Author: Rich Cline Page 57
Gimme the Loot
Shot on the streets of New York in a loose, freeform style, this lively comedy-drama feels somewhat underdeveloped, leaving us doubtful about its realism. But the characters are likeable, and their adventures are unlike what...
Movie Review posted on 3rd May 2013
Chimpanzee
Disney shamelessly plays the cute card here, turning what could be a revealing documentary into something almost painfully adorable. We can't help but smile and sigh all the way through this delightful adventure, even though...
Movie Review posted on 3rd May 2013
Dead Man Down
Here's yet another preposterous action movie that's made watchable by a skilful director and an engaging cast. While there are some intriguing themes in this spiralling odyssey of revenge, the script never really makes any...
Movie Review posted on 3rd May 2013
![I'm So Excited! [Los Amantes Pasajeros]](http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/im_so_excited-fr.jpg "I'm So Excited! [Los Amantes Pasajeros]")
I'm So Excited! [Los Amantes Pasajeros]
Fans of more recent Almodovar films like The Skin I Live In or Volver should be warned about this one, because it harks back to his much cheesier 1980s films with its broad comedy, lurid...
Movie Review posted on 3rd May 2013
![White Elephant [Elefante Blanco]](http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/white-elephant-fr.jpg "White Elephant [Elefante Blanco]")
White Elephant [Elefante Blanco]
A true story from Argentina, this blistering drama is produced on a grand scale that really captures the intensity of the story. And as we're impressed with the quality of the filmmaking, we're also drawn...
Movie Review posted on 26th April 2013
The ABCs of Death
With 26 short segments, it's expected that this horror anthology will be hit and miss. But the experiment is an intriguing one, as the producers gave 26 filmmakers a letter of the alphabet and complete...
Movie Review posted on 26th April 2013
The Lords of Salem
Rob Zombie has matured as a filmmaker, as witnessed by this well-structured horror shocker, which plays with both historical events and familiar movie imagery to keep us unnerved even if it's ultimately rather silly. Best...
Movie Review posted on 26th April 2013
Bernie
Richard Linklater mixes comedy, drama and documentary to tell a frankly outrageous true story, and in the process he also gives Jack Black one of his best-yet roles. Even though his character is camp and...
Movie Review posted on 26th April 2013
Iron Man 3
Changing the writer and director for this third Iron Man movie turns out to be the best thing that could have happened, because Shane Black is a much more focussed filmmaker, and he gives this...
Movie Review posted on 26th April 2013
The Look of Love
Michael Winterbottom vividly recreates swinging 1960s London in this biopic about one of Soho's most notorious figures. It's a lively and attention-grabbing film, but the cast and filmmakers never create a character we can identify...
Movie Review posted on 26th April 2013
![Rebellion [L'Ordre et la Morale]](http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/rebellion-fr.jpg "Rebellion [L'Ordre et la Morale]")
Rebellion [L'Ordre et la Morale]
French actor-filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz (Gothika) takes on a major event in his nation's colonial history with this true action-adventure set on the lush South Pacific island of New Caledonia. It's a muscular, harrowing military thriller...
Movie Review posted on 19th April 2013
The Words
Like a Russian nesting doll, this film tells a story within a story within another story, playing around with fact and fiction, as well as the nature of creative inspiration and integrity. These themes are...
Movie Review posted on 19th April 2013
Love Is All You Need
It's rare to find a romance that's actually based on such vivid characters as these, but then this is from Oscar-winning filmmaker Susanne Bier (In a Better World), who knows how to root films in...
Movie Review posted on 19th April 2013
Olympus Has Fallen
As this massive blockbuster thriller progresses, it's impossible not to become amused by how ridiculous its script becomes. Because the production values are first-rate, with mammoth set pieces, rampant destruction and elaborate stunt action. Meanwhile,...
Movie Review posted on 19th April 2013
Evil Dead
Remaking an iconic classic is dangerous business, even if the original filmmakers are on board as producers, but at least Uruguayan writer-director Alvarez has a few clever ideas up his sleeve. And a willingness to...
