304 film reviews
DESCRIPTION
304's first ever film reviews, written by Jonah Mayfield and designed by Jonah Horne. Printed in a dark room, as an image; this gives the magazine a very different but experimental feel. Available as a hard copy get in contact with Jonah at [email protected]TRANSCRIPT
film reviews with Jonah Mayfield
Top five films of 2013*
*so far
S t a r T r e k : I n t o t h e D a r k n e s s
You’ve got to hand it to JJ Abrams, he sure
knows how to craft polished and impressive
Sci-Fi. His follow-up to 2009’s reboot doesn’t
exactly go where no film has boldly gone
before, but it’s a sturdy and well-oiled machine
that’s powered by the electricity of Benedict
Cumberbatch’s performance as the mysterious
villain. It seems that Star Wars might be in safe
hands after all.
Director: J.J Abrams
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto,
Benedict Cumberbatch
Release Date: 16 May 2013
C o m p li a n c e
Set almost entirely within a greasy fast-food
outlet, Craig Zobel’s controversial thriller is
quite the opposite of comfortable viewing. It
puts the audience through the meat grinder
as its skin-crawling true events unfold and
with perfectly judged performances from
its ensemble the sense of authenticity is
maintained throughout. It asks interesting
moral questions about authority and morality
and as a result it’s one of the most challenging
films of the year.
Director: Craig Zobel
Starring: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker,
Pat Healy
Release Date: 22 March 2013
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D j a n g o U n c h a i n e d
Tarantino’s Spaghetti Western (or ‘Southern’)
is hardly a step forward, but it’s certainly a
ballsy and blood-spattered return to form. It’s
a straightforward and old-fashioned revenge
flick that’s more concerned with being fun
than thoughtful but with explosive set-pieces
and hilariously over-the-top performances it
delivers by the barrel load.
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz,
Leonardo DiCaprio
Release Date: 18 January 2013
Z e r o D a r k T h i r t y
Here’s a film that’s divided audiences and
understandably so. Kathryn Bigelow’s fierce
retelling of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden
could quite easily be labelled as patriotic with
its heavy focus on the American perspective
on events, but it hardly glorifies the actions
of its characters. On the contrary, it’s an
ugly, visceral and pulse-racingly intense
spectacle but, more importantly, it’s a vital and
memorable cinematic experience.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong,
Joel Edgerton
Release Date: 11 January 2013
2
A P l a c e B e y o n d t h e P i n e s
Director: Derek Cianfrance Starring: Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, Bradley Cooper
Release Date: 12 April 2013
Derek Cianfrance has come leaps and bounds since his domestic drama Blue Valentine and
the sprawling epic The Place Beyond the Pines is proof of that. The film ambitiously stretches
over a timeframe of fifteen years making it feel like a compressed mini-series, but despite its
intimidating length it’s a rich and absorbing piece of work. The performances are pitch perfect
and racked with emotion, the cinematography is stunning and the score is achingly beautiful.
Suffice to say it’s the finest piece of filmmaking 2013 has seen thus far, but who knows what
could top it.
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