Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Tim Burton Stars: Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Ella Purcell, Samuel L Jackson, Chris O'Dowd, Judi Dench, Rupert Everett, Milo Parker, Terence Stamp, Kim Dickens, Allison Janney, Finlay MacMillan, Lauren McCrostie. Harry Potter meets X-Men on Groundhog Day? For years Jake Portman (Asa Butterfield, from Hugo, etc) has heard fantastic stories from his grandfather Abe (Terence Stamp) about the time he spent in a fantastic orphanage in the years before WWII. However, Jake's parents have done their best to dismiss his stories as fanciful Continue reading
A ROYAL NIGHT OUT
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Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Julian Jarrold Stars: Sarah Gadon, Bel Powell, Rupert Everett, Emily Watson, Jack Reynor, Jack Laskey, Jack Gordon, Roger Allam. Based loosely on fact, A Royal Night Out is a light weight and frothy romp and has something of an old fashioned feel. This is a film that could have been made by Ealing Studios in their heyday. And its release has been perfectly timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII, which should add some further curiosity value. On May 8, 1945, VE Day, the royal princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Continue reading
AN IDEAL HUSBAND
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Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Oliver Parker Stars: Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver, Rupert Everett, Julianne Moore, Jeremy Northam, John Wood, Peter Vaughan, Lindsay Duncan, Jeroen Krebbe, Michael Culkin. Oscar Wilde's sophisticated wit, genial bon mots and acerbic one liners shine in Oliver Parker's solid, if somewhat uninspired screen adaptation of his play An Ideal Husband. Parker seems more comfortable with the demands of adapting Wilde's quaintly old fashioned, Victorian-era drawing room comedy than he did with his recent version of Shakespeare's Othello Continue reading
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
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Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Michael Hoffman Stars: Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christian Bale, Calista Flockhart, Stanley Tucci, Rupert Everett, Dominic West, Anna Friel, Sophie Marceau, David Strathairn, Sam Rockwell, Roger Rees. To see, or not to see? That is indeed the question regarding Michael Hoffman's rather disappointing and pedestrian adaptation of Shakespeare's whimsical comedy about romance, mismatched lovers and a little night magic. Unlike other directors, such as Baz Luhrmann and his brilliant contemporary version of Romeo And Juliet, Continue reading
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
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Reviewed by GREG KING Director: John Madden Stars: Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Platrow, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Imelda Staunton, Tom Wilkinson, Ben Affleck, Martin Clunes, Judi Dench, Simon Callow, Jim Carter, Joe Roberts, Rupert Everett, Antony Sher, Mark Williams. This bawdy, slightly irreverent but delightfully entertaining romantic comedy offers us a fictional interpretation of the creation of Romeo And Juliet, one of literature's greatest tragic love stories. The film is set in the Elizabethan London of 1593. Up and coming young playwright Will Shakespeare Continue reading
