Carina Nilma

Film Review: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (M) (USA, 2014)

Based on the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan series, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is director Kenneth Branagh’s foray into the political and economic espionage thriller field. It’s also the first to not be specifically based on a Clancy novel, but take inspiration from the series and create a new story for our central character. Setting the…

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Film Review: Saving Mr Banks (PG) (US, 2013)

Fans of Disney films, and in particular Mary Poppins and those interested in the back story of how that film came to pass will find this almost biopic about author P.L. Travers intriguing and even emotionally moving. Saving Mr Banks is a somewhat confusing title as the film focuses on Travers and her dealings with…

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Film Review: The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug (M) (New Zealand/USA, 2013)

There’s a lot riding on the second installment in The Hobbit trilogy. The first film, An Unexpected Journey, did fairly well (if grossing over a billion dollars worldwide is your definition of “fairly well”) but received some less than favourable reviews, primarily due to its length and some issues with the High Frame Rate technology. Though…

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Film Review: American Hustle (M) (USA, 2013)

With an ensemble cast of some of Hollywood’s current A-list crop and an Oscar nominated multi-award winning director/writer helming the film American Hustle is already garnering a lot of hype and I would say that you better believe it’s worth it. We open with the film telling us that “some of this actually happened” and…

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Film Review: Filth (R18+) (UK, 2013)

From the man that brought you Trainspotting we have another gritty, intense depiction of debauchery, excessive drug and alcohol intake and the deterioration of the mind courtesy of the abuse of those substances. Climb aboard the rollercoaster and see if you can deduce what’s really going on in this mind-melding trip. Bruce Robertson ( James…

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Film Review: Mr. Pip (New Zealand, 2012)

As an adaptation of Lloyd Jones’ award winning novel of the same name, Andrew Adamson has taken this story and breathed a visually rich and emotionally moving story to life on the big screen. On the island of Bougainville it’s idyllic, with white sandy beaches and crystal blue water, palm trees that are as tall…

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TV Review: Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Season 1 Episodes 1 – 5 (USA, 2013)

There’s an enormous amount of pressure riding on Joss Whedon’s new TV series ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ not only is the series tied to the ever popular Marvel franchise but there’s an entire legion of comic fans who have high expectations of not only Whedon’s work but retaining the integrity of the Mavel Comic Universe….

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TV Review: Sleepy Hollow (USA, 2013) – Season 1, Episodes 1 – 5

You’ve probably heard of the name ‘Sleepy Hollow’, you might be familiar with the original ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ story by Washington Irving, or maybe the Tim Burton horror film that featured Johnny Depp rings a bell? It’s a fairly popular and remade work of fiction and this time it gets a modern twist…

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TV Review: Supernatural (USA) Season 9, Episode 1

Supernatural has long been a staple on Channel 10 and now its digital offshoot 11, since it first hit screens in 2005. With a team comprising of a large chunk of the production and writing crew behind The X-Files and a “supernatural” storyline base it was sure to sweep up the fans of the aforementioned…

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Film Review: R.I.P.D. (M) (USA, 2013)

What do you get when you mash up a classic buddy cop duo film with some sci-fi supernatural elements and the director of a comic book spin-off film? You get R.I.P.D. which is basically like Men In Black, Ghostbusters and aforementioned director’s comic film Red but sadly doesn’t come anywhere near the quality of any of those. When I saw the…

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Film Review: Riddick (MA15+) (USA, 2013)

Director David Twohy is back with another installment in the Riddick franchise and just in case you’d forgotten who the movie was all about; the title is a handy reminder. Riddick has a bit to live up to, considering its predecessors and the fact that big action blockbusters are all the rage at the moment. Vin Diesel once again dons his black…

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Film Review: Airborne (MA15+) (UK, 2012)

You may think you’ve seen or heard of this sort of film before, the one where a group of people are trapped in a confined spare (ie: an airplane) and all of a sudden start dying. Sometimes you can even guess who or what the cause of the mayhem is however in the case of Airborne you’ll…

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(Short) Film Review: The Anti-Social Network (PG) (Australia, 2013)

Sydney film-maker Shae-Lee Shackleford has put together a short film called The Anti-Social Network which pokes a bit of fun but also manages to highlight a growing trend in social media addiction and its impact on people’s lives. Our story follows Lucas whose life is consumed by Facebook, played by Sam Mcmillan. From waking in the morning with his phone…

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