Film Review: Brothers
Brokeback Mountain star Jake Gyllenhaal appears in Brothers, the latest in a line of recent war movies that attempt to look into the psyche of soldiers as well as the effect that their absence, experiences and changed personas have on their families. However, the difference here is that this is just one facet of an incredibly complex film that deals with a multitude of themes.
Film Review: All About Steve
This loopy comedy caper about a nerdy crossword creator with a penchant for red cowboy boots will divide the audience firmly in two: you're either going to love it or hate it. Sandra Bullock dusts off her romantic comedy queen tiara and once again takes the helm of a fast-moving movie with throwaway one-liners and little resonance. If you're a rom-com sceptic at least you can rest assured that the experience will leave you almost as soon as you leave the cinema. If however, you're a fan of Bullock's quirky comedic heroines then you'll be booking a ticket for a second viewing.
Film Review: The Road
This month heralds the much-anticipated release of The Road. This adaptation of the seminal book by Cormac McCarthy certainly has plenty to live up to with the cult following of the novel leading to the usual poor expectations of the movie version. However, it appears that the critics will be silenced as John Hillcoat has successfully recreated the post-apocalyptic world that was so vividly, if sparingly, portrayed by McCarthy.
Film Review: It's Complicated
It sure is complicated. This comedy love triangle comes from perhaps the best female-perspective comedy director in the business: Nancy Meyers. With an acclaimed CV of hits including The Holiday; What Women Want; and Something's Gotta Give, to her name you know you're in safe hands when you sit down to watch her latest Hollywood blockbuster offering. The cast list is nothing to be sneered at either as the Meyers name manages to snare the likes of Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin onto the film set. The results speak for themselves and it proves that if you want to make waves in a genre that is rarely taken too seriously by serious film buffs then the least you can do is call in the acting cavalry.
Film Review: Bruno
Camp fashion reporter, Brüno, Sacha Baron Cohen's alter ego, is much like his previous role as Borat, dealing with similar topics and in analogous style to his Kazakhstani counterpart. If anything, Brüno is even more outrageous and controversial than Baron Cohen's previous effort.
Film Review: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
It's been almost eight years since the first of the Harry Potter tales was consigned to celluloid. Over those eight years, the quality of the films has remained pretty much steady. This is the sixth and penultimate iteration in the series, and as such serves as a prelude to what is sure to be a climactic final instalment.
Film Review: The Proposal
Sandra Bullock almost seems too sweet to play the hard-nosed Editor-in-chief, Margaret Tate, but The Proposal is clearly a movie made for the meaner side of her personality. Playing a character akin to The Devil Wears Prada's Miranda Priestley, Bullock's Tate is one of the most detestable bosses you'll ever see.
Film Review: The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
Coming from something of a smothered childhood, the fifty-year-old Pippa Lee finds herself in an idyllic position in life, albeit on a merely superfluous level. Her husband, one of the last great publishers, and thirty years her senior, has cast a long shadow in the twilight of her life, but Pippa is happy to live her life in the shade, holding dinner parties, aiding her powerful husband and playing the part someone else has carved for her in her life.
Film review: State of Play
From the director, Kevin Macdonald, State of Play features the rise and fall of American congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) – who is handsome, unflappable, and ascending the ladder of power with unprecedented speed.
Film review: Star Trek
JJ Abrams' new Star Trek is driven forwards by a time travel loop – allowing destiny to be altered and a new edge to the original continuity.
Film Review: Not Easily Broken
Dave Johnson (Morris Chestnut) has always dreamed of becoming Major League Baseball player, but, after getting injured, he settles for being a little league baseball coach.
Film Review: I Love You Man
Many films have relied on the relationship between a couple of male friends and their various farting and vomiting jokes – and this one isn't that different.
Film Review: The boat that rocked
Richard Curtis, by his own admission, has carved out his career by making modern classic love films. But the Love Actually and Notting Hill creators brand new movie, The Boat That Rocked turns its attention to his other love, music.
The story is based on controversial pirate radio stations in the 1960s, in particular Radio Caroline. It is an ensemble comedy, where the romance is between the young people of the 60s, and pop music. Its about a band of DJs that captivate Britain, playing the music that defines a generation and standing up to a government that, incomprehensibly, prefers jazz.
Film Review: Che Part Two
In the second of a two part drama about the revolutionary life and times of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, viewers are taken to Bolivia for an on-the-ground document of guerrilla warfare. By all accounts , Che: Part Two it is the film Soderbergh originally wanted to make – but which would be difficult to stand on its own.
Film Review: Frost Nixon
Back in 1977, British satirist turned talk show host David Frost managed to secure unprecedented access to former American president Richard Nixon, still a global pariah and national disgrace following his 1974 fall from office after the notorious Watergate scandal. Little-known in the US, despite having managed to get Nixon's agreement to an almost insane 28-hour interview, stretched over 12 days, Frost had failed to sell the interviews to any television networks, funding the project out of his own money.
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