The Girl On the Train (2016). Poor plotting and characters don’t ruin this thriller. Read my review for why.

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Film review of The Girl On the Train, starring Emily Blunt as a woman who thinks she witnesses a woman being murdered as she takes a train home from work. Directed by Tate Taylor and based on the book by Paula Hawkins.

Thriller/Suspense/Film Noir

3stars Good worth watching

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New films out in the UK Friday 7 Oct 2016. Don’t know what to see at the cinema this weekend? Read our list for help.

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A list of the new films released across the UK, from Friday 7 October 2016. The big release is War On Everyone starring Alexander Skarsgard. Use the Film List website for details of which cinema nearest to you will show these movies.

War On Everyone

Lots of splendid social media has been clogging up the broadband cables over the past week or so for this favourably reviewed comedy starring Alexander Skarsgard and Michael Pena as two crooked cops who blackmail and frame every poor, unfortunate criminal who happens across them. That is, until they try it on someone who may (or may not be) much, much bigger than they are. Check out the official website for more info including the trailer. It will have a wide release, but the website will help you book tickets for your nearest cinema.

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Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children (2016). Should Tim Burton hang up his clapperboard and retire? Read on for more.

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Film review by Jason Day of Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, about an enigmatic woman who looks after children who have mystical or magical abilities. Starring Eva Green and directed by Tim Burton.

Action/Adventure/Fantasy

2stars - Fair/passes the time
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Deepwater Horizon (2016). A well-made disaster drama, read my review for what I liked about it.

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Film review by Jason Day of Deepwater Horizon, an account of the disaster on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in 2010. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Kurt Russell.

4stars - Very good lots to enjoy

 

 

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New films released in the UK on Friday 23 September 2016. Use our list to plan your cinema weekend.

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A list of the new films released across the UK, from Friday 2 September 2016. The big release is the remake of The Magnificent Seven starring Denzel Washington. Use the Find Any Film website for details of which cinema nearest to you will show these movies.

The Magnificent SevenThe Magnificent Seven 2016 poster

Handsome looking and smart-sounding remake of the classic 1960 John Sturges western, about a gang of renegade men who hole up in a small town to help a widow whose husband was murdered by an industrialist (Peter Sarsgaard) terrorising her community. Chris Pratt and Denzel Washington head the strong male cast, Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) directs. Check the official Sony Pictures webpage and Facebook page for the trailer and more about the film. The film will be showing all over the UK.

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Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016). Read my review to see whether this is big pants or big fun.

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Film review by Jason Day of Bridget Jones’s Baby, in which the hapless singleton played by Rene Zelwegger finds herself pregnant and not knowing who the father is. Co-starring Colin Firth and Patrick Dempsey.

Comedy

3stars Good worth watching

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Safety Last! (1923). Read this review to see how Harold Lloyd scaled the heights of movie immortality.

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Film review by Jason Day of the silent film comedy Safety Last! Starring Harold Lloyd, it concerns a young man working in a city department store who will stop at nothing to impress his girlfriend back home. Co-starring Mildred Davis.

Silent

4stars - Very good lots to enjoy

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Hell Or High Water (2016). Touted as one of the best films of the year, read why in this review.

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Film review by Jason Day of Hell Or High Water, the crime drama about a divorced dad and his ex-con brother who hatch a desperate scheme in order to save their family’s ranch in West Texas. Starring Chris Pine, Ben Foster and Jeff Bridges.

Crime

4stars - Very good lots to enjoy

 

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Ben-Hur: summary reviews of all big-screen versions of Ben-Hur, 1907-2016.

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Film reviews by Jason Day of all four big screen versions of Ben-Hur, 1907-2016.

Ben-Hur (2016)
2stars - Fair/passes the time
Director: Timur Bekmambetov.
 
Synopsis
 
Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) is a Prince of Judea. Messala (Toby Kebbell) is his adoptive brother and they are the best of friends. But Messala is Roman and he yearns for glory in his homeland to distinguish himself. He leaves and returns years later, hoping Judah will work with him to quell uprisings in Judea. When Judah refuses, Messala vindictively has him consigned to the galleys as a slave and imprisons his family. Judah must summon every ounce of strength to survive and prevail.
 
