It's time once again to visit the Church of Cinema, to sit with strangers in its hushed darkness, and to rejoice in the best that film has to offer...
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Thank Flickering Myth it's Friday...
Anna Karenina
Keira Knightley in a period film. Sound familiar?
She's done a fair few, and two of the best were with director Joe Wright - Pride & Prejudice and Atonement - with whom she reunites for an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic Anna Karenina.
Keira plays the title role, a posh person who has an affair with Count Vronsky (Aaron Johnson), in late-19th century Russia. Her husband, played by Jude Law, is understandably not best pleased.
The strange thing about the film is that it's set almost entirely within a theatre, where stage-hands busy themselves in the set's background. The characters never once reference them, but it never lets you forget that you're watching a fabrication, not a reality.
In other words, it's the complete opposite to The Only Way Is Essex.
Anna Karenina is out today.
Lawless
Another period film, but this time in 1931 America, where prohibition has made the sale of alcohol illegal. The unfortunate thing about making stuff illegal, is that you can make a helluva lot of money from it.
And that's what the Bondurant brothers do - Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy and Jason Clarke make up the bootlegging bunch. Gary Oldman plays their boss, Guy Pearce is the cop chasing after them, Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain are the love interests.
This film has considerable acting chops, but that isn't its most tantalising prospect. It reunites director John Hillcoat with screenwriter Nick Cave for the first time since 2005's The Proposition, which was bloody excellent. Emphasis on the bloody.
There was a lot of blood.
Lawless is out today. Read our ★ ★ ★ ★ review of it here.
Dredd 3D
"I am the law!" Sylvester Stallone screams multiple times in an edited, 12 second YouTube montage. Karl Urban plays the 2000AD staple this time round, and seems to have more of a handle on things.
Urban might appear more right for the role precisely because it's difficult to see who it actually is (otherwise you'll just be thinking 'Bones from the recent Star Trek reboot'). Dredd's helmet covers most of his face, and the scary voice he puts on stays the right side of Bale's Batman.
The plot unfortunately has the exact same structure as The Raid, despite Dredd entering production earlier. It's one of those unlucky coincidences that seem to happen a lot in the industry. Lena Headey (Cersei from Game of Thrones) plays the antagonist, sitting at the top of a tower block, while Dredd leads his team up the building, defeating level after level, to get to the boss fight. So...it's a video game?
That's unfair. By all accounts it's pretty good. And it would be great to see the character of Judge Dredd, and 2000AD in general, become more popular over in the States.
Dredd 3D is out today. Read our ★ ★ ★ ★ review of it here.
The Sweeney
"Put your trousers on. You're knicked." Sounds funny, right? Now imagine Ray Winstone saying it. Yeah, it's a bit more terrifying.
The Sweeney used to be a 70s English cop show that your parents watched. This film share very little with that. It has car chases, car crashes, car explosions, car...
Ben Drew plays Winstone's partner. That name should sound familiar, because it's the real name of rapper/singer/generally very talented Plan B. He was very good opposite Michael Caine in Harry Brown, and written and directed his own film, Ill Manors, since.
The Sweeney is out on Wednesday.
Enjoy the philms.
Oliver Davis![]()
Thank Flickering Myth it's Friday...
Anna Karenina
Keira Knightley in a period film. Sound familiar?
She's done a fair few, and two of the best were with director Joe Wright - Pride & Prejudice and Atonement - with whom she reunites for an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic Anna Karenina.
Keira plays the title role, a posh person who has an affair with Count Vronsky (Aaron Johnson), in late-19th century Russia. Her husband, played by Jude Law, is understandably not best pleased.
The strange thing about the film is that it's set almost entirely within a theatre, where stage-hands busy themselves in the set's background. The characters never once reference them, but it never lets you forget that you're watching a fabrication, not a reality.
In other words, it's the complete opposite to The Only Way Is Essex.
Anna Karenina is out today.
Lawless
Another period film, but this time in 1931 America, where prohibition has made the sale of alcohol illegal. The unfortunate thing about making stuff illegal, is that you can make a helluva lot of money from it.
And that's what the Bondurant brothers do - Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy and Jason Clarke make up the bootlegging bunch. Gary Oldman plays their boss, Guy Pearce is the cop chasing after them, Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain are the love interests.
This film has considerable acting chops, but that isn't its most tantalising prospect. It reunites director John Hillcoat with screenwriter Nick Cave for the first time since 2005's The Proposition, which was bloody excellent. Emphasis on the bloody.
There was a lot of blood.
Lawless is out today. Read our ★ ★ ★ ★ review of it here.
Dredd 3D
"I am the law!" Sylvester Stallone screams multiple times in an edited, 12 second YouTube montage. Karl Urban plays the 2000AD staple this time round, and seems to have more of a handle on things.
Urban might appear more right for the role precisely because it's difficult to see who it actually is (otherwise you'll just be thinking 'Bones from the recent Star Trek reboot'). Dredd's helmet covers most of his face, and the scary voice he puts on stays the right side of Bale's Batman.
The plot unfortunately has the exact same structure as The Raid, despite Dredd entering production earlier. It's one of those unlucky coincidences that seem to happen a lot in the industry. Lena Headey (Cersei from Game of Thrones) plays the antagonist, sitting at the top of a tower block, while Dredd leads his team up the building, defeating level after level, to get to the boss fight. So...it's a video game?
That's unfair. By all accounts it's pretty good. And it would be great to see the character of Judge Dredd, and 2000AD in general, become more popular over in the States.
Dredd 3D is out today. Read our ★ ★ ★ ★ review of it here.
The Sweeney
"Put your trousers on. You're knicked." Sounds funny, right? Now imagine Ray Winstone saying it. Yeah, it's a bit more terrifying.
The Sweeney used to be a 70s English cop show that your parents watched. This film share very little with that. It has car chases, car crashes, car explosions, car...
Ben Drew plays Winstone's partner. That name should sound familiar, because it's the real name of rapper/singer/generally very talented Plan B. He was very good opposite Michael Caine in Harry Brown, and written and directed his own film, Ill Manors, since.
The Sweeney is out on Wednesday.
Enjoy the philms.
Oliver Davis
