Author: Rich Cline Page 56
The Numbers Station
There's an interesting, timely idea in this espionage thriller, as well as adept leading actors who are able to make the most of the script's dry wit. But the film is ultimately sabotaged by a...
Movie Review posted on 7th June 2013
The Iceman
Much more involving than the usual hitman thriller, this film takes a deliberately personal approach to its characters that makes it unusually involving. Of course, since it's a film about mafia assassins, none of the...
Movie Review posted on 7th June 2013
The Stone Roses: Made of Stone
Made by a fan for fans, this documentary explores the iconic English rock band through raw adoration rather than a detailed narrative. But Shane Meadows (This Is England) is a seriously gifted filmmaker, and his...
Movie Review posted on 7th June 2013
Behind the Candelabra
This biopic about the pianist-showman Liberace may look almost painfully camp, and sometimes it is, but it's also a remarkably honest depiction of an intimate relationship. In the hands of Steven Soderbergh, the flaming excess...
Movie Review posted on 7th June 2013
Populaire
It's impossible not to be charmed by this cheeky French comedy, even if it's utterly predictable and never remotely breaks its gorgeously designed surfaces. But it's packed with moments of riotous comedy and surprising drama...
Movie Review posted on 31st May 2013
The Comedian
There's some interesting material in this dark British drama, but it's so relentlessly grim that we are never able to connect with anyone on-screen. It doesn't help that all of the characters are pretty unlikeable....
Movie Review posted on 31st May 2013
Blood
Finely detailed acting and stylish direction are somewhat undermined by a script that can't resist overstating its moral themes. Without any sense of ambiguity, we are never able to engage with the dilemma facing the...
Movie Review posted on 31st May 2013
The Big Wedding
An all-star cast very nearly goes down with the ship as filmmaker Justin Zackham (The Bucket List) indulges in relentlessly farcical silliness. Thankfully the actors play it relatively straight, injecting moments of dark emotion and...
Movie Review posted on 31st May 2013
Byzantium
Nearly 20 years after Interview With the Vampire, Neil Jordan returns to the genre to breath some new life into a mythology that has grown stale, predictable and rather mopey (see Twilight). With a...
Movie Review posted on 31st May 2013
The Purge
A home-invasion thriller with a twist, this fiercely clever film is both thought-provoking and terrifying, mixing a Twilight Zone sense of morality with skilfully developed menace and genuinely horrific violence. It also boasts a cast...
Movie Review posted on 31st May 2013
![The Hidden Face [La Cara Oculta]](http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/hidden-face-fr.jpg "The Hidden Face [La Cara Oculta]")
The Hidden Face [La Cara Oculta]
With a relatively simple idea, this Colombian thriller builds almost unbearable levels of Hitchcockian suspense as a group of flawed people find themselves punished horribly for their mistakes. And filmmaker Baiz takes such a sleek,...
Movie Review posted on 24th May 2013
![Something in the Air [Apres Mai]](http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/something-air-fr.jpg "Something in the Air [Apres Mai]")
Something in the Air [Apres Mai]
This sharply well-made French drama tackles an offbeat chapter in history with real skill, although the densely populated screenplay and fragmented approach to storytelling makes it difficult to engage with. Essentially a series of relatively...
Movie Review posted on 24th May 2013
![Everybody Has a Plan [Todos Tenemos un Plan]](http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/everybody-has-a-plan-fr.jpg "Everybody Has a Plan [Todos Tenemos un Plan]")
Everybody Has a Plan [Todos Tenemos un Plan]
While it's fascinating to see Viggo Mortensen starring in an Argentine thriller, the film itself is disappointing and dull, keeping all the compelling emotions so internalised that we find it difficult to care what happens....
Movie Review posted on 24th May 2013
The Moth Diaries
There's a terrific sense of menace in this gothic dramatic thriller, which plays on the story's fantasy elements to take us into a teen girl's troubled imagination. It's beautifully shot too, with blood-soaked echoes of...
Movie Review posted on 24th May 2013
Epic
Although this adventure's premise will appeal to children, and the child within us, the film itself is far too simplistic to be a classic. But at least the animation looks terrific, with swooping action and...
