Released:  Out now 

WMDs! Come out, come out wherever you are...

Title:                Green Zone (18)  

The team from two thirds of the Bourne trilogy reunite, not to make it a ‘quadrilogy’ (sic), but to try their hand at an alternative: a politically charged Iraq movie.  Based on the book ‘Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone’ the title refers to the supposed safe area of Baghdad, controlled by US forces following the invasion in 2003.  

Rather than focus on the war itself, Green Zone looks at the controversial justification that the-powers-that-be used for going into Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction.  (Such a well used, ominous term it’s earned its own capitals).  (more…)

Director:         Jon Favreau  

Starring:         Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Don Cheadle.  

When we last met Downey Jr’s egotistical Tony Stark we were introduced to a unique, irresistibly charismatic arrogance and the world was made aware of his super-suited alloy bodied alter ego, Iron Man.  The first film, Marvel’s first fully funded blockbuster, was a commercial and critical success, finding an appealing balance between humour and balls-to-the-wall comic book action.   

The secret was in the casting, unconventional yet perfectly pitched.  Hopefully this forthcoming sequel will be able to do the same, with some very capable stars in the new super villain roles fixed on stepping up to take Stark down a notch or two… (more…)

Released:         2^nd April 2010  

Pez dispensers are so much more efficient nowadays...

Title:                 Kick-Ass 

Director:           Mathew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Stardust) 

Starring:            Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Grace Moretz, Nicholas Cage 

Based on the forthcoming graphic novel from the creator of ‘Wanted’ this is a superhero movie with a difference.  Like Watchmen before it, there’s no way this would have been made if there weren’t a load of successful superhero movies already out there… if only to reference and riff off.  

“…average teenage guy is inspired to be a superhero.”

It’s a simple but brilliant concept.  An average teenage guy is inspired to be a superhero.  He doesn’t have any special powers or even much in the way of training or heroic physique, but nobody else is doing it so it’s his duty right?  You don’t have to be a complete geek to have shared that same fantasy, but I’m sure it helps.  Needless to say he’s going to get into some scrapes.  (more…)

Released:         4^th March 2010 

Title:          Alice in Wonderland

Director:          Tim Burton (Sweeney Todd, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands)

Starring:          Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Matt Lucas.

Lewis Carroll’s trippy classic is re-imagined in this pseudo sequel from the modern master of twisted fairy tales, Tim Burton.  The distinctive gothic aesthetics that the director is so famed for should be a perfect fit for the fantastical source material, and to top it off it’ll all be in glorious Disney 3D.

“a host of big names to play the oddball inhabitants..”

Alongside Burton’s wife Bonham Carter as the Red Queen are his regular go-to-guy Johnny Depp and a host of other big names keen to play the oddball inhabitants of Wonderland.  Some inspired casting sees (more…)

"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads..."

A trip worth taking or should you steer clear?

Apocalypse movies may be in vogue (2012, I am Legend, Book of Eli, et al) but The Road is about as far from the bombastic end of the world blockbusters of Roland Emmerich as you can get. Not least of all because – on paper at least – it sounds more misery-inducing than watching an Eastenders omnibus at a family wake.

“…hauntingly beautiful cinematography that captures a world bled of life and colour…”

Based on the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name, The Road tells of the desperate plight of a father (an emaciated Viggo Mortenson back in bearded Aragorn mode) and his young son (newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee) as they make their way to the coast.  As in the novel, we’re never told exactly how the world ends but we’re left with little doubt that it’s a manmade catastrophe which has reduced the world to an ashen wasteland. This is where the film comes into its own, using hauntingly beautiful cinematography to capture a world bled of life and colour. (more…)

Released:         14 August 2009

Eric needed time travel like a hole in the head.

Title:               The Time Traveler’s Wife

Director:           Robert Schwentke (Flightplan, Tattoo)

Starring:           Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams

If you’ve read the novel then you may have already guessed that it was only a matter of time before the Time Traveler’s (sic) Wife would be adapted for the big screen.  If there was ever any doubt then it it only took the success of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to make it a dead cert. 

The Time Traveler’s Wife is a twisted take on romantic drama that sees Henry (Eric Bana) randomly skipping through time, having no control or influence over the when, where or why it’s happening, confined only by his own lifetime.  In a similar vein to Benjamin Button the onus here is on the timelessness and power of true love in the face of impossible, freakish odds, the aging process, and ultimately, our own mortality.  

