Archive for the ‘ Films ’ Category

Xmas 2011 Round Up

Welcome to Clockwork Shorts – allow me to wish you a joyous, fruitful and relaxing holiday season, wherever you are.  When you find that you have a bit of time to kill, please bookmark and come back here to enjoy my round up of movies & music from 2011.. After a couple of weeks of [ READ MORE ]

The Stinkers of 2011 – Transformers 3D: Dark Of The Moon

Inevitably there were some rotten films in 2011. Some, I was alert enough to avoid like the plague and spare myself the harm: Twilight for example, or Mars Needs Moms, or Hop, or Apollo 18. Others, I somehow managed to subject myself to: Russel Brand’s Arthur springs to mind. Brand’s charmless pasquinade of English eccentricity [ READ MORE ]

The Films of 2011 – #1 The Tree Of Life

You didn’t honestly think it’d be anything else, did you? I was lucky enough to attend an early preview for the Tree Of Life and was so fit-to-bursting with superlatives that I swiftly dashed home and laid out my thoughts. You can of course still read that initial review HERE. Having seen the film twice [ READ MORE ]

The Films of 2011 – #2 Submarine

In 2011, a fondly regarded and greatly admired British television comedian made his debut feature film, wowing critics and audiences alike and instantly making his name as a talented chap who clearly has a very bright directing future ahead of him. Yes indeed, Joe Cornish’s Attack The Block is a brilliant & kinetic piece of [ READ MORE ]

The Films of 2011 – #3 Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

It would be churlish and deceptive of me to not include at least one bonafide Hollywood Blockbuster in my year’s countdown. Indulge me if you will as I quickly run through my thoughts on those mega-budgeted visual extravaganzas which I saw at some point over the Summer: Captain America – probably the best Superhero Adventure [ READ MORE ]

The Films of 2011 – #4 Rango

Let’s be honest, 2011 hasn’t been the best year for animated cinema. Normally it’s Pixar that will save the day, but their money-spinning decision to make a sequel to Cars resulted in a good looking but ultimately garish and confusing mess. Kung Fu Panda 2 was pretty entertaining & looked great, but again suffered somewhat [ READ MORE ]

The Films of 2011 – #5 – Take Shelter

Michael Shannon is an actor with profound power & intensity who has an almost magnetic presence on screen. Admittedly it’s taken him a while to get as recognised as he already is, but outstanding roles in The Runaways, Bug, and My Son My Son What Have Ye Done mean that people are now paying attention. [ READ MORE ]

The Films of 2011 – #6 Marwencol

First off, I should mention that this is one of those points in time where we veer into “Ah Yes, but is that a 2011 Film?” territory . . Thanks to the villainy of global release schedules, this can often colour opinions or lists – personally, one of the first films I saw in 2011 [ READ MORE ]

The Films of 2011 – #7 Hanna

British director Joe Wright took a bold step away from the period dramas that he made his name with, and instead tackled the action/thriller genre head on with a near sci-fi tale of espionage. Saoirse Ronan stars in a bombastic performance as the titular heroine who is, broadly speaking, an amalgam of Jason Bourne and [ READ MORE ]

The Films of 2011 – #8 Hesher

Counting down to number 8, we find indie comic drama HESHER. The debut feature by Spencer Susser, and co-produced by Natalie Portman (who also stars). It’s one of those “everyone’s a bit disfunctional but some magic realism will make everything better” sorts of films that is typified by the likes of Little Miss Sunshine or [ READ MORE ]

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