Category: Review

Review: Retreat (2011)

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Writer-director Carl Tibbetts makes his directorial debut with Retreat: an apocalyptic home invasion thriller set on a fictional Scottish island.

Martin (Cillian Murphy) and Kate (Thandie Newton), a couple from London, escape their broken marriage to an isolated island named Blackholme, which they visited as young lovers. While at the retreat, the couple attempt to put their past troubles behind them, only for their lives to be thrown into jeopardy when mysterious stranger, Jack (Jamie Bell), winds Continue reading “Review: Retreat (2011)” →

Review: A Cat In Paris (2010)

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A Cat In Paris kicked off this year’s Discovery Film Festival, a local film festival initiated by DCA Dundee aimed squarely at introducing children to world cinema. A deliberately old-fashioned animation, A Cat In Paris proves to be the perfect remedy to the mass-produced CGI that’s become the norm over the past two decades.

Propelled into silence after the death of her father to crook Victor Costa (Jean Benguigui), Zoé (Oriane Zani) leads a quiet life with her cat, Dino. With Continue reading “Review: A Cat In Paris (2010)” →

Review: Contagion (2011)

Jamie Neish3 Comments

Returning to her family in Minnesota after a business trip in Hong Kong, Beth Emhoff’s (Gwyneth Paltrow) supposed bad case of jet lag takes a turn for the worse. Suddenly racked with severe seizures, she dies in hospital. However, her mysterious disease quickly begins to spread, forcing researchers from the Centre for Disease Control and the World Health Orginization (Kate Winslet, Lawrence Fishburne, Jennifer Ehle and Marion Cotillard) to face the crisis head on as they work to manage emerging clusters, develop a cure and trace the growing epidemic back to Continue reading “Review: Contagion (2011)” →

Review: The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn (2011)

Jamie Neish1 Comment

An avid fan, and the sole person trusted by Hergé to adapt his comic books, Steven Spielberg joins forces with Peter Jackson to bring the iconic drawings to life through the art of motion capture: a method which both filmmakers believe unrivalled for representing the author’s bewitching world.

Combining elements from three of Hergé’s celebrated tales, The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn centres on plucky newspaper reporter Tintin (Jamie Bell) and his attempts to find the treasure of Sir Francis Continue reading “Review: The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn (2011)” →

Review: The Help (2011)

Jamie Neish3 Comments

Based on Kathryn Stockett’s phenomenally successful and influential novel of the same name, The Help centers on Aibileen Clark: (Viola Davis), a devoted housekeeper in 1960′s Mississipi, who, after being approached to help local writer Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan (Emma Stone) write her first novel, recounts her life as a black servant in a time of extreme racial discrimination, bigotry and classism.

Moving, compelling and insightful, The Help is a highly commendable cinematic triumph, hitting the nail firmly on the head in almost every field: from well-honed cinematography to a beautifully serene score. Tate Taylor, who also penned the screenplay, has managed to do something of a rarity Continue reading “Review: The Help (2011)” →

Review: We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011)

Jamie Neish1 Comment

We Need To Talk About Kevin tells the robust tale of Eva (Tilda Swinton), an uninhibited travel writer and her husband Franklin (John C Reilly) who after an unexpected pregnancy raise the troubled Kevin (Ezra Miller): a force of nature that destroys their life for no clear reason.

After an introductory scene that offers a glimpse into Eva’s buoyant early life while simultaneously setting an ominous mood (even hinting at the bloodbath that will plague Eva for the rest of her life), the film settles down into two Continue reading “Review: We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011)” →

Review: The Three Musketeers (2011)

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The Three Musketeers is an altogether cumbersome modern-day interpretation of Alexandre Dumas’ novel of the same name engineered by director Paul W.S. Anderson.

D’Artagnan (Logan Lerman), an implusive young adventurer, travels to Paris where he joins forces with the renowned Three Musketeers – Athos (Matthew Macfadyen), Aramis (Luke Evans) and Porthos (Ray Stevenson) – to prevent a deplorable cardinal (Christoph Waltz) and his enticing spy (Milla Continue reading “Review: The Three Musketeers (2011)” →

Review: Real Steel (2011)

Jamie Neish1 Comment

Part futuristic robot boxing drama, part redemption story between a father and his long-lost son, Real Steel – based on Dan Gilroy’s short story and unsurprisingly executively produced by Steven Spielberg – excels at one, but flounders on the other.

Washed-up former boxer Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) has found a new calling in the form of steel robot fighting. When his robot loses, and he nears rock bottom, he reluctantly reunites with estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to rebuild and train a potential championship heavyweight robot. As the stakes rise, Charlie and Max rediscover their similarities and get one last Continue reading “Review: Real Steel (2011)” →

Review: Midnight In Paris (2011)

Jamie Neish5 Comments

Woody Allen’s 41st film, Midnight In Paris is a light-hearted comedy set in the city of love: Paris, marks somewhat of a return to form for the exalted writer-director. Though not without its flaws, it’s a charmingly low-key affair that exudes a certain level of enjoyment that’s been missing since the critically-acclaimed Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Gil (Owen Wilson), a successful Hollywood script writer experiencing a mid-life crisis, and his fiance, Inez (Rachel McAdams), travel to Paris with Inez’ wealthy, conservative parents. After realising how little in common he has with his prospective family, Gil heads off into Paris alone, where he not only Continue reading “Review: Midnight In Paris (2011)” →

Review: Tyrannosaur (2011)

Jamie Neish3 Comments

Tyrannosaur, actor come filmmaker Paddy Considine’s expansion upon his critically acclaimed yet seldom seen short film Dog Altogether, is no easy watch. Centered on issues of loneliness, domestic abuse and poverty, it’s a distressingly blunt British drama with a level of honesty that’s rarely seen.

Plagued by brutality and an inner turmoil that’s leading him towards self-destruction, Joseph (Peter Mullan) happens upon Christian charity worker Hannah (Olivia Colman), who, at first, seems like the perfect antithesis. As their relationship deepens, dark secrets about their respective personal lives boil to the surface, with potentially devastating consequences.

While Considine has unquestionably asserted himself in the film industry as a brilliant actor through his attentive and honest attitude towards the characters he plays and the stories these inhabit, it’s still surprising to witness him slip so comfortably into his roles as Continue reading “Review: Tyrannosaur (2011)” →