Dinner for Schmucks, 2010. Directed by Jay Roach. Starring Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Jemaine Clement and Bruce Greenwood. SYNOPSIS: An ambitious young exec stumbles across the perfect candidate for his superiors’ dinner for idiots. Schmuck [shmuhk] –noun, Slang. an obnoxious or contemptible person. From the Yiddish ‘shmok’; literally, a dick. The schmucks in […]
Movie Review – Shutter Island (2010)
Shutter Island, 2010. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Max von Sydow, Emily Mortimer and Jackie Earle Haley. SYNOPSIS: A US Marshal investigates the disappearance of a patient who has escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island. I offer a warning prior to you […]
Movie Review – The Expendables (2010)
The Expendables, 2010. Directed by Sylvester Stallone. Starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Terry Crews, Eric Roberts, Gary Daniels, Charisma Carpenter and Arnold Schwarzenegger. SYNOPSIS: The ultimate mercenary crew embark on the ultimate mission. I love action films. It’s a grand statement […]
Movie Review – Tamara Drewe (2010)
Tamara Drewe, 2010. Directed by Stephen Frears. Starring Gemma Arterton, Dominic Cooper, Roger Allam, Luke Evans and Tamsin Greig. SYNOPSIS: A glamorous newspaper journalist returns to the scene of her adolescence as her family home is put up for sale, only to cause a stir among the locals. Consensus = broad unanimity; general or widespread […]
Movie Review – Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, 2010. Directed by Edgar Wright. Starring Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong, and Kieran Culkin. SYNOPSIS: In order to date the girl of his dreams Ramona Flowers, Scott Pilgrim must defeat her seven evil ex’s. Having so much hype around a film can ensure that unless the film lives […]
Movie Review – Inception (2010)
Inception, 2010. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard and Michael Caine. SYNOPSIS: In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind a single idea can be the most dangerous weapon or the most valuable asset. Corporate thief Dom Cobb […]
Movie Review – Cop Out (2010)
Cop Out, 2010. Directed by Kevin Smith. Starring Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Sean William-Scott and Adam Brody. SYNOPSIS: When a veteran NYPD cop’s rare baseball card – his only hope to pay for his daughter’s upcoming wedding – is stolen, he recruits his partner to track down the thief, a memorabilia-obsessed gangster. Two buddies and […]
World Cinema: The rise and fall of Italian Neo-realism
Santosh Sandhu discusses Italian neo-realism… In Italy, the fascist movement came to power in 1922. Fascist leader Benito Mussolini took advantage of the Italian peoples’ disillusionment with the liberal government and its inability to bring prosperity in the aftermath of the First World War which saw mass poverty, inflation and unemployment. Having created a totalitarian […]
The Gay Lord of the Rings: Readings From Middle-Earth
Gary Collinson examines contemporary readings of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings… Originally published in three volumes in 1954 and 1955, The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy chronicling the ‘War of the Ring’ and the end of the Third Age of ‘Middle-Earth’ – a secondary world created by […]
British Cinema – Naked (1993)
Naked, 1993. Directed by Mike Leigh. Starring David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp and Ewen Bremner. SYNOPSIS: Naked follows Johnny (Thewlis) a highly articulate and intelligent loner who drifts through the backstreets of London taking part in violent sex, living on the streets and eloquently engaging everyone in conversation to completely different reactions from each stranger. Naked […]
