Drama > N Drama > up to 5 GBP > by Main Language

Advantages: Intellectual, Compelling
Disadvantages: Hardly cheery

It was early 2005 and I was bored so decided to go to the cinema and had no idea what to watch. 'Closer' was a film that I did not feel entirely enthused about going to see but I was sure that the star power would see me through it. The film is essentially a tale of four people intertwined by their own confusion as to who it is that they love or lust after. Dan (Jude Law) is a smart journalist (well, obituary writer) who is in a relationship with ...
...desire for enigmatic photographer Anna (Julia Roberts). Anna is torn between aforementioned Dan and the very much rough and ready doctor Larry (Clive Owen). The pitch sounds cheesy and terrible. Sounds like a typical 'we've got no clue what we are filing but lets stick a load of HUGE stars in it and we've got a guaranteed box office hit' and this is how I feared it would turn out. What seems to keep interweaving the characters and their own respective ... Read review

Advantages: amazing cast, acting, and finally a difeerent perspective of the mafia
Disadvantages: based on a true story so difficult to argue with much huh :)

...and hunted by the mafia), Donnie Brasco is like a De-romanticized, DE-mythologized version of The Godfather. It offers an uncommonly detailed, privileged glimpse inside the world of organized crime from the perspective of the little guys at the bottom of Mafia hierarchy rather than from the kingpins at the top. The plot shows the gradual build of friendship between Donnie and Lefty (Mr Pacino himself). Johnny Depps performance was one which completely ... Read review

Advantages: Looks great, nostalgic look at a narrow section of US life
Disadvantages: Period details may not be that accurate, very soppy

Mike Newell directed "Four weddings and a Funeral", "Donnie Brasco", "Pushing Tin" - so he's made quite a variety of movies... comedy, gritty drama, drama/comedy. And now (some would say) he's turned his hand to one of those "soppy dramas". Yes, the soppy drama is a genuine movie genre, doncha know? Not to prejudge these things, however, I went to see the movie. I knew it was set in a College for Girls, and I knew it starred Julia Roberts, as well ...
...Dunst, and also Juliet Stevenson). So it seems logical to think of it as a "women's movie" - and having seen it I concluded that I was right - it's definitely going to appeal to women a lot more than it is to men. Not necessarily a problem, and there are plenty who enjoy seeing a soppy drama or two. Having said that, the story has a serious, more political side, however much it is dealt with in a lightweight way. The date is 1953, and the story ... Read review

Advantages: -
Disadvantages: -

...a feature length film called Angels in America was winning quite a few awards. And with a cast including Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Emma Thompson and Mary Louise Parker it sounded pretty impressive. Usually, us Brits miss out on such opportunities to see such good dramas, and they’re only shown in the United States. Luckily though, those wonderful people at Channel 4 bought the massively successful and anticipated Angels In America from HBO (where ...
...was better than special! Angels In America, before it’s major success on screen, was a very famous American play written by Tony Kushner. It received nothing but fantastic reviews, and HBO having such good eyes for brilliance bought the idea, and got Tony Kushner to write the screenplay for them. The film was being talked about for months before being premiered late December 2003, on HBO. Every single magazine and newspaper begged people to ... Read review

Advantages: Anne Barncroft, Dustin Hoffman, Katherine Ross, Funny, Timeless
Disadvantages: I haven't found any.

The Graduate was made in 1967, the same year I was born, so I consider it is of particularly fine vintage. I had watched this film a number of times in the past, but noticed that it had not been on recently. When I saw it for sale on Amazon for only £4.99 I decided that this was just too good to be true and snapped it up. There was a lot of old classic movies being sold on Amazon at Christmas, and I bought up quite a few of them. Reviewing something ...
...ability to do so. The Graduate is more an experience than a film, without seeking to sound too pretentious. The film is 40 years old this year, and many films of this vintage can appear a little grainy, and suffer from the high expectations that we now have with regards to post production, continuity and special effects. The graduate is not a special effects films, but you find that it affects you in a very special way. You are immediately struck ... Read review