Review: Quiz Show  Robert Redford’s 1994 drama focuses on the game show scandals of the 1950s with the emphasis here being on the show Twenty One. Reigning champion Herbert Stempel (John Turturro) seems invincible but behind the scenes the producers are worried. The ratings are stagnating as the audience is somewhat bored of the same(…)

Review: Piranhaconda  Jim Wynorski directs this TV movie which shouldn’t require too much of an explanation from me given the title. Professor Lovegrove (Michael Madsen) is in Hawaii when he locates a nest from which he pilfers a single egg. His two companions are quickly killed by a prianhaconda which is just a snake with(…)

Review: Soldier of Orange  Paul Verhoeven’s Soldier of Orange is an acclaimed Dutch film which tells the story of a group of university friends whose lives are turned upside down when Europe descends into the Second World War and the Netherlands are occupied by Germany. The war has a different impact on the group of(…)

Review: The Woman in the Fifth  Based on the novel by Douglas Kennedy, The Woman in the Fifth tells the story of writer Tom Ricks (Ethan Hawke) who heads for Paris to see his daughter and ex-wife who suggests a violent past given that she has a restraining order against her ex-husband. After his bags are(…)

Review: The Agent  Thousands upon thousands of authors dream of that lucrative book deal each year. Some get that lucky break, others find an agent but most are left in the wilderness. Lesley Manning’s The Agent is a very intimate piece on the working relationship between an agent and an author, that seemingly begins well but(…)

Review: The Men Who Stare at Goats Grant Heslov’s comedy war film follows the story of Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) whose marriage falls apart at the outset so he decides to head for Iraq in search of a story. Stuck in Kuwait, Bob meets Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) formerly of a unique branch of the US(…)

Review: Johnny Got His Gun  Dalton Trumbo’s war film tells the tragic story of Joe (Timothy Bottoms) who is nearly killed fighting in the First World War. Though alive, Joe has been left with no arms, legs, ears, eyes, mouth or nose. He is aware of vibrations around him but cannot communicate with the doctors and(…)

Review: Fragments  Gun crime is a worldwide crisis and I recall a time when the use of guns in the UK was unthinkable but now drive by shootings are not uncommon, society is far less safer than it used to be and things sadly don’t look like changing anytime soon. In Rowan Woods’ Fragments a(…)

Review: Wasting Away  Matthew Kohnen’s Wasting Away is the latest zombie comedy I have come across and given that previously I’ve enjoyed Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland, it had some hard acts to follow. The film tells the story of a serum that is effectively green goo and has accidentally been unleashed. A group(…)

Review: The Player Hollywood. It’s one of the first words that comes to mind when you think of the film industry but what happens in the run up to all these films being released? Robert Altman’s The Player is something of a satire of the Hollywood studios but weaves an intriguing murder mystery together while(…)