Geek of Oz

A British drug lord tries to sell off his highly profitable empire to a dynasty of Oklahoma billionaires. The Gentlemen heralds Guy Ritchie's return to his well trodden tropes of fast-talking, well-tailored British gangsters and for me it worked to great effect. Your mileage may vary on Ritchie as a director, but you can’t deny that over the years he has cranked out some real bangers. Now let me be very clear, The Gentlemen is loosely based on the model which made his other gangster films successful. And when I say loosely based, it’s probably safer to say it’s the exact same model. The only real key difference is the pacing, which is considerably slower than his usual offerings. I admired the sense of restraint on display, for me it showed Ritchie’s growth as a storyteller. The quick editing and frantic action, has been replaced with a more methodical way or wandering through the narrative. For the most part, the film centres around street-savvy journo Fletcher...

Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar  is a string of expanding propositions, which if you’re onboard you’ll be treated to a fascinating film but if you’re not, then oh boy Houston we have a problem. It will more than likely be one of the years more divisive films, given its heavy reliance on scientific theories and bold choices in the storytelling department. I’m well entrenched in Camp Yay! on this one, but in fairness like most of Nolan’s work, the film has its issues. This isn’t your typical blockbuster fare, in fact you’ll have to do a little work while you’re watching it. It’s more like sitting through a lecture from a really cool teacher who’s spruiking that learning can be fun. Pretty sure this'll be near the top of my best films for the year list. Set in a not-too-distant future the world’s resources are quickly running out. Mankind is forced to explore other galaxies to find planets that may be suitable for colonisation. After receiving a strange message Cooper (Mat...

For his latest film, The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese adheres to the old adage: ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. The diminutive maestro has been cranking out epic crime films for the past forty years. The Wolf of Wall Street is draped in debauchery and proudly indulges in oodles of sex, drugs and naughtiness whilst still acting as a searing indictment of what damage Wall Street traders were able to do throughout the late 80s and into the 90s. This is the kind of film which will either make you hate corporate corruption or go out and buy some shares. Based upon Jordan Belfort’s autobiography of the same name, the film tracks his rise to prominence off the back of some ingenious yet shady loopholes within the stock market. On the way up the corporate food chain, Belfort brings along his closest friends Donnie (Jonah Hill), Brad (Jon Bernthal), Chester (Kenneth Choi) and Nicky (P. J Byrne), all good New Jersey boys who blindly follow the charismatic Belfort through thick...

Now we all know Matthew McConaughey likes to take his shirt off on screen (and frequently off it too – if the trash mag pics are anything to go by), so it wasn’t a huge suspension of disbelief to watch him in Magic Mike – a film about male strippers. The tone of this film is set from the very first scene where Sheriff McConaughey is standing on a stage appropriately dressed in a leather vest and matching pants, dictating the provocative ‘house rules’ to a room full of ecstatic women. It’s fun, cheeky, shallow and entertaining, but leaves you with a vague sense of discomfort.