Author: Rich Cline Page 55
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks
With a subject matter that oddly feels both timely and out-of-date, this documentary is packed with telling details about WikiLeaks, Although it gets muddy as it delves into the lives of founder Julian Assange and...
Movie Review posted on 11th July 2013
Monsters University
Pixar revisits the characters from 2001's Monsters, Inc. for a frat-house prequel. Which is kind of an odd setting for a kids' movie. The comedy is more focussed on action sequences than characters this time,...
Movie Review posted on 11th July 2013
Pacific Rim
The best thing about this massive blockbuster is the way it updates the classic Japanese monster movie to the 21st century, with a first-rate cast and staggeringly good effects. Sadly, the script isn't up to...
Movie Review posted on 11th July 2013
![Paradise: Faith [Paradies: Glaube]](https://www.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/paradise-fr.jpg "Paradise: Faith [Paradies: Glaube]")
Paradise: Faith [Paradies: Glaube]
The second in Austrian filmmaker Seidl's Paradise trilogy (after the blackly comical Love), this religion-themed drama also uses heavy doses of dark humour and irony to put its characters through the wringer. The film is...
Movie Review posted on 5th July 2013
Bula Quo!
To launch their new album, the iconic 1970s rock band Status Quo indulges in a spirited action-comedy that might have worked when they were in their 20s. On the other hand, these guys are in...
Movie Review posted on 5th July 2013
Chasing Mavericks
Despite a number of exhilarating surfing sequences, the interesting true story of surf legend Jay Moriarty is transformed into another dull Hollywood biopic. Painfully family-friendly, it's all so relentlessly smiley and sun-kissed that we wonder...
Movie Review posted on 5th July 2013
A Week In Movies: Pacific Rim Launches, The Wolverine Shows Himself And Gwyneth Deals With Sex-Addiction
This week's big world premiere was for Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim, which was held in Mexico City on Monday with cast members Charlie Day, Ron Perlman and Rinko Kikuchi. They were joined by British...
Now You See Me
The idea of magicians conducting a series of heists is a great one, but this under-developed film never quite seizes the opportunity. Even its terrific A-list cast can't make much of the lame plot. And...
Movie Review posted on 5th July 2013
The Bling Ring
Once again, Sofia Coppola confounds expectations with an astutely relevant approach to a true story. These events may be torn from the headlines, but they also echo the world around us. And Coppola is giving...
Movie Review posted on 5th July 2013
The Internship
This Wedding Crashers reunion has enough snappy dialog to keep us laughing even if the film itself feels like little more than a two-hour Google advert. Thankfully, Vaughn and Wilson are back on form after...
Movie Review posted on 5th July 2013
The East
Despite a bunch of cold characters and a deeply contrived plot, this film is so infused with hot topicality that we are held in its grip all the way through. The issue is corporate irresponsibility...
Movie Review posted on 28th June 2013
Stories We Tell
With Away From Her and Take This Waltz, actress-turned-filmmaker Polley has proved herself as an unusually gifted director, but this inventive, moving documentary reveals even more artistic ambition. Not only is it a riveting exploration...
Movie Review posted on 28th June 2013
Stand Up Guys
Frankly, if you put Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin in your movie, you don't really need to worry about the script: we'd happily watch them do just about anything on-screen. And here they...
Movie Review posted on 28th June 2013
![Hummingbird [Redemption]](https://www.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/hummingbird-fr-300.jpg "Hummingbird [Redemption]")
Hummingbird [Redemption]
Jason Statham takes a darker role than usual in a gritty London drama that never quite seems sure of itself, as writer-turned-director Knight mashes several huge social issues with a hint of action and a...
Movie Review posted on 28th June 2013
Despicable Me 2
With the same teams of writers and directors, this sequel sticks closely to the winning formula of the 2010 original: pile on so much snappy humour and colourful wackiness that no one will worry about...
Movie Review posted on 28th June 2013
This Is the End
Comedies don't get much more self-referential than this film, in which a bunch of old friends get together and play themselves facing a biblical-style apocalypse. But they also don't get much funnier. Writing partners Rogen...
Movie Review posted on 28th June 2013
A Haunted House
Yet another spoof from Wayans and Alvarez, this movie isn't nearly as bad as it could have been (they also produced the resolutely unfunny Scary Movie 2 and Dance Flick). There's the germ of a...
Movie Review posted on 21st June 2013
Black Rock
First-time filmmaker Aselton creates one of the most assured thrillers in recent memory, throwing finely developed characters into a very nasty situation that makes us squirm in our seats. It's also a rare film that...
Movie Review posted on 21st June 2013
Snitch
Dwayne Johnson tries to flex his acting muscles in this smarter-than-usual action movie, based on a true story that gets under our skin. He's never played someone as fragile as this, which is fascinating even...
Movie Review posted on 21st June 2013
Spike Island
There's a terrific blast of nostalgia in this finely crafted film, which will probably make it a hit for Stone Roses fans, but it's so jaggedly edited that the plot is almost impenetrable. Without a...
