Sentimentality oozes from every pore of Fathers & Daughters, Gabriele Muccino’s split timeline drama that has all the tell-tale signs of a soap opera. Award-winning novelist Jake Davis (Russell Crowe) is left to care for his daughter, Katie (Kylie Rogers), after his wife dies in a car accident, while years later Katie, now in her twenties and played by Amanda Seyfried, wrestles with her past. Continue reading “Review: Fathers & Daughters (2015)”
An all-star cast fall victim to a shallow, tasteless script in The Big Wedding, the latest in the line of lacklustre comedies to hit cinema screens this year. This one though, which was adapted from the well-received French romantic comedy Mon Frère Se Marie, heralds a new low with its arrival – one that proves that no matter how much money or A-list stars you throw into the mix, if the material isn’t up to scratch, then there’s no point in even bothering. Continue reading “Review: The Big Wedding (2013)”
Aside from the ridiculously successful Ice Age series, Blue Sky Studios haven’t exactly had the best luck, releasing mediocre film after mediocre film that have each failed to set the box office alight. The latest of which, Epic, fails to alter that cursed streak. Hailing from director Chris Wedge, this FernGully-like animated fantasy-adventure offers very little that hasn’t been seen or done before. Continue reading “Review: Epic (2013)”
Victor Hugo’s decades-spanning novel Les Misérables has been the subject of countless adaptations since its initial publication in 1862, the latest of which hails from The King’s Speech director, Tom Hooper. He has stripped the tale of ex-convict Jean Valjean’s quest for redemption through revolution-era France down to its core and captured the fraught emotion and difficult subject matter – poverty, prostitution, crime and corruption – through powerful, live on-set Continue reading “Review: Les Misérables (2012)”
Millennium Films have released a brand new magazine-style poster for Lovelace, Latino Review has uncovered.
Directed by filmmaking duo Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (Howl), Lovelace details the trials and tribulations of real-life porn star Linda Lovelace: a woman lead to suicide by the coercive industry and her abusive husband.
The film, which sports a screenplay from relative newcomer Andy Bellin (Trust) Continue reading “Magazine-Style Poster For Lovelace”
Red Riding Hood is director Catherine Hardwicke’s follow-up to the hugely successful Twilight, and stars Amanda Seyfried, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons, Lukas Haas, Billy Burke, Gary Oldman and Julie Christie.
Valerie (Seyfried) is a beautiful young woman torn between two men. She is in love with a brooding outsider, Peter (Fernandez), but her parents have arranged for her to marry the wealthy Henry (Irons). Unwilling to lose each other, Valerie and Peter plan to run away together when they learn that Valerie’s older sister has been killed by the werewolf that prowls the dark forest surrounding their village.
For years, the people have maintained an uneasy truce with the beast, offering the creature a monthly animal sacrifice. But under a blood red moon, the wolf has upped the stakes by taking a human life. Hungry for revenge, the people call on famed werewolf hunter, Father Solomon (Oldman), to help them kill the wolf. But Solomon’s arrival brings unintended consequences as he warns that the wolf, who takes human form by day, could be any one of them.
As the death toll rises with each moon, Valerie begins to suspect that the werewolf could be someone she loves. As panic grips the town, Valerie discovers that she has a unique connection to the beast – one that inexorably draws them together, making her both suspect and bait.
Hardwicke’s direction is limp and lifeless, undoubtedly let down by awkward staging, tacky production design and a script that doesn’t seem to know where it’s going, what era it’s in or how best to use its talent both in front of and behind the camera.
Seyfried is striking to look at and easily fulfills the sumptuous ‘big eyes’ part of the characters profile, but it never capitalises on the actress’ raw talent to demonstrate both innocence and transgression simultaneously.
The less said about the male leads, the better, as neither Fernandez nor Irons prove themselves capable of acting with conviction – they’re merely there as objects of Valerie’s affection.
The supporting crop, including Oldman, Christie, Haas and Burke, all take a decent stab at their respective characters, showing much more conviction and flair than the younger, more integral group, but they suffer from far too many cliches, hilariously cheesy dialogue, and severely limited screen time to make an overlying impression.
Red Riding Hood is quite obviously cashing in on the Twilight crowd, and does nothing to convince audiences otherwise. It’s badly acted, badly scripted and shockingly directed.
Saying that, with its glossy aesthetic, thundering emo-rock soundtrack and inclusion of Seyfried, there are obvious attempts at bringing the old Red Riding Hood fairytale into the 21st century, but sadly Hardwicke’s vision isn’t strong or clear enough for it to be any more than a disastrous attempt.
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