TEN's Movie Review Round-up

We've all been there. How many times have you watched a trailer that left you beside yourself with joy and counting down the days until the film's release, only to feel like you've been had when you see the whole thing? 

The all-star come-on for Inherent Vice brightened up the last months of 2014 no end. Here, it seemed, was another Paul Thomas Anderson treasure with the energy and wit of Boogie Nights and a coolness that would see it claim early 2015 all for itself. It's been a big January for films alright, and this is its biggest disappointment.

Adapted by Anderson from the Thomas Pynchon book of the same name, Inherent Vice has us stumbling...

Read Harry Guerin's full review here

Kingsman: The Secret Service 
3/5
Rating: 16
Starring: Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L. Jackson, Taron Egerton

Kick-Ass duo Matthew Vaughn and writing partner Jane Goldman have returned to the comic books of cult heroes Mark Millar and David Gibbons, to create a ludicrous and outrageous espionage romp that gets its gags from pastiching James Bond, while gently poking fun at sixties TV shows (The Avengers; The Prisoner). The result is surprisingly fun -  just be prepared to leave all sense of logic at the cinema door!

Colin Firth plays Harry Hart, aka agent ‘Galahad’ an impeccably dressed senior member of a highly-secret covert ops unit called the Kingsmen. With head of the organisation, Arthur, (Caine) looking to recruit new members to the elite spy team located in a secret Savile Row base, Harry uses the opportunity to repay an old debt. Enter teenage tearaway Gary ‘Eggy’ Unwin (Egerton), a young kid from the wrong side of the tracks, who quickly puts the various posh recruits in their place.

Of course, no spy action adventure would be complete without...

Read Laura Delaney's full review here

Son of a Gun
3.5/5
Rating: 15A
Starring: Brenton Thwaites, Ewan McGregor, Alicia Vikander




It's not difficult to pick holes in this film, but they're pretty much minor grouches in comparison with the two hours of fun you can have just enjoying the ride in this first full-length flick from Australian director Jules Avery.

Ewan McGregor is the budget-approving name in the cast, and here he plays Brendan, a tough Scottish gangster doing long-term porridge in a Western Australian prison that reminds me of that curious sun holiday mix of pleasant weather, dull surroundings and sociopathic tourists.

Brenton Thwaites plays JR, a young first offender who teaches Brendan a lesson in chess (to which there are several references throughout the film), before avoiding...

Read John Byrne's full review here

Seventeen years after the Matt Damon-starring gambling drama Rounders opened in cinemas, some of us still can't see John Malkovich on a TV without saying 'Pyay him. Pyay dat man hees mahney' like his character, poker player Teddy KGB. Rounders is one of those movies that you'll happily watch again if it pops up while scouring the channels late at night. The Gambler is destined to be another.

The game here is blackjack, and the guy in way over his head is Jim Bennett (Wahlberg), a literature professor whose all-or-nothing approach to life results in him owing $200,000 to a Korean gambling ring boss (Ing) and $60,000 to a loan shark (The Wire star Williams). He has seven days to pay them both but doesn't seem too bothered about the consequences. Not yet, anyway. Ah yes, that other fine line - the one between cool and stupid.