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Surveillance
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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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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Liberal Arts
Meandering indie back-to-college romcom. A 35 yr old slacker visits his retiring prof & meets the new kids.
18th Jan 2013
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Arbitrage
A late capitalism post-Wall St nightmare for NYC CEO Richard Gere to wriggle out of in a cashmere trench.
2nd Jan 2013
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The Bourne Legacy
Jeremy Renner runs into M Damon's shoes in this efficient franchise extension. Rachel Weisz roped in.
1st Jan 2013
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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
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The Guilt Trip
Seth Rogen & Barbra Streisand drive each other a bit nuts. Amiable momcom, good chemistry underused.
28th Dec 2012
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Celeste & Jesse Forever
LA divorcecom. Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg try to stay BFs post-breakup. Nicely judged.
23rd Dec 2012
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Hope Springs
Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep learn to get it on again with Steve Carrell's guidance. Muted romcom.
23rd Dec 2012
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The Watch
More loose dudecom antics, Richard Ayaode joins Stiller/Hill/Vaughan on suburban neighbourhood patrol.
23rd Dec 2012
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Men In Black 3
Time travel thrown into the MIB template, Josh Brolin makes a good 60s Tommy Lee Jones.
23rd Dec 2012
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Midnight In Paris
Light, fun time travel romcom with proxy Woody Allen Owen Wilson meeting 1920s boho greats at night.
17th Dec 2012
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Lincoln
Daniel Day-Lewis is Oscar-bait in Spielberg's history lesson, a West Wing 1860 full of wit & political drama.
13th Nov 2012
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Haywire
Soderbergh tries action with a bare bones freelance spy thriller. Big name cast bit lost in global plot twists.
5th Nov 2012
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Jumper
Teleporter playboy Hayden Christensen zips from pyramids to Tokyo, chased by a blond Sam Jackson. Fun idea, flat.
15th Oct 2012
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Double Indemnity
Billy Wilder & Raymond Chandler steer this tightly plotted femme fatale insurance scam noir classic.
Halliwell says: Archetypal film noir of the forties, brilliantly capturing the decayed Los Angeles atmosphere of a Chandler novel but using a simpler story and more substantial characters. The hero/villain was almost a new concept.****
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15th Oct 2012
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Horrible Bosses
Generic retread of Strangers On A Train as 3 schlubs toy with murder to improve their work lives.
14th Oct 2012
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Win Win
Decent riff on sports triumph. Schlubby lawyer/high school wrestling coach Paul Giamatti pulls underhand moves.
3rd Oct 2012
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Tyrannosaur
Gut-wrenching drama from Paddy Considine. Desperate, raging performances from Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman.
12th Sep 2012
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21 Jump Street
Jonah Hill & Channing Tatum refresh the 80s babyface narcs TV hit w a good dose of dumb nerd/jock gags.
5th Aug 2012
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Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Classy Brits Dench, Nighy etc phone in long distance retirees comedy drama w few surprises, many cliches.
5th Aug 2012
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A Separation
Elegant, multi-sided family drama from Iran that unravels a complex mess from everyday moments.
23rd Jul 2012
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Frantic
Harrison F cherchez sa femme in this 87 Paris thriller. Lots of Grace Jones in les clubs as une hipster helps.
Halliwell says: Amiable thriller with Hitchcockian touches, quite untypical of this director.*
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14th Jul 2012
Read more 3 star reviews
Cowboys & Aliens
Bond and Indy can't rescue this sci-fi western mashup from the Temple Of Dull.
14th Jul 2012
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Repeaters
Rehab kids find themselves in Groundhog Day chance to make amends w past. OK B-movie execution of the idea.
8th Jul 2012
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Priest
Almost wilfully generic post-apocalypse sci-fi horror western. Warrior priest Paul Bettany v vampires w Maggie Q.
8th Jul 2012
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Moonrise Kingdom
Wes Anderson swaps man-child quirk for actual child-view in this decent, lowkey scouts rom-venture.
14th Jun 2012
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Dark Shadows
Vampire meets 70s. Another Burton/Depp dressing up box: a few gags, but messy plot strands & nowhere to go.
8th May 2012
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Rampart
Mood music in the key of dark, dark blue: Woody Harrelson's v bad cop is a shoot first, kick later kind of guy.
3rd May 2012
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Contraband
Efficient smuggling thriller. Mark Wahlberg's turn for one-last-job.
1st May 2012
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Tower Heist
Messy condo robbery w Ben Stiller in charge. Wasted opp to get Eddie Murphy on screen in non-Donkey role.
1st May 2012
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We Bought A Zoo
Matt Damon bonds w kids and Scarlett Johansson over tigers. Standard Cameron Crowe rock OST.
1st May 2012
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50 / 50
Joseph Gordon Levitt adds warmth, depth to 20something cancer story. Seth Rogen adds dude lols.
1st May 2012
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Chronicle
Well-executed found-footage teens w powers drama; tight, great characters, understated FX.
1st May 2012
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Take Me Home Tonight
Some laughs as Topher Grace tries period 80s post-college partycom. Rubik's Cube w new stickers.
21st Mar 2012
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Senna
Compelling doc about the Brasilian F1 driver edited from existing footage. Great ride even if you find F1 dull.
21st Mar 2012
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The Muppets
Fuzzy get-felt-gang-back-together feel-good antics. Man Or Muppet? song v Conchords, bonus Dave Grohl cameo.
21st Mar 2012
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Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Improved op, Simon Pegg lightens Cruise control. Overlong, vertigo stunts IMAX-ready.
23rd Jan 2012
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True Grit
Jeff Bridges saddles up for a manhunt w Matt Damon & Hailee Steinfeld. Nobody does ornery better: true great.
21st Jan 2012
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Limitless
Well-shot, pacy NYC fantasy about a wonder drug that gives you ultra clarity/turns everything into fisheye.
15th Jan 2012
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Ratatouille
There's a rat in the kitchen, what can Pixar do? Serve up a MasterRat toon. Hard sell, but it works.
3rd Jan 2012
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Tootsie
Still great 80s drag comedy w Dustin Hoffman scoring a soap job in heels. Bonus: Bill Murray as his flatmate.
Halliwell says: As with Genevieve and Whisky Galore, an unlikely comedy subject makes an instant classic. It's all in the handling.**
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3rd Jan 2012
Read more 4 star reviews
Bird On A Wire
Misc alleyways were full of way more stuff to crash into in the 80s. Gets an extra star for the random chimp denouement.
24th Dec 2011
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Tamara Drewe
Middle class village life literary shagathon. Like a decent posh pub lunch.
24th Dec 2011
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The Iron Lady
Spooky, Oscar-bothering turn from Meryl Streep as Thatcher, recalling No 10 life with a phantom Denis.
24th Nov 2011
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Easy A
Sparky high school riff on The Scarlet Letter, as Emma Stone fake-tramps her way to notoriety.
26th Oct 2011
Read more 3.5 star reviews