Tag Archives: film review

Man Of Steel, Film Review. Picturehouse At FACT.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast:  Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Russell Crowe, Harry Lennix, Christopher Meloni, Richard Schiff.

The least said about the 2006 Superman Returns film the better, the small screen adaptations although kept the legend alive were filler, more fluff than in a room full of pillows and for the films that made Christopher Reeve the deserved star he would be, there was so much wrong with them, so many parts miscast, so much playing for laughs that it can be often surprising to think that they three sequels.

Man Of Steel, Film Review. Picturehouse At FACT. full post

(605 words, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)

Star Trek Into Darkness, Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, John Cho, Zoe Saldana, Alice Eve, Anton Yelchin, Simon Pegg, Bruce Greenwood, Noel Clarke, Peter Weller.

There used to be a theory that every other Star Trek film was a little bit duff, that it just didn’t stand up to the one before it or that one that followed in its wake. For every excellent Wrath of Khan, Voyage Home and The Undiscovered Country, there is the slightly tired and sometimes reek of desperation The Search For Spock, The Final Frontier and Insurrection. Then came along J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and their combined vision with what could be done with a much loved franchise, re-wrote history and then made two jaw dropping films on the trot. First with 2009’s reboot Star Trek and now with the daddy of them so far Star Trek Into Darkness.

Star Trek Into Darkness, Film Review. full post

(512 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Iron Man Three, Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, Ty Simpkins, Paul Bettany, Ashley Hamilton, William Sadler, Miguel Ferrer, Shaun Toub, Mark Ruffalo.

Visually the third instalment of Iron Man sums up everything you would expect from the people who have changed the way in which to showcase big budget superhero films. Wonderfully filmed, the senses get rocked and moved beyond experience before and they set out a challenge to D.C. to come up with the goods that would finally see a clean and fair fight between the two superpowers of international comic books. Visually, the film is as near perfect as you can wish for and is perhaps only bettered by the mass ensemble of last year’s The Avengers.

Iron Man Three, Film Review. full post

(667 words, estimated 2:40 mins reading time)

Les Miserables, Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfreid, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit, Samantha Barks, Daniel Huttlestone, Cavin Cornwall, Josef Altin, Dave Hawley, John Barr, Adrian Scarborough, Isabelle Allen.

Surely there is no way that one of the most intriguing theatrical productions of its time can transfer all its intensity, all of its enthusiasm and guile to the cinematic screen without losing any of its radical thought or scope. Many producers have tried and not many have ever matched the experience that you get when you are as deeply involved with the tale as you are when you embroiled deep within the production as a passionate observer, however with Cameron Mackintosh at the helm and Tom Hooper as director, there is no way Les Miserables can fail.

Les Miserables, Film Review. full post

(455 words, 1 image, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian Holm, Andy Serkis, Ken Stott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Sylvester McCoy, Barry Humphries, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow, Dean O’ Gorman, Aiden Turner, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, Aiden Turner.

 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Film Review. full post

(522 words, 1 image, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

Great Expectations (2012). Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Helena Bonham Carter, Holiday Grainger, Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane, Jason Flemyng, Toby Irvine, Ewan Brewner, Sally Hawkins, David Walliams, Tazmin Outhwaite, Daniel Weyman, Jessie Cave.

The trouble with classics is their over use of adaptation and counter adaption. It doesn’t feel like five minutes since the B.B.C. bought out their big budget Christmas special for 2011 to television audiences and now just in time for the festive season once more, the cinema goers are treated to another version of Charles Dickens’ excellent Great Expectations.

Great Expectations (2012). Film Review. full post

(462 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Skyfall, Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe, Albert Finney, Rory Kinnear, Helen McCrory, Ola Rapace, Ben Whishaw.

There will be detractors of Skyfall, there always is and always will be when it comes to the James Bond film series. There will be those that call them archaic, a remnant of an era that no longer exists. They give it disparaging names and in less than polite circles pat themselves on the back for being able to condemn a film for representing certain social stereotypes and they will point to America at leading the way in how these types of films should be presented. Never mind the film, forget everything you have seen on the screen. It is easier to denounce both film and main actor when there is an axe to grinds somewhere.

Skyfall, Film Review. full post

(593 words, 1 image, estimated 2:22 mins reading time)

Killing Them Softly. Film Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 28th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Sam Shepherd, Slaine, Bella Heathcote, Vincent Curatola, Linara Washington, Garratt Dilahunt.

A film that relies heavily on the use of violence, spectacular cinematography and a look at how the mob can be seen as still effectively running the United States of America 50 years after President Kennedy tried to destroy it.  That it is in a sense the idea behind the new Brad Pitt film Killing Them Softly.

Killing Them Softly. Film Review. full post

(427 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Sherlock Holmes, Game of Shadows. Film Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. December 21st 2011.L.S. Media Rating *****

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris, Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace, Stephen Fry, Paul Anderson, Geraldine James.

Everybody has their favourite Sherlock Holmes. It’s a question that gets asked frequently alongside, “So, who is your favourite Bond?” Conversations in pubs go on for hours up and down the country as each generation extols the virtue of, to their mind, the best person to portray the great detective Sherlock Holmes. The one with the best flaws, the little defects that make the man’s mind so fascinating. Of course it could depend on what era you grew up in. To a previous generation before my own, you hear the dulcet tones of Basil Rathbone being mooted, like a fine whisky that’s been kept in a special reserve for 40 years and only opened after a long and protracted battle of wits. There can be no escaping his clutches once you open the bottle.

Sherlock Holmes, Game of Shadows. Film Review. full post

(888 words, estimated 3:33 mins reading time)

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Film Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 1st 2012.

L.S. Media Rating **

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Tom Wilkinson, Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Anil Kapoor, Josh Holloway.

Style over substance; perhaps significantly so to the point that Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is a feast for the eyes but will eventually leave you feeling empty and a little unfulfilled. The fourth in the highly successful franchise is no doubt a perfect vehicle for Tom Cruise. As with the action films that he has made, he seems to revel in being the hero, an action man who really does the genre justice and like Steve McQueen before him, does his own stunts to the point where many a seasoned stunt double would balk at the idea of hanging off the world’s tallest building.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Film Review. full post

(466 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)