Because Everybody Else Has One

Well, you'll probably need a beer after seeing this unholy mess... This review is also up at Channel 24 What it's about The true story of how a group of working stiffs pulled off the kidnapping of Beer tycoon, Alfred “Freddy” Heineken, resulting in the biggest ransom ever paid for a single individual. But, as the film's tagline says, “it was the perfect crime until they got away with it...” What we thought Considering just how interesting Kidnapping Freddy Heineken's basic story is, as well as the sheer talent both behind and in front of the camera, it really is kind shocking just how terrible a film it turned out to be. The basic plot is, as I said, really rather good but you wouldn't think so based on just how clumsily its told and how terribly its paced. There are much more jaw-droppingly awful things about the film (more on one or two of those in a bit) but by far the most disappointing thing about it is just how boring it rendered t...

We Need To Talk About Rudderless... This review is also up at Channel 24 What it's about After retreating from his life after his son, Josh, is killed in a campus shooting, Sam Manning finds a way to both finally confront his loss and maybe, just maybe, move on when he comes across a box of CDs containing songs that Josh wrote in his brief life. Teaming up with a passionate but somewhat troubled young man, Quentin, Sam starts performing the songs at a local music club but however therapeutic these performances become, as his local fame grows so does the spectre of a secret that he's been holding on to. What we thought By turns uplifting, tragic and frustrating, beloved character actor William H Macy's directorial debut is an impressively assured piece of filmmaking that constantly skirts with greatness but never quite reaches it thanks to a single, critical flaw that resides right in the centre of Jeff Robinson and Brad Greiner's otherwise beautif...

I have a feeling that die hard fans of the show aren't going to like me after this... This review is also up at Channel 24 What it's about Picking up immediately after the end of the TV series of the same name, Vincent Chase and the boys are back for a new Hollywood adventure. As Vinnie turns his attentions towards directing a major new studio release for the studio that now has his former agent, Ari Gold, as its head, E is expecting a baby with his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Sloan, while Turtle desperately tries to woo a Mixed Martial Arts star and Johnny Drama continues to try and step out of his baby brother's shadow as a proper actor. What we thought Entourage is, at absolute best, strictly for fans of the series. Not because newcomers won't understand what's going on, mind you, because there really is very little to catch up with and what there is, is done very speedily in the first few moments through a sequence of typically naff...

Well, I suppose there are worse ideas than borrowing heavily from the works of the Coen Brothers, after all... This review is also up at Channel 24 . What it's about In the small, sleepy town of Cut Bank, Minnesota, a young couple accidentally film the murder of a postal worker – but this is only the beginning of their troubles. What we thought Cut Bank is the debut feature film for veteran TV director Matt Shakman and though it's hardly a roaring success, you do have to admire the chutzpah of a filmmaker modelling his first big screen outing on the work of the Coen Brothers. More specifically, on earlier Coen works like Blood Simple and arguably their most beloved work, Fargo (I've always been more of a Big Lebowski man myself though) – though with some helpings of No Country for Old Men thrown in for good measure. But then, considering how many indie filmmakers start off their careers with their own riffs on Woody Allen's immortal classic, Annie Ha...

A Royally Silly Night Out. This review is also up at Channel 24 What it's about Based (extremely) loosely on the true story of how Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret joined the common folk in their celebrations of V.E. Day, 1945. What we thought A Royal Night Out is, in absolutely no uncertain terms, utter nonsense. Not only does this “historical dramedy” have really very little do with any events that ever actually happened (the princesses apparently did little more than stand outside the palace gates on V.E night and were home by 1:00 AM), it also has very little of any real merit as a piece of storytelling. Basically a posher take on something like Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist or After Hours, it's very silly, very shallow and very ill disciplined in terms of both plotting and tone. It's also, however, quite a lot of fun. The real story, of course, would have been quite boring so it's understandable that they invented much o...

Two hours of senseless destruction, groan-worthy dialogue and enough cliches to fill the Hoover Dam? Yes, please! This is a bit late so I'm going to make this quick. San Andreas is total, total nonsense from beginning to end, that assumes that scenes of massive destruction, Alexandra Daddario in a low-cut top and the Rock doing his usual thing would be enough to prevent people from noticing just how rubbish it is. Here's the thing though: it kind of is. No matter what else you might say about it, San Andreas is a film that knows exactly what it is and holds no pretensions to be anything else. It's an old fashioned, thrilling disaster movie with an extremely straightforward story - earthquake beats the crap out of California, family is caught in the middle - and likable lead characters that features just about everything else that you might expect in this sort of thing: kooky scientists that no one listens to being proven horribly right; horrible step dads getting the...