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The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) Review

Ben

Regardless of how good it would be to see characters you loved as a kid, brought to life in a live action movie, sometimes animation is the best way to tell those stories. That is certainly the case with Tintin, which is one of the greatest animated spectacles I have seen in a long time. I don’t think you could achieve, or afford, the same sort of action sequences that are seen in Tintin, using live action. That is the biggest appeal of the Tintin movie. It’s non-stop. There isn’t a moment to wait and collect your thoughts, piecing together the … Continue reading The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) Review

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Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) Review

Ben

In a time when people are deciding that their spies need to be gritty, realistic and brooding, its great to have a series that is still willing to have fun with idea of secret agents. As much as I loved Skyfall, there is something great about seeing a traditional spy film, with huge ridiculous action set-pieces, gadgets that push the boundaries of realism and a tongue-in-cheek sense of fun running throughout. I would never have thought that the Mission Impossible franchise would be the one that would keep the traditional spy values alive. From the very beginning though, with Tom … Continue reading Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) Review

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Texas Killing Fields (2011) Review

Ben

Most murder mystery films, about police detectives hunting a killer, would be much better as television shows. Two hours, even if you make your film pacy and straight-forward, will never really be enough to develop your heroes, giving them compelling backstorys, present enough suspects to make the murder mystery interesting and also throw-up red herrings to keep the audience on their toes. A tv show offers you this opportunity and although there are far too many detective shows on tv, a film will always struggle to have the same positive effect. It’s exactly this problem that Texas Killing Fields has. It … Continue reading Texas Killing Fields (2011) Review

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Moneyball (2011) Review

Ben

It’s a bold move to make a sports film that shows very little of the actual sport in question. When you watch a sports film, you expect a host of clichés that you accept willingly. The team will be in a disastrous situation at the beginning of the movie, a new entity will enter, a coach or player, who will struggle but will eventually win-over the team. The team will lose, then begin to win, and then have a final game which will be make or break for everyone involved. It doesn’t necessarily matter what the outcome of the match will be because ultimately, … Continue reading Moneyball (2011) Review

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Young Adult (2011) Review

Ben

Young Adult wasn’t the film I thought it’d be. I imagined it was Charlize Theron’s attempt at comedy, playing a character that was obnoxious, deluded and spoke her mind. A character that you would want to be like, being able to say what you felt with no remorse or sense of regret. I imagined it was Theron’s Bad Teacher. That wasn’t what this film was at all. What you actually have is another subtle but compelling Theron performance that proves how great an actress she is. It’s a film more akin to what she produced in Monster than it is … Continue reading Young Adult (2011) Review

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Project Nim (2011) Review

Ben

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was my favourite film of last year. It had a great story, fantastic action and launched a series that I’m looking forward to seeing the development of. At around the same time, a film that followed similar themes was being released. A film that followed the life of a chimp that lived with a human family, was treated as a human (to some extent) and then went on to a chimp sanctuary where his life may not have been as good as when he was at home. You could argue, with some accuracy, that … Continue reading Project Nim (2011) Review

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Shame (2011) Review

Ben

Some movies, regardless of the story or message it is trying to convey, are all about a single performance. That performance doesn’t always have to be the lead actor or main character. It could even be one performance in amongst an ensemble cast. That one performance can often overshadow the whole film, or actually make a film that would be average, an engrossing watch. Shame isn’t an average film but it is a movie about a single performance. It’s supposed to be that way but Michael Fassbender manages to take this one step further. He isn’t just good in Shame, he is amazing! … Continue reading Shame (2011) Review

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The Hobbit: A Unexpected Journey (2012) Review

Ben

I never really liked the Lord of the Rings. Some people call it the greatest trilogy ever made, while others will even argue they are some of the greatest films ever. The people who believe in the latter will usually be huge Tolkien fans, knowing the book inside out and satisfied that Peter Jackson did a fantastic job of putting all the intricate details on the screen. For that reason, I felt a bit excluded by the whole trilogy. I was interested in the journey of the Hobbits and the battles, as many as there were, were brilliant to watch, but it felt … Continue reading The Hobbit: A Unexpected Journey (2012) Review

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Tiny Furniture (2010) Review

Ben

Indie doesn’t just mean Independent studio. It usually has other qualities and unfortunately, now clichés that go with it. It is usually a “personal film,” written and/or directed by its lead. It is also set in a world filled with characters that have weird quirks, which everyone but those within the film seem to notice. Add an “indie soundtrack” (again, personally picked by the lead) and animate the opening (and/or closing) credits and you have yourself an “independent” film. These are films that are supposed to juxtapose what is considered mainstream but its become a genre of film itself, falling … Continue reading Tiny Furniture (2010) Review

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24 Hour Party People (2002) Re-View

Ben

Sometimes a factual narrative rather than a full on documentary is the best way of telling a story. I’m sure that Manchester’s music scene has got numerous documentaries about it, some of which are very good. The bands that feature in 24 Hour Party People probably each have their own documentary, telling the story of their rise to fame, success and for some, ultimate failure. I know for a fact, the main subject of the movie, Tony Wilson, Factory Records and to a lesser extent the Hacienda, will definitely have lots of factual television about it, it being such a key … Continue reading 24 Hour Party People (2002) Re-View