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Source Code (2011) Review

Ben

I loved Quantum Leap. It was the perfect mix of both sci-fi and drama. I was only about ten years old when I first got into it and though I didn’t hugely appreciate the drama aspects of the show, the moment where he jumped into the person’s body at the beginning and the end of the show was enough to keep me watching. If he punched someone during the episode, that was even better. As I got older I began to appreciate the actual story of the show and what he had to do each week. Even now I’ll find myself watching a whole … Continue reading Source Code (2011) Review

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Your Highness (2011) Review

Ben

If I watch a comedy and really like some of the action pieces and cooler parts to the story, but don’t find it that funny, does that make it a bad film? I made this argument in my review for The Switch. This wasn’t necessarily a bad film but marketing it as a romantic comedy meant it didn’t really do what romantic comedies do. It was a great drama but not very romantic or funny. Your Highness suffers from the same sort of problem. As a concept it’s great. A medieval stoner prince and his impressive, hero brother go on a quest to rescue a … Continue reading Your Highness (2011) Review

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Salt (2010) Review

Ben

We need a female action star. Not necessarily the actress but a new, kick-ass female action character. Someone to carry a series of films that have the same excitement around them as Bond and Bourne. The closest we have so far is Milla Jovovich’s Alice from the Resident Evil series and I avoid those films like the plague after they took a clear, amazing game and film concept and ruined it beyond belief. Angelina Jolie has had a go at this before with Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider movies. They weren’t bad but they fall into the same pit as the Resident Evil movies, … Continue reading Salt (2010) Review

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Rubber (2010) Review

Ben

When you hear the concept for some films, you have to believe that the creators were drunk, high or daring each other when they came up with it. Usually you can see the logic to where a film has come from and where its origins lay but with Rubber, I can’t even imagine the start of the conversation. To create a 90 minute film about a killer tyre that make people’s heads explode using psychic powers is either stupid or genius. I was really hoping for the second. It could have been genius. I’m not saying that the idea is … Continue reading Rubber (2010) Review

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That Thing You Do! (1996) Re-View

Ben

Film4 saved my Sunday afternoon! I’d just finished watching something (can’t even remember what it was now) with my girlfriend cuddled up next to me when I was struck by that dilemma that seems to hit me every Sunday, especially when my girlfriend is staying – “What do we do now?” A lot of you will go straight to the dirty minded option but that wasn’t what I meant. I didn’t want to get up and put a film in. I couldn’t be bothered to actually entertain my girlfriend in any way but because we live a fair distance apart, our time … Continue reading That Thing You Do! (1996) Re-View

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Nativity (2009) Review

Ben

Britain has some great comic actors that the British film industry relies on heavily. My last review, Attack the Block, had Nick Frost lending some heavyweight, British comic actor support. Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz wouldn’t have worked if it hadn’t been for the partnership of Frost and Pegg. The list of dependable British comic talent that can be used is pretty extensive, David Mitchell, Robert Webb, Paul Kay, Ricky Gervais, James Cordon, Richard Ayoade and Chris O’Dowd to name a few. You can’t rely solely on these actors to make your film work though. People have tried before. Mitchell and … Continue reading Nativity (2009) Review

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Attack the Block (2011) Review

Ben

Britain do quirky, gritty and indie films better than any other country. We were the country that gave the world Shaun of the Dead, Trainspotting and Dead Man’s Shoes. We have the gritty Hunger and Tyrannosaur and now Shame to add to our collection of brilliant British films. The British film industry gets recognised for romantic comedies, Richard Curtis being a huge part of that, and every year we can effectively produce a period drama but we are also good for clever comedy or gritty, real, modern drama. This leads me to Attack the Block. The perfect example of a new type … Continue reading Attack the Block (2011) Review

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Batman versus Spiderman versus The Avengers!

Ben

This is going to be the greatest summer for blockbuster movies probably ever! That is because there are three films that will hopefully set a new standard in Superhero films. The actual superhero genre of films has been so watered down and overdone that it takes something special to actually register. This summer we should have three films that will hopefully register. Two of the films are the end of a long process and another is designed to be the beginning. Whether by design or coincidence, the studios behind these three films have decided to release them in the same … Continue reading Batman versus Spiderman versus The Avengers!

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Doubt (2008) Review

Ben

Some of the greatest scenes in film have been when two actors, both brilliant at what they do, get to have a conversation. This can be a simple, mundane conversation, a heavyweight meeting of power or a dark, intense, engrossing encounter. Alongside the brilliant “McDonalds” conversation Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta have in Pulp Fiction and the long anticipated cafe scene between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Heat comes Meryl Streep vs Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt. There is scene, practically the end of the film, where the two actors confront each other. The accused trying to find out … Continue reading Doubt (2008) Review

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Planet 51 (2009) Review

Ben

Pixar are responsible for all poor computer animated films since Toy Story. Pretty bold claim but stay with me. Before Toy Story, animated films were predominantly hand drawn or at least presented in the traditional animated style. They would usually employ specific voice actors to play the characters except for particularly notable exceptions (Aladdin and Mulan being two films that spring to mind). In fact it was only when I watched the Lion King’s 3D re-release at the cinema that I realised Matthew Broderick played adult Simba. The use of the traditional technique for animated films meant we got a lot of films starring human characters. The … Continue reading Planet 51 (2009) Review