Some films look amazing on paper but suck on the big screen. The Counselor is one such film. Helmed by one of Hollywood’s most artistically inspired directors in Ridley Scott, scripted by one of the most acclaimed authors of the last 50 years in Cormac McCarthy and featuring a dream team cast of Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Cameron
Read moreThe Butler recounts the life-story of Cecil Gains (Forest Whitaker), a character based on a man named Eugene Allen, who worked as a White House butler from the late 1950’s until the late 1980’s. Cecil is not only a butler but occasional confidante to Eisenhower, JFK, Johnson, Nixon and Reagan; the film conspicuously leap-frogs over the Ford and Carter administrations.
Read moreThe seemingly endless procession of superhero comic cinema adaptations continues with the second Thor film, Thor: The Dark World. The first Thor film was a passable mythic adventure yarn in which the eponymous Norse thunder God and Marvel Comics legend bashed his way through some gruesome looking fiends in the other dimensional world of Asgard. Exactly what the hell is
Read moreWith their homage to 1960’s and 70’s Mexploitation movies, grind house cinema and ultra-violent 1980’s video nasties, Robert Rodriguez Machete films should be outrageous thrill rides and rollicking pop-cultural parodies that push the boundaries of popular taste. Unfortunately, Machete and now its sequel Machete Kills wind up as predictable, juvenile, occasionally grotesque but emotionally inert throwaway action films. Like Machete,
Read moreThis week on Built For Speed we pay tribute to the late Lou Reed, with a selection of tracks from his Velvet Underground and solo days. There’s also plenty of new music from Australia and overseas. We also take a look at Steve Coogan’s latest cinematic effort as he takes his famed TV character Alan Partridge to the big screen
Read moreSet in France in 1915 as the First World War grinds to a close, the sumptuous but slow-moving Renoir describes the later life of renowned French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The film also portrays the stirring of passion for the cinema in his son, Jean (who at the time was a convalescing war veteran) and the effect on both their lives
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