Jake Kasdan’s Bad Teacher is a breath of fresh, cynical air. And that’s not because it’s outrageously hilarious – the jokes miss just as often as they hit – but because it’s a film that, for once, actually lives up to its title. From start to finish, the teacher in Bad Teacher is bad. She’s not somewhat bad, she’s not repentantly bad and she’s certainly not sympathetically bad.  Nope, she’s [...]

You know the creative pool in Hollywood is running dry when they start risking millions to exhume old franchises such as The Green Hornet, a superhero no one was particularly crying out to see on the big screen. What’s even more desperate is their bizarre decision to cast Tinseltown’s resident stoner, Seth Rogen, as said superhero and placing quirky art-house director Michel Gondry at the wheel. Couple that [...]

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.

Following the backlash of Richard Kelly’s sophomore effort – the grand disaster that was Southland Tales — one would have thought that the famed Donnie Darko director would play it safe for his next outing. It looked like Kelly was doing just that with The Box; a bluntly titled, seemingly straightforward period thriller starring the ever-bankable Cameron Diaz. It doesn’t get much safer than that, right?

Wrong, all wrong. The Box is a logically-impaired, hyperbolic mess that darts from one high-concept idea to another as flowingly as someone with a bladder infection.

Ah, how Hollywood presents so many possibilities. Its two biggest child stars, Dakota Fanning and Abigail Breslin, in the one film? Sounds intriguing enough, and for My Sister’s Keeper it looked to be a go, but Fanning eventually pulled out (allegedly for refusing to shave her head) and the dream pairing was gone. The first Jodi Picoult novel to be adapted for cinemas has more than its fair share of A-listers, and as one of her biggest sellers the film has fielded high expectations. As an adaptation it will satisfy most fans, and as a stand-alone film it is beautifully crafted.