Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Baltasar Kormakur Stars: Shailene Woodley, Sam Claflin. There have been many great survival stories told on the screen, many of them set at sea like the recent Colin Firth drama The Mercy. Arguably amongst the best of these are films like Cast Away, with Tom Hanks stranded on a remote island, and J C Chandor’s superb All Is Lost, basically another one-hander with Robert Redford playing a sailor stranded at sea after his yacht was struck by a floating shipping container. Despite the fact that it Continue reading
BREATHE
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Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Andy Serkis Stars: Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hollander, Diana Rigg, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Amit Shah, Jonathan Hyde, David Wilmot, Stephen Mangan, Dean-Charles Chapman. The opening night film at the recent British Film Festival at Palace Cinemas, Breathe is an unashamedly old-fashioned tear jerker that will appeal to the same demographic that loved films like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, etc. This is the inspiring true story of Robin Cavendish (played here by Andrew Garfield, from Hacksaw Ridge, etc), who Continue reading
LIVE BY NIGHT
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Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Ben Affleck Stars: Ben Affleck, Zoe Saldana, Chris Messina, Brendan Gleeson, Chris Cooper, Elle Fanning, Robert Glenister, Matthew Maher, Sienna Miller, Titus Welliver, Anthony Michael Hall, Max Casella, J D Evermore, Remo Girone. As a director Ben Affleck so far has a perfect strike rate with his three previous efforts behind the camera. First up was the tough Boston noir Gone Baby Gone, which was adapted from the novel written by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Shutter Island, etc), and starring younger brother Casey. Next up was Continue reading
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
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Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Quentin Tarantino Stars: Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Bruce Dern, Michael Madsen, Demian Bechir, Channing Tatum, Zoe Bell, James Parks. Quentin Tarantino returns to the wild west for his eighth film. But he also tries to return to the epic style of cinema popular in the 50s and 60s, shooting in the long dormant 70mm format. He also includes a rousing orchestral overture at the start, a glossy souvenir program with notes about the production, and an intermission break to try and recreate Continue reading
THE AVIATOR
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Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Martin Scorsese Stars: Leonardo Di Caprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate beckinsale, John C Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, Ian Holm, Danny Huston, Gwen Stefani, Jude Law, Brent Spiner, Edward Herrmann, Willem Dafoe, Matt Ross, Adam Scott, Kelli Garner, Rufus Wainwright, Loudon Wainwright. Most people who know anything about maverick multi-billionaire Howard Hughes remember the almost pathetic image of the eccentric recluse living in isolation in a Las Vegas hotel, hidden from the world at large and controlled by his numerous phobias. Continue reading
