Author Archive
Film
Hyena
This Hyena is a rare beast indeed, a British film about policemen. Britain has myriad small-screen coppers, a world-leading collection of taciturn, quirky law enforcers who plod their way through 60-minute murder cases – ...
DVD And Blu-ray
Life of Crime
An immutable law of Hollywood is that where there is a genre movie, there will be another close behind it. Whether it’s cowboys, gangsters, aliens or monsters, if there’s a blockbuster tearing it up then someone wil...
Film
Third Person
In the decade since his Oscar-bothering Crash, Paul Haggis has spent more time as writer than director. His latest directorial foray, the insipid, supercilious Third Person, suggests he should probably spend more time bashing o...
DVD And Blu-ray
20,000 Days On Earth
Of all Australia’s sons and daughters to have found spiritual acceptance in the mother country Nick Cave, star and focus of the fascinating documentary 20,000 Days on Earth, is perhaps the most unexpected. The musician wh...
DVD And Blu-ray
Joe
There is only one scene in Joe, a sweaty slice of Deep South drama, that would make it onto the fabled YouTube showreel ‘Nicolas Cage Losing His Sh*t’. That four minutes of glorious scenery-chewing, eyeball-popping ...
DVD And Blu-ray
Salvo
In the sweltering Sicilian summer, a hit goes down. In a salvo of shots, Salvo routs the men who want his bosses head. Salvo, the titular bodyguard, has dropped four opponents before the opening scene is out, but don’t as...
DVD And Blu-ray
The Family
The genesis of Luc Besson‘s The Family, a weak comedy, can be traced back to 1999’s Analyze This, in which Robert De Niro played it for laughs on Billy Crystal‘s couch. That was the moment when Bobby tried to ...
DVD And Blu-ray
The English Teacher
Linda Sinclair (Julianne Moore) is The English Teacher, living and working in smalltown America. Passionate about her subject and her students, she lives a simple life and since childhood has been devoted to books above all els...
DVD And Blu-ray
The Fifth Estate
Too soon. Had The Fifth Estate, aka The Wikileaks Story, been released this year instead of last, it may have got a nod from Oscar. That’s not to say it’s an especially remarkable film but as ‘based on true ev...
DVD And Blu-ray
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints starts like a film should end – with a shoot out. Bob (Casey Affleck) and Ruth (Rooney Mara) are young lovers on the lam. Their hold-up has led to a hold-out, and when the shooting dies down...
