DVD & Blu-ray review: I Give It a Year (15)
Olivia Colman, as an aggressive relationship counsellor, tries valiantly to rescue this contrived, occasionally witty Brit romcom.
June 8, 2013
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Olivia Colman, as an aggressive relationship counsellor, tries valiantly to rescue this contrived, occasionally witty Brit romcom.
Die Hard, possibly the most satisfying of all the Eighties actioners, is granted a fifth outing and it’s sloppy.
Spielberg’s reverential, verbose drama (pictured) expertly depicts the horse-trading, threats and charm required to persuade the House of Representatives to pass the contentious 13th Amendment. Â Â Â Â
Koichi lives in Kagoshima in the shadow of a volcano with his single mum and grandparents. He pines for his family to reunite but that’s highly unlikely, so he and his brother go on an adventure. Â Â Â Â
A Richard Curtis-ian rom-com with a misanthropic twist, I Give it a Year focuses on a pair of newlyweds, Rafe Spall and Rose Byrne, who aren’t sure whether to stay together. The problem is that we aren’t sure, either. Â Â Â Â
This solemn look at addiction never really surpasses its terrifying plane crash in the opening sequence. However, Denzel Washington (pictured), on top form, holds it ably together with a convincing performance as a sozzled pilot, Captain Whip Whitaker. Â Â Â Â
Pixar’s underwater tale, even after multiple viewings, is still a visual delight: the animation is exquisite, the script crisp (“Fish are friends, not foodâ€) and it remains a poignant examination of “letting go†of your children.    Â
Brian De Palma is often derided for being derivative – and Blow Out is partly inspired by Blow Up – but at his best (and this is his best) the director delivers a huge emotional punch.
Matthias Schoenaerts, Marion Cotillard’s beefy co-star in Rust and Bone , stars in a brooding rural crime saga from Belgium, playing a cattle farmer who deals in illegal growth hormones. Â Â Â Â
Gerard Butler hits rock bottom – even after the execrable The Ugly Truth – as a Scottish former footballer who is divorced from his soppy wife (Jessica Biel) and longs to connect with his son. So he agrees to coach his child’s soccer (it’s set in small-town USA) team, whereupon a legion of mothers (Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones) hit on the smirking lunk