Articles + Quotes on Film & TV

This miniseries was shown, as one three hour film on channel ten recently and being a fan of Rhys Ifan's work so far, decided to give it a go, despite the mostly negative reviews. I am very much I did, because I enjoyed every moment immensely. It takes the Peter Pan story as we all know and love and decides to go back to what might have been the origins and the back story of it all. Charles Dance, Anna Friel, Q'orianka Kilcher, Raoul Trujillo and Charlie Rowe round out the rest of the cast, with great performances from them and the supporting cast as well. The originality of it was joyous, the production design, just as much so. What I really liked, beyond the adventures of the storyline and the thrills, was that Bob Hoskins once more took up his role of Smee, that he first portrayed in the film Hook. Such a laugh that was. Even gave it a sense of continuity. Well worth the three hours.

So, they borrow a well known song and album title from the band Pink Floyd, or at least part of it for the title of the third (and hopefully last) film in the trilogy. Don't get me wrong, I like a good action film, as much as the next person, and Michael Bay's style in filmmaking has, up until now, done pretty well and impressed me. See, with the first film, the action scenes and important ones to tie the story (kind of) together, were well mixed and it was a good film to watch all round. The second, not so much. It took a while for the actual story to begin, but when it got there, it was reasonable. This one, it has an entertaining conspiracy theory beginning, bit of a laugh there. The action scenes have all been given a booster jab, not that they needed it. A few well known stars have been given cameos, which is fun, for the first scenes. While I'm on the subject, the actors in this (and we're not including the Victoria Secret Model in this list) are all obvio...

First time director, Rupert Saunders brings to the silver screen a re-imagining of the well known and loved fairytale - Snow White, imbuing it with a whole new style and substance to the characters and landscape. The characters become three dimensional characters that you care about, the good guys and the bad guys. And another that finds himself in the middle. Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth are the three main protagonists. With Sam Spruell as Ms Theron's brother in the film, which is a nice twist. And Sam Claflin as the duke's son. And of course, the not so merry dwarves, Nick Frost, Toby Jones, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Eddie Marsan, Johnny Harris and Brian Gleeson, they all help provide some humour to the film, to prevent things turning into Pan's Labyrinth. The acting is well done by all in this film. The landscape itself is a whole another character in the film, and it is shown excellently by the production design and the director,...

My first preconceptions of this film, thanks to the reviews I had read, were quite similar to those of the film Inception. Also similar was my reaction to the film, expecting to be confused by the three worlds, and I wasn't. It all made perfect sense. The main character, portrayed by Emily Browning, is sent to a mental asylum by her stepfather when she accidentally shoots her sister. This is in the, say we say, "first world". Not long after arrival at a pivotal moment,   it transcends into the "second world", the mental asylum becomes a brothel, and Ms Browning's character's name is Baby Doll. When she dances, she goes into the third and last world, an ever changing battlefield. It is there, where she meets the "Wise Man", portrayed by Scott Glenn, who gives her a list of items with which to escape. Back in the second world, she recruits her fellow inmates, Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), her sister Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudge...

Most of the sports films that have been made, have had very Hollywood plot lines. It was almost a recipe. Underdog team/coach/player/ whatever, trying to do something. A few montages of things going badly, then a winning formula, or new coach/player that tells them "they just have to believe in themselves" or teaches them how to work together with a few gimmicks. Which means, when you watch a well written film like Moneyball, you are completely unprepared by the realism and length of film that really tells you the true story. Or close to it, at least. With Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillan (Mr Zaillan wrote screenplays for The Interpreter, American Gangster and Clear and Present Danger) writing the screenplay, Brad Pitt portraying the character listed and the direction is tight and without any excess scenes, Bennet Miller was nominated for an Academy Award for his work with the film Capote - its a film worth watching for the all of the above and the finished product that ...

This is quite different from the version released in 1997, more angst and some drama, instead of the cutesy comedy from the first. This has some comedic moments as well, thanks mostly to Stephen Fry and Robert Sheehan's characters. And Christopher Eccleston's as well, come to that. His introduction and subsequent scenes are all worth watching. Mr Sheehan appeared to be portraying, more or less a PG version of Nathan in this, which worked rather well. Mr Fry was portraying the character Professor Mildeye in the film, which suits his well known intelligence and articulation perfectly. I quite enjoyed it, thanks in part from the tight script and the believable (kind of) special effects. There was not anything overly high tech, but instead the production team kept things simple. Less is more, in this case, worked well and meant that the focus was on the storyline and characters. Five Stars!

Impressive and attention catching title. Equally impressive and entertaining film. The basis is, as the title suggests, bringing salmon fishing to the dry and arid region of Yemen. Its a seemingly crazy idea, but as the film progresses and takes hold in your imagination, so does the idea. And into reality. Not just in the Sheik's, played by Amr Waked or in Harriet's played by Emily Blunt. It spreads to sceptic fish expert Dr Alfred Jones, played by Ewan McGregor. And then harsh, demanding and slightly overzealous PR for the government Mrs Patricia Maxwell, played slightly over the top by Kristin Scott Thomas. Her role brings a touch of spice to this comedy with romantic undertones. This film is directed by Lasse Hallstrom, a man who might be called famous for directing many similar films that focus on a miracle or an idea based on faith and maybe a smidgeon of science or simply a way of life that simply needs protecting. He's done well here also, as has the screenwr...