Archive for October, 2008
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Out to own on DVD and Blu-ray 9th February 2009
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The masterful Coen Brothers either make zany, highbrow comedy (O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Fargo), or intense drama laced moments of dark humour (No Country for Old Men), but what they always deliver is multi-dimensional and fascinating characters that have such obvious flaws but are totally sincere in and committed to achieving what they believe is the right thing in finding their salvation. With Burn After Reading, the brothers have ingeniously combined the two genres to create an absurd romp with ridiculous fools having mid-life crises, with the more clandestine and sinister side of the intelligence service. The result is a highly entertaining 95 minutes of hilarity, shocks and sorrow, where the film’s plot is driven by the characters’ knee-jerk reactions and is deliciously unpredictable, making it totally compelling. Trying to place the Coens’ latest work in the comedy or drama category would be a mistake. It’s as though the ingenious pair have invented a new concept, the ‘Coen dramedy’, which sparks an interesting insight into future projects to come.
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Released 17th October 2008
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D.J. Caruso’s action thriller gets off to a promising start by piling on the action and suspense, and obliterating a target of ‘obvious’ baddies of Islamic appearance — blatantly calling into question the accuracy and efficiency of the US military machine in recent real-life conflicts. It then injects confusion and paranoia as to what’s going on, and builds on the curiosity as to how its main character, Jerry Shaw, played by action-man-of-the-moment Shia LaBeouf, is related to the whole event. In fact, the first half-an-hour gets the blood pumping as the faceless mobile voice commands the players and the real threat to them is still left unclear. If you suspend all disbelief and just watch this film for its ‘fear of technology and intelligence gathering’ value, then you’ll enjoy its fast-paced style and its characters’ relentless pursuit for answers, and revel in being swept along on the journey. If you start to think about the ‘reality’ of the situation and the technicalities behind it, it will fall short at the first hurdle.
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Released 17th October 2008
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Would you rather be curling up in a cosy cinema, with your favourite niece or nephew and a giant bag of sweet popcorn, than rattling your heart with a thriller made to make you question the dark walk home? Yes? Then Igor (”Eee-gor”), a wonderfully heart-warming film full of charming characters, will set you comfortably on the winter season track of fables and good intentions.
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Released 17th October 2008
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Slow off the starting block on big laughs — more like a few sniggers — Peter Cattaneo’s new comedy, starring geeky funny guy, Rainn Wilson, as failed rocker, Fish, gradually heats up, draws you in, and overpowers you with warm, fuzzy, feel-good vibes and a healthy dollop of optimism. Opportunity really can knock twice, if you’re open to hearing it, that is.
