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Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten - Unrated
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A well made warts 'n all biopic of the genius that was Joe Strummer. Perhaps it's a little long at around 2 hours but there's plenty of insight from the key people around him through various periods. The soundtrack is obviously ace, but not just The Clash stuff. A mark is lost for the appearance of that smug self-serving sanctimonious twat Bono, he is a about as punk as Aled Jones.
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February 7, 2010
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N/A
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The Pursuit of Happyness - PG-13
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Slighty cheesey and tries very hard to pull at the heart strings, but it does actually succeed. Will Smith applies himself well as ever.
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February 5, 2010
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N/A
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Mesrine: L'Instinct de Mort (Mesrine: Part 1 - Death Instinct) (Public Enemy Number One) - Unrated
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The first part of 2 tells the story of notorious French criminal Jacques Mesrine and is more thrilling than the vast majority of it's Hollywood counterparts. Cassell is electric and convincing in the lead role. I'll be looking to see how much of it is true though because slick as he is, he doesn't seem the sharpest.
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February 1, 2010
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N/A
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The Football Factory - R
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The best and most convincing of the football violence films (I mean seriously, a hobbit in Stone Island). It is dumbed down a fair bit from the John King book though. Jog on.
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January 29, 2010
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N/A
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One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest - R
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Jack Nicholson is at the height of his powers cast here as the sane rebel placed in a lunatic asylum, it's a truly mesmerising performance. Touching and funny in equal measures, this is a film that you'll be happy to go back to every few years. My only criticism is the poor score, it felt like the soundtrack to a completely different flick.
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January 25, 2010
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N/A
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The Road - R
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It's okay but works better as a book really. There's not any story-line as such so it drags a bit. The only real theme is the relationship between father and son which is interesting but I'm not sure it's enough to sustain a 2 hour flick . Does Aragorn have it put in all his contracts these days that there has to be a quick shot of his ball bag?
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January 20, 2010
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N/A
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Dead Poets Society - PG
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Touchstone Pictures presents ... Robin Williams playing nice. This can be an awful thing as in plenty of movies he comes across as just plane creepy. This is an exception, the script and his own performance make him come across as sincere and convincing and the hopes and passion he instils in his students is completely tangible. A lovely film full of lovely moments.
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January 20, 2010
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N/A
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Looking for Eric - Unrated
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Ken Loach's obsession with the working class continues, in a solid enough fashion too with plenty of well placed sentiment and heart. It's like a feature length episode of 'Clocking Off' with a fat Frenchmen thrown in. It was a bit difficult to watch though with an awful lot of it centering around the Manchester Yankees, I'd have much preferred 'Looking for Georgiou'. Though grudgingly I have to respect Cantona's individuality and style. My only criticism would be that I thought the whole YouTube finale was a bit far fetched and daft.
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January 17, 2010
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N/A
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Shallow Grave - R
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Danny Boyle's thriller has a good sinister edge and feeling constantly running through it and the three leads all put in commendable performances making it most watchable. Not a classic but a very good effort.
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January 16, 2010
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N/A
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Gomorrah (Gomorra) - Unrated
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I've been looking forward to seeing this for ages, what an utter disappointment. Right, I get the fact that's it's supposed to be gritty and unglamorous and was never going to be like your standard fast paced mob flick. But does that mean it has to be completely void of narrative with a disjointed plot and pointless scene after pointless scene. This is nothing but a series of boring and very loosely related events. It's hardly any better than pap like 'Romanzo Criminale'. More was revealed about the situation with the Camorra in Napoli in the few statistics given at the end of the film than in the preceding 120+ minutes. Awful.
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January 9, 2010
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N/A
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Bonnie and Clyde - R
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It reminded me of 'Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid' but for me the chemistry didn't play as well and although they actually were anyway, I couldn't help constantly thinking what a bunch of amateurs. The only other thing to say is that I'm amazed that Clyde repeatdly fails to get a lob-on with Faye Dunaway (erm I mean Bonnie) running around in stockings.