Review, by Jason Day
 
The production team behind this latest dusting off of Lew Wallace’s mighty 1880 bestseller at least deserve kudos for having the balls to take on William Wyler’s epochal, box-office smashing, 11 Oscar-winning, mammoth-in-all-departments adaptation.
 
Quite why they decided to do it is another matter; one has to hope given how this is currently limping along at cinemas that deliberate career suicide wasn’t one of them.
 
There are elements to be admired here, the galley sequences, the heaving hustle and bustle of ancient Judea and a trimmed down story (two hour duration compared to 3 hours and 42 minutes) but in the scramble to make a ‘new’ version of the old story, a certain amount of confusion and lack of focus has crept in. 
 
The all-defining chariot race sequence is where such films redeem themselves, but what we have here is nothing short of a dull afternoon at the dog-tracks. 
 
It’s interesting to note that, with all the technical wizardry at a filmmaker’s fingers, the sequence has less impact than the 1925 silent version.
 
For more, read the full review: http://bit.ly/BenHurFilm2016
 
 
Ben-Hur (1959)
 
Director: William Wyler.
 
5stars Excellent genius a classic
 
It was always going to be difficult to out-epic the most famous version of Ben-Hur, but it’s not just the scale of this film that impresses the most.
 
This is a film to listen to as it is blessed with the most poetic of dialogue. Considering the script was cobbled together from the efforts of several writers, its clear and beautiful cohesiveness is to be even more admired. 
 
Wyler had the funds to make a splendid film and from the lush, Imperial score all the way down to the smallest of props, this has the ring of perfection chiming through every frame. 
 
Yes, it’s a long film and it has been said by other critics that it lasts almost as long as the Roman Empire, but it’s a rewarding journey none the less on many levels.
 
 
Ben-Hur (1925).
 
Director: Fred Niblo.
 
3stars Good worth watching
 
MGM’s first stab at making Ben-Hur almost bankrupted the newly-fledged company, but they managed to off-set many potential losses and showed their mettle as a serious studio that could handle a film of any size.
 
It’s about as big a film as you can get and you can tick off all of the key elements to make a Ben-Hur and a few more.
 
This film was made before the days of national cinema censorship so it’s the raciest Ben-Hur with male nudity, bare-breasted female extras and star Ramon Novarro’s lovely toned legs in micro-skirts so short you can almost see his little tribune.
 
The exciting chariot race still stands up to scrutiny today in a film that, despite its melodrama is still thunderously good.
 
 
Ben-Hur (1907).
 
Director: Sidney Olcott et al.
 
2stars - Fair/passes the time
 
I wanted to include the ‘little great-grandaddy’ of Ben-Hurs as much for continuity and also consistency – why shouldn’t a film made before most of the techniques now used in cinema were developed?
 
Well, in a sense perhaps I should have left it out as it isn’t a film in the usual sense of the word, but more a filmed version of a stage play.
 
But within its creaky, theatrical set-up there is a cute, almost naive value to it. I’ve given this the same star rating as the 2016 version as both films in their own way help to pass the time. This one, at 15 minutes, does it rather more swiftly.
 
 
 
Cast & credits (2016 only)
 
Producers: Mark Burnett, Sean Daniel, Duncan Henderson, Joni Levin.
Writers: Keith R. Clarke, John Ridley.
Camera: Oliver Wood.
Music: Marco Beltrami.
Sets: Naomi Shohan.
Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, Rodrigo Santoro, Morgan Freeman, Nazanin Boniadi, Ayelet Zurer, Pilou Asbæk, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Marwan Kenzari, Moises Arias, James Cosmo.

Ben-Hur (2016). Some good things are in this remake of a remake of a remake, so why isn’t it that epic?

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Film review by Jason Day of Ben-Hur, the ancient Rome epic starring Jack Huston as a Jewish Prince deceived and enslaved by his vindictive former best friend Messala (Toby Kebbell). 

Historical/Period/Epic

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