Chimpomatic

News

Reviews

Articles

Surveillance

Ant-Man

Efficient Marvel shrinking antics in which that Paul Rudd that you like gets a cool suit from Michael Douglas.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

9th Jul 2015

Read more 3 star reviews

Search

Aloha

Emma Stone playing a half-Chinese/Hawaiian local is the least of this confusing Cameron Crowe washout's problems.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

3rd Jun 2015

Read more 2 star reviews

Gone Girl

David Fincher pushes Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike into dark corners of marriage in a long, twisty thriller.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

26th Sep 2014

Read more 3.5 star reviews

The Lego Movie

Witty, gag-packed toon that builds a kind of brick Brazil scenario out of its fight The Man story.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

27th May 2014

Read more 3.5 star reviews

Inside Llewyn Davis

Folkie sofasurfer Oscar Isaac crosses 60s NY trying to save a cat/make it/not sell out. Moody Coens.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

27th May 2014

Read more 3 star reviews

Ripley's Game

Malkovich is in his element here as Tom Ripley, stirring it up among Brit expats in Italy and Berlin.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

21st May 2014

Read more 3.5 star reviews

Thor: The Dark World

Natalie Portman's turn to be lost in a strange land as Asgard is attacked by moody elves.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

21st May 2014

Read more 2.5 star reviews

Cuban Fury

Warm salsa romcom reshuffle of the Flashdance model with Nick Frost and Rashida Jones. No surprises.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

21st May 2014

Read more 3 star reviews

Anchorman 2 The Legend Continues

Tired, overlong reup from Ferrell and the gang that makes the first feel sophisticated.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

21st May 2014

Read more 2 star reviews

X-Men Days Of Future Past

The Stewart/McAvoy McKellen/Fassbender streams cross for a solid Nixon-era franchise extension.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

12th May 2014

Read more 3.5 star reviews

Trance

Odd art heist/amnesia thriller misfire from Danny Boyle with an overcooked whodunwhat plot. London looks good.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

10th Apr 2014

Read more 2.5 star reviews

Stand Up Guys

Aimless OAP gangster antics with Pacino and Walken wandering around for a bit.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

6th Apr 2014

Read more 2 star reviews

Drinking Buddies

Post-mumblecore romcom full of microbrewery beer, plaid shirts, beards, Jagjaguwar tunes and more beer.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

31st Mar 2014

Read more 3 star reviews

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Jennifer Lawrence returns to fight The Man in the ongoing pro-revolution blockbuster.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

31st Mar 2014

Read more 3 star reviews

The Inside Man

Tricksy Spike Lee bank heist joint with solid perfs and fun touches.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

29th Mar 2014

Read more 3 star reviews

Before Midnight

Celine and Jesse walk and talk nine years on, as teen dreams echo through 40s reality looking for love.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

23rd Mar 2014

Read more 4 star reviews

Wake In Fright

70s Aussie fever dream about an uptight teacher stuck in a booze-drenched Outback town full of menace.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

20th Mar 2014

Read more 4 star reviews

The Wind Rises

Miyazaki's plane engineer swan song is more melodrama than magic, but still a bittersweet meditation.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

13th Mar 2014

Read more 3.5 star reviews

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes A's gang rack up the cameos, an elegant confection of crime romp, murder, good manners.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

9th Mar 2014

Read more 3.5 star reviews

Captain Phillips

Tense high seas hijack standoff with Paul Greengrass at the bridge, anchored by Tom Hanks.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

6th Mar 2014

Read more 3.5 star reviews

House Of Cards S2

Solid OTT politicking from a great Kevin Spacey, let down by some shaggy side stories.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

6th Mar 2014

Read more 3 star reviews

Hitchcock

Enjoyable bio showing how much Alma Reville (Mrs H) worked behind the scenes to cut Psycho into shape.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

31st Jan 2014

Read more 3 star reviews

Dallas Buyers Club

Great Matthew McC perf as a cowboy hustling unapproved drugs in the early days of the Aids crisis.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

10th Jan 2014

Read more 4 star reviews

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

Generic Vegas laughs that's less than magic even with Carell, Buscemi & Gandolfini.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

2nd Jan 2014

Read more 2.5 star reviews

Room 237

Loopy film studies fever dream diving deep into the hidden meanings Kubrick (maybe) packed into The Shining.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

1st Jan 2014

Read more 3.5 star reviews

The Hidden Fortress

Kurosawa's Tohoscope tour de force packs in action, a princess on the run and some great shots.

