Sucker Punch is the latest feature film from director Zack Snyder of 300 and Watchmen fame. Unlike those comic book adaptations, Snyder not only directs here, but also developed the original story and co-wrote the screenplay with the relatively unknown Steve Shibuya. This meant Snyder had extensive freedom to envisage the kind of narrative and visual style he wanted for the movie, but without the kind of strong existing [...]

In a time where trousers and ties are preferred skinny, and thick-rimmed glasses should be embraced (not mocked, please), and every self-respecting hipster proudly holds a Moleskine and a Penguin Classic in their bag, it seems almost puzzling that there isn’t already a slew of films centering around the so-called “Beat Generation”. Suit-wearing, bespectacled, disillusioned and intellectual, the Beats of 1950s America almost serve as a template to any Gen-Y [...]

Much like the titular Brazilian city, Rio is a festive film, heavily favouring frivolity over anything more deep and meaningful. With computer-animated features no longer as exclusive as they once were – it feels like there’s one a week nowadays – Rio is hardly a rare breed, but it’s certainly a peppy and playful one.

The Social Network’s Jesse Eisenberg lends his geeky larynx to the [...]

The pairing of Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu (as two powerhouse actors of modern French cinema) speaks volumes for Potiche, chosen as the opening film for the Alliance Francaise 2011 French Film Festival because of its accessible leading pair as well as the endearing story. French cinema is all about love, life and loss magnified with much dramatic flair, and you [...]

Filed after ‘Schwarzenegger’ and ‘Stallone’, ‘Statham’ is now officially a genre of film in which bullets are a part of a balanced diet, explosions occur in slow motion and professional badasses go out of their way to break all of their own rules. The Mechanic, a remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson flick of the same name, is the latest addition to Jason Statham’s action movie arsenal, and although it’s [...]

As Leon Ford’s mild-mannered Aussie superhero flick Griff the Invisible points out, it’s highly improbable that a masked vigilante by night is a charismatic playboy millionaire like Bruce Wayne by day. No, it takes a ‘special’ kind of person to profess to having superpowers and fight crime wearing a rubber suit. You know, someone who is… missing a few screws.  Not the sharpest tool in the shed. One banana short [...]

What do you do when your man checks out other women whenever you’re out with him? How do you respond to a guy who has romantic sessions – by himself – in the car after you turn out the light? Put him on a leash? Cut your losses and move on? No – you give him a hall pass. And if you’re not sure he knows what to do with [...]

Last year’s Up in the Air was about a guy who fired people for a living. We watched scene after uncomfortable scene of former employees reacting with shock, disbelief and indignation when they are bluntly told that their years of service and sacrifice have reached a premature end. Since the main character, played by charismatic star George Clooney, held all the power, there was [...]