Thor; Blitz; Turnout; Atrocious
One of the great injustices of late 20th-century film criticism was the near universal drubbing dished out to Kenneth Branagh's Frankenstein in the 90s. Recalling the debacle, Branagh once told me that the question he was most regularly asked in the wake of the film's release was: "What are you going to do now that your career is over?" Those of us who had the gall to praise Frankenstein for its gloriously overcooked melodramatic aesthetic (a quality entirely in keeping with Mary Shelley's source novel) were laughed out of court by those toeing the consensus line. It wasn't until the release of the (then futuristic) laserdisc edition that the mainstream critics started to admit that they might have got it wrong after all.
The same qualities that made Frankenstein such a delight lie at the heart of Thor (2011, Paramount, 12), a comic-book adaptation which similarly...
One of the great injustices of late 20th-century film criticism was the near universal drubbing dished out to Kenneth Branagh's Frankenstein in the 90s. Recalling the debacle, Branagh once told me that the question he was most regularly asked in the wake of the film's release was: "What are you going to do now that your career is over?" Those of us who had the gall to praise Frankenstein for its gloriously overcooked melodramatic aesthetic (a quality entirely in keeping with Mary Shelley's source novel) were laughed out of court by those toeing the consensus line. It wasn't until the release of the (then futuristic) laserdisc edition that the mainstream critics started to admit that they might have got it wrong after all.
The same qualities that made Frankenstein such a delight lie at the heart of Thor (2011, Paramount, 12), a comic-book adaptation which similarly...
- 9/26/2011
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
30 Minutes Or Less (15)
(Ruben Fleischer, 2011, Us) Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride. 83 mins
After the heights of The Social Network, Eisenberg is demoted to a lowly pizza delivery boy for this casual caper movie. He's driven to rob banks at the behest of McBride's criminal non-mastermind, with buddy Ansari roped in for comic effect. In fact, comic effect seems to be all this is after. Like a dodgy pizza, it's enjoyable at the time but nutritionally dubious, a bit thin, and just about gone cold by the time it's finished.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (15)
(Thomas Alfredson, 2011, UK/Fra/Ger) Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch. 127 mins
A very British spy thriller that dispenses with all that hasty pacing and coarse action in favour of well-tailored men talking in rooms. A complex, classy cold war mole-hunt that demands attention, but rewards it richly.
I Don't Know How She Does It (12A)
(Douglas McGrath,...
(Ruben Fleischer, 2011, Us) Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride. 83 mins
After the heights of The Social Network, Eisenberg is demoted to a lowly pizza delivery boy for this casual caper movie. He's driven to rob banks at the behest of McBride's criminal non-mastermind, with buddy Ansari roped in for comic effect. In fact, comic effect seems to be all this is after. Like a dodgy pizza, it's enjoyable at the time but nutritionally dubious, a bit thin, and just about gone cold by the time it's finished.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (15)
(Thomas Alfredson, 2011, UK/Fra/Ger) Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch. 127 mins
A very British spy thriller that dispenses with all that hasty pacing and coarse action in favour of well-tailored men talking in rooms. A complex, classy cold war mole-hunt that demands attention, but rewards it richly.
I Don't Know How She Does It (12A)
(Douglas McGrath,...
- 9/16/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
This third-rate Brit lad-flick set in London's trendy Hoxton is sunk by a stupid story and sub-EastEnders dialogue
What went wrong for Ophelia Lovibond? It was all looking gangbusters after a string of entry-level Hollywood roles. Now here she is, bolt-on girlfriend in a third-rate Brit lad-flick. The script is a collaboration between first-time director Lee Sales and two of his actors: a caper about East End boys who bowl around Hoxton hoovering drugs and abusing trendies. The rapport between them is actually pretty spot on – and might have been put to work by a half-decent story. Instead, enter Lovibond as the shopaholic girlfriend of drug-dealing George (co-writer George Russo). They're saving up for a holiday and she's given him her money for safekeeping. Bound to end badly, that, since his coke-snorting outpaces her shoe-buying. Cue endless dreary lines that would make an EastEnders scriptwriter blush: "Swear on your life.
What went wrong for Ophelia Lovibond? It was all looking gangbusters after a string of entry-level Hollywood roles. Now here she is, bolt-on girlfriend in a third-rate Brit lad-flick. The script is a collaboration between first-time director Lee Sales and two of his actors: a caper about East End boys who bowl around Hoxton hoovering drugs and abusing trendies. The rapport between them is actually pretty spot on – and might have been put to work by a half-decent story. Instead, enter Lovibond as the shopaholic girlfriend of drug-dealing George (co-writer George Russo). They're saving up for a holiday and she's given him her money for safekeeping. Bound to end badly, that, since his coke-snorting outpaces her shoe-buying. Cue endless dreary lines that would make an EastEnders scriptwriter blush: "Swear on your life.
- 9/15/2011
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
While “Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy,” Andrea Arnold’s “Wuthering Heights,” and Steve McQueen's "Shame" are jostling for pole position at the Venice Film Festival, it’s easy to forget that films produced in the U.K. tend to hew, crudely speaking, to diametric opposites: either boffo pictures about stammering royalty or ones about cock-er-ney geezers roving around London with Kalashnikovs. The trailer for “Turnout” from director Lee Sales, which recently cropped on the site for UK tabloid The Sun, would appear to fall distinctly into the latter camp. This is always fairly dangerous territory. For every “Fish Tank” (which has an air of…...
- 9/6/2011
- The Playlist
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.