Review | Star Trek: Into Darkness
May 14th
Before J.J Abrams brought us Star Trek back in 2009, the franchise had become stale and tired. So, like most continuations these days, the way forward seemed to be to go back and start again. That’s what Abrams did and we were treated to a fantastic new vision of the sci-fi classic. Could Into Darkness prove that it’s a direction that has longevity?
Review | Grabbers
May 6th
Netflix can be a rather bemusing place at times. Its library is filled with bizarre films from all around the world that no one has ever heard of and you just know that the majority of them aren’t going to be any good. There are obviously some of the all time greats mixed into the service as well but more often than not the chances are you opt to watch a TV series. More >
Review | Olympus Has Fallen
May 5th
Hands up who would like to watch a couple of hours of nothing but Morgan Freeman? I know I would. Purveyor of fine performances and now at a legendary status, his back catalogue is nothing sort of exemplary Guaranteed to put in a fine performance. In Olympus Has Fallen, the same applies. Freeman is excellent, providing the best line of dialogue in the whole film in a way only he can. Sadly, this highlights everything that is broken with this movie and it is very, very broken.
Review | Jack Reacher
May 5th
The character Jack Reacher in the series of well known action novels is 6’5” tall, with a 50 inch chest, weighing 250 pounds. So, which bright spark was it then who thought casting Tom Cruise for this role was a good idea? At a pitiful 3’4” (may not be factual), pint-sized Cruise has a lot to live up to.
Review | The Hunt
Apr 20th
The Hunt. Just think about that title for a second. What could “The Hunt” connotate? Google the definition of “Hunt” and the first explanation is “Pursue and kill (a wild animal) for sport or food.” Then have a look at the front cover of the film case. The lead is Mads Mikkelsen who is better known for being the villain in Casino Royale (with the bleeding eye). Not only that, but it’s a pretty sinister portrait.
Review | Trance
Mar 31st
Danny Boyle’s career is awash with creativity, individuality and a sense of purpose scarcely seen in modern cinema, with the exception of very few. He’s won BAFTAs, Oscars, Golden Globes and many more thanks to films such as Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours.
Review | Sightseers
Mar 18th
Sightseers is the third film from Ben Wheatley – the man behind the brilliant and bizarre Kill List – so, if you’re familiar with either that or Down Terrace, you’ll know that Sightseers, at least, will probably contain dark humour, violence and a little bit of bat shit mental. I can safely say that it has huge amounts of all three.
Review | Argo
Mar 17th
By now you’ll probably be aware that Ben Affleck’s Argo has won a wealth of awards including; the Oscar for Best Picture, the BAFTA for Best Film and Best Director, the AFI Award for Movie of the Year, France’s Cesar Award for Best Foreign Film, the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion, the Golden Globes for Best Director and Best Motion Picture to name just a tiny fraction of the film’s overall winnings. Well, this is a no brainer, right? The film’s got to be good? Or is this a case of hype exceeding reality?
Review | Arbitrage
Mar 17th
A couple of weeks ago I watched the straight-to-DVD action thriller, The Double. There is no doubt that it was utter garbage. It featured Richard Gere as an ageing CIA operative, paired with a young gun, trying to track down a legendary Russian criminal by the name of Cassius.Taking only 15 minutes before a massive plot twist occurs, The Double was intent on throwing similar changes of direction at regular intervals throughout, so much so that you lose track, stop caring and end up right back at the start again before it changes, again. Boiling down to a background mumble, the plot has it’s actors all over the shop, desperately trying to show that they understand what’s going on, but failing.
Review | Side by Side
Mar 3rd
My family owns and runs a photography business. It isn’t much, just a very modest Yorkshire company that trades in camera sales, canvas prints, framing, portraits and the like. The change in the industry as a whole has been phenomenal over the past 20 years or so. It is virtually unrecognisable. To stay alive in such changing times, it has had to adapt, to try and keep ahead of the curve. It used to be an extremely skilled art to take an image, at the right camera settings, on film. You cannot see the image straight away and nor can you simply keep snapping away in the hope you would get it right as that cost money. The art of a photographer was to judge what was right based on years of experience.
