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Captain Phillips - Dir. Paul Greengrass

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After his cargo ship is boarded by Somali pirates, Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) enters into a battle of bravado and patience with the pirate captain Muse (Barkhad Abdi). Phillips wants to protect his crew, but Muse isn't leaving until his pockets are filled with riches. It should come as no surprise to hear that a new Paul Greengrass film is nail-bitingly tense. The tension builds from the moment Hanks' Captain Phillips lands in Oman (after a brief setup back in the USA, more on that later) and steps on board the Maersk Alabama. Whilst the action may never reach the heights of the frantic Tangier chase in The Bourne Ultimatum or the destructive car chase at the end of The Bourne Supremacy, the sense of jeopardy never lets up. Even in the film's quieter moments, there's an ever present restlessness that gives greater relevance to every word that Phillips chooses to utter.

2013: A Kubrickian Odyssey - Killer's Kiss

Throughout 2013, I shall be watching all of Stanley Kubrick's 13 feature films in chronological order. I'll discuss each film on here along with a handful of documentaries and short films. To read all the posts so far, click on the "Stanley Kubrick" tag at the end of this post. Stanley Kubrick returned to the cinema screen, after the unfavourable experience of making Fear & Desire , with Killer's Kiss : a film noir about an ageing boxer who falls in love with his neighbour. Technically, the film is a vast improvement on the amateurish Fear & Desire , but there is sadly little else to recommend about Killer's Kiss . The main problem is that there is nothing remotely interesting about the characters or the story. For all of its faults, Fear And Desire  at least attempted to tell an interesting story; something that Killer's Kiss  just doesn't do. Davey Gordon has little in his life worth fighting for; his modest boxing career is on a downwa

Pacific Rim (2013) - Dir. Guillermo del Toro

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It's Monsters vs Machines in Guillermo del Toro's delightful big screen spectacle We're over half way through the relentless onslaught of the summer blockbuster season. So far, Hollywood's multi-billion dollar bag o' tricks has produced one worthy conqueror ( Iron Man 3 ), one crushing disappointment ( Star Trek Into Darkness ) and a mix of the usual mediocre franchises that are populating cinema screens year after year. The cinema screens need a saviour, someone or something to remind us how the term "blockbuster" was created. Wholeheartedly embracing that challenge are Guillermo del Toro and the giant humanoid machines of Pacific Rim . Planet Earth is being terrorized by extra-dimensional monsters known as Kaiju who emerge from a portal at the bottom of the ocean. Faced with this unfathomable threat, humans build hulking humanoid machines known as Jaegers to battle the Kaiju. When it appears that the Kaiju have been temporarily defeated, the Jaege

2013: A Kubrickian Odyssey - Fear And Desire

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Throughout 2013, I shall be watching all of Stanley Kubrick's 13 feature films in chronological order. I'll discuss each film on here along with a handful of documentaries and short films. To read all the posts so far, click on the "Stanley Kubrick" tag at the end of this post. Prior to his death, Stanley Kubrick had attempted to keep Fear And Desire film out of circulation. He described it as the work of an amateur and reportedly acquired as many copies of the film as he could. In many ways, he was right to distance himself from this film; it demonstrates his inexperience and often descends in a pretentious mess. However, there are a handful of interesting things about it and it is arguably one of his most important films. A fighter plane has crashed behind enemy lines and the four surviving soldiers must make their way  out of the hostile territory. Their plans are sidetracked when a young girl stumbles upon the group.

2013: A Kubrickian Odyssey - Introduction

I have quite a few notable gaps in my film viewing. Fight Club, Schindler's List, Goodfellas, Apocalypse Now; just a handful of films that any self-respecting film fan should have seen. I've also yet to see any film of many notable directors; Kurosawa, Hawks, Altman, Fellini, Bergman. I'm constantly trying to fill in the gaps, but there are only so many hours in the day. One of the most prominent omissions in my opinion is that I have seen so few of Stanley Kubrick's films. Widely regarded as one of the most gifted and talented directors, Kubrick could not be pigeonholed and left behind an incredibly varied filmography. Yet despite this status, I have only seen one of his sixteen films: The Shining . I also watched a lot of Spartacus  during Latin lessons at school (one of the the benefits of a classical education). This was not due to any specific reason; the right opportunity had never presented itself (as a film fan, it's no easy feat to keep up with modern rel

Doctor Who - The Name Of The Doctor

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A superb finale that provides satisfying resolution and generates fevered anticipation for the show's 50th anniversary After what's been an unspectacular run of episodes, there was a lot of pressure resting on this episode, show runner Steven Moffat and this season as a whole. Thankfully this episode not only ensured this season's place in the show's history, but it re-invigorated the show just in time for its 50th anniversary. Within the ramblings of mad man, Madame Vastra hears a word that she knows to hold a great significance to The Doctor; Trenzalore. She calls together a group of The Doctor's closest friends to help him in his hour of need. It's a low-key opening that neatly brings the characters together and establishes the significance of the threat. The Whispermen, all teeth and no eyes, rudely interrupt the conference. If we were in any doubt of the raised stakes, the Whispermen kill Jenny without a second's thought. Although she is ultimate

