The Monuments Men

Sometimes a film has all the right components to make a perfect viewing experience and it just doesn’t work. The cast can be top-notch, the story enthralling, the production values great but the film just doesn’t add up. And so it is with George Clooney’s latest directorial effort, The Monuments Men…

Gravity

As I may* have mentioned before I hate 3D (*definitely, on numerous occasions). Hate it with an absolute passion. It’s usually a pointless gimmick which offers little to the narrative and relies on flashy whizzing tricks flying off the screen to elicit “ooohs and aaahs” from the audience…

Top Ten: 2001 Films

A couple of weeks ago on a Facebook film discussion page someone posted a challenge for me to name my Top Ten films of 2001. I could have just left a comment on the page with the list but thought why not go the whole hog and actually write a post. 2001 wasn’t a classic year in film and saw the release of Freddy Got Fingered, Pearl Harbor and Planet of the Apes…

Top Ten: Movie Fathers

This Sunday we celebrate Father’s Day here in the UK. Depending on your point of view it’s either the ideal opportunity to thank our Dads for everything that they have done for us over the year or a Hallmark Holiday….

In Defence of Seth MacFarlane – Kind Of…

There are many thankless tasks in this world but as Seth MacFarlane is probably now realising, being the host of the Academy Awards is possibly the most public way to make yourself a worldwide figure of hatred literally overnight. His reviews are not great and some of the Twitter vitriol has been appalling…

The Descendants

This year’s battle for the Best Actor Oscar looks like being a straight fight between Frenchman Jean Dujardin, star of the silent hit The Artist, and Hollywood superstar George Clooney for his performance in The Descendants….

The Ides of March

2011’s star of the year has to be Ryan Gosling. All of a sudden he’s everywhere and getting lots of attention and love. Not least from a number of movie bloggers and guys I speak to on Twitter. I must admit though that I don’t feel the Gosling love as much as some others do. I like him…

5 movies I can’t wait to see… but will just have to!

This summer hasn’t exactly been a classic. Not in terms of the shocking weather and certainly not when you look at what’s been on at the cinema. Harry Potter was the first brilliant blockbuster of the year…

Ides of March Trailer

The Venice International Film Festival opened this week with a showing of George Clooney’s fourth film in the director’s chair – The Ides of March. Feedback so far has been very positive, particularly about Ryan Gosling’s performance. The cast is strong with Clooney, Gosling and the always impressive Philip Seymour Hoffman. The trailer promises a slick political thriller and it’s definitely one of my must-sees for what looks like a very impressive autumn at the cinema. What upcoming releases have caught your eye?