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We Are Your Friends (Blu-ray Review)

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we-are-your-friends-slideStarring: Zac Efron, Wes Bentley, Emily Ratajkowski, Jonny Weston, Shiloh Fernandez
Directed By: Max Joseph
Running Time: 96 mins
BBFC Certificate: 15
UK Release Date: January 11th 2016 (UK)

Our Score

Cole (Zac Efron) is a young man living in LA’s San Fernando Valley with his friends, who has dream of making it big as a DJ. In the meantime, he and his mates are scraping by promoting at clubs and Cole DJ-ing for free. Then he meets producer James (Wes Bentley), who takes Cole under his wing and may be able to show him the way to the big time. However, things are complicated by Cole’s feelings for James’ assistant/girlfriend Emily (Emily Ratajkowski), the difficulties Cole and his friends find themselves in – including finding a job that may be even more ethically murky that the low grade drug dealing they are also involved in – and the darker side of the electronic music scene. [Read more…]

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The Danish Girl (Cinema Review)

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danish-girl-review-slideStarring: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard, Ben Whishaw
Directed By: Tom Hooper
Running Time: 119 mins
BBFC Certificate: 15
UK Release Date: January 1st 2016 (UK)

Our Score

The idea of a film about Lili Elbe has been doing the rounds of Hollywood for years, but despite plenty of interest from well-known actors and directors, it never got off the ground, partly because the money men thought a period piece about transgender issues would be box office poison. However, trans issues suddenly hit the mainstream and the film got the go ahead.

It’s certainly arrived with a lot of fanfare, but the movie is so polite in a very British sort of way, that it will leave many feeling like they’ve appreciated it but aren’t totally satisfied. [Read more…]

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The Cobbler (DVD Review)

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the-cobbler-slideStarring: Adam Sandler, Melonie Diaz, Steve Buscemi, Method Man, Dan Stevens
Directed By: Tom McCarthy
Running Time: 99 mins
BBFC Certificate: 12
UK Release Date: January 4th 2015 (UK)

Our Score

The Cobbler is not Adam Sandler in zany mood, but he’s not being 100% serious either. He certainly pulls things back from his usual performances and enters mumbling mode, which is admittedly more watchable than he often is. He is Max, a cobbler who is forced to use an old shoemaking machine when his newer one breaks. He discovers that the machine has magical properties, as he now has the ability to put on somebody else’s shoes and literally become them.

At first Max thinks he’s going to be able to have some fun with his powers (including a creepily rapey sequence involving a cameo from Dan Stevens and a woman in a shower), but he soon gets caught up in a tricky situation with a bunch of bad guys. Looking into the lives of his customers also makes his re-evaluate the attempts to save his neighbourhood, which he’d previously ignored, and so he sets out to use his powers to stop the baddies destroying everything. [Read more…]

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Ricki And The Flash (Blu-ray Review)

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ricki-and-the-flash-slideStarring: Meryl Streep, Mamie Gummer, Kevin Kline, Sebastian Stan, Rick Springfield
Directed By: Jonathan Demme
Running Time: 101 mins
BBFC Certificate: 12
UK Release Date: December 28th 2015

Our Score

A film like Ricki And The Flash makes you realise just how good Meryl Streep is, as without her this film is likely to have gotten far worse reviews than it did. She is obviously having a great time in the lead role of an aging rockers whose dreams of stardom never really came to anything, and now finds herself somewhat estranged from her kids.

Ricki (whose real name is Linda) gets a call from her ex-husband, Pete (Kevin Kline), to tell her their daughter, Julie (Mamie Gummer), is severely depressed after her hubby ran off with another woman. Ricki jumps on a plane from California to Iowa and discovers things are worse than she thought, as Julie has attempted suicide. However, Julie seems to respond to having her mother around, even if her two sons are less impressed about having the mother who virtually abandoned them around. [Read more…]

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In The Heart Of The Sea (Cinema Review)

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in-the-heart-of-the-sea-review-slideStarring: Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy
Directed By: Ron Howard
Running Time: 122 Minutes
UK Release Date: December 26th 2015
BBFC Certificate: 12A

Our Score

Ron Howard returns to direct the film based on the script, based on the book, that’s based on the true story that Moby Dick was based on. As one can imagine I won’t be fact checking this film for historical accuracies.

In the Heart of the Sea tells the story of the whaling vessel The Essex, which, while on voyage in 1820, was attacked by a monstrous whale forcing its crew to abandon ship. This is a sea faring adventure which turns into a quest for survival against all odds with many dramatic moments throughout, but it unfortunately doesn’t live up to its potential. [Read more…]

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Cinema Review)

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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…]

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