The Godfather is undoubtedly the most acclaimed gangster film out there, but I'd take Once Upon a Time in America over it any day. In fact, I'd take Leone's film over any film full stop. It's just a beautiful film. It's a film about friendship, love, greed and time – all the good stuff. One of the most audacious things in the film...

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As if The Simpsons couldn’t make it any clearer, Robert De Niro’s Max Cady is a cartoon villain. With his outrageous accent, his muscular physique, his frightening intelligence and his ability to get the shit kicked out of him and come back harder and tougher, he’s completely removed from reality. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t fun. I mean, in the aforementioned scene...

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It's customary to bash remakes and hail the originals, especially in light of the creative stagnation that rules modern Hollywood, but Cape Fear is a case of the original being the inferior version. The 1962 film is far more simplistic, the family under threat is bland and Samuel Bowden is cleaner than clean. In Scorsese's film, Sam was Cady's lawyer and suppressed evidence,...

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Anyone who says the opening to The Deer Hunter is too long or that it’s boring is, quite frankly, an idiot. The opening, aside from being an amazing piece of cinema, is what makes us care so deeply about the characters. If it were shorter it would lessen the impact of the final scenes.The most important part of the beginning is to get...

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Panic Room is one of those films where the premise is better than the execution. That's not to say it's a bad film, certainly not, but it does suffer somewhat from a mediocre script, thin characterization and a lackluster ending. The main problem I have with Panic Room is how dumb the three thieves are. They enter the film like The Three Stooges,...

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First things first – 28 Weeks Later isn’t as good as the film that preceded it. Its narrative is a lot more flimsy, the characters aren’t as engaging and it relies more heavily on cheap shock tactics to provide thrills and chills. But that being said, it is a decent sequel. It certainly doesn’t embarrass itself.One of the most unfortunate things about 28...

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Most people see Full Metal Jacket as a film of two halves. They see the two different parts (before and after training) as pieces that don't fit. But they do, because the film is about how an ordinary person becomes a killer, and the film simply wouldn't function with either section missing.One of the most telling things is that at the beginning Joker...

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Troy is an incredibly mediocre film. It neither offends nor inspires. Instead it leaves you feeling like an opportunity's been wasted – the money is there, but the will and the talent are sadly missing.Apart from the leaden script and nondescript direction, the film's main deficiency is Orlando Bloom. The man has always been a hopeless actor, but here he plumbs new depths,...

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It’s always a bit worrying when someone tells you that they deeply identify with Travis Bickle. What, so you enjoy taking women to porno films, have a gun fetish and enjoy befriending 12-year-old prostitutes? If you say so, mate.But seriously, although it’s a bit disturbing when people tell you they agree wholeheartedly with Travis Bickle’s outlook on life (“someday a real rain will...

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M. Night Shyamalan is such a frustrating director. Here’s a man with a few of the skills necessary to be an exceptional filmmaker – he has a good eye, an ability to create mood and he usually comes up with interesting concepts – but he keeps pissing it away on pieces of crap. He just can’t seem to shake off The Sixth Sense...

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It's a sad indictment of modern mainstream cinema when Pirates of the Caribbean becomes a smash hit. Now that's not to say it's a terrible film – it's entirely watchable. No, it's just that it's so mediocre.What hurts the film most is the casting of its hero and heroine. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley are just incredibly bland. They're two actors who although...

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What's worse, a paedophile or a self-righteous teenage girl? I'm going to go with the self-righteous teenage girl, because while a paedophile is a pervert and a wrecker of lives, at least he isn't an annoying harpie – women don't half go on when they have a bee in their bonnet.There's a point in Hard Candy where, after lots of abuse and torture,...

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I like the fact that so many people tried to get themselves removed from the Borat film. Look, you got caught being a sexist, or a racist, or a gigantic pussy – just live with it; that’s the whole point of Borat, to expose people’s prejudices and idiocy with a sly wink of complicity. Sure Sacha Baron Cohen helped put the noose round...

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Deliverance is more than just a guy getting raped by a hillbilly. It's about man versus nature. It's about survival. It's about self-preservation. It's about how we deal with traumatic events. But, yeah, it's also about a man getting ass-raped by a grinning redneck with a pig fetish…All too often people see nature as something beautiful, something charming and wonderful. But what they...

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