Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) Dir: Rob Marshall Starring: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane At the time of writing, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has received 39% on Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer. On Metacritic, it has received 52 out of 100. I wanted On Stranger Tides to be... Continue Reading →
[Review] Thor
Thor (2011) Dir: Kenneth Branagh Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston Well, well, well. I think Thor may have usurped Iron Man as my favourite Avenger... I am a devoted Empire fan and, in preparation of my review, I was having a read of news editor Chris Hewitt's review. In particular, I... Continue Reading →
[Review] Source Code
Source Code (2011) Dir: Duncan Jones Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga Before I bought my ticket, sat down and watched Source Code, the only things I knew about the film was that it was directed by Duncan Jones, featured Jake Gyllenhaal and centred around an explosion on a train. In my ‘Preview: films... Continue Reading →
3 month report: films seen at the cinema
On January 7th I wrote a post entitled 'Preview: films to look out for in 2011'. So, how am I doing? Out of my '9 films I don't want to miss' I have seen three out of the four that have been released so far. 127 Hours was very 'efficient' - it was lean, concise... Continue Reading →
[Review] Paul
Paul (2011) Dir: Greg Mottola Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen With the tagline 'who's up for a close encounter?' and the brilliant duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, I was expecting great things of Paul. Happily, I was not disappointed. Paul is the story of writer Clive Gollings (Frost) and his friend,... Continue Reading →
[Review] Black Swan
Black Swan (2010) Dir: Darren Aronofsky Starring: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis "The production needs a new swan queen... but which of you can embody both swans? The white and the black?" Natalie Portman gives her best performance to date in an intriguing, dark film which captures a mind overwhelmed with its own ambition,... Continue Reading →
[Review] The King’s Speech
The King's Speech (2010) Dir: Tom Hooper Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter What a triumph. Now then, this is my blog - so my rules - and I am completely, 100% backing The King's Speech. When I went to watch it at the cinema last night I wasn't sure what to expect.... Continue Reading →
[Review] 127 Hours
127 Hours (2010) Dir: Danny Boyle Starring: James Franco Last night, in a sold out screening, I watched my first film of 2011: 127 Hours. The viewing experience went very quickly and when the film finished I could barely believe it had been 94 minutes - a stark comparison to how the real Aron Ralston... Continue Reading →
Preview: films to look out for in 2011
I readily admit that reviews aren't my strong point so one of my blogging resolutions is to have a go at writing reviews. I worked out that I saw over 20 films last year so I missed a trick review-wise. From the brilliant Toy Story 3 to the not-quite-so brilliant Valentine's Day - I thought... Continue Reading →
First look: Thor
Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to Thor Odinson. I am a big fan of Marvel Comics and it's great to see another of the less known characters having their turn in the spotlight. After consulting my Marvel Encyclopedia it's surprising to see just how many Marvel characters have had their own feature film. It's far... Continue Reading →
First look: Jane Eyre
*TRAILER RELEASED FOR JANE EYRE (2011) I really, really hope this will be released in the UK though, rather cryptically, there is currently only an American release date and it will only be released in 'select' cinemas. My reasons why I want to see it are three-fold: 1. Though I have not read the book,... Continue Reading →
First look: Cowboys & Aliens
TRAILER RELEASED FOR COWBOYS & ALIENS (2011) Now then, the first Cowboys & Aliens trailer was released this week and I'm not sure what I think yet. I don't know what I was expecting but this appears to be a very serious trailer with no trace of comedy: Daniel Craig seems to have lost his... Continue Reading →