Shaun the Sheep Movie

Most studios would be horrified at the idea of an animator filming three seconds of footage a day and it being seen as a good thing. Then again, most studios aren’t Aardman Animations. The studio who are most famous for Wallace and Gromit and uses stop motion clay animation, have long been famous for their incredible attention to detail and wonderfully crafted movies. Yet, even for them their adaptation of Shaun the Sheep felt like a stretch. Based off a show that airs on CBBC and generally runs for around seven minutes, it is the story of Shaun and the farm he lives on. The added hitch in big screen plans, is its complete lack of dialogue.

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11/02/2015 2

Inherent Vice

If you’ve ever sat in a smoky room, squinting at a TV screen through the fog of whatever is being inhaled around you and struggled to make out exactly what is going on, then you are probably prepared for the experience of watching Inherent Vice. The latest film from Paul Thomas Anderson, sees the Hollywood auteur try to adapt the famously incomprehensible novel of Thomas Pynchon.

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09/02/2015 1

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Matthew Vaughn made his name directing the stylish and ultra violent Kick Ass. An adaptation of a Mark Millar comic, which took a very different look at super heroes. It was successful enough that he bagged himself an X-Men film. However, with Kingsman: The Secret Service, it appears Vaughn is going back to the w, as it’s another Millar adaptation, but this time see’s him dealing with gentlemen spies.

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05/02/2015 0

A Most Violent Year

1981 was one of the most violent years in New York’s history. In a city with the history of New York, that is saying something. A Most Violent Year brings you into that city. It depicts a dark, dank place where violence and corruption are such a normal part of day-to-day life, that they are as common to the people involved as they would be shocking to you or me.

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03/02/2015 0

Testament of Youth

Testament of Youth is based on the First World War memoir of the same name, which was written by Vera Brittain. The novel has been widely proclaimed as a classic, as it represented the one female voice among a plethora of males ones looking at the war. It has previously been presented as a TV production, but this is the first time it has made its way to the big screen, under the direction of James Kent.

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29/01/2015 0

Ex Machina

Making the leap into the directorial chair has scuppered many respected figures within the film industry. Last year, Wally Pfister made the transition from cinematographer to director with Transcendence, a science fiction film that was universally panned. This year, we see Alex Garland, the writer of films like 28 Days Later and Sunshine, make a similar jump with his debut directorial feature, Ex Machina.

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28/01/2015 1

Royal Rumble Review

Last year the WWE had Batista win the Royal Rumble and we saw a crowd turn on the WWE. A year on and nearly everyone, myself included, thought WWE could not make the same mistake again. Sometimes, the most obvious story is the best one and last night the most obvious, and best, storyline, was to have Daniel Bryan win the Royal Rumble. Yet, once again, WWE went with their idea of the perfect superstar and a crowd turned on the product.

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26/01/2015 1

American Sniper

At this early stage of the year, I don’t think it’s a stretch to call American Sniper the most controversial film released so far. It is yet another one based off of a book, this time the autobiography of Chris Kyle, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in US History. A title that should probably flash a big red blinking light in the direction of where this film could go wrong.

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23/01/2015 0

Whiplash

I can’t claim to know much about jazz. In fact, I can barely claim to know anything about it. While I have some fleeting knowledge of most musical genres, jazz continues to be a mystery to me. I also doubt I’m alone in that. Jazz isn’t a genre that gets much love in the here and now. However, no one, and I mean no one, should allow that to stop them going to see Whiplash.

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20/01/2015 0

Into The Woods

Dark fairy tales are all the rage at the moment. With authors like Neil Gaiman proving popular and cinema adaptations of classic Disney fare like Snow White and Maleficient, it seems like the classic stories are back in vogue. Therefore, an adaptation of Steven Sondheim’s musical, Into the Woods, seemed like an inevitability. The musical tells the story of several classic fairy tale characters; Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel, but rather than ending the stories at the traditional time, we go beyond that and see what happens after the happily ever after. Sadly, it’s not quite as happy as you might suppose.

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16/01/2015 0