In 1997 Quentin Tarantino capped a remarkable decade-defining trio of films (that included Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction) with Jackie Brown his superb adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s novel Rum Punch. Perfect casting and indelible performances, particularly from Pam Grier and Tarantino’s muse Samuel L. Jackson, made Jackie Brown an intoxicatingly funny, moving, tense and romantic film. Understandably, a prequel to
Read moreStar-packed crime caper film Now You See Me plunges us into the world of glitzy, big-budget magic shows normally occupied by the likes of David Copperfield and Siegfried and Roy. In a fun but extremely far-fetched storyline, four famed magicians J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Henley Leeves (Isla Fisher), Merrit McKinney (Woody Harrelson) and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) are recruited
Read moreF. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby captured America amid the hedonism and chaos of the “jazz age” a time when the nation was giddy with power from its First World War economic boom. The book focused on an American upper class of wealthy white folks who, in addition to their sedate garden parties and boating regattas, regularly gathered for
Read moreDespite the similar name, the 3D animated fantasy Rise of the Guardians has nothing to do with the film from a couple of years ago Legend of the Guardians: the owls of Ga’hoole. Rise is based on the Guardians of Childhood novels by William Joyce rather than the Ga’hoole stories by Kathryn Lansky. Like Shrek and Who Framed Roger Rabbit,
Read moreBridesmaids showed that films about women behaving badly at weddings could be critical and box office hits. Bridesmaids was funny and in your face but also genuinely moving as it explored the way the supposedly joyous occasion of a wedding elicited people’s anxieties, disappointments and self-loathing. Bachelorette tries to tap into the same world of ballsy female bonding and painful
Read moreBridesmaids showed that films about women behaving badly at weddings could be critical and box office hits. Bridesmaids was funny and in your face but also genuinely moving as it explored the way the supposedly joyous occasion of a wedding elicited people’s anxieties, disappointments and self-loathing. Bachelorette tries to tap into the same world of ballsy female bonding and painful
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