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Episode 4

Film reviews. Claudia Winkleman and Danny Leigh look at George Clooney's World War II comedy-drama The Monuments Men and Nick Frost gets his dancing shoes on in Cuban Fury.

Claudia Winkleman and Danny Leigh review World War II comedy-drama The Monuments Men, which features an impressive ensemble cast and is directed by - and stars - George Clooney.

Plus, Nick Frost gets his groove and dancing shoes on for salsa dancing comedy Cuban Fury and French director Claire Denis directs dark family drama Bastards.

30 minutes

Last on

Tue 18 Feb 2014 00:20

Reviews of Monuments Men

Reviews of Monuments Men

Claudia: It’s a boring watch, which it shouldn’t be.

Ìý

Danny: I’m not convinced this is the film George Clooney wanted to make. It can’t be. He never really gets hold of the tone of it. It veers away from the tone of the Dirty Dozen and headsÌýtowards ‘Allo Allo.’ It’s like it’s had the drama surgically removed so you don’t care.

Ìý

Xan: There’s a great film to be made about this subject – this isn’t that film. It’s not necessary a bad film, but it’s weirdly listless. You’ve got this great band of brothers, but they’re all at half-speed. It’s not quite there. It’s 60% of a film.

Reviews of Cuban Fury

Reviews of Cuban Fury

Claudia: I found it moving. It’s veryÌýfunny.

Ìý

Xan: It’s a film that clicks its heels, rattles its castanets, and then falls flat on his face. Nick Frost is a purely likeable presence, but it feels very thin and overstretched. It feels like a pilot for a TV show that wasn’t picked up. But it’s made with heart. They play it like they mean it.

Ìý

Danny: The cast is packed with people you enjoy spending the time with, but they don’t get much to do. What they do, they do with panache. This film looks great on paper – you can see why the idea took route, but it doesn’t quite click into place.

Reviews of Her

Reviews of Her

Claudia: Such a beautiful film and totally believable. It’s incredibly original and bathed in this beautiful light. It’sÌýtwo hours long, I’d have watched another three hours.

Ìý

Xan: Spike It’s got this fantastic, weightless, ‘sunny delight’ vibe which, in another directors hands, could be this dystopian terrible sci-fi tale.

Ìý

Danny: Not just a wonderful movie, but three wonderful movies. It’s a love story, inside a comedy, inside a sci-fi. As a sci-fi it works, because we’re already in this world where everyone dates online and checks their phones every five minutes, but as a love story it works because it’s sweet and soulful.

Reviews of Bastards

Reviews of Bastards

Xan: We all know the experience of arriving late to a film where you don’t know what’s going on and you’re trying frantically to catch up – that’s Ìýthe experience you have, very deliberately, with watching Bastards. Claire Denis is brilliant at this, but she almost trips herself up. She’s so intent on keeping us in the dark that eventually, when she pulls back the curtain and we see what this film is, it has to be something great to justify, and when it’s not, you’re let down.

Ìý

Danny: Claire Denis gets a film noir and breaks it into puzzle pieces, throws it in the air and it’s up to the viewer to piece it together. While that’s happening, we’re left with ambience and atmosphere – this nocturnal Paris, filled with dread and gloom, which is incredibly good, but the problems start when the story starts assembling, because then it feels quite hokey.

Also out this week...

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8 Minutes Idle (15)

Based upon Matt Thorne's award-winning novel about life in a call centre, "Eight Minutes Idle" is a warped urban comedy about what it really means to put your life 'on hold.'

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Bette Bourne: It Goes With The Shoes (TBC)

Documentary which tells the story of gay rights icon, Bette Bourne, who took on the establishment with high heels and lipstick, playing a vital role in cracking open society in the 70s and 80s.

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Endless Love (12A)

The story of a privileged girl and a charismatic boy whose instant desire sparks a love affair made only more reckless by parents trying to keep them apart.

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The Lego Movie (U)

An ordinary LEGO figure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBUilder, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil LEGO tyrant from gluing the universe together.

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Love Is In The Air (TBC)

Antoine is a lawyer filming in New York. On his way back t oFrance for the final round of a job interview, Antoine finds himself sitting right next to his ex-girlfriend Julie.

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Tinkerbell And The Pirate Fairy (U)

When a misunderstood dust-keeper fairy named Zarina steals Pixie Hollow’s all-important Blue Pixie Dust and flies away to join the pirates of Skull Rock, TinkerBell and her fairy friends must embark on an adventure with friends to retrieve it.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Claudia Winkleman
Presenter Danny Leigh
Series Producer Howard Brenner
Executive Producer Basil Comely

Broadcasts

  • Tue 11 Feb 2014 23:10
  • Tue 11 Feb 2014 23:40
  • Tue 18 Feb 2014 00:20