Manchester Evening Gazette

So after being kind of quiet for a couple of years (on-screen anyway) Tom Cruise returns to haunt/illuminate depending upon your preference, the screen in 2010's Knight and Day. Now to be honest there isn't really an awful lot to cover with Knight and Day. Its both enjoyably, and painfully formulaic skirting the line between action, comedy and romance in order to appeal to both boys and girls Knight and Day would be completely forgettable if it were not for its leads; the previously mentioned Cruise and Cameron Diaz. So as already mentioned, the whole thing is really, really formulaic: Cruise is our indestructable hero thats in control of the situation all the time (even when it looks like he isn't), Diaz the audience surrogate/romantic lead who's life is lacking - she doesn't know what but then Cruise turns up and she realises etc. etc. The two leads keep the whole thing afloat really, the chemistry shared between the two keeps the whole thing going (Cruise...

Spoiler filled review. What can be said about City of God that cannot already be said? Probably nothing as this is easily one of the greatest crime films ever; and arguably one of the greatest features ever made. There is the obvious comparison to make by saying that it is the Brazilian GoodFellas, after all they share much common ground, -crime epic based on real events-check, -narrator controlling the proceeds-check, -large cast of characters-check, -episodic structure-check, -monstruous villain-check. However City of God takes these similarities and surpases GoodFellas at every turn: Leandro Firmino da Hora's Lil Ze would eat Joe Pesci's Tommy for breakfast. And wouldn't be full. There is an awful lot bubbling under the surface of City of God, themes of corruption, power, poverty and morality are all present here and CoG tackles them head on. Corruption is can be seen in the story of the City itself - when the City was just beginning in the 60's the hoodlums were...

(500) Days of Summer - the sleeper hit of 2009: the film that came out of nowhere to make its budget back 8 times over and make everyone fall in love with it as well. In short, Marc Webb's directorial debut is fantastic. The script for this film must be applauded as it is non-stop laugh from start to finish, whether it gets its laughs from friendly banter or Han Solo. There isn't a laugh that falls on its face, there is just a constant stream of chuckles, sneers, smiles and a howl or two to be had by everyone before the credits roll. The two leads are brilliant together, they aren't two tanned and toned gods wearing levis and armani, they look and act real, Deschanel has slightly goofy teeth and Gordon-Levitt could do with combing his hair but it just adds to the relatability. Deschanel plays pretty much her usual "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" shtick but to great effect, it doesn't grate or feel like a rehash from other characters, she makes Summer feel genuine...

First let me say that I'm kind of annoyed about the title because the Black Pearl itself is not cursed, the crew are. And the crew are cursed because of the curse of the Aztec gold. So the film should be subtitled something else. Anyway moving on. Several key film industry analysists expected "Curse of the Black Pearl" to be a monumental failure, the pirate genre was dead; with the most recent attempt to revive it "Cutthroat Island" being a massive flop. Secondly it was based upon a theme park ride at Disney which hardly seems to be the best source for inspiration. Furthermore the producers had hired Johnny Depp to be the leading man, granted Depp had cult status but he wasn't one to work within the studio system: his choices of expression for Captain Jack Sparrow's movements and speech confused studio executives, leaving them wondering whether he was playing the character drunk or gay. Thankfully Jerry Bruckhiemer insisted to Michael Eisner to keep...

Alright lets not dwell on the fact that I haven't posted in months, my laptop died, I lost my internet, a friend got kicked out of his house and had to live with me: I've been busy. Lets just move on. I'm trying to perfect a reviewing style that is quick because I often find myself dwelling over my words; which is one of the reasons why my reviews take ages. Dreamworks' Monsters vs Aliens pays homage to B-movie classics such as "The Blob", "Attack of the 50ft Woman", "The Fly" and "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" by taking these movies principal characters and having them fight aliens. Its that simple and its really good fun. Most of this enjoyment comes from the script, there is non-stop gags throughout, whether its the many references to other sci-fi features (code nemoy, for instance) or if its the voice work of the cast. Reese Wetherspoon is warm, sweet and lovely as Susan/Ginormica: "I want a real kitten, hangi...

Okay yeah I've done it againn. I said I'd start taking this blog seriously with the new year and that hasn't happened in the slightest. Good intentions will only get you so far, I'm a slacker I'll admit it, a product of a generation that wants to get as far as possible whilst doing as little as possible. But that stops now. And in a months time if I've done this again then I'll take this blog down since there is no point really. Anyway moving onto reviews. Pixar's The Incredibles is a wonderful film. Thats the problem with reviewing wonderful films I'm going to give this film a 5 out of 5 and everybody knows it. Okay sure perhaps it doesn't deliver in the big emotional stakes as much as other Pixar smash hits such as Wall-E, Up or Toy Story 3 but it delivers and then some in terms of entertainment, spectacle, comedy, characterisation and action. Director Brad Bird has admitted that he modelled the personalities of the Parr family on stock ste...

Given his return to power it wasn't that surprising when it was announced that Robert Downey Jr. would be playing Arthur Conan Doyle's immortal detective. You could perhaps say it was elementary (sorry).  It was a slight surpise however to find Guy Ritchie at the directors chair, what with the director having being in a bit slump for some time but he does a good job - thinking about it now he mirrors RDJ in Ironman: being an unlikely choice due to a lack of success only to deliver the goods.  Even more surprising was Jude Law being in the position of sidekick, failures such as "Sleuth" and "Repo Men" have diminished Laws star power but he too is on form here. The chemistry between the two leads is absolutely electric, they look like they are having real fun and just enjoy being around each other which translates perfectly, it's good fun to watch them having fun. Their relationship is convincing and entertaining, providing the comedy that works. RDJ...

*Quick note: I haven't posted lately due to being busy, work etc and then having appendicitis over the festive period. However I'm also aware that nobody follows my blog (which I like, I do this for something to do, not to be heard) so I don't really know why I'm bothering to explain myself. I personally resent "The Nightmare Before Christmas" because of the deviant art hipster emo's it inspired in my secondary school - the sort that would draw Jack Skellington all over their hands and books to show how individual they are even though I once asked one of them what the character was from and she said she didn't know. (Please note this isn't me saying deviant art is rubbish and those that use it are tossers - I go on there regularly because people do make some fine art on there .) But despite a slight hostility it won me over as it is an enjoyable film which Henry Selick and Tim Burton should be proud of. On another note as a child, I like many h...