects w Woodstock mum Jane Fonda. No surprises, good vibes.
23rd Mar 2013
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Men In Black 3
Big, brash, glitzy summer blockbuster - that's surprisingly lean, well rounded and entertaining.
22nd Mar 2013
Read more 3 star reviewsSkate or Die: Equinox
I can totally understand why they don't get made that much, but I love an arty skate video. This is Equinox, from Toronto production house Street Feet.
"Cold street footage with a dose of jazz, rap, Charles Bukowski and much more." - via Crossfire Magazine
22nd Mar 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
I'm So Excited!
Almodovar reworks Airplane! as a wild mescaline-fuelled mile-high business class satire. Mucho fun.
18th Mar 2013
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We Bought A Zoo
Low-effort, cookie cutter sentimental drama that has some merit.
17th Mar 2013
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Trailer Park: Alan Partridge Is In Alpha Papa
(or COLOSSAL VELOCITY)
15th Mar 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Any Given Sunday
Glitzy, predictable NFL movie that wishes it had Michael Mann in charge instead of Oliver Stone.
14th Mar 2013
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Trailer Park: Kick-Ass 2
Contents: more ass-kicking, some Jim Carrey .
14th Mar 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Margin Call
Taut, economical thriller with a strong cast filling out some juicy roles as the financial bubble bursts.
12th Mar 2013
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Margin Call
Taut Wall St meltdown. Zachary Quinto spots black hole in his firm's numbers, passes it up the food chain.
10th Mar 2013
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Ice Cold In Alex
Classic WW2 desert rats adventure with John Mills dying for a Carlsberg in the Sahara.
Halliwell says: Engrossing desert adventure with plenty of suspense sequences borrowed from The Wages Of Fear; long, but very well presented.**
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10th Mar 2013
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Chronicle
Decent enough superhero flick that paints itself into the usual shapeless, found-footage corner.
8th Mar 2013
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Upstream Color OST
Shane Carruth has released the soundtrack to his excellent Upstream Color on iTunes; download MPfree taster A Sullen Rush And Roar, or (up)stream the whole lot on Soundcloud
7th Mar 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Houdini
Tony Curtis gets a wriggle on in this short, functional, not particularly magical biopic.
Halliwell says: Superficial biopic with more attention to romance than to interesting detail. Some zest in the playing is killed by claustrophobic studio sets.*
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7th Mar 2013
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Bones Brigade An Auto biography
Decent, surprisingly moving doc about the radical neon superheroes of sk8. Lance wins.
6th Mar 2013
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Trailer Park: Average Party
From the home of Extremely Dark Knight
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5th Mar 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Detachment
Depressing, stylish exploration of the perils of supply teaching from @TonyKaye.
2nd Mar 2013
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Michel Parbot Empire Strikes Back lost documentary excerpts
Love the car driving past the garage while Mark Hamill is blocking out a lightsaber duel. And who doesn't want to see a wampa falling in the snow? Empire gems from StarWarsArchive.com (via @aicn)
1st Mar 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Decline of Western Civilization
Essential, but hilariously dated state-of-the-union doc of LA's 80s punk scene.
Halliwell says: Quirky and fascinating study of some of the unlovelier aspects of youthful rebellion; it makes an interesting companion piece to the director's first feature film, Suburbia.*
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28th Feb 2013
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Witness
Brilliantly written and directed thriller that weaves through many classic tropes, plus carpentry.
Halliwell says: As much about the meeting of cultures as about cops and robbers, this is one of those lucky movies which works out well on all counts and shows that there are still craftsmen lurking in Hollywood.***
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28th Feb 2013
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Trailer Park: Pain + Gain
Wahlberg just needs to drop the action and do comedy full time. Sorry, been meaning to put this one up for ages.
28th Feb 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Jeff Who Lives At Home
Mumblecore goes main stream (ish), as quirky suburban comedy meets unexpected drama.
24th Feb 2013
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Cloud Atlas
Genre-surfing, century-hopping oddity. The more things change, the more wigs/makeup/accents Tom Hanks gets.
24th Feb 2013
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Battleship
Independence Day meets Pearl Harbour, in one of the best movies-based-on-a-toy ever.
23rd Feb 2013
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To The Wonder
The lights are on but nobody's home, as Terence Malick's stylish tone poem comes close to self-parody.
22nd Feb 2013
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Purple Rain
50% less acting than I remembered, but Prince's epic self-centred pop promo holds up surprisingly well.
22nd Feb 2013
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Trailer Park: It's A Disaster
Good cast in this brunch at the end of the world comedy from Oscilloscope Labs: David Cross, Julia Stiles, America Ferrera. Follow @OscopeLabs for details of the whole thing showing on Vine (if watching a movie in 6 sec clips is your kind of thing)
20th Feb 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Short Attention Span Theatre: C (299,792 km/s)
Like the retromania science clips in this Kickstarter-funded short - reminiscent of Leonard Nimoy's finest work (In Search Of...). More details on the combination of digital cameras and old school non-CGI FX work in this Wired piece.
"C is the story of Lieutenant Commander Malleck, and her radical act of mutiny aboard the
KESTROS IV. With the help of her co-conspirators, she attempts to harness this weapon of mass destruction for a grand new purpose. But when a contingent of ground crew led by Second Lieutenant Kai threatens her master plan, Malleck must use the ship against them in order to succeed.
To build the future, we looked to the past. No CGI or greenscreen was used in the making of the film; all our sets and props were built by hand and filmed in-camera. Combining new advances in digital camera technology with traditional special effects, we sought to create a unique look through lighting design, camera tricks, miniature photography, split-screen, and stop-animation. We believe that this approach allowed us greater creative possibilities on a low-budget science-fiction film."
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19th Feb 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Short Attention Span Theatre: Head Over Heels
Oscar-nominated short from National Film & Television School graduates. Coincidentally similar to this Kirsten Dunst sci-fi, which just looks silly
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18th Feb 2013 - Add Comment - Tweet
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Pretentious, self consciously quirky Oscarbait that strangely fails to connect.
17th Feb 2013
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Avengers Assemble
Shallow, unmotivated superhero ensemble with the occasional thrill.
16th Feb 2013
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