Film review, by Jason Day, of Titanic, director James Cameron’s account of the fateful maiden voyage of RMS Titanic. Starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet.
Disaster
Film review by Jason Day of Collateral Beauty, the fantasy drama about a grieving man who writes to Death, Love and Time after the death of his daughter. Starring Will Smith and Edward Norton.
Drama
Film review by Claire Durrant of the black comedy starring Kate Winslet as the title dressmaker in 1950’s Australia, Liam Hemsworth as her lover and Judy Davis as her estranged mother.
Comedy
Our reviewers Maysa Moncao and Claire Durrant both downloaded themselves into their local cinemas to see Steve Jobs, the biography of the late Apple CEO starring Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet. Their views are below.
To like this review, comment on it or follow our blog, scroll to the bottom of the page.
Steve Jobs. Biopic, Universal Pictures
Director: Danny Boyle
Maysa Moncao
Claire Durrant
A list of the new films being released across the UK, from Friday 20 November 2015. Use the Find Any Film website for details of which cinema nearest you will show these films.
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NB: a list of the new film’s out Friday 1 Jan 2016 are here.
There are plenty of reviews on this blog – use the options on the left side of the screen to look around and tell us what you think!
A starry cast (Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, Judy Davis) assemble for director Jocelyn Moorhouse’s adaptation of the novel by Rosalie Ham. Winslet stars as Tilly, the dressmaker of the title, who returns home to 1950’s Australia to reconcile with her mother (Davis). She falls in love with Teddy (Hemsworth) and, using her skills, styles the women of the town and gets revenge on people who had previously done her wrong.
It looks completely and utterly lovely…like a sartorial Chocolate (2000).
Showing all over the UK, check out the official website for the trailer and more.
Film review of the drama about a female gardener at the court of Louis XIV, directed by and starring Alan Rickman and co-starring Kate Winslet and Matthias Schoenaerts. Scroll to the bottom to leave any comments.
Director: Alan Rickman. BBC Films/Lionsgate et al. (12)
Drama
A list of the new films released in the UK as of Friday 17 April 2015, with links to official websites, trailer and more.
For details of where to see them, use the Find Any Film website.
A list of the new films released in UK cinemas as of Friday 20 March 2015. To check what local cinemas will show these films, use the Find Any Film website.
While home alone under house arrest, a teenager undergoes a terrifying brush with the supernatural in this stylish, hair-rising horror film from director Paul Solet, co-starring Peter Stormare. The distributors webpage is here with a trailer and the film will be shown in key cities only.
Kate Winslet, Theo James and Shailene Woodley continue the Divergent sci-fi adventures. Beatrice Prior must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance which threatens to tear her society apart with the help from others on her side. Check the official website for more info, but you can catch it all over most UK screens.
Sean Penn, Javier Bardem and Ray Winstone star in this Pierre Morel directed action thriller about a former Special Forces soldier and military contractor, suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, who goes on the run across Europe. The official Open Road Films webpage is here; you should be able to catch the film at independent cinema chains or the larger multiplexes, so check Find Any Film to see if there is one near you.
Dreamworks’ animated feature about Oh, a misfit from another planet, who lands on Earth and finds himself on the run from his own people. He forms an unlikely friendship with an adventurous girl named Tip who is on a quest of her own. They learn much about each other and themselves along the way. The official Facebook page is here; the Dreamworks webpage here.
This French language Canadian film concerns a passionate widowed single mom (Anne Dorval) who finds herself burdened with her unpredictable 15-year-old ADHD son (Antoine Olivier Pilon). As they struggle to make ends meet, Kyla (Suzanne Clément), the new neighbor across the street, offers her help. Together, they strive for a new sense of balance. The official website has all of the detail, it will have a wide UK screening, so check Find Any Film for your nearest movie theatre.
Gruelling looking Danish drama starring Game Of Thrones‘ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who kidnaps a petty criminal’s son to be looked after by him and his wife. The official Vertigo Films webpage has the trailer. Showing at key cities only.
British urban thriller about an African former child soldier who was brought to London by Laura (Rachael Stirling), an aid worker who he now lives with. He has grown to the age of 16, has a girlfriend and life is good, until he witnesses a street stabbing and pressure mounts for him to resume his violent past. The official Seize Films webpage has the lowdown; you can catch this at key UK cities.
From the same studio that gave the world Spirited Away, this animated feature explores how a tiny girl found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter (James Caan) and his wife (Mary Steenburgen), grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady (Chloë Grace Moretz). The mysterious young princess enthralls all who encounter her – but ultimately she must confront her fate, the punishment for her crime. The official webpage is here; you can catch the film at key cities only.
It’s not often that Ryan Reynolds makes an amusing, or indeed an interesting, movie. In fact, he probably hasn’t ever, but this one promises to go the distance and be good. It might actually be great, going by the very funny and completely whacky trailer. He plays a lonely factory worker (is that possible with his looks?) who, urged on by the voices of his beloved cat and dog, murders co-worker Gemma Arterton. His shrink Jackie Weaver tries to help him, as he then starts romancing Anna Kendrick, another colleague. The pastel visual style and clean colours are reminiscent of a John Waters film, but the director is Marjane Satrapi. One to watch out for folks. The official Arrow Films webpage is here; it will have a wide screening so should be somewhere very near you soon.
Jason Statham starring action thriller about a bodyguard (Statham) who goes after the sadistic thug who beat his friend, only to find that the object of his wrath is the son of a powerful mob boss. The official Facebook page is here; catch it as easily as you would the common cold folks.
Director: Roman Polanski.
SBS/Constantin/SPI/Canal+ et al
COMEDY
Producer: Said Ben Said. Writers: Yasmina Reza, Roman Polanski. Camera: Pawel Edelman. Music: Alexandre Desplat. Sets: Dean Tavoularis.
Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly, Elvis Polanski, Eliot Berger.
SYNOPSIS
When their children are involved in a minor brawl that sees one of them injured, two professional, middle-class couples (Foster and Reilly; Winslet and Waltz) gather to discuss the possibility of the offending child apologising. The meeting soon descends into a farcical series of recriminations, revelations and neurotic breakdowns.
REVIEW
Polanski’s starry ‘tete a quartet’ is his adaptation of co-writer Reza’s play Le Dieu du carnage. But rather than “skewering middle class hypocrisies” as the publicity blurb would have it, he instead tickles them with a light slap on the wrist.
This is an awkward film to pull off successfully – a one set movie with only 4 protagonists arguing almost non-stop throughout was never going to be an easy sell to producers. Wisely, he keeps the running time to a minimum (just less than 1 hour 20 minutes) but it still feels a quarter of an hour too long. He and co-writer Reza still manage to set the action up admirably though and, barring the last few minutes when one feels they have been hit on the head enough times with smart and incisive observations and comments, they manage to sustain the pace and verve.
It helps from here on in that he has picked the very best actors to flesh out the prosperous, pretentious and pompous adults who fight like kids over their kids having a fight. Oscar-nominated Foster shines in the showier role as a sphincter-tightening control freak, a woman who espouses respect for others but forces her way of doing things on other people. She also revels in a grossly distorted view of events (“Their son is a threat to homeland security” she says, only half-joking). McGinley is magnificently boorish as her husband who reveals his disdain for her, his children and even a beloved hamster. Winslet is fast becoming a very great actress, as evidenced here not only her passive aggressiveness but also in her remarkable body language; coiled tighter than a watch spring, setting her character up to disgorge in spectacular fashion. Waltz is the quietest of the group, but his smug, gurning lawyer, forever attached to a mobile phone and ready with a cutting jibe.
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