Doctor Who - Nightmare In Silver

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Neil Gaiman's second Doctor Who episode is lazy, irritating and uninspiring.  Last week's The Crimson Horror  ended on an unexpected note. Clara's time travelling exploits had been uncovered by Angie and Artie, demanding a trip in the TARDIS in exchange for their silence. The biggest worry with children on TV shows is that they can be terribly annoying and are often used to initiate plot strands. In The Walking Dead , Rick and Lori's son Carl was forever wandering off and turning up at the most opportune moment, often at the expense of any character development. Sadly Neil Gaiman falls into that exact trap. Thinking he's onto a winner, The Doctor takes Angie and Artie to the biggest theme park in the universe, Hedgewick's World Of Wonders. Well it used to be, but the planet has since been quarantined after several attacks from Cybermen. When The Doctor is partially upgraded by the mysterious Cyber Planner, he has to battle the Cyber Planner in a game of

Doctor Who - The Crimson Horror

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A very silly, strange and lightweight episode that's a whole lot of fun A few weeks ago, Mark Gatiss delivered his best Doctor Who  episode to date ( Cold War ). The Crimson Horror , whilst not perfect, is now the owner of that accolade. Set in 19th Century Yorkshire, The Crimson Horror  is an unrestrained slice of twisted fun. Bodies are turning up in the river, except the flesh on the bodies has developed a deep red colouring. Local factory owner Mrs Gillyflower (Diana Rigg) is offering the chance of salvation from this disturbing fate, which has been dubbed the Crimson Horror by the people, in her idyllic village compound known as Sweetville; a place where only the best are welcome. Past seasons of Doctor Who  have attempted to lighten the workload of the Doctor and his companion by writing episodes which feature only one of the pair e.g. Midnight , Turn Left  or episodes which leave them out of the action for most of the running time e.g. Blink . This truncated seas

Doctor Who - Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS

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A nerd-tastic set up manages to stay the right side of plausible With any story which explores a previously unexplained aspect of a show's mythology, there's always the possibility that whatever revelation that is made will anger more than it might please. Or to put it more succinctly, the Midichlorian problem from Star Wars . The Doctor and Clara are meandering across space when they get caught by a passing salvage ship. The damaged TARDIS lands on board the salvage vessel (manned by the Van Balen brothers), and Clara is nowhere to be found.  After trapping the crew inside the TARDIS and activating a self-destruct timer, the episode is ready to explore the previously unexplored mysteries of the TARDIS. The salvage of a lifetime. (image courtesy of guardian.co.uk)

Broadchurch - Episode 8

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It's a case of the good, the bad and the inevitable as Broadchurch reaches an end After several weeks of speculation and anticipation, the Broadchurch killer has been revealed. The finale was a reminder of how good Broadchurch  has been in moments, but it also demonstrates how infuriating the show has been at times. Starting with the inevitable, it was no surprise that Joe Miller was revealed to be the killer. At the end of the day, it followed the route of almost every CSI episode; the killer being somebody who's in the episode, but never at the forefront. It's been done a thousand times before and, despite all of the crackpot theories circulating on the internet, was an unspectacular revelation. In the few hours leading up to the episode's broadcast, one of the show's producers had said that everyone should watch to the very end of the episode. Some people took this as a suggestion that there was a shocking twist at the end of the hour. As such, when t here

Doctor Who - Hide Review

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There's some spooky 'n' scary goings on in this excellent "ghost" story Neil Cross' return to Doctor Who , after an absence of just 1 week, with a much less divisive episode than The Rings Of Akhaten  (though I was much more positive about it than many others). Hide  is an episode which finds the balance between the divisive whimsy of Akhaten  and the steady ground of Cold War,  and is the best episode of this 2013 run so far. Hide  is assuringly old fashioned in its set-up. A pair of ghost hunters are working in haunted house in the 1970s. The illusive spectre is most definitely with them, but never hangs around for long. The Doctor and Clara show up to try and solve the mystery of the Witch of the Well.