“Pretty Dodgy Territory”

On his Sam Beckett-esque leaps Henry usually manages to hook up with Claire (Rachel McAdams), his future wife and soulmate who gets used to his regular, naked appearances in her family’s garden from a very young age.  Needless to say the story is in pretty dodgy territory when initiating a relationship between the adult Henry and his pre-teen wife-to-be and on occasion even the book struggled to keep this high concept within the realms of decency. 

No doubt the film will go to great lengths to emphasise a degree of innocence to avoid making Henry out to be some kind of transcendent sexual deviant, but whether this will detract from the edginess and darker undertones of Audrey Niffenegger’s novel, only time will tell.

The plot, cast and potential are all in place – Eric Bana would certainly have been amongst my top choices for Henry - but us mere mortals will have to wait for the film’s release to find out whether this love story is a step back in time or the quantum leap that the novel deserves.

4-Word Thinking:         Back2 the Future Missus

True Tale of Persecution Defies Belief

Defiance recounts the tale of three Jewish brothers who flee Nazi-occupied Poland into the wild forests of Belarussia.  Many more Jewish men, women and children evading Hitler’s army join them, and they attempt to survive in the forest as a desperate means to escape persecution.  Even as the forest community advances there is the constant threat of death in its many guises. Harsh winters, living on the brink of famine, disease, the German soldiers and bombings, even the Russian Resistance fighters who also inhabit the forest pose a threat to the refugees who have only each other and their freedom to show for their hardships. 

This makes for an ominous, harrowing and often heavy-going viewing experience that only manages to avoid being overbearing through impromptu, wild outbursts of violence that keep the proceedings suspenseful.  (more…)

Title:                X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Director:           Gavin Hood (Rendition, Tsotsi)

Starring:           Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch

Released:         May 2009

Synopsis:         The first in a potential franchise of prequels to the X-men films, Origins sees animalistic mutant Wolverine (Jackman) seeking revenge against his half brother, Victor Creed (Schreiber playing the man fated to become Sabertooth) for the death of his girlfriend.  As glimpsed in the previous X-Men movies Wolverine ends up being subjected to the ‘Weapon X’ program, where adamantium – an indestructible alloy – is grafted onto his skeleton.

Hugh Jackman is once again perfectly cast as the cigar chewing, savage mutant with extendable claws and anger management issues.  He’s joined by a variety of mutants from Marvel’s extensive comic mythology.  Perhaps most significantly is the big screen’s first incarnation of Cajun card sharp, Gambit (Kitsch), a staff-wielding gambler who can manipulate kinetic energy, notably absence from the previous X-films, to the disappointment of many fans.

Go further:  View the Latest Trailer or visit the Official Site.

4-Word Thinking:         Don’t expect yellow spandex…

Title:                 Terminator Salvation

Director:           McG (Charlie’s Angels, We are Marshall)

Starring:            Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Helena Bonham Carter, Bryce Dallas Howard

Released:         May 2009

Synopsis:         The fourth film in the Terminator franchise is set after Judgement Day, when a nuclear Holocaust and Skynet’s cyborgs are on the verge of wiping out mankind.  Salvation focuses on the struggle of John Connor (Bale), fated leader of the dwindling human resistance.  The film also introduces Marcus Wright (Worthington), a stranger whose last memories were of being on death row – Connor must decide whether the newcomer has been rescued from the past or sent from the future.  More importantly, is he man or machine, friend or foe?

Director McG has yet to prove himself as a serious contender, but with Bale on board, Stan Winston’s final effects work and the premise of a full on future war this has serious potential.  There are even rumours of a cameo from the Governator himself…   

Go further:       Visit the Official Site or view the latest Trailer

4-Word Thinking:           Rage against the Machines

Good Cop? Bad Cop? Any Cop?

Pride and Glory explores issues of loyalty, morality and justice as a corruption scandal threatens to blow apart a closely-knit police family and the entire NYPD.  The male dominated cast revolves around the Irish-American Tierney family, with Edward Norton taking centre stage.  The plot gradually unravels as he investigates the murder of four New York City cops, only to implicate members of his own family. 

(more…)