Movie Review posted on 21st June 2013
Before Midnight
It's been 18 years since Hawke, Delpy and Linklater introduced us to Jesse and Celine, and their story just gets richer, funnier and more punchy each time we see them. In 1995's Before Sunrise, they...
Movie Review posted on 21st June 2013
World War Z
Starting as a clever Contagion-style investigative thriller, this fiercely paced apocalyptic adventure begins to fall apart early on when smart logic is jettisoned for the more visceral thrills of seeing Brad Pitt save the planet....
Movie Review posted on 21st June 2013
![Paradise: Love [Paradies: Liebe]](http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/paradise-love-fr.jpg "Paradise: Love [Paradies: Liebe]")
Paradise: Love [Paradies: Liebe]
The double-edged irony of the title is your first hint: this is a clever pitch-black satire that often feels like a cruel joke. It's the first in a trilogy by acclaimed Austrian filmmaker Ulrich Seidl...
Movie Review posted on 14th June 2013
Stuck in Love
Far too tidy to be believable, this multi-strand romance holds our attention with a warmly comical tone and a watchable cast. But it's only entertaining as a bit of escapism, because the various relational entanglements...
Movie Review posted on 14th June 2013
Summer in February
A simplistic approach undermines this intriguing true story about a romantic triangle among artists in pre-WWI England. The actors do what they can to liven things up, but the writing and direction let it down,...
Movie Review posted on 14th June 2013
Admission
We generally expect more wacky humour from Fey and Rudd than this comedy, which is packed with perhaps too-smart dialog and a lot of warm sentiment. It's an odd mix, looking for jokes in gender...
Movie Review posted on 14th June 2013
Much Ado About Nothing
This new version of Shakespeare's romantic farce looks like it was shot on video in the filmmaker's house with his friends over the course of about two weeks, which is exactly the case. It's lively...
Movie Review posted on 14th June 2013
Man of Steel
Superman gets the Dark Knight treatment, as Christopher Nolan offers a much grittier, more intensely personal look at the biggest superhero of them all. It's a flawed film that feels far too violent for its...
Movie Review posted on 14th June 2013
Therese Desqueyroux
Although this remake of the 1962 classic is beautifully shot and acted, it's so hollow and bleak that it leaves us cold. The topic at hand is the clash between passionate romance and a suitable...
Movie Review posted on 7th June 2013
The Last Exorcism Part II
When you qualify your movie as the "last" anything, a sequel seems a bit out of the question, but these new filmmakers have essentially relegated the 2010 original to a mere backstory. They have moved...
Movie Review posted on 7th June 2013
Suggested
Leisure Festival - Dreamland in Margate
On the same day that Glastonbury welcomed back Margate's adopted sons, The Libertines, Margate itself put on it's very own Leisure Festival as it...
Pretty Fierce talk to us about collaborating with Doja Cat, emetophobia, arena tours and staying "true to yourself" [EXCLUSIVE]
Sheffield's very own all girl group Pretty Fierce are still on a high after the recent release of their debut single - 'Ready For Me'.
Will Varley & Jack Valero - The Astor Theatre Deal Live Review
Three nights before the end of his current tour Will Varley returned to his home town of Deal to delight a sold out crowd in The Astor Theatre.
WYSE talks to us about her "form of synaesthesia", collaborating with Radiohead's Thom York and the prospect of touring with a band [EXCLUSIVE]
With only a few days to go before Portsmouth based songstress and producer WYSE releases her new single, 'Belladonna', we caught up with her to find...
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Bay Bryan talks to us about being a "wee queer ginger", singing with Laura Marling and being inspired by Matilda [EXCLUSIVE]
Colorado raised, Glasgow educated and Manchester based Bay Bryan is nothing if not a multi-talented, multi-faceted artist performing as both...
Keelan X talks to us about staying true to "your creative vision", collaborating with Giorgio Moroder and being "a yoga nut" [EXCLUSIVE]
Former Marigolds band member Keelan Cunningham has rediscovered his love of music with his new solo project Keelan X.
![Luke De-Sciscio talks to us about having the courage to be yourself, forgiving that which is outside of one's control and following whims [EXCLUSIVE]](https://images.contactmusic.com/images/home/homepage/luke-de-sciscio-abof-a.jpg "Luke De-Sciscio talks to us about having the courage to be yourself, forgiving that which is outside of one's control and following whims [EXCLUSIVE]")
Luke De-Sciscio talks to us about having the courage to be yourself, forgiving that which is outside of one's control and following whims [EXCLUSIVE]
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Luke De Sciscio, formally known as Folk Boy, is set to release is latest album - 'The Banquet' via AntiFragile Music on...
Annie Elise talks to us about the challenges a female producer has to face and "going through a year of grief and sickness" [EXCLUSIVE]
Electronic music pioneer and producer Annie Elise says that the release of her first EP - 'Breathe In, Breathe Out' feels "both vulnerable and...
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