Step Up 3D (Her Review)

If you enjoy formulaic teenage dance films, whereby pretty people with tight abs, who are cooler than you,  bump and grind all night, to music by people who are also cooler than you, then director Jon Chu (Step Up 2: The Streets, When the Kids Are Away) has come up trumps.

The Karate Kid [2010] (Review)

There’s a memorable scene in the 1999 sci-fi hit The Matrix where the protagonist Neo is plugged into a machine that “uploads” a combat training program directly into his brain. After briefly twitching and turning, his eyes dart open and in a self-assured whisper, he says “I know Kung-Fu.”

If only Jayden Smith’s character Dre in Harald Zwart’s remake of the 1984 classic The Karate Kid learnt Kung-Fu half as fast as Neo. Clocking in at a whopping 140 minutes, [...]

Knight and Day (Review)

Thirty-odd minutes into Knight and Day, the action-comedy concoction from director James Mangold (3:10 To Yuma, Identity), and things are looking surprisingly good. Tom Cruise oozes charisma, Cameron Diaz has pizazz. The story has me guessing, the action has me smiling. “This is great!” I say to myself, almost prepared to call this one of the more entertaining Hollywood blockbusters of the year so far.

Then, out of nowhere, tragedy strikes; the film hits the proverbial [...]

I, Don Giovanni (Review)

Directed by Carlos Saura and set in the lavish world of upper class 18^th Century Venice and Vienna, I, Don Giovanni is a tribute to opera and the libertine movement, and in particular a dedication to Venetian lyricist and poet Lorenzo de Ponte.

The film starts very promisingly as we are introduced to the protagonist, Lorenzo de Ponte (Lorenzo Balducci), a Jew who has been forced by circumstance to convert to Christianity, and become a Priest [...]

Cop Out (Review)

Right up there with “pull my finger”, Cop Out is a bit like one of those silly “wouldn’t it be funny if…?” remarks you joke about with your mate. It’s amusing at the time, but you never actually act on the idea because, well, that’d be stupid. Director Kevin Smith, however, has made a career out of elaborating on stupid ideas. His films Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Zack and Miri Make a Porno [...]

Edge Of Darkness (Review)

Thomas Craven is a man of impulse and no consequence. Your daughter being shot to death would do that to you. Especially if she was standing beside you on the front porch. So begins Mel Gibson’s first acting appearance since 2002, as a father seeking revenge (or answers) for his daughter’s death. As the second adaptation of a BBC series this summer (following January’s In The Loop), Edge Of Darkness holds a mix of British and American filmmaking, [...]