Tag Archives: Musical

Review in Brief: A Star is Born (2018)

Posted on March 12, 2019 by

For his control over A STAR IS BORN’s live performance scenes alone, Bradley Cooper should have been nominated for Best Director at the Oscars. I guess he’ll have to be content with his directorial debut just getting nominations for Best … Continue reading →

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Review: Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Posted on January 16, 2019 by

Like everyone who’s reviewed this what I’m going to ask is (brace yourself) is MARY POPPINS RETURNS practically perfect in every way? Not quite, but its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses and its style and intentions are quite admirable. The … Continue reading →

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30s Review: The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Posted on August 31, 2018 by

A couple of weekends back I attended my first ever outdoor film screening as part of Film 4’s Summer Screen at Somerset House in London. It was a dream-themed double-bill of LABYRINTH followed by what I think most of the … Continue reading →

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Review: The Lure (2015)

Posted on May 30, 2018 by

Mermaid horror-musical THE LURE is something else. Mostly because it’s a mermaid horror-musical, and I, like many others I’m sure, never thought I’d ever watch, let alone want or need, such a thing. It’s also apparently the first proper musical … Continue reading →

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Review in Brief: Sing (2016)

Posted on August 9, 2017 by

SING is a pleasant surprise. It may be a clichéd underdog/competition story retold with singing animals, but it’s got a lot of pep and ends up being the most soulful and best-realised animations Illumination have produced so far. The characters are … Continue reading →

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Review: Ted 2 (2015)

Posted on January 19, 2016 by

It would be nice if TED 2 avoided the comedy sequel trap of doing the same thing again only bigger and less funny. It doesn’t. This is first-draft “that’ll do” comedy with recycled FAMILY GUY riffs to fill in the … Continue reading →

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Review: Into the Woods (2014)

Posted on February 14, 2015 by

Musicals, like comedy films, are very difficult to review. Musical taste, just like what makes you laugh, is such a subjective thing. Generally you’re either a Stephen Sondheim fan or you’re not. For me, INTO THE WOODS isn’t a great … Continue reading →

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Review: Begin Again (2013)

Posted on November 17, 2014 by

There’s a scene early on in BEGIN AGAIN where Mark Ruffalo’s ramshackle record producer Dan shows obvious physical pain at listening to the bilge that are the demo tapes he is sent as he is stuck in busy city traffic … Continue reading →

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Review: Frozen (2013)

Posted on April 13, 2014 by

The first half of FROZEN is pretty near perfect. It’s dark, soulful and bold, some of the best work Disney has ever produced. The film becomes more conventional as it goes on, but you can quite easily forgive any film … Continue reading →

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Review: Muppets Most Wanted (2014)

Posted on April 7, 2014 by

Like they say in the opening number, sequels are rarely as good as the first film – does it make it less so if it’s pointed out in song? After singing about dull and pointless sequels, MUPPETS MOST WANTED threatens … Continue reading →

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