Venom (2018). We’re going out on a limb – this comic-based film isn’t bad!

image film still venom tom hardy
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Film review by Claire Durrant of the comic-based movie Venom starring Tom Hardy as a journalist who is taken over by a symbiotic parasite.

Action/Adventure/Fantasy

star rating 3 out of 5 worth watching  Continue reading

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Dunkirk (2017). 4/5 stars for this spectacular WWII drama.

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Film review, by Claire Durrant, of the World War II drama Dunkirk, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy and with a cameo by former One Direction star Harry Styles.

War

4 star rating very good lots to enjoy

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Legend (2015)

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Film review of the crime film about the Kray twins, gangsters in 1960’s East End London. Starring Tom Hardy as twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray, the film is directed by Brian Helgeland.

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Director: Brian Helgeland. Anton Capital Entertainment/Cross Creek/Studio Canal et al ( )

Crime

4 Stars Very Good/Lots to enjoy

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Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

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Film review of the reboot of the original Australian futuristic action series, now starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult and directed by George Miller.

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Director: George Miller. Kennedy Miller Productions/Village Roadshow. (15)

Action/Adventure/Fantasy

4stars-Very good lots to enjoy 1

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New movies out this Friday: 15 May 2015

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A list of the new films being released in UK cinemas as of Friday 15 May 2015. For details of where to see these films, use the Find Any Film website.

Clouds of Silas MariaClouds of Silas Maria poster

The fragrant Juliette Binoche stars as a middle-aged actress who retreats to the Swiss mountains with her personal assistant Kristen Stewart in this Cesar award winning drama. The official IFC Film webpage includes a trailer. The film will be playing in key cities only.

A Fuller Life

Samuel Fuller was perhaps most well-known as a film director of such classics as The Naked Kiss (1964) with Constance Towers and The Big Red One (1980) with Mark Hamill. Towers and Hamill are two of the many admirers of Fuller’s who read extracts from his autobiography in this filmed recollection of the man’s life and work. The official website with trailer tells you more; showing in key cities only, so check out Find Any Film for where is nearest you.

Lambert and Stamp

Another hark back to 1960’s pioneers, in post-war London Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert, aspiring New Wave film directors from opposite sides of the tracks form an unlikely partnership to find a rock band for their underground movie, leading them to discover, mentor and manage the iconic band that would become know as The Who. Check out the official website for the trailer and gallery and screening details.

Mad Max: Fury RoadMad Max Fury Road poster

George Miller reimagines his 1980’s future-on-a-budget series of Mel Gibson actioneers with Tom Hardy now assuming the role of the titular post-apocalyptic. Charlize Theron accompanies him on a journey in a desert wasteland where it’s dog eat dog for the few humans who are alive. The official website will give you the trailer; you should be able to catch it all over the place.

The Man Who Saved the World

Kevin Costner and Robert De Niro are the American stars in this largely Russian-cast film, about a man who once averted nuclear holocaust during the Cold War but now struggles to get his own life back on track. The official website gives you the low-down, it will be screened in key city cinemas only.

The Galloping Vet: Niyazi Gul

The London Turkish Film Festival has just started and runs until Sunday 17 May. This action comedy was the opening gala film and follows a country vet who tries to re-discover an elixir to cure animals first developed by his grandfather. No official website, so check out IMDb for more detail.

Only Angels Have WingsOnly Angels Have Wings poster

A well-deserved dusting off for this luminous Howard Hawks aeronautical soap opera as a very young Rita Hayworth, alongside Cary Grant’s ace pilot, and love interest Jean Arthur. Silent movie matinee idol Richard Barthlemess is Hayworth’s older husband, a disgraced pilot seeking redemption. Released through Park Circus films, check their site for screening details. There is more info about the film on Wikipedia.

Pitch Perfect 2

Sequel to the 2012 comedy about an ‘A Capella’ dance troupe, with Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson et al returning to take on a mighty European group who have never been beaten. Trailer looks fun, you should be able to catch this at most multiplexes and other cinemas. The official Facebook page has the goss.

A Royal Night Out

VE Day anniversary celebrations may now be over, but this film, an account of the future Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret’s night on the tiles with the masses, is still worth seeing, if the reviews and endearing trailer are anything to go by. It will be showing all over the UK, but the official Lionsgate Film webpage has more.

The TribeThe Tribe poster

Getting a lot of attention at the moment is this extraordinary sounding ‘silent’ film. From Ukraine, it follows a group of children in a boarding school for deaf people. A new student must prove himself worthy to be brought under the protective wing of the school gang’s leader. His new-found clique introduces him to their common activities of robbery, bribery and prostitution, but he finds himself compromised as he begins to fall in love with his female classmate—and one of the gang’s escorts—triggering a sequence of stunningly diabolical events. Told in Ukranian sign-language and without subtitles, it is being heralded as revolutionary.

And on Thursday 21 May…

We Are Many

This documentary looks at the motivations behind the 30 million or so people around the world who came out in protest in February 2003 against the impending Iraqi war. It also looks at the people who were behind organising it. The official website tells you more and has details of screening locations.

The Drop (2014)

The Drop film still Gandolfini Tom Hardy
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Film review by Jason Day of crime drama The Drop starring Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace.

Director: Michael R. Roskam. Chernin Entertainment/Fox Searchlight. (15).

CRIME

3stars-Good-worth-watching1

Cast & credits

Producers: Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Mike Larocca.
Writer: Dennis Lehane.
Camera: Nicolas Karakatsanis.
Music: Marco Beltrami, Raf Keunen
Sets: Thérèse DePrez.

Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, James Gandolfini, Matthias Schoenaerts, John Ortiz, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Michael Aronov, Morgan Spector, Michael Esper.

Synopsis

Bar tender Bob (Hardy) keeps his head down and keeps the drinks flowing during shifts at his cousin Marv’s (Gandolfini) bar in Brooklyn. Marv’s is a ‘drop’ bar, namely an unofficial place where the proceeds of criminal activities by local gangs (ringleader: Aronov) can be safely dropped and stored during an evening, for collection when the bar has closed. But Marv has other plans for the small fortunes that he stores and is working behind the scenes with local low-lives such as Schoenaerts to rob the criminals, unbeknownst to the kindly and unquestioning Bob. Bob meanwhile develops a romantic attachment to the brittle and abused Nadia (Rapace) when he picks up a stray dog that has been left in her rubbish bin. A dog that was dumped by her violent ex Schoenaerts.

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