Book, Film & TV Reviews
(Written for Filmoria)
“Write about whatever annoys you”, I was told. So, since it’s my turn on Filmoria’s Sunday Screen rota this week, I want to moan about trailers.
Trailers are like the film industry’s Marmite: you either love them, or you hate them. And it’s no surprise really, since the line between a good trailer and a bad one is so thin that they’re usually more likely to ruin a film for you completely than they are to intrigue you a decent amount.
It’s that time of year again, so here are my top 10 films of 2012.
I think it’s fair to say that it’s been a very hit and miss year for film this year with some exceptional releases scattered throughout 2012, but with some completely disappointing films filling in the months between (Anything involving Taylor Kitsch, I’m looking at you!). From the end of trilogies (The Dark Knight Rises) to the start of new ones (The Hunger Games, The Amazing Spider-Man), to the combination of many film characters into one big blockbuster (Avengers Assemble) and to some brilliant novel adaptations (On The Road, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower), we’ve certainly had it all. Read below to see what I thought of the year in film, and feel free to let me know what you thought about the year too.
I still need to see a couple more films, so for a constantly updated list you can visit my Letterboxd page.
A film guide for July 2012 including reviews for:
– Magic Mike
– The Amazing Spider-Man
– The Dark Knight Rises
In Retrospect is a monthly film publication that I make just for a bit of fun, visit the blog here.
(Published in Issue 12 of my publication In Retrospect)
The final instalment to Christopher Nolan‘s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises picks up eight years after the attacks of The Joker and Two-Face from 2008’s The Dark Knight when a new terrorist leader, Bane (Tom Hardy), overwhelms Gotham’s finest, including Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Detective Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). When jewel thief Selina aka Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) threatens that a storm is coming, Bruce Wayne a.k.a the caped crusader that is Batman (Christian Bale) must resurface from his years of solitude to protect a city that has branded him an enemy. With Bane intending to destroy everything that Bruce has his name to, he must enlist the help of his butler Alfred (Michael Caine) and his business manager Fox (Morgan Freeman), and put his trust in a new colleague Miranda (Marion Cotillard) to rise again.
(Written for Lost In The Multiplex)
Debuting on Facebook earlier this week, we have the brand new poster for Christopher Nolan’s final instalment in his Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises.
Seeing the return of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne, aka The Batman, we see the dark-suited superhero take on his biggest and fiercest nemesis yet, Bane (Tom Hardy).
Whilst the poster has already had a large lash of criticism, I don’t think the Photoshop job is that bad. It actually makes a very decent poster for the film’s upcoming release; so what if Batman has only been cropped onto the last poster we saw? At least it’s a bit of an improvement.
Continue reading “A Fire Will Rise, But Does This ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Poster Deserve Flaming?”
(Bi-weekly feature written for Lost In The Multiplex)
The past two weeks have been pretty big trailer wise, including the latest releases for three of this summer’s most anticipated films including Prometheus, The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man. Could it get any better? Aside from a couple of other new trailers, namely the first for Ruben Fleischer’s The Gangster Squad, not really. Whilst we do have quite a few new films to discuss in this week’s feature, they just don’t include any dark knights or a Ryan Gosling. Still, we can’t always be that picky.
Continue reading “Trailer Trash Feature: 28th April – 11th May”
(Written for HeyUGuys)
When some fans were treated to a six-minute prologue of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises on select IMAX screens last month, the thing that got people talking the most about was that Bane’s (Tom Hardy) dialogue was very hard to understand.
However, Nolan recently commented that he had no plans to rework Bane’s dialogue, despite the fact that complaint was universal and that fans seemed to be very concerned about the matter. He said he wasn’t opposed to “altering the sounds slightly” but he refused to “rework it completely.”
2012 has only just begun, and we’re already talking about some of the amazing films that are set to be released over the next year. With many anticipated films that have already been released in the US that we are yet to see, to the many Marvel films that we are frantically waiting for, we won’t be short of great films to put on the ‘to see’ list. Let’s not forget Peter Jackon’s The Hobbit as well, of course.
So, films of 2012, assemble! Here’s a list of what to look forward to this year, and also a few that you may want to avoid.
(Written for Lost In The Multiplex)
Christian Bale has been talking about where the final chapter of Chris Nolan’s Batman trilogy will take his character of Bruce Wayne this week, as confirmation is given that the sequel will take place eight years after the events depicted in The Dark Knight.
From the sounds of it, Bale will be going to some very dark places, posing the question to his fictional alter-ego, “How long will you let the pain and loss define your life?” when talking to Aceshowbiz.
Continue reading “Christian Bale talks ‘The Dark Knight Rises’”
(Written for Lost In The Multiplex)
Anne Hathaway has been snapped in downtown Los Angeles this weekend during filming for The Dark Knight Rises, showing off her leather Catwoman costume in full whilst straddling her own blackened mode of transport.
The photos show Hathaway alongside Christian Bale as Batman and Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon.
The film also stars Tom Hardy as Batman’s most deadly and powerful foe, Bane, and Joseph Goron-Levitt as John Blake, a new Gotham Detective who joins Commissioner Gordon’s squad to catch the Batman.
This week sees the trailers of two of the most anticipated and upcoming superhero films, the epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan‘s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, and Marc Webb‘s first in a series of rebooted Spider-Man films, The Amazing Spider-Man. Captain America is out in cinemas next week and a (good quality) trailer is due for The Avengers shortly. With the Comic-Con this week, as well, everyone has gone Marvel and DC mad.
First up there’s Captain America which is released in UK cinemas next week on 29th July. Only a short time to wait until the year for the following three films. However, Captain America is the last of The Avengers team that we need to meet so it’s about time. Captain America is the story of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) who is deemed unfit for military service and volunteers for a top-secret research project, thus turning him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending America’s ideals.
Continue reading “It’s Been a ‘Super’ Week for Marvel and DC”
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