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January 6, 2010
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N/A
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Harry Brown - R
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Mr Caine puts in a good turn but this is low-brow stuff with an ill conceived plot and mainly characterures for roles and not much else going on besides.
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January 5, 2010
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N/A
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Zombieland - R
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Non stop unadulterated fun makes this an excellent zombie romp. All the cast are great and the script is packed with quotable gems. A special mention must go to Woody Harrelson though, he's the coolest cat in town.
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January 3, 2010
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N/A
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The 40 Year Old Virgin - R
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Amusing in parts but it's crass, lame, unoriginal and highly cheesey in many others. Too long 'n all.
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December 17, 2009
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N/A
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Carriers - PG-13
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It's actually pretty good, like an American '28 Days Later' (though wouldn't that be '28 Weeks Later') only without the zombies (though if you're going to be pedantic, 28 Days/Weeks Later aren't actually zombie movies), it had a touch of Stephen King about it. It's quite depressing mind, can't say I left the cinema with a spring in my step.
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October 19, 2009
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N/A
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Red Riding: 1980 - Unrated
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October 12, 2009
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N/A
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Semi-Pro - R
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I love Will Ferrell and I loved this. Okay it's very formulaic in plot terms, it's not in the same league as 'Anchorman' and most people don't seem to have much time for it but I really took to the some of the more subtle stuff as well as the outright ridiculous. Maybe I was in a daft move but it had me howling at times, it's ludicrously stupid but the cast pull it off for me. "Jackie's teammates doing just an awful job of stabilizing his spine off the court".
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October 9, 2009
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N/A
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Solaris - PG-13
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Steven Soderbergh's interpretation of Solaris isn't perfect by any means but it's definitely a film full of intrigue and will have you thinking about it long after the running credits are finished. I can understand why some people find it a bit slow, but considering what the movie deals with and the general atmosphere, how could it be any other way? I need to have a look at Tarkovsky's 70s (not as in they all have afros and wear flairs, I mean made in the 70s) version now.
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October 9, 2009
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N/A
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Burn After Reading - R
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Okay it's not up to the standard of some of the Coen's work but it's still a decent black comedy with good performances from all involved, I thought Bradley Pirt was particularly funny.
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September 15, 2009
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N/A
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Match Point - R
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A perfectly reasonable effort but it's feels like a high society, cultured and better scripted episode of The Bill. There's no mark of the wit and inventivness that is the reason for my love of Woody Allen. Watch, but not overly attentively.
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September 14, 2009
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N/A
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Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - R
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Largely hit and miss set piece comedy but when it hits, it hits hard and there's enough hits here to make this a hit, ahem. Sacha Baron-Cohen does have an extraordinary ability to put himself in the firing line and get away it, he is certainly not above criticism but there's no doubting his talent.
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September 9, 2009
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N/A
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Public Enemies - R
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Depp was good as always and it was shot well, but even though it kept me interested just about, it was light on anything else of real quality and very Hollywood all over.
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August 19, 2009
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N/A
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A Clockwork Orange - R
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One of the most controversial films of all time and considered a classic by many, though personally I think that's over rating it. Its a real treat visually and there's plenty more besides of interest but I found the plot a little too slow and dull at times. How much does Kubrick like breasts? There's some cracker pairs on display here!
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August 18, 2009
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N/A
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In the Name of the Father - R
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This is an excellent film with brilliant performances all round. It's just a shame so much of it was fabricated, slight dramatic license to aid the story is one thing but the amount of fiction displayed here undermines the whole point of the film, it almost borders on propoganda. Still, purely as an emotional spectacle it's an impressive piece of work.
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July 29, 2009
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N/A
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Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (The Baader Meinhof Complex) - R
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An interesting look at a piece of relatively modern German history. While I sympathise with some of the beliefs of the organisation featured, this well made film does a good job of showing them as the cold blooded hypocritical murderers that they invariably were.
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July 28, 2009
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N/A
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265 ratings
266 reviews
