| 1408 * * * |
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Written by Ivan Radford |
| Friday, 31 August 2007 00:00 |
Director: Mikael Håfström
Cast: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson
Certificate: 12A
When you hear the word “horror” these days, you automatically think of slasher flicks and the recent wave of torture-porn. It seems a long time since Kubrick’s The Shining or that classic The Haunting (not the Catherine Zeta-Jones remake). Thankfully, with 1408, director Mikael Håfström brings us a deliciously old-school piece of horror. There are no serial killers here, no scenes of exploitative violence. Instead, we get one guy alone in a hotel room. Man versus building.
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| 2 Days in Paris * * * * |
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Written by Ivan Radford |
| Friday, 31 August 2007 00:00 |
Director: Julie Delpy
Cast: Julie Delpy, Adam Goldberg, Albert Delpy
Certificate: 15
If Woody Allen was a woman, would he still wear those thick-rimmed glasses? Julie Delpy seems to think so; in her Allen-esque piece about a young couple visiting Paris, she sports the specs as much as she spouts one-liners. An homage to the 70s heyday of Woody, 2 Days in Paris is injected with modern day angst - they stroll by the Seine as Delpy breezily dismisses her partner's worries by naively pointing out that, of course, terrorism just doesn’t happen in France.
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| 3:10 to Yuma * * * * |
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Written by Ivan Radford |
| Friday, 14 September 2007 00:00 |
Director: James Mangold
Cast: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Logan Lerman, Peter Fonda, Alan Tudyk
Certificate: 15
They seek him here, they seek him there, and he appears when least expected. He changes his form with apparent ease, and his disguise is always perfected. A robot, a doctor, a TV boss, he can even fly a spaceship. A pirate who dodges, perhaps a knight, it’s the wonder that is Alan Tudyk.
Today, Alan is Doc Potter. He is healing Peter Fonda. Peter Fonda got shot by Russell Crowe. Not another off-set brawl for the Oscar-winning Aussie, but a chance for him to play the bad guy, outlaw Ben Wade. When Ben is arrested, the law dictates that he must be put onboard the 3.10 to Yuma, the titular train that takes criminals to the gallows.
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| American Gangster * * |
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Written by Ivan Radford |
| Friday, 16 November 2007 00:00 |
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Carla Gugino, Josh Brolin
Certificate: 18
Often quoted but never supported, Tarantino’s maxim that “directors don’t get better as they get older” may finally have been proven. American Gangster sees Ridley Scott back at the helm after a couple of critical flops (remember A Good Year?). Telling the true story of two hard-working men, this charts the rise of ‘70s gangster Frank Lucas (Washington), who elevates himself to the head of the heroin circuit when his mentor ‘Bumpy’ Johnson passes away. But this is also the tale of true blue cop Richie Roberts (Crowe); honest, divorced and training to be a lawyer, he is determined to bring down the drug lord.
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| Atonement * * * * * |
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Written by Ivan Radford |
| Friday, 07 September 2007 00:00 |
Director: Joe Wright
Cast: James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Romola Garai, Saoirse Ronan, Vanessa Redgrave
Certificate: 15
Trailer
“I wanted to tell the absolute truth. No rhymes. No embellishments.”
Clicks and whirrs from a typewriter herald the second feature from Joe Wright, an adaptation of Ian McEwan’s excellent best-seller Atonement. The instrument belongs to Briony (Saoirse), a 13-year old know-it-all who longs to be a writer. On the hottest day of the year, 1935, she stops typing. She has finished her play. Then, she witnesses something from the window; an incident between her sister Cecilia (Knightley) and gardener Robbie (McAvoy). In her naivety, Briony misunderstands what she sees, her actions having a severe impact upon the couple.
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| Balls of Fury * |
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Written by Ivan Radford |
| Wednesday, 26 December 2007 00:00 |
Director: Robert Ben Garant
Cast: Dan Fogler, Christopher Walken, Maggie Q, James Hong
Certificate: 12A
This film really wants to be Dodgeball, that modern king of sports comedy. It really isn’t. The title even sounds like a rip-off from Blades of Glory. But what could have been a marginally funny concept – FBI recruits former ping-pong prodigy Randy Daytona (Fogler) to infiltrate the world of arch bad person Feng (Walken) – makes for an incredibly pathetic film.
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| Beowulf * * |
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Written by Ivan Radford |
| Friday, 16 November 2007 00:00 |
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Ray Winstone, Angelina Jolie, Anthony
Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, John Malkovich
Certificate: 12A
A CGI romp through a motion-captured epic of England past, Beowulf is a novel take on poetry. Written in old English, the stanzas have scared many a scholar over the years. Now, though, we have Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary to bring it bang up to date. Throw in Robert Zemeckis’ modern technology and the kids are the ones it will frighten; with monsters ripping the heads off humans, this is definitely NOT a 12A film. And that’s without mentioning the naked Ray Winstone.
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| Black Sheep * * * |
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Written by Ivan Radford |
| Friday, 12 October 2007 00:00 |
Director: Jonathan King
Cast: Nathan Meister, Danielle Mason
Certificate: 15
The New Zealand tourist board aren’t a happy bunch. First, everyone thinks they’re all widgets with West Country accents. Now, the world thinks their countryside is swarming with zombies. Hardly an invitation to visit your estranged Kiwi cousin, is it? Come to New Zealand, see the small people and get munched on by Mother Nature.
Nonetheless, Black Sheep is inevitably entertaining. Indeed, when the concept of a film can be summed up in two words, mindless fodder can be expected. When those two words are “zombie” and “sheep”, you know you’re in for a good time.
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| Brief Encounter * * * * * |
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Written by Ivan Radford |
| Tuesday, 07 August 2007 00:00 |
Director: David Lean
Cast: Trevor Howard, Celia Johnson
Certificate: PG
David Lean’s tale of stolen romance sees Dr Alec Harvey (Howard) and housewife Laura (Johnson) strike up the opening chords of an affair. Amidst the smoke from Milford Junction train station, Laura can escape her familiar married life for one of illicit intimacy with a man who is essentially a stranger.
Noel Coward’s screenplay deftly combines the pathos of heartache and the spark of attraction, a framework which the two leads flesh out in an utterly believable manner. As the lovers face the decision whether to return to their unaware spouses, Rachmaninov escalates in the background, mirroring the film’s emotional climax – a real tear-jerker that delicately balances both the sad and the happy.
VERDICT
Clocking in at only 86 minutes, Brief Encounter is as succinct as its title. A classic romance by a legendary director; in short, a must-see.
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| Day Watch * * * |
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Written by Ivan Radford |
| Friday, 05 October 2007 00:00 |
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Cast: Konstantin Khabensky, Mariya Poroshina, Dmitry Martynov
Certificate: 15
It’s been a few years since Night Watch, Timur Bekmambetov’s mind-blowing Russian blockbuster (yes, ‘Russian’ and ‘blockbuster’ can now be put in the same sentence). But even this second run of the reel has lost none of its predecessor’s potency. Where else do subtitles wriggle, writhe and wane to the mood? Does any other city have men that can stop buses and cars that ride skyscrapers? Of course not! This is Moscow, dammit, and Timur Bekmambetov is vamping it up to 12.
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