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Mindhorn (Cinema Review)

18th May 2017 By Chris Hallam

Starring: Julian Barratt, Essie Davis, Russell Tovey, Simon Farnaby, Andrea Riseborough, Steve Coogan
Directed By: Sean Foley
Running Time: 89 minutes
UK Release Date: Out Now
BBFC Certificate: 15

Our Score

Do you remember Mindhorn?

The popular Eighties and Nineties action TV series featured Richard Thorncroft as Isle of Man detective Bruce P. Mindhorn, a man whose left eye had been replaced by a lie detector, enabling him to literally “see the truth”.
Of course, you don’t. The show never existed.

The whole crazy Bergerac/Six Million Dollar Man concept comes courtesy of Julian Barratt, who here plays actor Thorncroft, and co-writer Simon Farnaby (Horrible History/Bunny and the Bull), who doubles up here as Thorncroft’s onetime stuntman Clive. Now, 25 years after his heyday, Thorncroft is an ageing, balding egomaniac has been, reduced to producing adverts for girdles. That’s until the police get in touch. A murderer known only as ‘the Kestrel’ is on the loose on the Isle of Man and is so deranged that he thinks his Eighties childhood hero is a real person. He refuses to talk to anyone else. Time, then, for Mindhorn to get back in action.

It’s a great idea and despite a few patchy elements, is brilliantly funny. Much of the entertainment, of course, comes from seeing clips of the convincingly awful looking Mindhorn TV series, as well as the contrast between Thorncroft’s cheesy but glamorous younger life and his somewhat pathetic existence today. It’s a great role for the underrated Barratt, too young to have been a grownup Eighties TV star in reality and best known for being Noel Fielding’s other half in The Mighty Boosh. Steve Coogan is also great in the role of Peter Eastman, a minor actor in Mindhorn who has since enjoyed greater success than Thorncroft ever achieved, in his long running spin-off show, Windjammer.

Part Alan Partridge (has-been star), part Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace (fictional Eighties TV show), part Toast of London (egomaniac actor), Mindhorn is a hoot. And don’t be surprised if you come out humming the words to Thorncroft’s pop hit, ‘Can’t Handcuff The Wind’ either. It’s surprisingly catchy.

Overall Verdict: Mindhorn: even the name is funny.

Reviewer: Chris Hallam

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Julian Barratt, Essie Davis, Russell Tovey, Simon Farnaby, Andrea Riseborough, Steve Coogan  DIRECTORS: Sean Foley  

Trumbo (Cinema Review)

5th February 2016 By Chris Hallam

trumbo-slideStarring: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Louis C.K., Elle Fanning, John Goodman
Directed By: Jay Roach
Running Time: 124 minutes
UK Release Date: February 5th 2016
BBFC Certificate: 15

Our Score

Dalton Trumbo (Brtan Cranston) was a hugely successful screenwriter of the 1940s, 50s and 60s. A family man and an eccentric in many ways, he did much of his best work writing in the bath. He was also a Communist and one of the notorious “Hollywood Ten” who were blacklisted throughout the 1950s.

With a few notable exceptions, such as Martin Ritt’s Woody Allen starrer The Front and, more recently, George Clooney’s Good Night, And Good Luck, there are very few films about the anti-Communist paranoia which consumed the United States after the Second World War. This is largely because Hollywood was hit particularly badly by it and only now as the last of the surviving few participants die off is it becoming a generally acceptable topic for filmmaking. It remains a touchy subject though. Many careers and lives were ruined. [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Louis C.K., Elle Fanning, John Goodman  DIRECTORS: Jay Roach  

Irrational Man (DVD Review)

1st February 2016 By Chris Hallam

irrational-man-slideStarring: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey, Jamie Blackley
Directed By: Woody Allen
Running Time: 95 minutes
UK Release Date: Out Now
BBFC Certificate: 15

Our Score

It’s not easy being a Woody Allen fan these days. Although he has not actually been in any of his own films for a full decade now, his very name inspires revulsion in many people. The 21st century has certainly not been a good one for him so far. True, Midnight In Paris five years ago was a genuine delight and according to some reports is the highest grossing of the films he has directed. Vicky Christina Barcelona was plenty of fun. But that’s it really.

To be a Woody Allen fan these days is a bit like being a Labour Party supporter or someone who reads every book by Stephen King. One spends all one’s time reminding people how much better things have been in the past. It is true. But, harping on about how good The Shining or Manhattan or the Good Friday Agreement were cannot conceal the fact that things aren’t good now. [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey, Jamie Blackley  DIRECTORS: Woody Allen  

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Cinema Review)

17th December 2015 By Chris Hallam

star-wars-the-force-awakens-review-slideStarring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac
Directed By: J.J. Abrams
Running Time: 136 minutes
UK Release Date: Out Now
Certificate: 12A

Our Score

“This will begin to make things right.” The first words spoken out loud in The Force Awakens are uttered by a minor character and are clearly not meant to be about the Star Wars franchise in general. But the subtext is clear. For most fans, the three Star Wars prequels – The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith – were to varying degrees cartoonish, often boring disappointments. Ten years on from the last and best of these, Star Wars newcomer J.J. Abrams wants us to know it will be different this time. And it is. The Force Awakens really does live up to the new hype. [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac  DIRECTORS: JJ Abrams  FILMS: Star Wars: The Force Awakens  

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