Film review – Heat (1995) Rating: 9/10 Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Danny Trejo, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Mykelti Williamson, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Dennis Haysbert, William Fichtner, Natalie Portman, Tom Noonan Directed by: Michael Mann Review: Film review – Heat (1995) – This is the modern all …
Film review – Quills (2000) Rating: 9/10 Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Caine, Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Malahide, Amelia Warner, Jane Menelaus, Stephen Moyer, Tony Pritchard, Michael Jenn, Danny Babington, George Yiasoumi, Stephen Marcus, Elizabeth Berrington Directed by: Philip Kaufman Review: Film review – Quills (2000) – A wonderfully wicked film beautifully played by …
Film review – American Gangster (2007) Rating: 8/10 Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Lymari Nadal Directed by: Ridley Scott Review: Film review – American Gangster (2007) – This film has quite a bit going for it, Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Ridley Scott and a true story as its basis. Denzel Washington is …
Film review – What Happens in Vegas (2008) Rating: 6/10 Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Cameron Diaz, Rob Corddry, Lake Bell, Dennis Farina, Dennis Miller, Jason Sudeikis, Michelle Krusiec, Queen Latifah, Treat Williams, Deirdre O’Connell, Zach Galifianakis Directed by: Tom Vaughan Review: Film review – What Happens in Vegas (2008) – A formulaic romantic comedy straight out of …
Film review – Midnight in Paris (2011) Rating: 8/10 Starring: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kurt Fuller, Mimi Kennedy, Michael Sheen, Nina Arianda, Carla Bruni, Yves Heck, Alison Pill, Corey Stoll, Tom Hiddleston, Sonia Rolland, Daniel Lundh, Kathy Bates, Marcial Di Fonzo Bo, Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, Emmanuelle Uzan, Adrien Brody, Tom Cordier, Adrien de Van, …
Film review – The Hunt for Red October (1990) Rating: 8/10 Starring: Alec Baldwin, Sean Connery, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, James Earl Jones, Joss Ackland, Richard Jordan, Peter Firth, Tim Curry, Ronald Guttman, Michael Welden, Boris Lee Krutonog, Courtney Vance, Stellan Skarsgård, Jeffrey Jones, Timothy Carhart, Anthony Peck, Larry Ferguson, Fred Dalton Thompson, Daniel Davis, …
Film review – The Sentinel (2006) Rating: 5/10 Starring: Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria Parker, Martin Donovan, Ritchie Coster, Kim Basinger Directed by: Clark Johnson Review: Film review – The Sentinel (2006) – Well 5/10 says it all really, this is not a good movie but at the same time it isn’t bad either. …
Film review – You’ve Got Mail (1998) Rating: 7/10 Starring: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Greg Kinnear, Parker Posey, Jean Stapleton, Steve Zahn, Heather Burns, Dave Chappelle, Dabney Coleman, John Randolph, Deborah Rush, Hallee Hirsh, Jeffrey Scaperrotta, Cara Seymour, Peter Mian, Sara Ramírez, Jane Adams, Michael Badalucco, Veanne Cox Directed by: Nora Ephron Review: Film review …
Film review – The Big Lebowski (1998) Rating: 10/10 Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid, Philip Moon, Mark Pellegrino, Peter Stormare, Flea, Torsten Voges Directed by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen Review: Film review – The Big Lebowski (1998) – La la la la la la, from …
Film review – The Last Samurai (2003) Rating: 8/10 Starring: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Tony Goldwyn, Masato Harada, Shichinosuke Nakamura, Hiroyuki Sanada, Timothy Spall, Seizo Fukumoto, Koyuki, Shin Koyamada, Billy Connolly, Shun Sugata, Satoshi Nikaido Directed by: Edward Zwick Review: Film review – The Last Samurai (2003) – The Last Samurai follows the story of Japan in …
Film review – Black Hawk Down (2001) Rating: 10/10 Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Ewen Bremner, Sam Shepard, Gabriel Casseus, Kim Coates, Hugh Dancy, Ron Eldard, Ioan Gruffudd, Tom Guiry Directed by: Ridley Scott Review: Film review – Black Hawk Down (2001) – Black Hawk down, we’ve got a Black …
Film review – 28 Days (2000) Rating: 6/10 Starring: Sandra Bullock, Viggo Mortensen, Dominic West, Elizabeth Perkins, Azura Skye, Steve Buscemi, Alan Tudyk, Mike O’Malley, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Reni Santoni, Diane Ladd, Margo Martindale, Susan Krebs, Loudon Wainwright III Directed by: Betty Thomas Review: Film review – 28 Days (2000) – This is Sandra Bullock in her …
Film review – The Desert Fox (1951) Rating: 7/10 Starring: James Mason, Cedric Hardwicke, Jessica Tandy, Luther Adler, Everett Sloane, Leo G. Carroll, George Macready, Richard Boone, Eduard Franz, Desmond Young Directed by: Henry Hathaway Review: Film review – The Desert Fox (1951) – This film tries to tell the story of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel perhaps …
Film review – We Were Soldiers (2002) Rating: 8/10 Starring: Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe, Taylor Momsen, Luke Benward, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliott, Chris Klein, Keri Russell, Barry Pepper, Don Duong, Ryan Hurst, Robert Bagnell, Marc Blucas, Josh Daugherty, Jsu Garcia, Jon Hamm, Desmond Harrington, Blake Heron, Clark Gregg, Erik MacArthur, Dylan Walsh, Mark McCracken, Edwin …
Film review – Out of Sight (1998) Rating: 7/10 Starring: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Steve Zahn, Don Cheadle, Albert Brooks, Dennis Farina, Luis Guzmán, Isaiah Washington, Nancy Allen, Keith Loneker, Catherine Keener, Viola Davis, Paul Calderon, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson Directed by: Steven Soderbergh Review: Film review – Out of Sight (1998) …
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper, Terry Bradshaw, Kathy Bates, Adam Alexi-Malle, Tyrel Jackson Williams, Katheryn Winnick, Rob Corddry, Patton Oswalt
Directed by: Tom Dey
Review: Film review – Failure to Launch (2006) – This romcom stars Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker. McConaughey plays a thirty five year old bachelor who is afraid of commitment and still lives at home with his parents. Parker is hired by McConaughey's parents to try and get him to move out, she is a specialist at getting guys to leave home. She starts a relationship with him and all seems to be going according to the schedule with her ticking of the various steps she takes to gain a mans trust and begin the process of moving him out. But she has underestimated McConaughey who as soon as he sees the signs of a serious relationship brings her home for dinner. A tell tale sign he is about to dump her..
