A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talking about a little place called Aspen.
21 Jump Street (2012)
14 Mar
Arriving hot on the heels of the critically maligned Project X comes writer Michael Bacall’s interpretation of the ’80s teen-cop caper, “21 Jump Street” — the show that thrust Johnny Depp into the limelight. One might be forgiven for letting out an audible groan in the expectation of more equally crass fare. But this is a completely different beast; and it’s a bloody funny one at that.
The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
12 Mar
Five years ago in a review of 28 Weeks Later I extolled the virtues of Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, describing it as “genre busting” and praising it for reviving and redefining the horror genre, even going so far as to call it “ a wakeup call” to the industry. Well, if Boyle’s intelligent and sophisticated zombie romp did indeed succeed in doing that, then Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods can only be described as a landmark, watershed moment in film history, because this is such an innovative, brave, inspired and original entry into the horror oeuvre that nothing will ever be the same again.
THE LOWDOWN WEEK 9
12 Mar
Last week’s dire double-header of This Means War and Project X had critics sharpening their literary knives in preparation for this week’s headliner John Carter. Certain to prove as divisive as a very hot knife through incredibly soft butter, this Mars (ahem, I meant Barsoom) set sci-fi epic, takes top billing in what is once again a week of questionable quality. Elsewhere, Sean Bean kidney punches hookers and murders terrorists, a hirsute John Cusack tracks a serial killer, R Patz shags his way around Paris and Michael Winterbottom transports Thomas Hardy to Rajasthan.
Cleanskin (2012)
9 Mar
The 7/7 London terrorist attacks saw the term cleanskin enter the lexicon, with the expression being used to describe a terrorist previously unknown to the security forces. These were seemingly normal members of society who had been radicalised to the point that they were willing and able to carry out such atrocities. Writer and director Hadi Hajaig’s third feature examines the nature of the journey of one such cleanskin, Ash (an impressive and terse Abhin Geleya), the head of a cell planning a series of attacks in London in the week before a general election, alongside the tale of secret service agent Ewan (a fulminating Sean Bean) who is tasked with stopping the terrorists at all costs.
Robert Redford’s Sundance Festival lands in London
9 Mar
Erstwhile reserve of Robert Redford and his Park City, Utah chums, the Sundance Film Festival broadens its horizons by landing at the cultural vacuum that is the O2 arena for four heady days at the end of April.
From the Archives: The Disappeared (2008)
8 Mar
Johnny Kevorkian’s debut feature is an eerie cross-genre thriller-horror that is sadly let down by its muddled final act. The puzzling denouement is a genuine shame, as for the first hour, Kevorkian delivers a gritty and intelligent study of the themes of loss and isolation. Matthew (a hugely impressive Harry Treadaway) returns home having been in psychiatric care following the disappearance of his younger brother Tom, and frictions soon arise between him and his father Jake (Greg Wise) as old wounds resurface and the blame game begins. As Matthew digs up the past after hearing Tom’s ghostly voice on a video tape of a police appeal, his world soon begins to unravel.
crash/burn 