A Most Violent Year (2014)

My latest cinema trip can be literally described as a battle of the Oscars. The two choices at the top of the list this week were both films starring Oscar Isaac, sci-fi thriller Ex Machina or crime drama A Most Violent Year. Having little previous knowledge of either picture or how they had been initially…

American Sniper (2014)

Clint Eastwood’s latest directorial offering, American Sniper, has certainly been the surprise hit of the season both in terms of box office success and awards recognition. Smashing opening weekend records left right and centre and picking up six Academy Award nominations in several major categories, the film that tells the story of the life and…

Wild (2014)

The last year has been something of a great one for Reese Witherspoon. The Oscar winning actress achieved cinematic success behind the camera for producing critically acclaimed thriller Gone Girl, and is now currently enjoying equal acclaim for her starring turn in Wild, a big screen adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s best selling memoir Wild: From…

Whiplash (2014)

Every now and then a pair of films will come out almost simultaneously that share a similarity both in terms of tone and theme. Last week I detailed the great enjoyment that was provided by Steve Carell and co. in Foxcatcher, a film that centres around a young protagonist, talented in their chosen field, who…

Into The Woods (2014)

For a lover of musicals like myself, it was always a bit of an annoyance that the Stephen Sondheim classic Into The Woods had never been given the full big screen treatment. Up to this point, a made for television 1991 broadcast of the majority of the stage show’s original cast was the best the…

Foxcatcher (2014)

Awards season is a time in the cinema calendar when we see all of the most anticipated and talked about ‘based on true events’ type films released. Already this season audiences have been treated to The Imitation Game and The Theory Of Everything, both biopics of sorts and both detailing the extraordinary yet somewhat tragic…

Birdman (2014)

For the past few weeks all any serious film fan has heard about is Birdman. Birdman this, Birdman that, Birdman everything. Liking to remain as spoiler free as I possibly can before seeing a film, the only knowledge I had of the much talked about picture was in the various and extremely confusing trailers and…

The Theory Of Everything (2014)

Stephen Hawking is without a doubt one of the most iconic figures of the twentieth century and beyond.The cruel juxtaposition of one of the most brilliant minds the world has ever seen combined with the tragic circumstances of his health from such an early age meant that it was only a matter of time before…