The Big Short is not an easy film to watch on a number of levels. At a basic level, and speaking as a pretty well-educated film-goer, it requires quite considerable concentration to keep up with the financial jargon thrown at you. At a sociological level, the fraud and corruption that were endemic within the venerable … Read more
“Spotlight” is the investigative team at the Boston Globe newspaper who focus on ‘big’ issues that they select to pursue – work that can take many months to come to fruition. Headed up by Robby Robinson (Michael Keaton) the rest of his team are Mike (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha (Rachel McAdams) and family man Matt Carroll … Read more
Michael “Beyond the Poseidon Adventure” Caine has never been averse to starring in more than his fair share of turkeys. Talking about “Jaws: The Revenge” he once said: “I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific!” One can … Read more
Room, based on the book by Emma Donoghue, starts on young Jack’s 5th birthday. He gets a birthday cake from his mother (but no candles); a visit from his father; and a gift, albeit belatedly. This would all be perfectly normal except that all of this takes place within ‘Room’ – a confined space with … Read more
I went to see “The Revenant” on the day that it was nominated for 12 Oscars, which certainly sets the expectation that it is going to be good – and it is. But I saw it described by DiCaprio as an “epic arthouse western” and that’s a good description. In the same way that Iñárritu’s … Read more