Halliwell says: In medieval Japan, the heiress of a feudal lord is saved from a bandit by a samurai. Roistering eastern Western.**


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71
#Halliwell

1st Jan 2014

Read more 4 star reviews

Europa Report

Decent indie sci-fi about a mission to one of Jupiter's moons that works round the found footage style.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

8th Dec 2013

Read more 3.5 star reviews

The East

Decent/earnest attempt at blending 70s political thriller style w a contemp eco-terror cell & corporate spies.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

27th Nov 2013

Read more 3 star reviews

Under The Skin

Alien Scarlett Johansson prowls Scotland looking for lonely Scots to seduce/baffle. An arthouse Species.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

20th Nov 2013

Read more 3 star reviews

Robot & Frank

Subtle sci-fi that plays with ideas of memory loss, family & ageing - and has a great one last heist.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

19th Nov 2013

Read more 4 star reviews

Gravity

Bullock & Clooney float in space. 3D pushed to the limit, breathless tension, great shots. A proper cinema film.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

31st Oct 2013

Read more 4 star reviews

The Great Passage

Warm oddball epic about a 15 year quest to produce a new dictionary. Japan's Oscar entry - good bet.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

12th Oct 2013

Read more 3.5 star reviews

Blue Jasmine

Cate Blanchett's delusional socialite is one of Woody Allen's best character studies for years.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

7th Oct 2013

Read more 3.5 star reviews

Flight

Denzel Washington booze-hound pilot plane crash drama. Good take off, bumpy ride, lands in routine territory.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

3rd Oct 2013

Read more 3 star reviews

Trouble With The Curve

Solid grumpy old baseball scout turn from Clint that pitches itself as the anti-Moneyball.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

21st Sep 2013

Read more 3 star reviews

The Hunger Games

A generally satisfying mashup of Running Man, Battle Royale and X Factor that lacks a bit of spice.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

28th Aug 2013

Read more 3 star reviews

Elysium

Human USB stick Matt Damon tries to reach Jodie Foster's satellite paradise with routine shoot-out results.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

25th Aug 2013

Read more 2.5 star reviews

Kick Ass 2

A wonky tone, sleazy gags and a plot that pushes Chloe Moretz to be more Miss than Hit takes the fun out.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

12th Aug 2013

Read more 2.5 star reviews

Behind The Candelabra

Game Douglas & Damon double act dazzles, doesn't quite transcend the bio genre. Rob Lowe: cameOH!


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

10th Jun 2013

Read more 3 star reviews

World War Z

Brad Pitt keeps his cool in a breathless globe-trotting zombie thriller that's more shock than gore.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

7th Jun 2013

Read more 3.5 star reviews

This Is The End

Surprisingly tight apocalypse bro-com with Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel holed up in James Franco's pad.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

6th Jun 2013

Read more 3 star reviews

Girl Most Likely

Kristen Wiig, Annette Bening & Matt Dillon wasted in an unlikely string of misfired life crisis gags.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

30th May 2013

Read more 2.5 star reviews

The Great Gatsby

Cold, empty adaptation with a few good Leo & Carey moments in a wash of flashy mega-trailer set pieces.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

23rd May 2013

Read more 2 star reviews

Star Trek Into Darkness

Phasers set for fun again, Benedict Cumberbatch a decent grudgematch foe. Warp-level lens flare.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

4th May 2013

Read more 3 star reviews

Oblivion

Tom Cruise patrols empty earth in big bucks sci-fi with style. Borrows from classics but a satisfying ride.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

10th Apr 2013

Read more 3.5 star reviews

Brave

Decent fairytale about a highlands princess who can't bear tradition. Looks great, but lacks pure Pixar magic.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

31st Mar 2013

Read more 3 star reviews

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.*


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71
#Halliwell

24th Mar 2013

Read more 2.5 star reviews

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.**


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71
#Halliwell

23rd Mar 2013

Read more 2.5 star reviews

Peace, Love & Misunderstanding

Uptight Catherine Keener reconnects w Woodstock mum Jane Fonda. No surprises, good vibes.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

23rd Mar 2013

Read more 3 star reviews

I'm So Excited!

Almodovar reworks Airplane! as a wild mescaline-fuelled mile-high business class satire. Mucho fun.


#Screened
#Film
#chimp71

18th Mar 2013

Read more 3.5 star reviews