Movie Review posted on 24th May 2013
The Hangover Part III
For the final instalment of the trilogy, filmmaker Todd Phillips takes a sharp left turn, abandoning the formula of the first two movies to send the Wolf Pack on a road thriller that isn't remotely...
Movie Review posted on 24th May 2013
Vehicle 19
Paul Walker remains behind the steering wheel, but this action thriller has a whiff of the arthouse about it, simply by being set in South Africa. The plot is as preposterous as Taken, which it...
Movie Review posted on 17th May 2013
![The Stoker [Kochegar]](http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/the-stoker-fr.jpg "The Stoker [Kochegar]")
The Stoker [Kochegar]
Russian filmmaker Balabanov has the ability to submerge us in his stories, cleverly blending complex characters and twisty storylines in ways that look remarkably simple. He also has a wonderfully artistic eye, and in this...
Movie Review posted on 17th May 2013
![The Sex of Angels [El Sexo de los Angeles]](http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/sexo-de-los-angeles-fr.jpg "The Sex of Angels [El Sexo de los Angeles]")
The Sex of Angels [El Sexo de los Angeles]
A strong underlying message makes this sharply well-acted Spanish drama much more interesting than its premise would suggest. Yes, it's the story of a very complicated love triangle, which might limit its appeal to audiences...
Movie Review posted on 17th May 2013
The Liability
Blackly comical writing and direction add a playful slant to what could have been a typically over-serious British crime thriller. And there's also a coming-of-age element to the plot that holds our interest. It's all...
Movie Review posted on 17th May 2013
Fast & Furious 6
The most impressive thing about the sixth entry into this noisy franchise is that it's both more preposterous and more self-important than ever before. Which is no mean feat. The cast and crew clearly went...
Movie Review posted on 17th May 2013
The Great Gatsby
Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge) is the perfect director to take on F. Scott Fitzgerald's iconic novel about the American dream, simply because he's an expert at showing the emptiness of hyperactive excess. The film is...
Movie Review posted on 17th May 2013
![Our Children [A Perdre la Raison]](http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/our-children-fr.jpg "Our Children [A Perdre la Raison]")
Our Children [A Perdre la Raison]
One of the most unsettling movies of the year, this sharply made drama shifts inexorably from blissful romance to something darkly horrific. It's so understated that it might alienate audiences who want everything carefully explained...
Movie Review posted on 10th May 2013
![A Hijacking [Kapringen]](http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/highjacking-fr.jpg "A Hijacking [Kapringen]")
A Hijacking [Kapringen]
Even with its naggingly implausible timeline, this film feels almost shockingly realistic, using urgent documentary filmmaking techniques to tell a story that seems to have come straight from the headlines. So it's frustrating that the...
Movie Review posted on 10th May 2013
Deadfall
With a focus on messy family relationships, this thriller's deranged comical touches almost make up for its contrived plot and annoyingly thin characters. Director Ruzowitzky (an Oscar winner for The Counterfeiters) makes the most of...
Movie Review posted on 10th May 2013
Mud
Writer-director Nichols continues to get inside the heads of his characters with this involving but overlong dramatic thriller. Like his previous film Take Shelter, this is another fable-like movie, this time harking back to Huck...
Movie Review posted on 10th May 2013
Star Trek Into Darkness
After his successful re-imagining of the Star Trek universe four years ago, Abrams dives even deeper into the mythology, which is thrilling for fans but might leave newcomers feeling a bit lost. This sequel surges...
Movie Review posted on 10th May 2013
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
A terrific story is compromised by the demands of commercial filmmaking, adding action-thriller scenes to what should be an introspective drama while distractingly beefing up side-roles for American stars. But at the centre is another...
Movie Review posted on 10th May 2013
![Dragon [Wu Xia]](http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/wuxia-fr.jpg "Dragon [Wu Xia]")
Dragon [Wu Xia]
Combining a period drama, police procedural and raucous wu-xia action, this superbly made Chinese thriller grabs our attention from the outrageous opening scene and never lets up. Not only are the fight sequences exceptionally inventive,...
Movie Review posted on 3rd May 2013
21 and Over
The writers of The Hangover stick with the same formula for this university-aged romp about three young guys who get far too drunk for their own good. It even opens on the morning after (they're...
Movie Review posted on 3rd May 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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