It's not a very complex film to be honest, there's some fun to be had along the way but to be honest in the end its a boy meets girl romcom. You might laugh a few times and if you like either Parker or McConaughey you'll get a little more out of it, but that's it. Just climbed to a six.
Starring: Sam Worthington, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, Dileep Rao, Zoe Saldana, C. C. H. Pounder, Wes Studi, Laz Alonso
Directed by: James Cameron
Review: Film review – Avatar (2009) – To begin with I'm not reviewing the 3D version of this movie. I haven't seen it and so have no comment to make regarding this version. I am however reviewing from the HD version of the film and its safe to say this does have an impact on how you see this movie. You could say that this movie was made for HD, it looks beautiful and HD displays it in all its glory.
As far as the cast is concerned its not what you would expect for a blockbuster, but that doesn't matter, as most of the movie is CGI and therefore you are only really listening to their voices. Sigourney Weaver is the most well known, the lead role is played by Sam Worthington. Worthington is the disabled brother of a scientist who, when his brother is killed, agrees to go on a mission to Pandora (a habitable moon of Polyphemus in the alpha Centauri star system) as he shares the same DNA as his brother. This is important because he has to link into a system which allows him to control an Avatar, an alien form constructed especially for his brother by combining human and Pandoran DNA. His brother would have used the avatar to carry out scientific work but since he is a marine he is assigned the task of acting as bodyguard to the other scientists.
The scientists are trying to study the Na'vi who are the indigenous species on the planet. They need to befriend them because they need to reach a settlement with them that enables the mining company RDA Corporation to continue mining a valuable resource on the planet called Unobtainium.
When Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) reaches Pandora he begins training to control his avatar. This is a revelation for him because he is able to walk and run through the avatar. Before he goes on any missions he meets with his commanding officer who wants him to use his military knowledge to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the natives of the world, initially he agrees to this. When he finally does go on a mission he suddenly finds himself in trouble. He is attacked by indigenous animals from the jungle and gets separated from his group, as night falls he is still under attack and fighting for his life when he encounters Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) a female native. She saves him and takes him to her village. The villages decide not to kill him and instead begin training him to live as they do.
Slowly over time Sully sympathises more and more with his hosts and less and less with his own species. While this is happening conflict between the humans and their mining activities and the Pandoran natives grows, eventually descending into a war for control of the planet.
This was a ground breaking film because of the technical achievement in making it. In HD it looks beautiful and is really a work of art. It reminded me of some of the best Japanese Manga films because it transports you to another place. All of that said its a somewhat basic plot and a little open to comparisons with smurfs etc.
Superb technical breakthrough and beautiful to watch, perfect Sunday evening family film.
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Isaiah Washington, Denis Leary, Lisa Gay Hamilton, James Woods, Bernard Hill, Diane Venora, Michael McKean, Mary McCormack, Michael Jeter, Hattie Winston, Penny Bae Bridges, Frances Fisher, Christine Ebersole, Tom McGowan
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Review: Film review – True Crime (1999) – Clint Eastwood stars as an over-the-hill journalist who is assigned the task of covering the last day of an inmate (played by Isaiah Washington) on death row after a fellow journalist dies in a car crash. It's not long before he begins to suspect the inmate is not guilty of the crime and he sets about trying to prove him innocent.
To be honest there's not a lot to say about this film. Its run of the mill Hollywood and I'm afraid run of the mill Eastwood too. It would have been a six out of ten but I docked a point for the after sex scene with a bare chested, sixty nine year old Eastwood. He was too old for this stuff ten years before and no one seemed able to tell him to stop doing it.
