Rob Carnevale

Safe House

Brutally slick but flawed action thriller starring Denzel Washtington and Ryan Reynolds

8 Feb 2012

(15) 115mins Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds make a formidable partnership in Daniel Espinosa's Safe House, a brutally slick, if flawed, action thriller.

Man on a Ledge

Well paced, high concept thriller starring Sam Worthington, Jamie Bell and Elizabeth Banks

23 Jan 2012

(12A) 102mins Sam Worthington’s latest is an occasionally tense but mostly silly thriller that at least realises its own absurdities. The Hollywood debut of former documentary filmmaker Asger Leth (Ghosts of Cité Soleil), the film follows a…

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Solid crowd pleaser despite disappointing villain and some dodgy CGI

12 Dec 2011

(12A, 132mins) Pixar director Brad Bird makes the leap from animation to live action in spectacular fashion with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, a frequently awe-inspiring entry into the franchise. As he did with The Incredibles and…

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Expertly mixes intelligence and spectacle to hugely impressive effect

9 Aug 2011

(12A) 106min After the folly that was Tim Burton’s remake of Planet of the Apes in 2001 many questioned the wisdom of trying to breathe new life into the franchise when this prequel was first announced. But Rupert Wyatt’s Rise of the Planet of…

Super 8

JJ Abrams sci-fi a loving homage to the way blockbusters used to be

29 Jul 2011

(12A) 112min Lost creator JJ Abrams’ Super 8 may be heavily inspired by the early films of Steven Spielberg but if you’re going to borrow from someone, why not make it a master? It’s a science fiction adventure that harks back to the…

Trust

David Schwimmer’s powerful movie should resonate with every parent and teenager in some way

18 Jul 2011

(15) 106min A hard-hitting look at the dangers posed by internet predators, as witnessed by a family whose lives are torn apart by the grooming and eventual rape of their teenage daughter, the film stems from Schwimmer’s decade-long involvement with…

Zookeeper

Kevin James stars in woefully bad family rom-com

13 Jul 2011

(PG) 101min Part rom-com, part Doctor Dolittle style family comedy, Zookeeper, starring lardarse comic actor Kevin James (The Dilemma, Grown Ups), is a wholly unsatisfactory experience for all but the most juvenile minds. The latest offering from…

Thor

It’s hammer time! Kenneth Branagh's Thor has a theatrical charm

20 Apr 2011

(12A) 130min Kenneth Branagh may have seemed like an unlikely choice to direct Marvel's Thor but he pulls it off with considerable style to kick-start the summer in fun fashion. By no means perfect, and inferior to both Christopher Nolan's genre…

Source Code

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan star in body-swapping thriller

18 Mar 2011

Duncan Jones’ dazzling debut Moon is, by any standard, a tough act to follow, but while sophomore effort Source Code can’t quite match up, it does ensure the director’s career remains on the right track. The film is an intriguing race-against-time…

The Adjustment Bureau

Philip K Dick-inspired sci-fi thriller starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt

2 Mar 2011

The work of Philip K Dick has inspired some of cinema’s great sci-fi films, from Blade Runner to Minority Report via Total Recall. The Adjustment Bureau, which is derived from one of the author’s short stories, doesn’t quite measure up to the former or…

Chalet Girl - Crowd-pleasing film marks arrival of Felicity Jones

Watchable despite sitcom-style humour and stereotypical characters

2 Mar 2011

(12A) 96min Felicity Jones is hitherto best known as the voice of Emma Carter on The Archers but by the end of 2011 she could well be regarded as one of Britain's most talented young movie stars. A winner at Sundance for indie drama Like Crazy…

Gnomeo & Juliet's British cast add charm despite pop culture references

Shrek 2 director's animation big on visual jokes but lacks standout sequence

2 Feb 2011

(U) 84min The idea of turning William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet into an animated movie featuring gnomes sounds like a tragedy in its own right, but thanks to a star studded British voice cast and some fun visual jokes, Gnomeo & Juliet almost…

It's Kind of a Funny Story

Impressive exploration of mental health doesn’t compromise its indie values

23 Dec 2010

(12A) 101min Having impressed with Half Nelson and Sugar, indie stalwarts Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden complete a commendable hat trick with It’s Kind Of A Funny Story. Based on the novel by Ned Vizzini, the film follows suicidal 16-year-old Craig…

Due Date

2 Nov 2010

(15) 100min Having collaborated to winning effect on The Hangover, director Todd Phillips and comedian Zach Galifianakis endure a bumpy reunion on road movie comedy Due Date. Designed as a sort of anti-buddy movie, Phillips’ latest follows…

The Social Network

5 Oct 2010

(12A) 120min David Fincher’s The Social Network, aka ‘the Facebook movie’, is a film about smart people that arrives with the intelligence to match. Based on a script by Aaron The West Wing Sorkin and inspired by Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental…

Dinner for Schmucks

Remake of 1998 film doesn't echo sentiments of original

23 Aug 2010

On paper Jay Meet the Parents Roach’s new film sounds appetising. But this remake of Francis Veber’s passable 1998 French comedy Le dîner de cons squanders a cast headed by Steve Carell and Paul Rudd, and supported by Lucy Punch, David Walliams, Chris…

The Expendables

12 Aug 2010

The Expendables is as much an A to Z of every action movie cliché as it is a who’s who of the leading men who used to populate them. Boasting a line-up of Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts and Steve Austin, as…

Wild Target

9 Jun 2010

(12A) 90min Hitman farce Wild Target consistently shoots wide of the mark in spite of some promising ingredients. A remake of 1994 French film, it’s directed by Jonathan Lynn (My Cousin Vinny, The Whole Nine Yards) and boasts a strong cast…

The Losers

28 May 2010

(12A) 97min Comic book adaptation The Losers is an oddly appealing movie in spite of its many flaws. Taken at face value, it’s a gritty A-Team derivative that follows a group of soldiers as they attempt to clear their names of a crime they didn’t…

[REC] 2

28 May 2010

(15) 85min Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza’s original [Rec] was a taut, unnerving chiller that brought a claustrophobic, Blair Witch-style sensibility to the zombie genre. Its sequel adopts more of an Aliens-style approach by swapping a TV reporter…

Streetdance 3D

12 May 2010

(PG) 98min The creative team behind Streetdance has sought to put a different spin on the UK grime scene by portraying teens in a more positive light while paying homage to American dance films such as Footloose and Step Up. It’s a shame, then, that…

Alice in Wonderland

2 Mar 2010

(PG) 108min Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is as dark and visually arresting as we’ve come to expect from the director, yet not quite as emotionally involving as his very best work. A sequel of sorts that takes in elements of both Lewis…

Extraordinary Measures

17 Feb 2010

(PG) 105min Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser add some high-powered star wattage to Tom Vaughan’s otherwise formulaic medical drama about a father’s desperate attempt to save his children from a potentially fatal disease. Inspired by a Wall Street…

Avatar

17 Dec 2009

(12A) 161mins After months, if not years, of hype, James Cameron’s Avatar is finally unveiled as a visually stunning yet deeply flawed sci-fi epic. Hailed by industry insiders as a ‘game-changer’ that will revolutionise the way we see cinema, it’s…

Profile of Amelia director Mira Nair

13 Nov 2009

Name: Mira Nair Born: 15 October 1957, Bhubaneshwar (India) Background: After starting her career as an actress, Nair turned to directing award-winning documentaries, including So Far From India. She made her feature film debut in 1988 with the…