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The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity, Chronicle, The Devil Inside…there have been a lot of so-called ‘found footage’ movies. Studios like them – it means they can shoot or buy in a film without spending much cash, and then harvest in potentially phenomenal profits. Many of these films have been advertised to their target audiences (generally teenagers) via […]
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This ludicrous home-invasion thriller from Joel Schumacher failed miserably at the cinema. It isn’t hard to understand why. Although it stars A-listers Nicole Kidman and Nicholas Cage as a rich couple with a whiny teenage daughter, the film provides very little in terms of entertainment value. Some may get sadistic pleasure from watching two usually […]
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This incredibly boring film, adapted from Owen Sheers’s novel, attempts to show us what life may have been like for Welsh citizens if the Nazis had successfully invaded Britain during the Second World War. Although far from an original set-up, the idea of life during the take-over of a country could have been used to […]
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I am not lacking in experience when it comes to sick movies. I’ve sat through some pretty nasty stuff; Hostel, the Saw films, Antichrist, Martyrs, a variety of extreme Asian torture movies – all the gore, trauma and pain has passed before my eyes either at the cinema or on the television. However, Sucker Punch has […]
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A workable version of the dramatic thriller, but does not reach the heights of the superb 2009 Swedish-language version.
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Although snubbed in the Oscar nominations, Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance as the controversial FBI head J. Edgar Hoover is nothing short of magnificent. The film, directed by Clint Eastwood, is sadly a patchy and often turgid recount of the successes and failings of much-hated but revered man who spent over 40 years trying to keep America […]
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Pathetic new teen-movie Project X is released by Warner Bros. Pictures this week. The film shows a bunch of guys throwing a massive house party in the hope to increase their popularity at school. The party descends into violence, destruction and street rioting. All this is immensely cool, apparently. In my review (which you can find […]
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Novelist Julia Leigh’s directorial debut is a strange and uncomfortable drama that is both beautiful and ugly at the same time. Some have taken offence to its subject matter, whereas others (such as the Daily Mail’s critic Chris Tookey) have criticised it for its slow meandering narrative. Tookey described it as ‘very, very, very boring’. […]
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Some atheists find it hard to like or admire C. S. Lewis’s popular fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. The biblical allegories, the parallels that swap Jesus for a lion, pieces of silver for Turkish delight, and the general themes of hierarchy, monarchy, betrayal and suffering are, to some non-religious minds, problematic aspects when seen […]
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A Dangerous Method is a very strange film for David Cronenberg to make. He is known for making strange films with strange stories involving strange things happening, but the strangest thing about this film is that it isn’t very strange. It’s surprisingly boringly directed, with very little happening except people talking in rooms while a […]
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Considering the stage adaptation of Susan Hill’s novel is one of the longest running West End plays of all time, and there hasn’t been a screen adaptation for nearly 25 years, it’s amazing Hollywood hasn’t got its hands on The Woman in Black before now. Actually, it must be said, Hollywood still hasn’t caught hold […]
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Despite some buzz early last year, and an impressive cast, Spencer Susser’s odd but curiously sweet film Hesher skips a theatrical outing in the UK and heads straight to DVD. It’s not a brilliant film, but it’s miles better than much of the drivel that frequently crowds the screens. Maybe it will pick up a […]
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Although David Nicholls’s big-screen adaptation of his own bestseller is far from perfect, the very sweet and engaging lead performances make it fairly enjoyable. Director Loan Scherfig, whose previous film An Education made a star of Carey Mulligan, here takes on two rather more established young actors, Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturges, to play Emma […]
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Steven Spielberg outdoes himself with the beautiful tale of War Horse on the big screen, in what is sure to gain classic status.