Screen Trip - FILM & TV REVIEWS AND CRITICISM

Young Adults heroine is Mavis Gary, portrayed with bravura by Charlize Theron, a young adult fiction writer living an empty and depressed post-divorce existence in Minneapolis. Mavis is experiencing some creative blocks while ghost writing the latest installment in a teen book series, until, out of...

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This warts-and-all valentine to 70s rock scene was produced by the band's driven creator Joan Jett, which gives the film some gritty indie credibility. Directed by Floria Sigismondi, who decided to move on from music videos, the film is loosely based on "Neon Angel The Cherie Currie Story," a 1989 ...

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Written amp directed by Canadian Rubba Nadda, this old-fashioned, thoughtful romantic drama offers a distinctly female sensibility and a loving take on the ancient city of Cairo. Veteran indie actress Patricia Clarkson (Lars and the Real Girl, Good Night and Good Luck, Vicky Cristina Barcelona)...

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Duncan Jones' directorial debut is a successful indie tribute to sci-fi cinematic greats of 1970s and 80s, with a somber - and sobering - twist. That David Bowie really has some super creative genes. And he passed them to his son Zowie, better known as Duncan Jones. Duncan studied philosophy and it ...

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I have been a zombie, a vampire and a squid, which not many people can claim, says the delightful Bill Nighy (Underworld, Pirates of the Caribbean), best remembered as the naughty singer of carols in Love Actually, who stars in this black-cum-romantic comedy as Victor Maynard, an anally retentive ...

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After having some naughty fun with gamer zombies and deranged masons in Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Hot Fuzz (2007) respectively, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost were probably wondering what the natural progression for their next project would be, and then eureka a monolith dropped aliens! Wasnt ther...

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An updated version of a well-known Brothers Grimm fairytale, Red Riding Hood was directed by none other than Catherine Hardwicke, of Twilight fame. Hardwicke certainly does have some affinity for the dark woods, mysterious mists and monsters hiding in the shadows as well as romantic virginal panting...

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Peter Weir has had a long break since 2003s Master and Commander, the swashbuckling, seafaring adventure starring Russell Crowe. With The Way Back he continues in the vein of recreating history, but on a different scale altogether. The film was inspired by a World War II memoir, The Long Walk by Sl...

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Black Swan is a confrontational and intense psychodrama about a rather prim ballerina portrayed by Natalie Portman (V for Vendetta, The Other Boleyn Girl), all set on a journey to discover her dark side as she dives head first into her spotlight performance. Pressured to embody perfection under ...

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A romantic comedy with a spy twist, The Tourist is a piece of Hollywood tinsel with a splash of old world charm, making for a palatable holiday aperitif. And it does go down quite smoothly, too. Directed and co-written by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Life of Others, 2006), the film has a di...

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Directed and co-written by Spaniard Alejandro Amenbar, who gave us the sublime ghostly thriller The Others (2001) and the thoughtful drama The Sea Inside (2004), Agora is that rare cinematic pleasure, a large-scale historical production lavish in its details, rich in characters and hypnotic action,...

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Blue Valentine is a second feature drama (after Brother Tied) directed and co-written by Derek Cianfrance, starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. It is a heartbreaking and emotionally draining for both the actors and the viewers story of the disintegration of romantic love. I repeat not a...

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So am I but, truth be told, my presence there is truly negligible. I simply prefer my friends in 3D. David Fincher (Fight Club, Panic Room) decided to direct a movie which reminds us of a time before our social lives became standardised and marketed on Facebook, and how this phenomenon actually came...

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There have never been this many vampires and other assorted creatures gracing our screens big and small well, ever. I blame it all on Buffy. The trend now includes Being Human, Sanctuary, Supernatural and Moonlight, to name just a few. Here, there are even good and bad witches, so imagine the a...

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Written amp directed by numbers by otherwise talented Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium, Ultraviolet) and Philip Noyce (Rabbit Proof Fence, The Quiet American) respectively, in the typical Hollywood uninspired output ratio of high conceptlow on fresh ideas, the best thing about Salt is the poster. Things ...

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In the atmospheric original Twilight (2008) there was the epic first love story, teenage angst and Bella uncovering the mystery of vampire lore New Moon (2009) explored the pain of heartbreak, the budding relationship between Bella and Jacob and introduced the werewolves and vampire aristocracy, t...

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In the not too distant future vampires have taken over the world. Poor buggers still cannot appreciate their own reflections in mirrors nor walk in the sun. On the upside, Starbucks now offers blood with your coffee. Then again, since nearly everyone is a vampire, they are quickly draining the last ...

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What vampires are in any given generation is a part of what I am and what my times have become. Nina Auerbach, Our Vampires, Ourselves What will happen when the popularity of Interview with the Vampire drags their underground mystique into the naked light of day jo...

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I saw as a vampire (). It was as if I had only just been able to see colors and shapes for the first time. I was so enthralled with the buttons on Lestats black coat that I looked at nothing else for a long time. Then Lestat began to laugh, and I heard his laughter as I had never heard anythin...

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If Angel is the ultimate outsider, Spike is the ultimate rebel among Buffyverses vampires. His entrance to Sunnydale inaugurates the advent of the super hip, young villain. Marking his new territory, he smashes the Welcome to Sunnydale sign with his 1950s deanmobile. Together with Drusilla they ...

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