The Losers (Review)

Mindless action movies can be absolutely fantastic, especially if you are in the right mood to consume a patently ridiculous plotline, exaggerated physics and a heroic protagonist with a flair for blowing things up. Some of these films can be appreciated for being “so bad they’re good”, others are well conceived spectacles with uber cool, or bad ass, main characters. Sometimes they will even poke fun at themselves, or pay homage to classic action movies of old. [...]

Letters to Juliet (Review)

Packed full of sappy Hallmark moments, Letters to Juliet is another cushy effort from director Gary Winick, a rom-com regular responsible for the mishap that was last year’s Bride Wars. This time round, he’s taken a leaf  from Mamma Mia! and Julie & Julia’s book by taking the romance on a scenic European road-trip, bringing the genre’s go-to gal Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!, Dear John) along for the ride.  I daresay it almost pays off as the framing [...]

Did You Hear About The Morgans? (Review)

Romantic comedies, especially those aimed at the lonely-gooey-hearts out there, rarely find a warm reception from me.  Although I must profess that those starring Hugh Grant (Notting Hill, About a Boy, Bridget Jones) do set my steel-reinforced heart just a wee bit aflutter.   So, I shuffled into Did You Hear About the Morgans? clutching an embarrassingly large bag of confectionary and shreds of hopeful expectation.  Alas, if was not to be – the film was absolutely dismal. And [...]

Couples Retreat (Review)

“It’s like a screensaver!” says John Favreau’s character upon arriving at a stunning Island resort in Couples Retreat, a quip that perfectly encapsulates my attitude towards the film overall. Just like a screensaver, Couples Retreat is the kind of film you want to occupy the screen when you’re not around. It’s little more than a plodding slideshow of gorgeous scenery and equally as gorgeous people, with far too much (dubious) rom and not nearly enough com. If only [...]

The Taking of Pelham 123 (Review)

In The Taking of Pelham 123, Tony Scott’s camera zips around like paranoid fly, orbiting his cast like it hasn’t got anything better to do. It appears Scott grows restless because he desperately wants to make a 90 minute long music video, but has been told by his producers he must make a film about a heated phone conversation instead. Mind you, it hasn’t stopped him from trying; Pelham is packed with enough rap music, nauseating camera jerks, [...]

Orphan (Review)

If you ever plan on adopting a child, make sure you enquire about the return policy. Maybe if the Coleman family had done that in Orphan, then  neither they nor the audience would have had to endure through one of the most ridiculous,  distasteful and joyless films of the year.

Having said that, I do prefer Orphan over director Jaume Collet-Serra’s debut film, The House of Wax. But that’s like saying I prefer Cancer over AIDS. [...]