7 January 2012
Cast: Bérénice Bejo, James Cromwell, Jean Dujardin, John Goodman, Uggie
Script: Michel Hazanavicius
Genre: drama
Setting: 1920s, USA, USA - Hollywood
8 Stars
2 Comments
It is the era of silent films and George Valentin is a star. Crowds greet his films with delight and applause. While playing nice with the press he bumps into a fan, literally. She drops her autograph book and when … Continue reading
27 December 2011
Cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Script: Aaron Sorkin, Michael Lewis, Stan Chervin, Steven Zaillian
Genre: drama, sport
Setting: 2000s, California
7 Stars
3 Comments
Billy Beane is general manager of the Oakland As, and they have just lost the final game of the season. Again. And they are losing their best players. Teams with more money can always buy in talent, but for those … Continue reading
27 September 2011
Cast: Frank Grillo, Jennifer Morrison, Joel Edgerton, Nick Nolte, Tom Hardy
Script: Anthony Tambakis, Cliff Dorfman, Gavin O'Connor
Genre: drama, sport
Setting: contemporary, USA
9 Stars
2 Comments
The opening scenes of Warrior feature The National’s Start a war and a character listening to Moby Dick. Not what you may expect when going to see a film about mixed martial arts fighters beating the crap out of one … Continue reading
30 January 2011
Cast: Mila Kunis, Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder
Script: Andrés Heinz, John McLaughlin, Mark Heyman
Genre: drama
Setting: New York
9 Stars
3 Comments
Nina Sayers is a ballerina in the New York Ballet. She lives with her mother, and her whole live revolves around dancing. There is a new production starting and Nina is determined to get a starring role in Swan Lake. … Continue reading
14 January 2011
Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Guy Pearce, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Gambon, Timothy Spall
Script: David Seidler
Genre: drama, historical fiction
Setting: 1930s, England, Interwar Europe
9 Stars
8 Comments
The wireless changed a great many things. Before, all that was required of a monarch was that he look the part, and not fall off his horse. After the king would invade his people’s homes and have to court them … Continue reading
23 December 2010
Cast: Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able
Script: Gareth Edwards
Genre: drama, sff
Setting: Mexico
7 Comments
Six years ago NASA launched a probe to investigate the possibility of life in outer space, but upon re-entry the probe broke up. The samples ended up landing on earth. Now every year sees the creatures migratory paths taking them … Continue reading
12 October 2010
Cast: Adrien Brody, Brendan Gleeson, Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt
Script: M. Night Shyamalan
Genre: drama
7 Comments
For this year’s RIP challenge Carl has suggested that as well as reading horror-ific books we might also watch some suitable films and to get the ball rolling on my RIP films I decided to rewatch M. Night Shymalan’s The Village.
I quite enjoyed it the first time around. I don’t seem to recall having been all that surprised by any of the so-called twists or reveals, but it was an enjoyable film.
22 April 2010
Call no: 937
Cast: Alia Shawkat, Andrew Wilson, Ellen Page, Jimmy Fallon, Juliette Lewis, Kristen Wiig, Landon Pigg, Marcia Gay Harden
Script: Shauna Cross
Genre: drama, sport
Setting: Texas, USA, Virginia
4 Comments
Dir: Drew Barrymore
Writ: Shauna Cross, based on her novel
Bliss Cavender works at a typical American diner, under her mother’s guidance she does pageants, and she goes to school. It isn’t an ideal life. She wants out. One day, while out shopping she sees some local roller derby girls and wants to investigate. Herself and best friend Pash pretend to be going to see the local football team but instead head for the roller derby, and before you know it Bliss is trying out for a team.
Can I just say that I loved this film. It was teh awesome!
11 April 2010
Script: Ronald Shusett
Genre: drama
Setting: New York, USA
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I’ve recently rewatched The Sopranos[1] well, some of the episodes I never caught in the first place, so in many ways it wasn’t a rewatch, although I knew where it was all headed. I had forgotten so much of what … Continue reading
29 March 2010
Cast: Jae Head, Kathy Bates, Lily Collins, Quinton Aaron, Ray McKinnon, Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw
Script: John Lee Hancock
Genre: drama, sport
Setting: Dorset, Florida, Texas, USA
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I was a bit uncertain about this film. It sounded just a bit too heart-warming, as though it’d be full of overly sentimental “and everything works out in the end” stuff that makes me think of the flawed philosophy behind stories such as The Pursuit of Happyness:”":http://www.susanhatedliterature.net/2007/01/18/the-pursuit-of-happyness/, you know the sort of victim blaming that says you wouldn’t be poor if only you tried harder.
Luckily enough this film is not like that. Okay, it has the heart-warming aspect. Heart-warming by the bucket-full. But it is told in such a way that you just can’t help but smile.