Film Review: Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (15) (U.S.A. 2014) (Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu), The Cameo Cinema Screen One, Edinburgh, Saturday 03.01.2015 15:40

I am a great fan of this directors film from 2000, 'Amores Perros', though this is the first film that director has made since that I was intrigued enough by to wish to go and see. 

This is the film about an actor who used to play a superhero who is now pursuing putting on a credible stage production on Broadway to rescue some semblance of dignity and respect. The film also appears to be in a very flippant way to be ab out telekinesis. 

The only things that rescue this film from being complete and utter pretentious tosh are the performances by Amy Ryan, Naomi Watts, Andrea Riseborough and most notably Emma Stone. Emma Stone's performance, in the size of role she has, is really very commendable. She is easily the most naturalistic of all the cast.

It appears to me as though the director may have had a fluke back in 2000, and my resistance to his subsequent work is now reinforced. Don't waste a couple of hours of your like on this vanity project. 

Rating: 04/10.    

Film Review: Gangster Squad (15), (U.S.A. 2013) (Director: Ruben Fleischer), Thursday 10.01.2013 18:20, The Cameo Cinema, Screen One, Edinburgh

This is 'based' on the true story of the L.A.P.D. taking on mobster boss Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) in the 1940s. Despite an alluring cast which also includes Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone & Nick Nolte, this is a dreadful film. It was flashy and shiny, yet is so tediously dull and boring, that the actors felt wasted on this. The story has no depth and the dialogue wooden; it has not a single redeeming element or quality - it may as well have been a computer game.

Regardless of who you are, or what your tastes may be, don't waste your time on this nonsense.

Rating: 0/10.