This is a rather nice, sweet film. It’s unlikely to change anyone’s world, but may well provide a nice night out at the cinema if you like this sort of thing. Funnily enough, Quartet, based on Ronal Harwood’s stage play, is the directorial debut of Dustin Hoffman. It’s a bit of a safe bet –…
“Mickey Cohen adored violence” says the voice-over towards the tail-end of Gangster Squad. The LA drug-dealing gangster, who is here played by Sean Penn, did apparently adore violence, but so does this movie. With competent special effects and sudden slow-motion moments, Gangster Squad piles on the gore and corpses like there’s no tomorrow. It may…
It’s time now to take a look at the films Edge writers thought were the best of the year. The Best Films of the Year – The Official Edge List 1. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES | 2. SKYFALL | 3. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE | 4. LOOPER | 5. = THE HUNGER GAMES | = THE HOBBIT: AN…
It’s hard to say what makes a vintage year. I don’t think 2012 was one (2011 offered more gems, in my opinion), but we did get some nuggets of gold. Michael Haneke once again proved he is the master of deep, emotional cinema. Leos Carax succeeded in stunning crowds and puzzling critics. And Bond returned…
Ang Lee isn’t a stranger to challenging literary adaptations. He captured Austen’s comedy brilliantly with Sense and Sensibility, working from Emma Thompson’s glittering script. He masterfully brought Annie Proloux’s novella Brokeback Mountain to the big screen. And now he has injected a dose of cinematic life into Yan Martel’s Man Booker winner Life of Pi.…
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…
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…
Union Films closes off the year with a blend of romance, drama, comedy, action and a dash of festive spirit.
At the start of There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson’s superb 2008 feature, there is very little dialogue. We just observe a man attempting to get oil from the ground. Some oil splashes onto the camera lens. A deliberate decision by Anderson and his cinematographer, one assumes. Does it remind the viewer they are…
Ben Wheatley’s film Kill List won him critical praise and attention. I quite liked it, but felt that in its attempt to be shocking and different it lost control and sacrificed its own intelligence for weird scares. Sightseers, Wheatley’s latest, is an offbeat, amiably dark comedy about a couple in their thirties who go off…
This must be one of the biggest disappointments of the year. I had such great expectations for this adaptation (sorry, couldn’t resist), but it turns out Mike Newell’s retread of Dickens’s novel is a rather dull, uninspired affair. It isn’t helped by the fact that the BBC (whose film department also backed this film) produced…
This police drama is more than just yet another entry into the found-footage canon. It is a superbly acted character study that focuses on the relationship of two LA cops as they go on their rounds. Jake Gyllenhaal has been one of my favourite actors for a long while, and here he really shows how…
This week is pretty action packed. We’re bringing you Nazi invasion from Iron Sky on Tuesday; followed by The Dark Knight Rises reshowing afterwards to catch up with our favourite superhero. Phoenix are showing Turkish drama, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, on Wednesday. Then we’ve got our Audience Choice: Adventure film Saturday. Rounding off…
So after the brilliant Dark Knight Trilogy, our final film marathon of the term, it’s back to normal at Union Films, and by normal of course I mean yet another jam packed week of fantastic films! Monday night we’ve a second chance to catch Disney’s Brave (it sold out the first time round) followed by…