Broadchurch - Episode 7

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Broadchurch approaches its denouement at an encouraging pace. That's more like it. Broadchurch  has often struggled to balance the investigation and dramatic aspects of its story, but this penultimate episode found the desired equilibrium. After collapsing at the end of last week's episode, DI Alec Hardy's secret illness is out in the open. DS Miller is naturally both furious and worried (mostly furious). It would appear that Hardy is on his last legs, which makes finding the culprit even more urgent. In Hardy's temporary absence, DS Miller gets her chance to shine as she attempts to rally the troops. While Hardy's near constant berating of Miller throughout the series was a little over the top, it's forced Miller to toughen up and probably made her into a better detective. If Hardy does leave/die, DS Miller is now much better suited for the job than she was in episode 1. In the suspect's chair this week was the ever suspicious looking Susan Wrig

Doctor Who - Cold War Review

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Mark Gatiss' chilly thriller falls just short of greatness After last week's divisive The Rings Of Akhaten , Cold War  finds Doctor Who  on much more familiar ground. Familiar, but wonderfully entertaining. It's 1983 and a Soviet submarine crew uncover what they believe to be a mammoth. Except it's very much not a mammoth, it's a Martian Ice Warrior. Living underneath the ice for nearly 5000 years, the Ice Warrior is lost and confused. The Doctor and Clara arrive just in time to see the Russian crew provoke the Ice Warrior, turning the proud soldier into a very dangerous foe.  Last year, Doctor Who  delivered an episode called Dinosaurs On A Spaceship , and Cold War  could easily be re-titled Alien On A Submarine  as not only does the episode take place within the confines of the underwater vessel, but it bears a significant resemblance to Ridley Scott's 70's masterpiece ( Alien) . It's behind you... and slightly to your right

Broadchurch - Episode 6

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The people of Broadchurch try to return to normality following another death After last week's magnificent episode that dealt with the harassment and death of Jack Marshall, it was expected that this episode would struggle to live up to what went before. Even with that consideration, this episode of Broadchurch  really tested my patience. With each passing episode that reveals next to nothing about the case, the likelihood of Broadchurch  providing a satisfying conclusion diminishes. The main problem is that it's trying to juggle too many suspects. With all that juggling going on, none of the suspects really feel like they could legitimately be considered as suspects. Given that not a lot of people have been definitively ruled out, there's still the possibility that Chris Chibnall could pluck a murderer out of thin air and pull the rug from under all of the series' work so far. Look no further than Joe Miller, Olivia Colman's nice and cheery husband. He'

Doctor Who - The Rings Of Akhaten Review

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The Doctor and Clara's latest adventure is thematically rich despite a thin plot Last week's installment ended with Clara describing the leaf in the pages of her book as "page 1"; the comment went unexplained. I eventually thought nothing of it and was pleasantly surprised to see it brought up again so quickly. The Rings of Akhaten  not only allowed Clara to demonstrate her worthiness as a companion, but explored themes of fear, loss and religion. The Rings of Akhaten  (or Indiana Jones and The Sunshine X-Factor as it could be called) started with a sweet prologue which charted the story of the leaf and its importance. The leaf brought together Clara's mother (originally named Ellie Ravenwood. Ravenwood as in Marion Ravenwood from Indiana Jones) and father, and is of significant emotional value to Clara. Not only does this help to develop Clara as a character,  but plays a pivotal role in the episode's conclusion. The Doctor and Clara explore the

Broadchurch - Episode 5

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The best episode of the series is a haunting glimpse of a very troubled man I've said in my previous two reviews how Broadchurch  had raised its game from those opening episodes, but this episode was something very special indeed.  With the police investigation taking a back seat in this episode, for the most part (more on that later), this episode focuses on the community's reaction to the accusations surrounding newsagent Jack Marshall. Poor Jack Marshall; a man who has done so much to escape his past, only to have it uncovered by scoop-hungry reporters. It's important to note that, in the eyes of the law, Jack was a paedophile and that he served his sentence. Yet as with many cases, the sentence alone does not represent the whole picture. Writer Chris Chibnall drip feeds Jack Marshall's story throughout the episode, and gives David Bradley the stand out scenes of the series so far. After building our suspicions at the end of last week's episode, Chibnall

Doctor Who - The Bells Of St. John Review

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The Doctor makes his return to our screens with a new TARDIS, a new look and a new companion So here we are; part two of season 7 of the reboot of Doctor Who. Got that? Good. Whilst season 6 was a season of 2 halves, season 7 is very much two mini seasons. As such, The Bells Of St. John  should be seen as a season opener, and whilst they never tend to be the best of episodes; their main aim is to successfully introduce the new companion or Doctor. I'm pleased to say that The Bells Of St. John  worked very well indeed. Only Doctor Who  could follow a teaser about the dangers of Wi-fi with a trip to 13th century Cumbria. Here we find The Doctor contemplating the impossible girl, Clara Oswin Oswald. Moments later the TARDIS phone begins to ring and The Doctor has found his impossible girl once again. Jenna Lousie Coleman as Clara Oswald After 2 and a half seasons of Amy Pond, or Amy and Rory, it was important to establish Clara as a sufficiently different companion. For

