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Trollied (Season 1) TV Review

Ben

Because I review a whole tv series rather than individual episodes, there is a chance of spoilers, so if you haven’t watched the whole series yet, stop reading now! Britain do a particular style of sitcom better than any other… the “everyday” sitcom. What I mean by that is a sitcom where the “situation” is actually very mundane. Not a coming together of unlikely family members or two mismatched people forced to live together with “hilarious” consequences, but a sitcom set in an everyday, very familiar environment. The most famous (and arguably the most successful) is probably The Office. The … Continue reading Trollied (Season 1) TV Review

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Mallrats (1995) Review

Ben

I used to consider myself a fan of Kevin Smith but when I look back at his films that I have seen, I soon realise that he isn’t quite as good as I first thought. You can’t really fault Clerks. Its original, pure “indie” and something quite unique, a film where nothing really happens but your attention doesn’t drift. Around the same time as I watched Clerks, I also caught Dogma. I loved Dogma, it was a film that effectively highlighted the absurdity of religion while still being very funny. From that moment on, I considered myself a Kevin Smith … Continue reading Mallrats (1995) Review

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Doctor Who (Season 7 Part 1) TV Review

Ben

Because I review a whole tv series rather than individual episodes, there is a chance of spoilers, so if you haven’t watched the whole series yet, stop reading now! For my first ever TV review, I thought it best to start with my favourite ever television series. I’ve been a fan of Doctor Who since I was a kid, watching the “classic” series on UK Gold whenever I could get to my Gran’s house (she was the only person in my family with Sky.) When it returned to our screens in 2005, I was slightly concerned that it was going to … Continue reading Doctor Who (Season 7 Part 1) TV Review

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Boy A (2007) Review

Ben

Boy A is both an interesting and brave film. Handled differently, it could have very easily gone a different way and become a shocking, mock-biopic, too close to real life to be taken seriously. Instead, we get a film that is well-thought out, underplays the drama and actually, somehow, makes you feel sorry for a character that many would write off from the beginning. It’s also very brave because it mirrors true-events so closely. Most people in Britain, over the age of maybe 20, would know the story of James Bulger and the two young boys who murdered him. They went to … Continue reading Boy A (2007) Review

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We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011) Review

Ben

Some films can have great performances, a gripping and well delivered story, all wrapped up in a perfect piece of direction, but still fail to hit the mark. We Need to Talk About Kevin had this feel about it. The performances were fantastic, the story was really interesting and maintained my interest from beginning to end and the way the film was shot made sense but I didn’t feel that impressed with it afterwards. I haven’t read the book but know that the story is told through letters in the novel. This obviously wouldn’t be effective on-screen but I do … Continue reading We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011) Review

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Real Steel (2011) Review

Ben

Real Steel both surprised me and annoyed me. It surprised me because for the first half of the film, maybe even three-quarters, I was genuinely impressed and really enjoyed it. It disappointed me because it suddenly seemed to become a ultra-kids film for the last half an hour and seemingly undid all the positives that had gone before. I say it surprised me because I watched it thinking it was going to be a light, Hugh Jackman vehicle, with him “phoning it in” and getting to act alongside cool, huge robots, with CGI doing most of the heavy lifting. While there are … Continue reading Real Steel (2011) Review

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X-Men: First Class (2011) Review

Ben

The original X-Men film and its “prequel” are the perfect films to demonstrate how superhero films have been forced to change. Back when the original X-Men movie was released, it was fine to be all flash and very little in the way of story. The novelty was that you were seeing characters you had only been able to read about in comics or watch on television, actually shooting lasers from their eyes or bend metal at will. Soon though, that wouldn’t be enough. If you create enough of the same type of the film, something has to change. Fantastic Four, … Continue reading X-Men: First Class (2011) Review

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Megamind (2010) Review

Ben

There are films I watch, expecting them to be comedies and from viewing the trailer, hilarious, but instead they impress me by just being… cool. That is the only way to describe some of these films. The best example of this The Incredibles. As a comedy, there isn’t actually that many laughs but as a film, its brilliantly exciting, engrossing, entertaining and, well… cool! Megamind fits well into this category too. It’s a lot funnier than The Incredibles but that is hardly a triumph. The difference I did find was that Megamind is trying to be funny, more so than its other superhero counterpart. Unfortunately, … Continue reading Megamind (2010) Review

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Whatever Works (2009) Review

Ben

Charming but “nothingy” is the best way to describe Whatever Works. It’s perfectly watchable and its charm pulls you in from the very first scene, with Larry David talking, cynically, towards the camera, breaking the fourth wall in great Woody Allen style. In fact, that was the biggest sticking point for me. I love Curb Your Enthusiasm and though I was aware that this wasn’t the film version of that tv show, the trailer for the film did give the impression that we would be getting Larry David in all his grouchy, set-in-his-ways glory. Instead, we seemed to get Larry David … Continue reading Whatever Works (2009) Review

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2012 (2009) Review

Ben

To my surprise, I quite enjoyed 2012. Well, I quite enjoyed the first half an hour or so. Once you get past the very questionable “science” used to explain the world ending, the moments with the ground randomly breaking apart in the middle of a supermarket and John Cusack driving his car away from an earth shattering earthquake were good fun to watch. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say that the first “events” where John Cusack is driving to the airport while the world falls apart around him and even the moment when him and his family … Continue reading 2012 (2009) Review