Space is just 80 miles away from every one of us. Closer than most people are to their own national capitals. But it feels much further than it should. NASA’s moon landings were meant to be the dawn of an golden age of space travel, lunar bases and missions to Mars. It didn’t happen. And Earth’s dreams of galaxies far, far away faded over the next four decades. In his final public interview, Neil Armstrong lamented what mankind really lost: the belief that anything is possible. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for the ‘Film Reviews’ Category
Film review: Gravity
On February - 18 - 2014
Film review: Avengers Assemble
On April - 29 - 2012
What do you get if you cross a Norse god-king with an ego the size of a planet, a nervy science boffin with gigantic anger issues, a WWII super-soldier with a very silly costume and a genius billionaire playboy with flying power-armour? Arguments, that’s what.
With great power comes great banter in writer/director Joss Whedon’s blockbuster multiplier, which isn’t the best superhero movie ever – but might well be the funniest. Read the rest of this entry »
Film review: John Carter
On March - 8 - 2012
Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (voted one of the worst movies ever). Mission To Mars (Rolling Stone: “DePalma has never made a dull movie. Until now.”). Red Planet (Variety: “Mission To Mars had style to burn compared to Red Planet”). Ghosts Of Mars (killed John Carpenter’s career for nine years). Doom (one of Time magazine’s 10 Worst Ever Videogame Adaps). Mars Attacks! (Budget: $100m. US box-office: $38m). Mars Needs Moms (the biggest box-office bomb of all time).
If history has taught us one lesson, it’s that if you’re going to make a movie about Mars, it had better star Arnold Schwarzenegger and a lady with three boobies. Read the rest of this entry »
Film review: Khodorkovsky
On March - 5 - 2012
Someone doesn’t want you to see this film – it was stolen, not once but twice, before its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. That adds further dark spice to this elusive, fascinating glimpse at modern Russia through the life of imprisoned tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Splicing investigative interviews with stylish animated sequences, filmmaker Cyril Tuschi’s involving documentary tries to discover how Khodorkovsky went from being the world’s richest man under 40 to a seemingly indefinite prisoner in Siberia. Edged with cynicism and wit, Tuschi’s film can’t hide its admiration – but real answers lurk tantalisingly out of reach. Read the rest of this entry »
Film review: Captain America – First Avenger
On July - 27 - 2011
Captain America: First Avenger ends with the saddest last line in blockbuster history. Chris Evans delivers it beautifully: unexpected, gentle, agonisingly poignant. But the movie doesn’t seem to notice. It triumphantly roll the credits, you walk out of the cinema wondering why your heart just decompressed inside your chest, and off we zoom to next year’s superhero-a-thon The Avengers. Read the rest of this entry »
Film review: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows 2
On July - 21 - 2011
For you, it’s been nearly 20 hours of cinema. For them, it’s been a lifetime. After 10 years, seven movies, four directors and a truckload of exposition, the Harry Potter’s saga finally matures into the spectacular, propulsive and emotionally satisfying blockbuster it should have been from the start. Read the rest of this entry »
Film review: The Tree Of Life
On July - 7 - 2011
Two things before we start on Terrence Malick’s philosophical, spiritual, experimental, transcendent, cosmic odyssey. One: it’s shorter than Transformers 3. Two: it has dinosaurs in it. But really, where on earth do we start? Not on Earth. Not at the start. Further back. In The Beginning… Read the rest of this entry »
Film review: The Adjustment Bureau
On March - 2 - 2011
Love has taken a battering lately. Blue Valentine, Rabbit Hole and The Kids Are All Right have all shown it busting up, breaking down and dying hard. Love’s had it tough. Love’s had Twilight, for pity’s sake. But things weren’t always like this. Read the rest of this entry »
Film review: The Tourist
On February - 21 - 2011
On paper, it really couldn’t look much better. A romantic thriller from The Lives Of Others director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. A script inked by him, Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) and Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park). A first ever on-screen pairing of Hollywood super-idols Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. Oscar-winners, every one of them. Read the rest of this entry »
