Rachel Getting Married - One Sentence Review

Though, admirably and stylishly realised with a genuine sense of atmosphere, whilst managing to point out that the cultural and familial identity of an American wedding is fluid and not fixed, this is a deeply unsatisfying film, featuring extremely unlikable characters with almost no redeeming features, who fail to even manage to be compelling in their unpleasantness and ultimately, this utterly charmless movie cops out and leads an interesting set-up into an unfulfilling dead end full of artificial and un-earned hints at redemption.

2.5/5 (The extra half is for style and atmosphere)

The Reader - One Sentence Review

Whilst this may look like the same old, sombre, Nazi drearathon, from oh-so-worthy director Steven Daldry, it's actually an affecting and better-than-expected tale of guilt, what if anything we can learn from it and how story telling can help, though some (not us) may view the deliberate withholding of catharsis as disappointing.
4/5

One Sentence Review: ‘Slumdog Millionaire’

Danny Boyle has fashioned a ripping escapist yarn out of the bleakest of settings, harnessing wonderful performances and using the camera like it’s a bullwhip yet, oddly, it’s the slickness and lightening pace of the opening ten minutes that may be one of ‘Millionaire’s fundamental flaws which left this viewer slightly apathetic to our central character’s quest.

3.5/5

One Sentence Review: ‘Defiance’

This well produced true life story of three brothers who defy the Nazi’s, by not dying, gets off to an enjoyable start but quickly gets stuck in its own mud by, surprisingly, lacking enough tension within the compound scenes and whose bland characters feel like they were written by Edward Zwick to be in an Edward Zwick film, which they were.
2.5/5

One Sentence Film Review: Role Models

With a funny-as-hell trailer, Rodel Models has little more to offer once you watch the movie; relying too heavily on comedic improvisation and the novelty of a swearing ten year old, this weak scripted film enters yawn territory thirty minutes in.
2/5

Hunger Review

The 1981 IRA hunger strikes have been done on film before. We've had Terry George's Some Mother's Son a powerfully emotive piece featuring standout performances from Helen Mirren and Aiden Gillen. We've also had the lesser seen H3. So why do it again? As always, the answer to this question - whether it be asked about remakes or the rehashing of popular subjects - is simple. There is no reason to do it again unless you are trying something completely different.

And Hunger, directed by first time director and former visual artist Steve McQueen (no, not that one), is certainly something different and some will find that alienating. The standard operating procedure when dealing with a true-life historical story is to explore the world through a character's eyes. Tell their story and allow the audience to connect, empathise and have a cathartic experience as they partake in the character's transformation. This approach works, time and time again but it is by no means easy to achieve. But it's not the only way to tell a story. It is simply the most reliable.

Hunger flips the script and rips up the rule book. It eschews the traditional 3-act structure (though it is still resolutely in 3 acts). It deliberately switches point-of-view, preventing the audience from identifying with any one character and their world view or political point of view. While we feel empathy, we are not encouraged to position ourselves with any of the characters. Dialogue is used sparingly until suddenly we are cast into a 15-minute scene in which two people talk to each other in a simple 2-shot without any cuts. Narrative resolution is deemed unnecessary and character's arcs are dropped mid-stream, again discouraging identification.

Of course, many may find this frustrating because, it is unnatural and not commendable for its own sake. It is only laudable if these choices achieve something else. And they do. They allow a political hot potato of a story to be told relatively objectively, which prevents the movie from being dismissed by critics as an apology for terrorists. It forces the audience to feel the effect of the events for themselves. Rather than identifying with characters you identify with the pure pain, suffering, hardship and human strength, independent of too much context. Again, this would not work if the pain and suffering wasn't so brutally rendered and if it failed to shake the audience to its core.

None of this sounds like an entertaining night at the cinema but it is an expert peice of filmmaking that is engaging in its brutal honesty.
4/5

Man On Wire

In 1974 daredevil wirewalker, Philippe Petit, carried out the greatest ‘artistic crime’ of the twentieth century by fastening a cable between the roofs of the two towers of the World Trade Center and walking across it.

At a time when all films seem to have the sub text of the 9/11 disaster lurking in the background; it is a breath of fresh air to watch a documentary where the towers are portrayed as a symbol of hope, of human endeavour and of man’s unyielding urge to go where no man has gone before.

Our animated and tenacious hero, Philippe Petit, narrates the story along with the rest of his crew taking us through the years of preparation which was required to pull off this incredible act. From the first moment when Petit was inspired; by drawing a line between the towers in a dentist office, to the thrilling events of breaking into the World Trade Center and actually executing the heist.

Petit saw this mission not as a performance but as a bank job and that is how director, James Marsh, treats the subject. He has masterfully constructed this tale into what feels like a 70’s crime thriller; opening the story as the crew are infiltrating the World Trade Center and twisting the screw of tension almost to breaking point only to jump out for rest bite and fill in the back story which fleshes out the characters and efforts which they have taken to get to their point of no return.

Yet underneath the excitement of this compelling narrative lies the story of two men, Philippe and Jean-Louis, who are as if bounded by fate to be on this mission. Philppe’s blind determination is balanced by Jean-Louis’s pragmatism. As if Jean-Louis is destined to be carrying the weight of potential failure for Philippe so that he can blindly step into the abyss between those towers with child like glee and excitement.

Man On Wire is an uplifting and thrilling story which dares you to chase after your dreams no matter how peril filled they may be. A must see.

4.5/5