Category: Review

Review: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)

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Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), a recently abased journalist, is headhunted by wealthy patriarch Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to investigate the mysterious disappearance of his niece, Harriet Vanger. With the aid of unusual research mastermind Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), he embroils himself in a forty-year-old puzzle unlike anything he’s encountered before.

Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, with it’s ever winding central mystery, interesting characters and thought-provoking subtext, Continue reading “Review: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)” →

Review: Kill List (2011)

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Jay (Neil Maskell) is an undercover hitman living a cosy life with his wife, Shel (MyAnna Buring), and son, Sam (Harry Simpson), when he embarks upon a new assignment with his friend Gal (Michael Smiley), unaware of the dangers that lie ahead.

Kill List is a difficult film to categorize. What starts off as a kitchen sink drama slowly yet brilliantly transcends into part dark comedy, part edgy thriller and part sinister horror. It’s an amalgamation of components that, on paper, Continue reading “Review: Kill List (2011)” →

Review: Dreams Of A Life (2011)

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Rooted in a story that is not only unnerving, but also desperately sad, Dreams of a Life, a documentary six years in the making, seeks to discover the truth as to how one woman, Joyce Carol Vincent (played beautifully by British actress Zawe Ashton), managed to fall through the cracks and lie dead in her lonely London bedsit for three years before being found by council workers looking to repossess her property.

Constructed through an assortment of news clippings and interviews with ex-colleagues, associates and lovers – notice the mysterious absence of Continue reading “Review: Dreams Of A Life (2011)” →

Review: Dream House (2011)

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Fortuitous publisher Will Atenton (Daniel Craig) relocates his wife (Rachel Weisz) and two children (Taylor and Claire Geare) to a seemingly idyllic house in a picturesque New England town. As they adjust to their environment, they discover that their new house is actually the scene of an old murder. Attempting to piece together exactly what happened, Will, with the aid of his amiable neighbour (Naomi Watts), uncovers the unsettling truth behind the deplorable events.

What begins as an unnerving, rousing thriller, hits an altogether sour note once the – quite frankly outrageous – midway plot twist is revealed. From Continue reading “Review: Dream House (2011)” →

Review: The Thing (2011)

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Upon discovering an extraterrestrial lifeform, Dr. Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen) handpicks top minds, including student Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), to carry out experiments upon it at a remote Antarctic research site. When the alien breaks free, the team must combat unease and distrust to stop it before it’s too late.

Pitched as a prequel to John Carpenter’s cult classic, Matthijs Van Heijningen Jr.’s The Thing attempts to cleverly replicate the tone and Continue reading “Review: The Thing (2011)” →

Review: The Deep Blue Sea (2011)

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Succumbing to the unexpected throes of love, Hester Collyer (Rachel Weisz) abandons her stable life with High Court judge William (Simon Russell Beale) for Freddie (Tom Hiddleston): a youthful pilot, formerly of the RAF. However, their romance is not easy, as we see his frivolous personality slowly evaporating when faced with her needy disposition.

Establishing itself with an intense, compact opening sequence depicting Hester’s attempted suicide, screenwriter and director Terence Davies Continue reading “Review: The Deep Blue Sea (2011)” →

Review: Take Shelter (2011)

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Beleaguered by a series of apocalyptic visions, Curtis (Michael Shannon), questions whether he needs to shelter his wife, Samantha (Jessica Chastain) and daughter, Hanna (Tova Stewart) from a coming storm, or from himself.

Blossoming writer/director Jeff Nichols plunges the viewer head-first into Curtis’ nightmarish mind, where reality and fiction become intertwined. As the film builds in a heady crescendo, it becomes increasingly doubtful as to Continue reading “Review: Take Shelter (2011)” →

Review: 50/50 (2011)

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Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a 27-year-old radio employee, is abruptly diagnosed with a very rare, life-threatening form of spinal cancer. Unable to turn to his self-obsessed girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard) or domineering mother (Anjelica Huston) for help, he instead finds resolution with his oafish best friend (Seth Rogen) and novice therapist (Anna Kendrick).

It’s a rare feat for a film about cancer to be both funny and deeply moving in equal measure, but that’s exactly what makes 50/50 so distinctive. It’s Continue reading “Review: 50/50 (2011)” →

Review: Wuthering Heights (2011)

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Adapting a literary classic is treacherous territory. Not only is there the threat of certain elements that made the original so widely acclaimed being left out, but also that it might miss the purpose of the novel entirely. Luckily for Oscar-winning filmmaker Andrea Arnold, her take on Emily Brontë’s revered Wuthering Heights retains its distinctive quality. Nevertheless, she heralds a new, modern life for the author’s old-fashioned ideals: in particular through her choice to alter Heathcliff’s race, intensifying the themes of race Continue reading “Review: Wuthering Heights (2011)” →

Review: Weekend (2011)

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Writer-director Andrew Haigh follows up his well-received directorial debut Greek Pete with poignant character-based drama Weekend.

Weekend tells the story of Russell (Tom Cullen) and Glenn (Chris New): two off-base gay guys who meet at a club. After a weekend of heavy drinking, drug-taking and sex, they begin to realise that they may be falling in love, despite their marked differences and opposing approaches to life.

While littered with potent questions about gay rights, politics and love, Haigh retains a light-hearted, discernible air about Weekend for its entirety, never Continue reading “Review: Weekend (2011)” →