Articles + Quotes on Film & TV

Clint Eastwood proves his considerable worth once again as director, and in this instance, with the music as well. In this biopic, Leonardo Di Caprio portrays Mr J. Edgar Hoover to an unnervingly realistic degree and is matched in his skills by the supporting cast. Judi Dench portrays his mother, Armie Hammer his close friend and colleague, Clyde Tolson and Naomi Watts his trusted secretary, Helen Gandy. Ms Watt's character bring back the old meaning of that word, in the seventeenth century, a secretary, was quite literally a keeper of secrets. The script is taut and seamless, the story moves back and forth, past to future and bits in between to tell Mr Hoover's story of the birth of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and of the beginning of forensics being used in criminal investigations. Not only this, the film also details the life of J. Edgar Hoover. There were many different sides to Mr Hoover, and all come across in Mr Di Caprio's performance. And not only ...

From the first scene of the pilot, I was hooked. Admittedly, I was already interested to a high degree, given the signs: David Goyer, co writer of the Dark Knight Trilogy, has created a show about the early and not well known years of Leonardo Da Vinci, which allows for a lot more creative licence. The actors, some more well known than others, but all committed to their characters. It is a historical drama fantasy, but also a thriller. Renaissance Florence, has its politics, the game and shifts in power ever changing. Lorenzo Medici, also known as Il Magnifico, is undisputed leader of Florence, but the ground is shifting from under him. He is portrayed by Elliot Cowan. In the pilot, a powerful ally is assassinated, which starts the earthquake and introduces enemies from Rome. Chief among which, Count Giralamo Riario, the Pope's nephew and a real nasty piece of work. (Portrayed here by Blake Ritson) Leonardo is an artist, who sees more around him than his contemporaries. He ...

Set in 2079, there is a prison, in outer space, called MS 1, to house the really bad inmates. Psychos of the worst kind. And Maggie Grace, portrays the President's daughter, Emily who's gone up there with a group to investigate the rumours of dark goings on in the facility. Due to some incredibly bad luck and stupidity, the facility is taken over by the inmates. Guy Pearce is the main character; Snow who after some action that goes wrong, is sent to the prison, with a simple but frankly impossible task, rescue Emily. Luc Besson, known for bringing us other action mad films like The Transporter series, The Fifth Element, From Paris with Love and of course the Taken series, does well here too. There are as many twists as special effects, and as many entertaining one liners as all the films that Mr Besson has written so far. To add to this, having Mr Pearce in an action film is quite refreshing and makes the whole concept quite original. The others in the supporting ca...

Very unique, a film with a multipurpose title. Not only does it act as the title of this story, but also the apt description of the main character in the first opening scene of the film. And the rating of the film as well. Although, if it was just the rating, it could be lengthened to include: grandparents, parents and in-laws. Ryan Kwanten portrays Jonah Reid, who it seems is merely out to have a good time partying, with friends and housemates Gus and Stevie (Ryan Corr and Sarah Snook) and the party guests. In the midst of all this, he gets a cancer scare, testicular cancer to be exact, and the treatment will render him infertile. His priorities get a reshuffle and he decides what he really wants, is to become a dad. Due to specific circumstances leaving him no other option, he realises he has less than a month to find someone to carry the baby. And considering his track record, the future is bleak. But he continues on his quest, and this provides the basis for a really ...

A film nominated for many awards, Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, etc and after watching, I can safely say that it is well deserving of all of them. It dramatises the hostage situation in 1979 in Iran, where sixty odd people were being held hostage in the US Embassy in Tehran, and six others had escaped and were hiding in the Canadian Ambassador's house. Also in the capital. Enter the CIA, who are tasked with getting the six "houseguests" out of Iran. To help create a cover, they go to Hollywood for help. Direction, script, score were all taut and tight to match the heightened circumstances of this story, based on true events. Well done to Ben Affleck, Chris Terrio and Alexandre Desplat, for their outstanding work here. To add to this magnificence, Mr Affleck, along with himself as the main character, has assembled a great cast, Bryan Cranston,John Goodman, Alan Arkin, Clea DuVall, Zelijko Ivanek, Tate Donovan and Victor Garber. All are their characters, doubly t...

Like the last film I reviewed, this too is based on a book, and real events. The narrator is Colin Clark, and at the time the story is being told, is twenty three years old and eager to be a part of the production side of a film. Luckily for him, his family are acquaintances with the famous couple Sir Lawrence Olivier and Vivien Leigh and the former is about to start directing and acting in a film, alongside the equally if not more famous: Marilyn Monroe. The story told in the book and adapted in the film is Mr Clark's first time experiences of making a film with two polar opposite people, in work ethics, personality and opinions of the other. Like every film that bases itself on a book, some scenes are emphasised or cut out completely, but unlike others, this one retains the spirit and the heart of the story itself, that of a young boy who discovers a new world of story making. Simon Curtis and Adrian Hodges both do a brilliant job with the direction and screenplay, respecti...

First hook for me, main cast was Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro. A legend and two understated actors, in the same film. Second hook, from the trailer, it looked like a good action film. It is. But a hell of a lot better than I first expected. First time screenwriter,  Matt Sherring (still a shock) and doubly shocking, first time feature film director: Gary McKendry. It is also based on the book by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, and the basis is drawn from real events. I was seriously expecting to see a long list of well done films for both these guys, considering the high level of quality I had just seen. From the styling and story line, I also expected some influence from Ian La Frenais, Roger Donaldson and Dick Clement, the writer director team that brought us the film The Bank Job. Both films give us a taste of something that first sounds to be everyday violence and thriller type of thing, but actually goes a lot deeper and the depth is perfectly balanced with the ...