spilling thoughts on everyday movie news
Currently Browsing: Reel Reviews
Posted by Robin Hare on Jul 26th, 2010 | View Comments

PANDORUM review

Pandorum is a mess. Nothing that transpires carries any sense of consistency or coherence. The plot is a random jumble of sci-fi story threads, directionless and vague at best. The characters are shallow and generic, spouting outrageous movie-isms at the drop of a hat. The conclusion is foregone, obvious from the first act, and the tension is noticeable by its absence. The setup is effective enough, using the...
Posted by Robin Hare on Jul 22nd, 2010 | View Comments

INCEPTION review

You’ve got to love a good old-fashioned rug. Perhaps a woollen one, faded with age, covering the long cold hall and preventing you from freezing your toes off on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. It’s not hard to become attached to rugs, especially such ancient, familiar ones; a good rug can be as comforting in the long dark tea-time of the soul as a good towel. Christopher Nolan is not a...
Posted by Robin Hare on Jul 19th, 2010 | View Comments

KNIGHT AND DAY review

Knight And Day is a lot like a James Bond movie told from the perspective of the Bond girl — a very special Bond girl, with an actual personality and more than a skerrick of charisma. Knight And Day is ultimately June’s (Cameron Diaz) story, and as such it easily sidesteps most of the pitfalls of espionage flicks, focusing as it does on the victim rather than the perpetrator. It’s still got its...
Posted by Jason Stringer on Jul 14th, 2010 | View Comments

Reinventing THE KARATE KID with the same beats… and Kung-fu

SPOILER WARNING for those who haven’t seen the original Karate Kid (and shame on you…) Like many who cherish their childhood films from the 80s, I was bemused to hear there would be a remake of the 1984 classic The Karate Kid, starring Will Smith’s son Jaden Smith in the lead role, and Jackie Chan playing the Mr. Miyagi character. Arriving at the cinema I was quickly reminded of it being school break...
Posted by Robin Hare on Jul 8th, 2010 | View Comments

PREDATORS review: who forgot to invite Arnold to the party?

Predators is a movie about a diverse bunch of assholes (one of them is even a woman – how inclusive!) getting their butts kicked by giant dreadlocked lizard men from space. It comes with Oscar-worthy pedigree in tow – in the form of Adrien Brody and Laurence Fishburne – and was produced under the auspices of cult hero / filmmaker Robert Rodriguez. So is it any good? The short answer is “yes.” The...
Posted by Jason Stringer on Jul 3rd, 2010 | View Comments

NOWHERE BOY review: all you need is love

It’s hard to know what to expect from a film about one of the world’s greatest musical geniuses that will never actually show an inkling of his fame and fortune. It takes some serious balls to make a film about John Lennon and not mention The Beatles. Indeed, the director of Nowhere Boy has no balls: she’s a woman. Sam Taylor-Wood has bravely delivered a wonderfully rounded film about a rock icon in her...
Posted by Robin Hare on Jul 1st, 2010 | View Comments

TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE review: by the numbers

The Twilight Saga is about a young white girl whose affections are torn between an extremely old white man and a relatively youthful tanned fellow. The old dude glistens in the sun and wears make-up that makes him look like Data from Star Trek, while the young guy spends most of his time shirtless (even in the snow!), glowering, flexing his pecs, or being a wolf (for reasons unknown). Data hates the Wolf-Boy,...
Posted by Jason Stringer on Jun 25th, 2010 | View Comments

You’ve got a friend in me: TOY STORY 3 review

Toy Story 3 is simply another Pixar movie. Which means it’s so undeniably enjoyable that, regardless of flaws, attempting to be critical of it for the pure sake of going against the grain would be nothing more than posturing. Toy Story 3 is one of the best releases of the year– and that’s without delving into technical stuff like the quality of the animation (brilliant) or the seamlessness of...
Posted by Robin Hare on Jun 14th, 2010 | View Comments

GET HIM TO THE GREEK review: rock, roll, and regret

I have to be honest: I’ve never liked Russell Brand; there’s something inherently nasty in his delivery that grates with me. I used to like Jonah Hill back when he played man-children, like in Superbad; but as he tries his hand at more mature roles the schtick starts to wear thin. A movie starring both of them was never high on my to-see list, but I thought I’d give Get Him To The Greek a...
Posted by Robin Hare on Jun 11th, 2010 | View Comments

THE A-TEAM review: it’s like I’m really in the 80s!

The A-Team is a movie about blokes killing other blokes. It’s got explosions, macho posturing, silly antagonists and only one token female character. It’s based on the 80s TV show of the same name, and it mixes such established actors as Liam Neeson and, er, Jessica Biel, with relative newcomers like Sharlto Copley (District 9) and “Rampage” Jackson, a big, intimidating wrestler-type....
Page 1 of 712345>>
© Reel Thinker 2010 | RSS Feed | Contact | Twitter | Powered by Wordpress | Designed by Elegant Themes