Charlize Theron excels as an action lead in this cold war spy story, adapted from graphic novel The Coldest City
I can’t think of any actor more deserving of their own pulpy action franchise than Charlize Theron. Having stolen Mad Max: Fury Road from Tom Hardy one-handed (literally), she is relentlessly, murderously brilliant in this adaptation of Antony Johnston’s graphic novel The Coldest City. The setting is Berlin just before the fall of the Wall; the paranoid hangover of the cold war is giving way to a new era of hungry opportunism. A British agent has been murdered; a valuable list is missing. And MI5 asset Lorraine Broughton (Theron, looking like Debbie Harry dipped in venom) is flown in to clear up the mess. There she butts heads with fellow agent David Percival (James McAvoy, skeevy-sexy, accessorised with beer sweats and casual treachery) and has a fling with...
I can’t think of any actor more deserving of their own pulpy action franchise than Charlize Theron. Having stolen Mad Max: Fury Road from Tom Hardy one-handed (literally), she is relentlessly, murderously brilliant in this adaptation of Antony Johnston’s graphic novel The Coldest City. The setting is Berlin just before the fall of the Wall; the paranoid hangover of the cold war is giving way to a new era of hungry opportunism. A British agent has been murdered; a valuable list is missing. And MI5 asset Lorraine Broughton (Theron, looking like Debbie Harry dipped in venom) is flown in to clear up the mess. There she butts heads with fellow agent David Percival (James McAvoy, skeevy-sexy, accessorised with beer sweats and casual treachery) and has a fling with...
- 8/13/2017
- by Wendy Ide
- The Guardian - Film News
The depiction of Native Americans in the movies is notorious for its reductive stereotypes. By those standards, “Mohawk,” a bloody, low-budget survival saga about members of a flailing tribe facing off against brutish American soldiers during the war of 1812, arrives like a revelation. The sophomore feature from Ted Geoghegan is a far cry from the haunted house tropes of his debut, “We Are Still Here,” but it explores a much more realistic horror — the struggle to survive against ruthless persecution, even as the future looks grim.
It’s a fast-paced action-thriller that, while rough around the edges, delivers a wild ride — and an implicit rebuke to the limitations of Hollywood storytelling.
The movie, which premiered at the 2017 Fantasia International Film Festival, revolves around the plight of Oak (Kaniehtiio Horn), a young member of the Mohawk tribe in upstate New York, and the two men with whom she enjoys a polyamorous...
It’s a fast-paced action-thriller that, while rough around the edges, delivers a wild ride — and an implicit rebuke to the limitations of Hollywood storytelling.
The movie, which premiered at the 2017 Fantasia International Film Festival, revolves around the plight of Oak (Kaniehtiio Horn), a young member of the Mohawk tribe in upstate New York, and the two men with whom she enjoys a polyamorous...
- 7/17/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
By all accounts Kaiser Wilhelm II was hardly a great leader. He put Germany onto its fateful course towards World War I and shortly after defeat was forced to abdicate the throne into exile at the secluded Netherlands mansion Huis Doorn. Alan Judd would eventually write an historical fiction novel entitled The Kaiser’s Last Kiss about the former crown holder and an incident involving the Nazis, Gestapo, and Hitler’s right-hand Heinrich Himmler—with the potential for redemption. Christopher Plummer would read said book, let his manager know of his interest, and wait ten years before another’s option lapsed so it could fall into their hands. Simon Burke would crack the screenplay, theater director David Leveaux would be hired to helm his debut, and The Exception would be born.
Plummer takes on the role of Wilhelm, now an aged master of the mansion living on the allowance of the Reich’s pity.
Plummer takes on the role of Wilhelm, now an aged master of the mansion living on the allowance of the Reich’s pity.
- 5/31/2017
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Among the many wild fight scenes in “Atomic Blonde,” one finds Charlize Theron as MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton rappelling from a balcony using an incapacitated goon as her counterweight, and that’s not even the craziest bit. Later, she battles her way through another apartment building loaded with Kgb goons, in a single, unbroken shot that careens down several flights of stairs, through the close quarters of a decrepit room, and into the confines of a speeding car. Bullets, knives and fists factor heavily into this spectacular showdown, but nothing hits harder than the camera pressing in close to Theron as she glares at one of the vanquished men and growls, “Now you’re my bitch.”
This is not only the essence of “Atomic Blonde,” but a phenomenal show-stopping moment that makes the whole gambit worthwhile. The first solo effort by “John Wick” co-director David Leitch, “Atomic Blonde” exists in...
This is not only the essence of “Atomic Blonde,” but a phenomenal show-stopping moment that makes the whole gambit worthwhile. The first solo effort by “John Wick” co-director David Leitch, “Atomic Blonde” exists in...
- 3/13/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Author: Jon Lyus
Following the success of AMC and the BBC’s The Night Manager at the Golden Globes the two networks are collaborating again to bring another of spymaster John le Carré novels to the small screen. The Tom Hiddleston starring miniseries swept the boards at the Globes last weekend, winning awards for Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman and the series itself.
Word reached us from the TCA this weekend that the production team would be reuniting to adapt le Carré ‘s The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. The 1963 novel centres around a British agent sent to East Germany as a defector to pass on information about a powerful enemy. It was made into a film in 1965, directed by Martin Ritt and starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom.
The small screen has seen its share of gripping mini series in its time, and the last few years...
