Film review: ‘THE FORGIVEN’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’

The dark, erudite, acerbic, if somewhat repetitive drama, The Forgiven, is a confronting story of guilt, vengeance and the clash of western and middle eastern cultures. Ralph Fiennes plays the bitterly cynical alcoholic doctor, David Henninger who, along with American wife Jo (Jessica Chastain), finds himself in a twisting moral dilemma.  While driving to an extravagant party at rich, eccentric

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Film review, MISS SLOANE, from ‘Built For Speed’

In political drama Miss Sloane, Jessica Chastain plays Liz Sloane a powerful and influential Washington DC lobbyist notorious for her ruthless pursuit of victory on any issue. With Pitbull-like ferocity and the relentlessness of the Terminator she twists facts in what is euphemistically referred to as re-framing to ensure her client wins the debate. Initially working for a right-wing firm

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Film review: CRIMSON PEAK, from ‘Built For Speed’

Guillermo del Toro is renowned for ornate gothic horror films in which sinewy monsters, representing the threat to the average person of political oppression and other ills, emerge from the perceived safety of the family home. His latest film Crimson Peak adopts a similar approach and delivers much of the mystery, the sense of unease and visual artistry of his

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Film review: MAMA, from Built For Speed

The first two thirds of horror film Mama are so creepy and stylishly shot it’s a tragedy that the film succumbs to cliché and implausibility in its latter stages. This is yet another film with the production imprimatur of Guillermo del Toro and anyone who has seen previous films he has produced will know that this means spooky children communing

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Film review: ZERO DARK THIRTY, from Built For Speed

Zero Dark Thirty, which is director Katherine Bigelow’s follow-up to her Oscar winning The Hurt Locker, describes the 10 year CIA mission that lead to the killing of Osama Bin Laden. With this film it again seems that the movies are borrowing from TV rather than the other way around.  Much like The Wire, Zero Dark Thirty is a detailed

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