Drama

An excellent and intimate portrayal of internal conflict, addiction and loss, featuring a superb lead performance from Anne Hathaway.

Rachel Getting Married: Left to Right: Anne Hathaway as Kym, Rosemarie DeWitt as Rachel.
Photo by Bob Vergara © 2007 Sniscak Productions, INC. Courtesy Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.

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Rachel Getting Married [DVD] [2008]

This mongrel transcends the vampire genre, but the final descent into unmitigated gore ruins an otherwise interesting premise.

Daybreakers: We're the ones holding the crossbows

This bleak and, at times, disturbing revenge flick sees Michael Caine deliver another strong performance in a story that might be considered over-egged.

Harry Brown: Even in his 70s, Michael Caine is still bad-ass

This moving story of a teenager growing up in 1960s London charms, startles, amuses, shakes and delights in equal measure.
An Education: L-R Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike, Peter Saarsgard, Carey Mulligan

Over the last couple of weeks, I've found myself watching a couple of Shakespeare re-tellings, including Baz Luhrmann's rather excellent 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet. O doesn't quite measure up to Luhrmann's visionary re-telling of star-crossed lovers, but in many respects it's rather unfair to compare the two as they deal with their source material in very different ways: Luhrmann and Craig Pearce update the surroundings, dress and props for the late twentieth century, but leave the dialogue in Shakespearean English; in O, Brad Kaaya provides a fresh environment for the tale of Othello in his screenplay.

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O [DVD] [2000]

2002's Chicago, directed by Bob Marshall, is an excellent and faithful adaptation of Kander and Ebb's musical, and seemingly kick-started a small, slow revival in musical cinema (such as 2005's The Producers and 2007's Sweeney Tood).

Set in 1920's Chicago, the plot follows the lives of Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) after they are charged with murder, Velma for a double homicide after finding her husband in bed with her sister (with whom she performed in a Vaudeville act) and Roxie for the murder of her lover (after she discovers that he wasn't going to make her the Vaudeville star he'd promised).