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The Skin I Live In [ Hits:61 ]
Review: Skin... everyone's got one, except that guy dangling from the tree in Predator. The word has developed a stigma and a deviant curiosity in Hollywood: Mysterious Skin, Skinwalkers, 'skin flicks' - it would be rash to think The Skin I Live In, a film that nabbed a spot in Quentin Tarantino's Top Ten Films of 2011 could cure that little niggling 'skin' problem. Renowned filmmaker, Pedro Almodovar, knows how to make your skin crawl. The director of Talk to Her, Broken Embraces and Volver also ...

Margin Call [ Hits:118 ]
Review: The award-winning documentary Inside Job drilled down into what caused the 2008 financial crisis by consulting some of the finest financial experts. Margin Call creates a fictionalised account of the most critical 24 hour period of the meltdown, featuring some of Hollywood's most respected actors. Margin Call is a companion piece to Inside Job in the style of 12 Angry Men, offering outsiders a glimpse into the backroom ethics and doomsday plotting of an investment bank on the brink of collapse....

The Ides of March [ Hits:110 ]
Review: It's no secret, 2011 was a dismal year for Hollywood. The movie machine is running out of ideas, David Lynch is focusing on music, budgets are being screwed tight and we're getting a spill of bankable franchise sequels and unnecessary adapatations. Although one actor seems to have risen out of the ashes... No, not Joaquin Phoenix... he hasn't done a film since 2008, we're talking about Ryan Gosling! He's had a fantastic year... The Ides of March, Drive and Crazy, Stupid, Love. Let's just say it...

50/50 [ Hits:177 ]
Review: Laughter is the best medicine, but cancer and comedy don't mix - unless your name's Mike Birbiglia or you're watching 50/50. Disambiguation: we're reviewing 50/50, the comedy-drama about a 27-year-old guy struggling to beat the odds, after being diagnosed with cancer and not 50|50, the hard-hitting 27-year-old nature conservation show. There is a difference.Cancer is deadly serious, which is probably why very few people have tried to broach the subject in film, let alone comedy. Yet, they've tak...

Trust [ Hits:206 ]
Review: Trust is an important drama thriller about a teenage girl who falls prey to an online predator and the repercussions that a rape has on the victim and her family. It's an eye-opening yet disturbing watch, partly for its inevitability and for its real world danger with families at risk of the same incident. Every father wants to protect his little girl and Trust offers something of a social commentary on how media has brought with it a wave of new privacy and safety issues. We're unaware of what ...

Master Harold... and the Boys [ Hits:527 ]
Review: Master Harold... and the Boys is an adaptation of Athol Fugard's acclaimed stage play about a young boy wrestling with his convictions when it comes to his father and his caretaker in 1950s South Africa. The era, known for its discriminatory racist government policies, separated South Africans and created barriers preventing black South Africans from enjoying equality and the same level of privileges as their white counterparts. This tense atmosphere fuels the drama of Master Harold... and the B...

The Bang Bang Club [ Hits:264 ]
Review: The Bang Bang Club is the story of four conflict photographers, Greg Marinovich, Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek and João Silva, in the build-up to South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994. These high profile photographers were like soldiers, their weapons - cameras and their ammo - extra spools. As South African photo journalists, they were on the forefront of a civil war, one being fought in areas known as "dead zones" between two warring political parties. Fearless sometimes foolish, ...

The Conspirator [ Hits:326 ]
Review: They say film-makers need a point-of-view. Well, Hollywood actor-turn-director Robert Redford has made this a cornerstone of his directorial career. Best known for starring in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, the on-screen veteran has followed a similar trajectory to Western icon, Clint Eastwood, taking his experience behind the camera. While his directorial debut began in 1980 with Ordinary People, he's racked up a collection of quality films including: A River Runs Through It,...

I Am Slave [ Hits:437 ]
Review: Slavery is not dead. Just like leprosy, slavery has been relegated to the past. Films like Amazing Grace recount William Wilberforce's influence in leading a 26 year campaign leading to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. Yet, there are about 5,000 'slave' workers in Britain today - a startling fact considering the Slave Trade Act was institued in 1807. I Am Slave is based on the true life story of Mende Nazer, who was abducted and sold into slavery as a child in Sudan.Malia, a twelv...

Water for Elephants [ Hits:1749 ]
Review: Water for Elephants is a ridiculous title. Although it makes more sense when you realise that it's a crossover of two cinematic achievements of the 20th century... namely Titanic and Dumbo. Titanic in the way that this epic romance drama has been constructed, and Dumbo in the subject matter, story and special effects. Lavish, historic sets filled with extras in accurate costume and circus animals form the backdrop to this swirling romance about a young man, who happens to jump a circus train, be...

