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Rust and Bone 2012
I should start by saying I love Jacques Audiard’s work. Each of his pieces is consistently fresh and original. His last film A Prophet won Best Film the London Film Festival 2009, rocketed him into the public’s eye and gave him international acclaim, many have been eagerly awaiting his next film Rust and Bone and I am one of them.
Read my review here: www.theestablishingshot.com/2012/10/i-am-floored-by-subtlety-agony-ecstasy.html
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Skyfall 2012
In a season of big disappointments like Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises, Skyfall has come through for us and shines. It has more ties to the old Bond world than any of the new Bond films yet it is a fresh new direction that I for one welcome to the Bond mythos and should please both long time Bond fans and the general audience.
read more ... www.theestablishingshot.com/2012/10/james-bond-really-is-back-with-skyfall.html
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Killing Them Softly 2012
I couldn't understand why a seemingly high profile film like Killing Them Softly was getting such a low key release, but as Brad Pitt is involved - usually a badge of quality and nudged on by @maverick99sback review I headed to the cinema.
Brilliantly shot by Andrew Dominik with memorable camera work and great performances Killing Them Softly rolls out very much in a Tarantino’esque style, even with his characteristic focus on conversations and sharp dialogue. There were moments early…
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Room 237 2013
To say Stanley Kubrick is highly regarded within the world of film is an understatement, each of his films are revered as a masterpiece and if you don’t - you haven’t understood it! Well for me The Shining was a fairly straight forward film. I saw it at a young age and pretty much it was a film about the head of a family Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) slowly disintegrating into madness at the remote Overlook hotel during a snowy…
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Looper 2012
The short take: avoid all reviews & close your eyes when the trailer is shown or Looper will be spoiled – just go see it. I got back from a screening of Looper a couple of hours ago and have been buzzing off it since. It is just the kind of film I am constantly bemoaning the lack of - a sci-fi film made for adults. It’s not trying to be everything to everyone it’s a solid in genre sci-fi film…
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The Dark Knight Rises 2012
The Dark Knight Rises the most EPIC of stories hampered by the format of film, it has an Epic first quarter, a saggy middle followed by the most Epic of Epic endings in the history of Epicness.
That’s what my FaceBook status said after seeing Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises his final chapter in his Dark Knight Trilogy. But of course that does not tell the whole story. Here are some light weight thoughts, that will be followed by…
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Ted 2012
Earlier this week I got to see Ted the new comedy from Family Guy & American Dad creator and funny man, Seth MacFarlane. Making big screen comedies is a risky business these days and I'm not going to lie my expectations were quite high as both Family Guy and American Dad! have moments of absolute genius hilarity and I was hoping given a big screen opportunity and pick of Hollywood talent (Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Giovanni Ribisi, Patrick Warburton) that those hilarious moments from his TV shows would be the rule rather than the exception.
http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2012/07/the-establishing-shot-ted-review-ted-is.html
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The Dark Knight Rises 2012
The Dark Knight Rises the most EPIC of stories hampered by the format of film, it has an Epic first quarter, a saggy middle followed by the most Epic of Epic endings in the history of Epicness.
That’s what my FaceBook status said after seeing Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises his final chapter in his Dark Knight Trilogy. But of course that does not tell the whole story. Here are some light weight thoughts, that will be followed by…
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Batman Begins 2005
In the countdown to the epic conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy - The Dark Knight Rises I was invited down to the plush screening room of Warner Bros. to reacquaint myself with Christopher Nolan’s Batman.
Here are some thoughts on the highs and lows of Batman Begins the film that started the most epic of super hero tales. I’m not going to do an in-depth analysis as there are countless books out there discussing Batman’s origins, history, legacy,…
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Prometheus 2012
Some of you may think my thoughts, below, of Ridley Scott's Prometheus may be unduly harsh. They may well be but I expect so much more from a Director I hold in such high esteem and I could possibly be more forgiving of rookie talent not someone who may arguably be the greatest director alive today. My thoughts may read as slightly frenetic and out of context as they are cobbled together from disparate online discussions in a similar style…
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Killer Joe 2012
For the sake of transparency I should let you know I am a huge William Friedkin fan. Friedkin’s career spans over 5 decades and the American auteur comes from a time when directors not only carved their own successes out but the path for cinema as we know it today.
But he isn't just some guy that made some films way back when - his influence is knowingly and sometimes unknowingly evident in many films made to this day and…
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The Raid: Redemption 2012
Eastern martial art films are a challenge to discuss as they appeal to an audience with a very particular set of interests and … well, by definition they belong to a genre so far removed from the sensible mainstream that unless they have a huge marketing budget to support an anomaly success they are relegated to the lower sub genre shelves.
But whilst it would seem that Martial Arts films are traditionally all about the physical skills of the performers…
