movie: Kingsman: The Secret Service

Casting Colin Firth as the James Bond character in a film is unexpected – watching him balance the action film moves and immaculate dress of an English gentleman makes for an impressive basis for a film. It’s a film that makes some progress against gender stereotypes in spy films, with a female assassin alongside a Samuel L Jackson billionaire …

movie: the imitation game

Bomba turninga2 by Andgasow – Own work. Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons. movie: the imitation game Watching Benedict Cumberbatch in this film only a few days after watching Sherlock was a challenge – there are many similarities in character genre, but Cumberbatch plays the roles differently. There is a lot of propaganda within the …

movie: birdman

Birdman (2015) is a borderline-arthouse movie. The camera dances around the key characters in long, continuous shots – it’s the kind of film you can get lost in. If you’re looking for a Fight-Club level tilt from Edward Norton, an only-slightly Galifianakis from Zach, and an amazing performance from Michael Keaton. There are underlying themes of life’s …

movie: Nightcrawler

Movie: Nightcrawler (2014) Jake Gyllenhall produced and stars in this action/drama. A tale of a drifter who finds the thing he’s passionate about. In his case, it’s being a nightcrawler – someone who drives around taking video of crime scenes to sell to TV stations’ news programmes. Gyllenhall’s performance is really great: creepy, persuasive, and filled with …

movie: gone girl

Gone Girl is the latest David Fincher movie. Brilliant visually, in the vein of the old Dirty Harry movies. A mix of creepy, mysterious, funny, and over-the-top in terms of its violence and other content. Not for the faint of heart.

Movie: The Matrix (live with SSO)

Watching The Matrix some fifteen years after its original release (with my then-girlfriend, now-wife beside me again), but this time with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra live at the Opera House along with the movie. With the exception of the flip phones and the occasional CRT monitor, the movie stands up well. Does it pass the …