Unbroken – Review Rachel Brook December 27, 2014 Reviews A faultlessly modulated performance from O’Connell holds together a film of imbalanced fragments. Lifeless dramatisation of Zamperini’s childhood suffers in comparison to better realised scenes of his...
Welcome to the ’80s: Emulation and Allusion Rachel Brook December 10, 2014 Features, Nostalgia, Welcome to the 80s 2 Comments For evidence of the enduring popularity of ‘80s screen stories one need look no further than the recent plethora of remakes like Fame and Footloose, and West End musical adaptations such as Back to the...
Welcome to the ’80s: We Don’t Need No Education Rachel Brook November 29, 2014 Features, Nostalgia, Welcome to the 80s 1980s high school movies are a mixed bag, with the plethora of cult teen films ranging tonally from dick jokes to contemplations on mortality (sometimes even within the same film). Of course the high-school...
Say When – Review Rachel Brook November 4, 2014 Reviews 1 Comment Kitschy and tediously drawn-out home video credits give way to a humorous portrait of arrested development in the vein of Frances Ha and Drifters. While stylistically closer to the latter, Say When’s...
Serena – Review Rachel Brook October 27, 2014 Reviews 1 Comment The extreme saccharine romanticism of Pemberton’s (Cooper) first meeting with Serena (Lawrence) may cause some to wish the film had remained in the can another two years, yet brutal dramatisation of the...
Second Chance: The Help Rachel Brook October 21, 2014 Features, Nostalgia, Second Chance While far from being critically slammed, 2011’s The Help didn’t quite achieve the kind of hype or awards success that can now be expected from Autumn/Winter releases tackling themes of racism and black...
The Rewrite – Review Rachel Brook October 11, 2014 Reviews Grant’s washed-up screenwriter is a familiar but less charismatic version of his over-the-hill musician in Lawrence’s Music and Lyrics. The Rewrite suffers by comparison; there’s nothing to rival the...
Maps to the Stars – Review Rachel Brook September 28, 2014 Reviews As critics map the stars of Cronenberg’s latest, the facial and vocal contortions of Moore’s transformation into the uptalking over-sharer Havana will make her a focal point - but no one in Maps puts a...
The Riot Club – Review Rachel Brook September 21, 2014 Reviews Scherfig balances An Education’s idealisation of Oxford University with this saga of undergraduate decadence and debauchery. The first act, particularly the prologue, verges into seemingly unintentional...
Welcome to the ’80s: Dance Right Through Your Life Rachel Brook September 6, 2014 Features, Nostalgia, Welcome to the 80s 2 Comments As we saw in Music of the Movies: John Hughes, music is never just background noise in ‘80s films; it’s also integral to story and character. And while the surprise dance scene of The Breakfast Club is an...
Before I Go to Sleep – Review Rachel Brook September 5, 2014 Reviews 1 Comment Joffe’s adaptation retains the premise of Watson’s novel yet recalibrates elements of the plot to keep even those who’ve read it (all four million of them) on the edge of their seats. One clever...
If I Stay – Review Rachel Brook August 30, 2014 Reviews Heavily infused with music and relying on a flashback format, Forman’s novel seems ideal for the audio-visual medium of film. Yet Cutler’s unenergetic debut betrays the influence of the Nicholas...
Welcome to the ’80s: More Than Just A Rom-Com Rachel Brook August 21, 2014 Features, Nostalgia, Welcome to the 80s In June 1985, just two months after the release of John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club, Joel Schumacher delivered an outrageously underrated spiritual sequel in the form of St. Elmo’s Fire. Sharing stars Judd...
What If – Review Rachel Brook August 18, 2014 Reviews 1 Comment Despite its title this isn’t a film about ‘if’, it’s about ‘when’. Yet as it progresses, sometimes ploddingly, to the inevitable conclusion the long-awaited coupling of Wallace (Radcliffe) and...
God’s Pocket – Review Rachel Brook August 9, 2014 Reviews 1 Comment A sparing script immerses the viewer in the working-class environ of God’s Pocket, allowing impeccable editing, whiplash choreography and top-notch silent acting to take centre stage. It’s Hendricks who...