The Town
Ben Affleck’s latest directorial effort is a solid one. He makes good use of his name in showbiz to put together a great cast and weave an entertaining story with no shortage of the elements of what a good heist film should be. The Town centers around a group of friends who rob banks and cause mayhem in the town of Charlestown.
The Social Network
How can a movie about the creation of Facebook and the legal battles that followed it be interesting enough to warrant a two hour film? When you attach talents to the project like David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin the question is how could this movie not be interesting enough to warrant a two hour film? From the dark and elegant mind of David Fincher, the genius behind movies like Fight Club, Seven, and Zodiac, and the intelligent writing ability of Aaron Sorkin, the creator/writer of the multiple Emmy award winning series The West Wing, comes The Social Network. More…
Inception
I walked into the cinema knowing relatively nothing about this film, and I walked out…knowing even less. From the moment it begins to the moment it ends, you will be wondering what is going on. These initial questions are simply because those trailers we’ve been watching all year have hardly prepared us for what is about to happen. Most of us just buy a ticket on our faith in either Christopher Nolan or Leonardo DiCaprio. As the movie progresses, your questions grow deeper, more layered, just as the dreams you are viewing excavate the furthest reaches of the unconscious. It’s an absolute ride, and in IMAX, it’s astounding. More…
Green Zone
Seen by many as a gap-filler until Greengrass and Damon make Bourne 4, this Iraq-set action-thriller lives up to expectations of being a clever, high-adrenaline picture that will only increase your hunger for Jason Bourne’s next outing. However, Green Zone doesn’t merely suffice as an in-between flick, it breaks through that ‘gap-filler’ label to stand out on its own merits as a meticulously crafted flick with a welcome sense of physical realism – as opposed to say, From Paris With Love or Law Abiding Citizen – that ensures you’re embedded deep within the action. More…
Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland is a good movie; and that’s the problem – it was only good, not great. It’s mostly entertaining, but it’s not the great masterpiece that I (and many others) was hoping for. Once the movie finished I couldn’t help but feel a little let down. More…
The Wolfman
There are many bad things about The Wolfman. Performances range from dry to laughable, the music simply doesn’t fit with the overall tone of the film and the script is a mess to say the least. After reading some reviews on IMDB I just don’t understand how anybody could take this movie seriously.
Food, Inc.
There have been many documentaries to hit the scene in the past few years that have impacted its audiences in one way or another. Some of become a cultural phenomenon and have hit home especially because it’s been things we have experienced either first handed or we ourselves deem them “important.” Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, Super Size Me, and even March of the Penguins are things that we “think” our government places up on top of their priority lists and our filmmakers of today are tackling. I will say this, and I can’t see myself saying it again for some time; this is the most terrifying and important documentary I have seen in years. More…
Avatar
Like Peter Jackson and George Lucas, James Cameron raises the level of technical achievement in film making in every movie he makes, and Avatar is no exception. We have set before us a digital masterpiece of beauty and spectacle, where the technology has once again surprised us, but the beauty and imagination of the artists behind it inspires us even more. Now, as before, much of the movie was green screened, but unlike before, it doesn’t matter. When live actors are on the screen, they actually look less real than their surroundings. The idealized Na’vi are sacred, vivid, and real. Live actors are dimly lit, phony profanities in James Cameron’s digital reality. More…
An Education
An Education, set in 1960s London, focuses on the life of a 16 year old school girl studying to get into Oxford University. Everything is ticking over nicely for young Jenny (the fantastic Carey Mulligan) until one days she meets the slick talking, sportscar driving David (Peter Sarsgaard) one rainy day after school. More…
Up
When I saw the preview last month (still about 4 months after the US release), I knew this latest Pixar offering should really be seen in 3D for the best effect. However, upon watching, I feel that the best feature of this 5-star film is not really the 3D animation, it is the heart upon which the heartwarming story of Carl and Ellie Frederickson is so firmly based. More…