Barneys Version [ Hits:283 ]
Review: Paul Giamatti is Barney Panofsky, the title character of Barney's Version, a biographical dramedy based on the novel by Mordecai Richler about an impulsive, rude yet endearing TV producer. After watching Barney's Version, it's difficult to imagine anyone else doing the part justice. Giamatti is fascinating to look at, charming enough to win our hearts and funny enough to keep us laughing. Audiences love watching characters, who while flawed are essentially good when it comes down to it. We relis...

Somewhere [ Hits:225 ]
Review: Somewhere is somewhere between the vapid neon encounter that is Lost in Translation and the decadent, sprawling nothingness that is Marie Antoinette. All of these films were directed by Sofia Coppola, daughter to legendary The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola. She’s quickly making a name for herself as one of Hollywood’s finest art directors, with Oscar nominations to boot and a controversial Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for Somewhere… and it’s no Lost in Translation...

Life, Above All [ Hits:333 ]
Review: Life, Above All is a universal story about the intricate relationship between mother and daughter. Set in modern day South Africa, Oliver Schmitz has composed a drama that is emotionally taut, compelling for its heartfelt performances, important for its social commentary and beautiful for its cinematography. At the crux of Life, Above All is Chanda, our young protagonist, played by Khomotso Manyaka. The film depends on Manyaka's performance and she persuades us to journey with her as we learn of...

The Fighter [ Hits:395 ]
Review: Boxing is one of those sports that has fascinated Hollywood for ages... It's easy to see how the blood, sweat and tears shed in the boxing ring could inspire films like Raging Bull and Rocky. Yet, the real drama happens outside the ring in preparation, training, media speculation and in betting circles. Corrupt officials, match-fixing and personal afflictions are where the real action is and it's these themes that make sports movies great.Rooting for the underdog is a popular theme for sports m...

127 Hours [ Hits:433 ]
Review: Would you cut your own arm off to save your life? That's what it all boils down to in 127 Hours, an adventure-thriller and drama starring James Franco and directed by Slumdog Millionaire's Danny Boyle. The film is an adaptation of Between a Rock and a Hard Place, a biographical account of now famous adventurer Aron Ralston, who did exactly that. After a solo mountain climbing expedition accident, Ralston was pinned by a boulder and eventually resorted to desperate measures in order to survive.Th...

The Kings Speech [ Hits:534 ]
Review: The British royal family have had their fair share of embarrassments through the ages: Richard III's bloody coronation, Queen Victoria's "wicked uncles", rumours that Prince Albert Victor was in fact Jack the Ripper, Prince Charles, his ears, Camilla Parker Bowles... the list continues. One such national embarrassment was The Duke of York, whose futile military exploits inspired this song..."Oh, the grand old Duke of York,He had ten thousand men; He marched them up to the top of the hill, And he...

Love and Other Drugs [ Hits:397 ]
Review: Anne Hathaway is a lady. One of those well-to-do women, who lifts her pinkie when she drinks tea and waves like the Queen. She’s fit for royalty, blessed with great beauty, intelligence and a coy smile. So it was quite something when she just whipped out a boob in Love and Other Drugs. Unveiling a spider bite in the doctor’s rooms, sure – it’s better than a nubbin, but is revealing a pockmarked fairy cushion of artistic merit or just gratuitous “boobage”? Most guys and some girls won...

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger [ Hits:330 ]
Review: You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger is as mystical as its title. You'd usually hear the line when having your palm read in a jocular manner and who better to do it than Woody Allen? The writer-director has discovered a niche for intricate relational comedy dramas with a twist. Whatever Works paired Woody Allen with Larry David as the two concocted a "romance" story about interconnecting relationships and love in all its forms. You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger is similar, except darker, represen...

The Social Network [ 2010 ] [ Hits:566 ]
Review: The Social Network is a timely story about the founders of Facebook and their legal disputes on the back of unprecedented viral Internet growth and accidental billionaires. Whatever your take on the social online platform, The Social Network movie seems to have everyone hitting 'Like'… If you’re connected to the Internet, chances are that you rely on Facebook as entertainment, a networking tool, a virtual grapevine or local news feed. The Social Network points out the social platform's add...

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps [ 2010 ] [ Hits:494 ]
Review: Money, money, money, MONEY... watching Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps may remind you of Donald Trump. That's because it's like Donald Trump... full of swagger, big talk, power suits, business tycoons, a young apprentice, a smug look and the stock exchange... it all feeds back to the mantra "Money Never Sleeps" as uttered by Gordon Gekko in the original Wall Street. The first Wall Street film identified a culture, introduced a new wave of technology and embraced the love of money as something of...

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