Following the success of AMC and the BBC’s The Night Manager at the Golden Globes the two networks are collaborating again to bring another of spymaster John le Carré novels to the small screen. The Tom Hiddleston starring miniseries swept the boards at the Globes last weekend, winning awards for Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman and the series itself.
Word reached us from the TCA this weekend that the production team would be reuniting to adapt le Carré ‘s The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. The 1963 novel centres around a British agent sent to East Germany as a defector to pass on information about a powerful enemy. It was made into a film in 1965, directed by Martin Ritt and starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom.
The small screen has seen its share of gripping mini series in its time, and the last few years...
- 1/16/2017
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
It’s hard to imagine a more timely war film than Gavin Hood’s $13 million drone warfare drama “Eye in the Sky,” which was acquired by Bleecker Street at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015 and opened early last spring. It’s the kind of mid-budget independent actioner that we don’t get nearly enough of these days, and moviegoers ate it up: The thriller grossed nearly $19 million during its 19 weeks in theaters.
Bolstered by major star power, including Helen Mirren and the late Alan Rickman in one of his final roles, Hood’s film compellingly tackles the sensitive questions and complications of drone warfare. Using multiple points of view, the feature follows the aftermath of the murder of a high-ranking British agent by the Al-Shabaab terrorist group, kicking into motion a plan to capture and try to annihilate a pair of involved Al-Shabaab militants before they can carry out a suicide bombing.
Bolstered by major star power, including Helen Mirren and the late Alan Rickman in one of his final roles, Hood’s film compellingly tackles the sensitive questions and complications of drone warfare. Using multiple points of view, the feature follows the aftermath of the murder of a high-ranking British agent by the Al-Shabaab terrorist group, kicking into motion a plan to capture and try to annihilate a pair of involved Al-Shabaab militants before they can carry out a suicide bombing.
- 12/29/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Rebecca Clough Jan 20, 2017
As America gets its new President, we look at some excellent political drama films that may have slipped under your radar...
Political dramas can be entertaining, informative and even educational, opening up debates and offering new points of view. (When experiencing a year of tumultuous change like the one we’ve just had, they can also be a comforting reminder that, no matter what your situation, it could always be worse...) With the full whack of corruption, war, and conspiracy, here are 25 political dramas which deserve to be better known.
See related 25 underrated political thrillers 17 new TV shows to watch in 2017 Taboo episode 3 review The Girl On The Train review 25. The Marchers/La Marche (2013)
When teenager Mohamed (Tewfik Jallab) is shot by police, his friends want revenge, but he has a better idea: peaceful protest. Marching from Marseille to Paris, they band together with quite an assortment of characters along the way.
As America gets its new President, we look at some excellent political drama films that may have slipped under your radar...
Political dramas can be entertaining, informative and even educational, opening up debates and offering new points of view. (When experiencing a year of tumultuous change like the one we’ve just had, they can also be a comforting reminder that, no matter what your situation, it could always be worse...) With the full whack of corruption, war, and conspiracy, here are 25 political dramas which deserve to be better known.
See related 25 underrated political thrillers 17 new TV shows to watch in 2017 Taboo episode 3 review The Girl On The Train review 25. The Marchers/La Marche (2013)
When teenager Mohamed (Tewfik Jallab) is shot by police, his friends want revenge, but he has a better idea: peaceful protest. Marching from Marseille to Paris, they band together with quite an assortment of characters along the way.
- 12/22/2016
- Den of Geek
Silent All Quiet On The Western Front: TCM's Library of Congress Tribute [Photo: Kay Francis, Leslie Howard in British Agent.] Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 8:00 Pm The Constant Nymph (1943). A composer finds inspiration in his wife's romantic cousin. Dir: Edmund Goulding. Cast: Charles Boyer, Joan Fontaine, Alexis Smith. Bw-112 mins. 10:00 Pm Baby Face (1933). A beautiful schemer sleeps her way to the top of a banking empire. Dir: Alfred E. Green. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook. Bw-76 mins. 11:30 Pm Two Heads On A Pillow (1934). Once-married attorneys face off during a heated divorce case. Dir: William Nigh. Cast: Neil Hamilton, Miriam Jordan, Henry Armetta. Bw-68 mins. 12:45 Am All Quiet On The Western Front (1930). Young German soldiers try to adjust to the horrors of World War I. Dir: Lewis Milestone. Cast: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray. Bw-134 mins. 3:15 Am : Will Rogers Winging Around Europe (1927). Bw-0 mins. 3:30 Am...
- 9/29/2011
- Alt Film Guide
Joan Fontaine-Charles Boyer in Rare The Constant Nymph on TCM. [Photo: Miriam Jordan, Neil Hamilton in Two Heads on a Pillow.] Besides the Edmund Goulding-directed Joan Fontaine-Charles Boyer-Alexis Smith movie The Constant Nymph, other Library of Congress Film Archive entries on Turner Classic Movies tonight include Two Heads on a Pillow (1934), a B comedy directed by William Nigh, an important late silent-era director (Lon Chaney's Mr. Wu, Ramon Novarro's Across to Singapore) later stuck with second-rate fare. Apparently a sort of Adam's Rib predecessor, Two Heads on a Pillow features former silent-era leading man Neil Hamilton (Batman's Commissioner Gordon) and minor leading lady Miriam Jordan as once-married attorneys involved in a divorce case. It's probably worth watching even if only because of its cast, which also includes silent-era veterans Betty Blythe (the title role in the now-lost The Queen of Sheba) and Claire McDowell (Ramon Novarro's leprosy-stricken mom in Ben-Hur,...
- 9/29/2011
- Alt Film Guide
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