After an award-laden 45 years in front of the camera, Hollywood heavyweight Dustin Hoffman makes his directorial debut right here in Blighty with this eager-to-please septuagenarian backstage comedy. And as if that wasn’t excitement enough, Quartet features an illustrious cast of British acting royalty, including one Dame, two Sirs, and enough C-, O- and MBEs to make you feel like you should probably go home and have a wash. And Billy Connolly. What could possibly go wrong?
Oh yes. This is totally what old age is going to be like…
Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon and the sainted David Hare, all working together? Marvellous. Page Eight rises above its dreadful trailer to provide a vivid and sensitively nuanced peek into the reality of modern intelligence-gathering.
Blimey. It’s all over. Fourteen years after the first book came out, ten years on from the first film and eight months since Deathly Hallows Part 1 rather cheekily claimed that ‘It All Ends Here’, the extraordinary cultural juggernaut that is the Harry Potter book series has finally completed its transition onto the screen. A better swansong than this film could scarcely be imagined.
From time to time we are presented with films so bad that they rattle our cages till they can rattle no more. Sometimes we shamefully have to bury our heads in the sand because the powers that be force us to enjoy them. So without further ado, may we present you with the top ten films we hate to love and love to hate
In the wake of critical and commercial successes such as The Queen and The Young Victoria, director Tom Hooper has taken on one of the most obscure dramas in recent British royal history – the titanic struggle which King George VI faced whenever he was called upon to speak in public. In doing so, he has categorically made the best film of both his own and Colin Firth’s career. The King’s Speech is perfect.
Ten years of film all neatly rolled into one awesomely epic list of greats! Feast your eyes on the Top 30 Films of the Decade.
It All Ends Here. Almost. As the decade-spanning juggernaut that is the Harry Potter film franchise rumbles ponderously towards that massively unsatisfying last chapter, we skipped the queues for a preview of what we expected to be a film reminiscent of its predecessors – pretty, but ultimately as disappointing as pulling Neville’s broom keys out of a bowl at a wizarding swingers’ party. We were wrong. If Part 2 is this good, the last two films may just vindicate the entire series.
Snipe London
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