The Most Fun You Can Have Dying

Posted 12:51am Monday 7th May 2012

Michael (Matt Whelan) is around about your age. Like you, probably, he’d been reasonably assuming that he was at the start of his life. Now he’s got terminal cancer.  Michael’s only option is an expensive treatment that raises his chance of survival to a dismal 10%, and his town manages to Read more...

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Posted 4:27pm Sunday 18th March 2012

If you tend to tear up in films about serious-faced, tormented kids struggling against adversity, you’ll probably be all-out sobbing before the end of this film. Its hero, Oskar (Thomas Horn) is spikily adorable with his Asperger-esque interactions and philosophical musings. Oskar is keeping Read more...

Friends with Benefits

Posted 4:05am Monday 3rd October 2011

Director: Will Gluck (3/5) If you’re someone who loves the occasional film that can be ingested passively – a comfortingly familiar storyline, light comedy, attractive people, pretty set-ups and, of course, lots of romance-y stuff, even some sex – then Friends with Read more...

Bridesmaids

Posted 11:04pm Monday 11th July 2011

Director: Paul Feig, (4/5). You’ve probably already heard about Bridesmaids: it’s been touted as ‘The Hangover for women’ and audiences, mainly female, are flocking to it in hordes. So is Bridesmaids as funny as the publicity implies? The short answer is yes. But Read more...

Water for Elephants

Posted 7:16am Thursday 26th May 2011

Director: Francis Lawrence, (3/5). Water for Elephants combines two fantasies – running away to the circus and a forbidden romance – offering itself as the ultimate escapist movie. The story: hopeful student Jacob Jancowski (Robert Pattinson) is about to finish veterinary school Read more...

My Wedding and Other Secrets

Posted 3:45am Tuesday 5th April 2011

Directed by Roseanne Liang. (3.5/5). Chinese New Zealander Emily (Michelle Ang) is a disappointment to her family. Ignoring her parents’ ambitions for her career as a doctor, she's enrolled herself in film-making school. Things get really bad when she falls for the man of her dreams, James Read more...

Rango

Posted 4:01am Monday 21st March 2011

Directed by Gore Verbinski. (4/5). Don’t be fooled by the trailer which, emblazoned with star Johnny Depp’s name, sells Rango as a kid’s film with a smart-mouthed hero and lots of laughs.   From the opening scenes, it’s obvious this isn’t as light as Read more...

In A Better World

Posted 2:44am Tuesday 8th March 2011

Directed by Susanne Bier. 4.5/5 Danish drama In a Better World won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe this year for Best Foreign Language Film. With the action divided between small-town Denmark and an African refugee camp, it follows the lives of two children, Christian (William Jøhnk Read more...

Step Up 3D

Posted 4:34am Monday 23rd August 2010

Directed by John Chu Hoyts 1.5/5 The opening sequence of this third installment of the Step Up series is one of those candid camera interview montages, with the characters talking about what dance means to them. They’re speaking from the heart: there’s no doubt the Read more...

Cemetery Junction

Posted 4:43am Tuesday 10th August 2010

Directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant Coming soon to DVD 3/5    Quite a surprise from the Gervais/Merchant team, this film actually wants to be taken seriously. You wonder if earnest is a good choice for these guys to make; after all, their success has been in Read more...