Movie Review posted on 19th April 2013
Promised Land
Hydraulic fracturing might not be the most compelling subject for a movie, but it provides a topical backdrop for this engaging drama about ethics. It also lets actor-screenwriter Damon reunite with his Good Will Hunting...
Movie Review posted on 19th April 2013
First Position
Like the engaging hit documentary Spellbound, this dance competition film gets under the skin and holds us in its grip like a well-crafted thriller. As young dancers face incredible odds in a competition that will...
Movie Review posted on 12th April 2013
Simon Killer
For a horror film, this is unusually subtle and disturbing, rather than all-out scary, quietly profiling a creepy central character in ways that are designed to provoke the audience. Yes, this sociopath is realistically sinister,...
Movie Review posted on 12th April 2013
The Gatekeepers
The former heads of Israel's military anti-terrorism agency Shin Bet break their silence in this unnerving, eye-opening documentary. Nominated for an Oscar, the film is structured around interviews with these six men, so there isn't...
Movie Review posted on 12th April 2013
Flying Blind
A riveting performance by Helen McCrory holds our attention even if this dramatic thriller suffers from efficient but bland direction and a script that fails to dig very far beneath the surface. The role is...
Movie Review posted on 12th April 2013
Oblivion
With elements lifted from virtually every sci-fi classic in film history, this post-apocalyptic adventure feels eerily familiar but features just enough plot twists and emotional resonance to make it enjoyable. Director Kozinski (Tron Legacy) also...
Movie Review posted on 12th April 2013
The Place Beyond the Pines
Mainstream audiences may be disappointed that this isn't a gritty thriller pitting the acting talents of Gosling and Cooper against each other, as it's instead a boldly artful, often moving drama. The three-part structure may...
Movie Review posted on 12th April 2013
![Home [Yurt]](http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/yurt-fr.jpg "Home [Yurt]")
Home [Yurt]
More of a thoughtful meditation than a narrative feature, this meandering Turkish odyssey is packed with profound issues rather than well-defined characters or plot. That said, it's also about one man's quiet determination to make...
Movie Review posted on 5th April 2013
We Went to War
This follow-up documentary is so low-key that some audiences might miss its significance, but what it has to say is staggeringly important. And by using such a pure form of filmmaking, recently deceased director Grigsby...
Movie Review posted on 5th April 2013
All Things to All Men
Sadly, there has been such a glut of gun-packed London crime thrillers, that it simply isn't enough to make one that looks good and has a fierce energy: you need a solidly structured plot that...
Movie Review posted on 5th April 2013
Papadopoulos and Sons
Some meaty themes and complex performances add badly needed weight to this somewhat simplistic British comedy-drama. So even if it feels a bit awkward and draggy, there's life in the characters that makes it surprisingly...
Movie Review posted on 5th April 2013
A Late Quartet
While this film has some bracingly strong observations on the nature of long-term professional and personal relationships, it also feels somewhat theatrical in the way its story develops. It's as if everything happens for an...
Movie Review posted on 5th April 2013
Spring Breakers
Arthouse filmmaker Harmony Korine (Mister Lonely) comes dangerously close to making a mainstream movie with this blackly comical thriller. While the film is often very funny, and constantly challenges our preconceptions by veering in directions...
Movie Review posted on 5th April 2013
The Host
While the premise of this sci-fi thriller feels like yet another of Stephenie Meyer's two-boys-one-girl fantasies, a superior writer-director and cast make this is a stronger film than Twilight. The plot may be rather contrived,...
Movie Review posted on 3rd April 2013
![In the House [Dans la Maison]](http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/in-the-house-fr.jpg "In the House [Dans la Maison]")
In the House [Dans la Maison]
With Ozon's usual sharp writing and direction, this black comedy is a fabulous series of provocations, challenging us to explore how we see, or perhaps imagine, the people in our lives. It's also a playful...
Movie Review posted on 28th March 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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