helen mirren

Uncovering Curiosities: John Mackenzie’s THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY

The British gangster film has a bad reputation. Much of this is deserved due to the shoddiness of most of these productions. However, John Mackenzie’s 1980 release The Long Good Friday is seen as one of the genre’s shining stars. Bob Hoskins [...]

May 10, 2021

Your Brain Will Hurt After Watching This FAST & FURIOUS 9 Trailer

This trailer for Fast & Furious 9 is certainly…something. There’s so much going on here that my brain can’t process the action. Any pretence that this series is based in reality is long gone – this is comic book stuff [...]

April 14, 2021

Trailer: Apple TV+ Seems To Have Missed The Point Of THE MOSQUITO COAST

Paul Theroux’s The Mosquito Coast was already adapted into a great 1986 film by Peter Weir starring Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren and River Phoenix. The film might not have been a hit at the box office, but it delivers as a powerful drama of [...]

February 20, 2021

Tore Down A La TRUMBO

A little late to the party, but Movies In Focus finally caught up with Jay Roach’s 2015 release Trumbo. It’s a great character study of the blacklisted screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo and it really delivers in setting out the details of a [...]

June 11, 2020

FAST & FURIOUS 9 Trailer: Stupid

Movies In Focus has only ever seen one instalment of the ‘Fast & Furious Saga‘ – 2015’s Fast & Furious 7 – and I enjoyed the hell out of it. This ninth instalment of the near 20 year-old franchise looks like [...]

February 1, 2020

The 2020 Golden Globes Full Nominations List

It’s easy to become cynical when you write about movies. You get to see the good, the bad and the ugly and sometimes that makes you jaded. However, there’s nothing like watching quality movies succeed and when you see the list of [...]

December 9, 2019

I Don’t Know What The Hell Is Going On With This Trailer For THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS

Who knew that 2001’s Fast and the Furious would have rumbled on to its seventh sequel – now craftily titled Fate of the Furious. I didn’t know that I’d dip into the franchise during episode 7 and enjoy the hell out of it [...]

December 12, 2016

New Trailer For TRUMBO Starring Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren And John Goodman

Trumbo gets its UK premiere at the London Film Festival. Here’s the new trailer for the 1950s set Hollywood drama. Trumbo starring Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Louie CK, Elle Fanning and John Goodman opens in the UK on February [...]

October 7, 2015

Blu-ray Review: Bob Hoskins Adds Gutsy Gangster Authenticity To THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY

April 28, 2015

London Press Conference: Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker And Helen Mirren Talk RED 2

I consider myself to be very lucky that, as a film commentator I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of interesting and talented people, as well as going to some great events. The hottest day of the year saw the UK press conference for RED 2 [...]

July 28, 2013

Review: Bruce Willis And Company Have A Blast In RED 2

Robert Schwentke’s RED appeared to come out of nowhere and unexpectedly entertain critics and audiences alike back in 2010. Now Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Mary-Louise Paker show they’re still Retired and Extremely Dangerous. [...]

July 23, 2013

New HITCHCOCK Poster, Film Enters Oscar Race

Fox Searchlight Pictures has released the first poster for director Sacha Gervasi’s Hitchcock. The film charts the making of Psycho and Hitchcock’s relationship with his wife, Alma. The drama stars Anthony Hopkins as the legendary director, [...]

September 21, 2012

Get ‘Lost’ During A 10 Night Stay In BATES MOTEL

A&E has picked up a ten episode order of Bates Motel, a new Psycho prequel series from writer/producer Carlton Cuse.According to Variety: “Bates Motel examines the formative years of iconic “Psycho” character Norman Bates, and his [...]

July 3, 2012

Review: Russell Crowe And Ben Affleck Get Political In STATE OF PLAY

State of Play is a classy piece of Hollywood filmmaking that delivers an entertaining two hours in the cinema and features enjoyable star performances from Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams. The film which is based on the British BBC [...]

April 10, 2012