Mac's Movies

UK Release Date: 24 August 1972 Certification: 15 Director: Francis Ford Coppola Cast: Marlon Brando, James Caan, Richard S. Castellona, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, Diane Keaton, Al Lettieri, Al Pacino Rating: 100% "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." Review: I was afraid that I'd come out of The Godfather  on it's 50th anniversary in the UK disappointed as it's often considered one of, if not, the greatest films ever made but gladly, that is for good reason. This is not only the best film I've ever seen but it's also one of the finest accomplishments in modern history. This is perfection, it would be a genuine challenge to discover a list that doesn't have this in their top five films of all time. I was just in awe of this masterpiece for three hours.  You can't take your eyes off the late Marlon Brando during The Godfather . He chews up scene after scene, it's the performance of a lifetime. One of the most dazzling, ...

UK Release Date: 17 August 1950 Certification: PG Director: Billy Wilder Cast: William Holden, Nancy Olsen, Erich Van Stroheim, Gloria Swanson Rating: 13% An awful waste of my time.  Review: I'll start this off by saying I know this review may be controversial as Sunset Blvd. received a total of ten Oscar nominations winning three. That praise for the noir film has continued onwards over seventy years later being present in both IMDB's and Letterboxd's top 100 films of all time. However, for me, Sunset Blvd. is a dated self-glorifying look at 1950's Hollywood.  Continuing on from that point, movies in general that praise Hollywood - essentially appealing to the masses for Oscar shouts - don't work for me. It's filmmakers making films that almost praise their own work and accomplishments. To me that's arrogant and pretentious. Because with   Sunset Blvd. there is near to no plot, the main driving force of the film is a trip down Hollywood memory lane. ...

UK Release Date: 22 April 2022 Certification: 15 Director: Tom Gormican Cast: Nicolas Cage, Tiffany Haddish, Neil Patrick Harris, Sharon Horgan, Paco León, Pedro Pascal Rating: 50% Nicolas Cage is Nick Cage. Review: I'm not a hundred percent sure where I land surrounding Nicolas Cage's acting capabilities. At times he can come across as amateurish, almost as if he isn't putting in any effort. But simultaneously, as with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent , his unique style is energetic and often quite contagious. It's the perfect casting in the most meta of roles with Nic Cage playing a glorified version of Nic Cage to the full Nic Cage in a movie about Nic Cage. His chemistry with superfan, Javi, played by Pedro Pascal makes the film. It's electric, the two actors bounce off of each other with every single line somehow creating a strong, emotional bromance-like relationship in the middle of an action-adventure comedy. Their constant back and forth had me gri...

UK Release Date: 24 February 1989 Certification: 18 Director: Michael Mann Cast: Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina, Kim Greist, Stephen Lang, Tom Noonan, William Petersen Rating:   81 % "It's just you and me now, sport." Review: I came into Manhunter as a fan of Michael Mann rather than a fan of the series of novels by Thomas Harris that centred around serial killer, Hannibal Lector. One of which later became one of the greatest and most influential films of all time - that I am still yet to see - The Silence of the Lambs . Albeit, Michael Mann is what drew me to the film, a man who is quickly becoming one of my favourite directors around. What often strikes me about Heat (a film in my personal top ten) is the colour palette on display and that was perhaps developed in one of his earlier features such as Manhunter . Each frame is visually striking - placing the Graham family scenes in a dreamlike blue, shots with 'The Tooth Fairy' in a sickly green and FB...

UK Release Date: 6 October 2006 Certification: 18 Director: Martin Scorsese Cast: Alec Baldwin, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Vera Farmiga, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, Ray Winstone Rating: 86% No better thing to say in a Boston accent than The Departed .  Review: The Departed   won four academy awards including best picture, best film editing and best director and it's Martin Scorsese's direction in  The Departed  that makes it unique compared to his other filmography. From the symbolism of certain shots to the near perfect storytelling and world building everything Scorsese does in   The Departed   has a purpose and a meaning.   The Departed continues Leonardo DiCaprio's run of films with Martin Scorsese following on from Gangs of New York and The Aviator . It's difficult to say who's performance is the greatest in The Departed with such a stellar cast but DiCaprio still shines through to display why he's one of the best a...

UK Release Date: 20 October 2000 Certification: 15 Director: Christopher Nolan Cast: Mark Boone Junior, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Guy Pearce, Stephen Tobolowsky Rating: 91% When the world met Christopher Nolan. Review: Christopher Nolan is the greatest filmmaker of all time. I don't think it's debatable. I don't think it's even close. He's so much more than a filmmaker. He's a writer, an artist, a mathematician, a scientist. For a director to be able to create something so inventive and totally original in only your second directorial outing, his first with a Hollywood budget, is utterly perplexing.  Memento is also such a pivotal film because it's the first time Christopher Nolan decided to work with his brother Jonathon Nolan. Working together with Christopher writing the screenplay and Jonathon writing a short story 'Memento Mori'. It's a well-polished script with each piece of dialogue being slick and precise. Memento is so well...

UK Release Date: 30 September 2015 Certification: 12A Director: Ridley Scott Cast: Sean Bean, Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor,  Kate Mara, Michael Peña, Sebastian Stan, Kristen Wiig, Benedict Wong Rating: 82% Bring Him Home.  Review:  The Martian , based on Andy Weir's debut science fiction novel, is Ridley Scott's best film since Gladiator . I mean no matter how good or bad the finished product is, a Ridley Scott film is always going to look out of this world - literally and metaphorically. He's able to make Mars look interesting beyond the fact that it's not Earth. He brings life to a desolate world with the vibrant oranges and the flourishes of other colours throughout the film that just pop.  Essentially, The Martian is Castaway in space. And similarly, to Tom Hanks in Castaway , Matt Damon carries the film with his performance. Playing, Mark Watney, an astronaut who finds himself stranded on Mars, having to create water an...