Sian

I love kids’ films, but every now and then I see one that makes me want to off myself. The trailer for Escape From Planet Earth looked mega cute and clever: Humans have actually been secretly using aliens to create all our technological, and even some cultural, breakthroughs – iPhones, The Beatles … you name it; aliens are behind it! Cool idea right? In fact this flick is littered with cool ...

 It was drilled into me at school: Never judge a book by it’s cover. Thus I should never judge a film by it’s trailer… but I just can’t help it!  The moment I saw the trailer for Kon-Tiki it went to the top of my ‘must see’ list. It looked like Life of Pi European style and I was totally up for a bit of that. Based on a true story, Kon-Tiki tells the sweeping adventure of stubborn Norwegian explor...

With a budget that makes the towering giants look small, does Jack the Giant Slayer deliver? X-Men director Bryan Singer raises enough money to save a third world country from poverty but he spends it on a blockbuster and we all think this is OK… Gotta love how the world works. That freaky kid from About a Boy (Nicholas Hoult), Stanley Tucci and Ewan McGregor team up in a modern take on Jack and t...

Taking a step back (or perhaps forward) from his action-packed bloodbath 13 Assassins (2010/11) Japanese director Takashi Miike brings us the subtle, character-driven tragedy Hara-kiri: Death of a Samurai. Clearly Takashi Miike has a thing for unemployed samurai – though while the jobless warriors in 13 Assassins found gainful employ through enlistment to bring down a sadistic lord, Hara-kiri spin...

Nicole Kidman pees on the all-singing-all-dancing kid from High School Musical – what is the world coming to? I knew nothing of The Paperboy when I stumbled into the dimly lit cinema on Saturday morning. I’d seen the poster and, judging by that, figured it featured a trashy Nicole Kidman and a sweaty, slightly less ‘pretty-boy’ version of Zac Efron. I was right on both counts, but I was hardly pre...

Silver Linings Playbook starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence: Bipolar has never looked so sexy. Being the first film since Million Dollar Baby (2004) to receive the ‘Big Five’ Academy Award Nominations (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Writing), I had some seriously high expectations heading into the Silver Linings Playbook screening (though admittedly the serio...

Eight years after one of the world’s most devastating natural disasters on record, comes the first film about the Boxing Day South East Asian Tsunami. On Boxing Day 2004, a 9.3 magnitude earthquake shook the Indian Ocean triggering a massive tsunami that killed over 200,000 people. The Impossible tells the incredible true story of one family’s survival of the terrifying ordeal. Maria and Henry Ben...

Robert Zemeckis brings us his first live action film since Cast Away (2000) opting, yet again, for a plane crash aftermath scenario, but sadly neglecting to include any heart-warming volleyballs (next time Wilson, next time). Flight tells of a talented and seasoned pilot, Whip Whitaker (played by a chubby Denzel Washington), who pulls a miraculous stunt to help force-land a plane after a mid-air c...

Let’s be honest; you have to be pretty damn bold to take on The Hobbit for a Boxing Day opening, but director Tom Hooper and producer Cameron Mackintosh have proven their daring through more than just the selection of release date. Originating from the 1862 novel of the same name, which was later adapted to a musical, Les Misérables examines the nature of law and grace. The epic tale follows ex-co...

“A story that will make you believe in God” uh say what? Did I hear that right? You’re going to tell me a story that will prove, beyond doubt, that God exists? I’m in! It is with this bold statement made in the opening scenes of Life of Pi that we realise we are in for something epic. Director Ang Lee brings to the screen Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi; the miraculous journey of a young Indian man...

I rate Woody Allen the king of hit and miss. In his 40+ years as a screenwriter and director he has divided audiences and somehow created both modern classics (Annie Hall and, arguably, Midnight in Paris) and spectacular bombs (Cassandra’s Dream) Lucky for him, he appears to be spending his later years cavorting around Europe tax-free with three of his last five flicks conveniently set in some of ...

Taken sparked a four-year love affair between Liam Neeson and I (one-sided though the love affair is…). Needless to say Taken 2 was marked as a highlight on my movie calendar this year. Sure I expected it to fall victim to the curse of the sequels and be crap, but the anticipation was still there…so how does it measure up? Well the answer is simple: Taken 2 does not measure up to Taken in any shap...