Because Everybody Else Has One

I'm still waiting for this to be posted at Channel 24 but I figured I might as well put it up here and add the link later. Not that the movie is particular worth it, mind you. What it's about When Pauline (Lindiwe Ndlovu), a poor, middle aged woman, finds a brutally raped and barely alive young girl in a field next to her house, she soon finds herself becoming more and more involved in the life of the child. What we thought Little One is a genuinely well-intentioned, good-hearted film about a poverty stricken woman who overcomes her own debilitating problems to help the young victim of a horrific crime. Unfortunately, good intentions do not a good film make and, for all that I want to sing its praises and for all that it was in fact South Africa's entry into the Best Foreign Language Film category at last year's Academy Awards, it simply isn't a very good film. Along with its good intentions and big heart, Little One also has some perfect...

I hope to have my other full length review up as soon as Channel 24 posts it, but for now, here is my review of yet another terrible video game movie. Also up at Channel 24   What it's about Heather and her father have spent most of her young life on the run, but on the eve of her 18 th birthday, her father goes missing but to find him she first has to come to terms with who she really is, what her horrific dreams mean and why she needs to stay away from the place called Silent Hill. What we thought Before tackling this second film in what will undoubtedly now be a franchise, I felt it probably behoved me to track down the first film, released way back in 2006, to try and get some context in which to judge Silent Hill: Revelation. Much to my surprise, though it is noticeably flawed, I actually thought the first Silent Hill film wasn't just easily the best video game adaptation I've seen to date, it's actually a very solid horror film that made brill...

There were only three films released this weekend, all of which were science fiction films and two of which I have somehow already reviewed. This will be a short one, in other words. To recap, Oblivion is a flawed but engrossing mix of "smart" and "dumb" sci-fi with a standout performance from Andrea Riseborough and beautiful visuals. Escape From Planet Earth , on the other hand, is just bland, bland, bland and is only worth bothering with if you're under ten years of age. And even then, I wouldn't really bother when you have The Croods out at cinemas at the same time. This leaves Robot and Frank , which is, in effect, a quiet indie drama but with an advanced but crucially inhuman robot in one of the lead roles. It has some very fine performances from the four actors on the left there, as well as Peter Saarsgard as the voice of the robot, but this is really Frank Langella's party. Langella plays an old cat burglar whose failing memory causes hi...

Not even The Shatner could save this one... Also at Channel 24 What it's about Gary, the nerdy head of Mission Control for the planet Baab finds it upon himself to rescue his astronaut brother who is trapped on one of the most reviled and feared planets in the galaxy, a planet called Earth. What we thought This weekend our cinemas will see the release of nothing but three very different science fiction movies, each vying for your hard earned rands, but only two of which are even remotely worth bothering with. Robot and Frank and Oblivion may have their flaws, but they're both infinitely better than the pathetic underachievement of the kids-only animated scifi of Escape from Planet Earth. What's especially irritating about it is that Escape has a pretty great premise to work off. It is, in effect, an alien invasion movie but with the twist that the humans are the bad guys. It's a fun, fairly fresh idea that is just about never done justice by a...

Another month, another very solid Tom Cruise film. Why do people hate him so much again? Also at Channel 24 What it's about With the earth left a nuclear wasteland after its nations unleashed its collective nuclear arsenals against an invading alien force, Jack (Tom Cruise) and Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) are a two-man task team working together on Earth to ensure the success of an operation to extract the last of the planet's natural resources for their colony on Titan. But when Jack starts having dreams of a mysterious woman, he is soon confronted with possibility that nothing is what it seems. What we thought One of the best things about Oblivion is just how unpredictable it is. Not unpredictable in the sense that it goes to places where you would never expect it to, let alone somewhere truly original, but unpredictable in the sense that you just never know which science fiction movie it's going to crib from next. Writer/ director Joseph Kosinski...

So, as a way to bring this blog back onto something approaching a regular schedule, I've decided to go back to doing quickie reviews but, aside for the a large roundup of the last few weeks coming soon, I am going to do my best to ensure that one of these will come out around each weekend. I will still be doing full reviews, especially those I do Channel 24, but these roundups should hopefully ensure that I have covered most of the new cinema releases for each week. Also, these roundups will now be a lot looser than they used to be and may even include other recommendations, if I happen to find the week in cinema to be rather lacking. These roundups may be short or they may be long, but I will do my best to keep them coming with a bit more regularity. And what better way to start off this new/old feature than with a weekend where I haven't seen two of the week's major releases. Sorry about that, but this will happen from time to time with my being both a film critic and...

Now for a review of this week's biggest, though definitely not best, film. Also at Channel 24 What it's about When the White House is attacked and the president held hostage by North Korean nationalists, only Mike Banning, a disgraced former secret service agent, stands between the terrorists and a plot that may leave the United States of America in ruins. What we thought When it comes to action thrillers, you can get away with weak characterisation, lame dialogue and ridiculously over the top set pieces as long as the audience willingly suspends their sense of disbelief. The very fine line between “this movie is ridiculous!” and “this movie is ridiculous... but I'm going to go with it!” separates good action flicks from bad - or your Die Hards from your Die Hard 4.0 s. Olympus Has Fallen , however, somehow tramples all over this line. Director Antoine Fuqua may be best known for the intense drama of Training Day , but Olympus Has Fallen never ...

Man, am I ever going to get this blog back on track... Anyway, I think it's pretty fitting that I am reviewing a film about a great filmmaker the day after a great film critic died. I'm not going to try and do justice to the great Roger Ebert, a brilliant film critic and writer in general, as well as seemingly a pretty top-notch guy - I will leave that to those far more qualified than I - but I couldn't not mention the passing of so a giant a presence within my chosen (semi?) professional field.  This review is also up at Channel 24 . What it's about As famed director Alfred Hitchcock tries to put together what was surely his most controversial film to date, the true-life horror of Psycho, his marriage to his long-suffering wife and collaborator, Alma Reville, reaches a crucial turning point. What we thought Hitchcock is a classic example of a film that has Oscar contender written all over it, but doesn't quite have what it takes to make it ...