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Gregory Peck’s performance as the white lawyer determined to defend a young black man is perhaps the best of his career. I adore Harper Lee’s original novel, and read it many years before seeing the film. When I first watched it I was amazed how close his interpretation of Atticus Finch, the brave father of […]
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Big, moving, well-made family blockbusters don’t come along very often. But when they do, they remind us how wonderful it is to be caught up in a thumping good story with characters (including animals) we can connect with and care for. In the age of big brainless 3D franchise films (Pirates, Transformers), it is wonderful to […]
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Masters of Cinema have given us some of the best blu-ray releases of the year (their edition of Touch of Evil was a 100 Discs of Christmas choice recently), and the treatment they have given to Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat is stunning. The film is a fascinating Second World War drama. It is entirely set on a lifeboat […]
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This year marks 100 years of Universal Pictures. It’s an achievement worth celebrating, and Universal are doing it in style. They have spent the past twelve months releasing sumptuously packaged new editions of their finest work, restoring the films themselves in stunning 1080p high definition. This beautiful ‘digi-book’ edition of Gladiator is one of my […]
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This was a film ahead of its time. It contains radical decisions in filmmaking and the story pushes aside the attitudes towards controversial topics of the time. Orson Welles contributed many things to the history of cinema, but this film is perhaps his potent contribution to the future of it. Beautifully presented in multiple editions […]
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Eli Roth’s Hostel and Hostel Part II were far from masterpieces. They did, however, influence a new wave of cinema. For better or for worse, they ignited a new hunger in mainstream audiences. People started to pay for gore; the bloodier the better. But although some of the desire is still there, the fact this […]
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Everyone loves a Dickens adaptation at Christmas, and this is one of the best every produced. Spread over fifteen compelling episodes, acclaimed screenwriter Andrew Davies superbly adapts Dickens’s huge multi-stranded novel so that it works perfectly as a mini-series. The cast list contains some of Britain’s finest actors, but for me The X Files star Gillian Anderson […]
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Gosling plays Stephen Meyers, the press secretary to the potential next President, governor Mike Morris (Clooney). Meyers may not be the top-dog on the campaign – that position goes to Paul (Philip Seymour Hoffman) – but he has a certain power and control that his opponents revere and envy. He knows exactly what to do, […]
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Weaving together the stories of American cook Julia Child (an astonishing Meryl Streep) and New York blogger Julie Powell, this is about two interesting women finding themselves through cooking. Julie Powell cooks her way through Child’s book of 500-plus recipes, giving herself a year to complete her challenge. She’s living the book, and Child, in her part […]
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What a treat it is to see Disney’s best Christmas film on the big screen. Up until this year, I had only seen The Muppet Christmas Carol on television; whether it be via VHS, DVD, or HD broadcast. It holds a special place in my heart; we have always watched it when decorating the Christmas […]
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Universal’s classic family film, directed by Steven Spielberg, has just been given a dazzling new high definition blu-ray release to coincide with Universal Pictures’ 100th Anniversary Celebrations. This gorgeous steelbook edition will be hungrily hunted down by all BD obsessives and E.T. lovers everywhere. The story, about a harmless alien who befriends a young boy, […]
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Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit is a long-winded, tedious affair. And as we know, this is only the first part of three epic entries into a trilogy that would have very nicely fit into one film. There’s something a little sad about how a book as simple and charming as its title character has […]
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Adapted from Colin Clark’s memoir The Prince, the Showgirl and Me, the film tells the true story of Colin’s brief relationship with Marilyn Monroe while she was in England shooting at Pinewood. The production of the film, The Prince and the Showgirl, was not smooth, and saw clashes between director Lawrence Olivier and Ms Monroe. […]
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After seven books, eight films, a theme park and loads of plastic toys, the Harry Potter franchise has made billions for Warner Brothers and a certain Ms Joanne Rowling. But to look at the pound signs and the immense amount of zeros on its creator’s bank balance is to miss the point. Harry Potter is […]