Broadchurch - Episode 4

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At the halfway mark, Broadchurch is making good on its initial promise I've been quite critical on some of the more minor aspects of Broadchurch in the opening episodes. It says a lot about the quality of this episode that those annoyances didn't bother me as much. First of all, it turns out Alec Hardy is in fact a human being and not a grumpy crime solving android. Hurrah! After initially turning his nose up at the prospect of dinner at the Miller residence, Hardy not only enjoys himself but he starts to open up a little. He's clearly a troubled man, but now we're starting to understand some of what's troubling him. After collapsing in his hotel room, he wakes up in hospital with hotelier Becca at his side. Whilst she is slightly amused at having to pretend to be his wife, Hardy is instantly concerned about keeping the incident under wraps. Alec Hardy and his "wife" Becca Elsewhere, Karen has stepped up her game in pursuit of a story. Aft

Broadchurch - Episode 3

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Broadchurch delivers its best episode so far in week 3 Apologies for this somewhat belated and truncated review of the 3rd instalment of Broadchurh . As my previous reviews indicate, I have been enjoying Broadchurch  so far, despite it's flaws. Whilst there were still some problems in this episode, I found it to be the most satisfying of the lot. Beth tries to cope with the boredom that comes from waiting for news. She cleans the house and tries to go back to work, only to be turned away by her caring but overprotective boss. She also meets the friendly neighbourhood psychic Steve, who claims to have a message for her from Danny. Beth's initial disgust at Steve claims soon develops into curiosity. Yet despite his best intentions, Steve's message may have caused more problems for the Latimer family. As with last week's episodes, the scenes with Steve were the best of the episode. Beth (Jodie Whitaker): the grieving mother and suspicious wife  The revelat

Broadchurch - Episode 2

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Murder mystery is moving forward, albeit rather slowly Opening episodes are always tricky to get right. The tone has to be set whilst also delivering enough intrigue to ensure the viewer tunes in for the next episode. On the basis of this second episode, Broadchurch has settled into the groove formed in the opening hour. More suspects are introduced this week but some have yet to be developed into fully rounded characters. Pauline Quirke gets to say and do suspicious things, a step up from her looking suspicious moments last week. Arthur Darvill gets another post Doctor Who  role (following his brief appearance in The Paradise ) as the local priest who has to help the town come to terms with the tragedy. Most intriguingly, Steve Connolly (Will Mellor) is a telephone engineer who claims that he receives messages from the dead. This type of character is something I've always liked and I hope that Broadchurch  develops his character and his "abilities" further.  Me

Bond 24 - The Poison Chalice

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Why Sam Mendes passed on Bond 24. Plus a potential short list of successors (Massive spoilers for Skyfall , obviously.) Even with the best will in the world, I don't think EON producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli would've predicted the extent of Skyfall 's success. The previous two outings took $586 million and $599 million at the box office, but Skyfall 's $1.1 billion makes it the 3rd largest gross for a non 3D film (behind Return Of The King and Titanic's initial 1997 release). Therefore, it's entirely understandable why everybody wanted Skyfall director Sam Mendes back on board. The problem is, Skyfall  has left the franchise in a somewhat precarious position. With  Skyfall , Mendes got to do things no other Bond director has done. He got to kill off M, bring old characters back into the series and with the 50th anniversary falling in the same year; he got to explore whether Bond's old fashioned approach still had a place in the 21st c

Broadchurch - Episode 1

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A few thoughts on the opening episode of ITV's new crime drama In this post The Killing  televisual landscape, crime thrillers have their work cut out to bring something new to the genre. Despite its poor start, Broadchurch  shows signs of have something to offer in this opening episode. Set in a coastal Dorset town, Broadchurch  centres around the suspicious death of an 11 year old boy, Danny Latimer (Adam Wilson). DI Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and DS Miller (Olivia Colman) are tasked with solving the mystery whilst this small close knit town comes to terms with the tragedy. Olivia Colman & David Tennant in Broadchurch The first 15 minutes of Broadchurch were really quite frustrating. Small niggling inaccuracies that shouldn't have bothered me were too strange to ignore. When Danny doesn't turn up at the school sports day, no one contacts the parents to find out where he is. A journalist returns from the sports day and is told to "get yourself some fre

Oscar 2013 Predictions

My final predictions for tonight's ceremony This year's awards race has been one of the most open and encompassing of recent years. You only have to look back at last year's race, when it was obvious from a very early stage that The Artist  was going to win, to see how uneventful the annual awards race can be. This year, most of the major films have had their ups and downs. Things have settled in the past few weeks but the unpredictability of past few months means that many awards aren't pinned down. So I shall be making my picks in each of the categories based on what I think will win, what I think might win, what I think should win and what I think should've been nominated. I'll only make picks for should win and should've been nominated where I've seen enough of the nominees. Best Film Will Win: Argo Could Win: Lincoln Should Win: Zero Dark Thirty Not even nominated: Skyfall Best Director Will Win: Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)