Film

27/03/2016

 

"An origins story ripe with innocence and loss, this anime-inflected treat harks back to Disney’s big-hearted heritage even as it looks forward towards new worlds of innovation."

 

Mark Kermonde, guardian.com

 

Film

03/01/2015

 

“Here is an unexpectedly charming, moving and powerfully acted film about the enigma that is Stephen W Hawking…”  

 

Peter Bradshaw, theguardian.com

 

Film

05/01/2014

 

Team Jackson looks outside the novel’s narrative (which, while quicker than Rings, is still rich in detail and packed with incident) to the Tolkienverse yonder, and unashamedly treats The Hobbit as a prequel in which the return of Sauron The Deceiver is foreshadowed ominously. 

 

Dan Jolin, Empire

 

Film

15/12/2013

 

Alfonso Cuarón's glorious creation, less sci-fi and more a thriller set in space, makes you breathless with excitement

 

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

 

Film

25/11/2013

 

The sequel to the Hunger Games may smack of second helpings, but it nonetheless remains surprisingly tasty

 

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

 

Book

05/11/2012

 

"An irresistible proposition ... an insight into the life and mindset of a professional athlete. Anon shows us something more real: the myths, absurdity, frailty and futility that are the constant companions of the all or nothing, four yearly bid for sporting immortality"

 

John Crace, Guardian.co.uk

 

Book

28/02/2012

 

...enthralling, imaginative and creepy...”

 

Los Angeles Times, http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/

 

Film

29/08/2011

 

"It's a smart and highly entertaining popcorn thriller from British-born director Rupert Wyatt, cheerfully satirical in the tradition of this movie series, yet unpretentious at the same time."

 

Peter Bradshaw, guardian.co.uk

 

Film

17/07/2011

 

"From the sinister opening sequence – in which students are marched rank-and-file through a misty courtyard, surrounded by a horde of cloaked Dementors – to the monumental closing battle that reduces it to smouldering rubble, this certainly isn’t the warm, fuzzy home-from-home we’re used to."

 

Richard Jordan, TotalFilm.co.uk

 

Film

15/05/2011

 

A woozy mix of hard-as-nails actioner and modern-day fairytale, there are times when this surreal trek across Europe feel as if Hans Christian Andersen has rewritten The Bourne Identity.

 

James Mottram, totalfilm.com

 

Book

01/01/2011

 

'I was completely absorbed by the complexities of this Sweden-set page-turner with its unlikely heroine - the book is on one level a gripping thriller, on another a compelling morality tale about the abuse of power'

 

Vince Cable, Guardian

 

Film

08/12/2010

 

Let it be said straight away that the seventh film in the Harry Potter series, by now a predictably reliable brand, achieves precisely what it sets out to do, laying the groundwork for next year’s final episode in this decade-long franchise.

 

David Gritten, www.telegraph.co.uk

 

Book

30/11/2010

 

Several cuts above most thrillers...intelligent, complex, with a gripping plot and deeply intruiging characters.

 

Philip Pullman

 

Film

23/07/2010

 

Christopher Nolan returns to the audacious concepts and narrative trickery of Memento with this slippery and cerebral summer blockbuster

 

Xan Brooks, guardian.co.uk

 

Film

23/07/2010

 

Pixar's greatest characters are back. We've been waiting 11 years for Toy Story 3. But we never imagined it would be this good.

 

Ed Holden, msn.co.uk movies

 

Film

04/07/2010

 

Twi-hards and dragged-along-boyfriends, rejoice! After the ponderous, dreary New Moon, The Twilight Saga has rediscovered its bite with a flick that ups the action, sex, pace and humour and ditches the constipated moping, flat gloss and atrocious CGI. Yay!

 

Total Film

 

Book

04/07/2010

 

The suspense is there in what is easily his most recongisably 'back to form' novel since The Firm. Grisham has returned with a vengeance to his trademark territory: the grim world of corporate law and the sinister machinations of the men on its fringes.

 

The Times

 

Film

31/12/2009

 

""Avatar" is not simply a sensational entertainment, although it is that. It's a technical breakthrough. It has a flat-out Green and anti-war message. It is predestined to launch a cult."

 

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times

 

Book

19/08/2009

 

"Adventure comes no more rugged than RACE TO THE POLE, where James Cracknell and Ben Fogle battle the elements to beat a tough Norwegian team and conquer Antarctica, almost a century after Amundsen and Scott"

 

The Times

 

Book

10/05/2009

 

"An epic adventure"

 

Andy McNab

 

Book

09/05/2009

 

"A deep book filled with insight and encouragement"

 

Booklist

 

Book

17/04/2009

 

"The Boat Race is the most divisive event in rowing...an extraordinary and gripping story of a battle between brothers."

 

Sir Matthew Pinsent

 

Film

07/04/2009

 

'The rising star Emily Blunt plays the cloistered young monarch with a schoolgirlish playfulness and a lively spirit; Rupert Friend brings a poetic pallor and an endearing awkwardness to Albert.'

 

Wendy Ide, timesonline.com

 

Book

11/01/2009

 

"Don't underestimate what an achievement this work is.  The University boat clubs are very tight, closed circles and it speaks volumes for the author that he has become so trusted a member as to be allowed to articulate the reality of a private season."

 

Peter Drury, ITV Commentator

 

Book

10/08/2008

 

"When she woke up, she went to the window and watched the sun go and down, and felt homesick for the first time since she's arrived, a sense of the vastness of India all around her..."

 

Cover caption

 

Book

10/08/2008

 

"Perfect for thriller fans and history buffs alike. Fabulous plot twists"

 

David Morrell, author of THE PROTECTOR

 

Film

27/07/2008

 

"What did we just see!? The guy flipped his car sideways over the top of the bad guy’s car so he could beat the bulletproof glass by shooting through the sunroof in mid air! Wow!"

 

Ed Holden, www.msn.co.uk

 

Film

19/07/2008

 

"It isn't as good as the first film, but children will enjoy it and there's a profusion of special effects."

 

Phillip French, www.theguardian.co.uk

 

Book

19/07/2008

 

"Brilliantly absorbing...Richly evocative and full of compelling twists and turns"

 

RED

 

Book

07/07/2008

 

"Immensely appealing.  All but sings with zest for live...could hardly be more engaging, shrewd and winningly perceptive."

 

Sunday Times

 

Film

11/06/2008

 

"Coming very much from the school of 'give them what they want', this is possibly the only TV tie-in film to successfully transplant the essence of the small screen hit onto the bigger canvas."

 

Channel 4 reviews

 

Book

05/06/2008

 

"A freewheeling road trip in search of non-corporate USA"

 

Cover caption

 

Book

05/06/2008

 

"In other hands this would be a conventional historical romance.  But Ms Gregory uses her historical knowledge of the haves and the have-nots of those times to weave a much more subtle and exciting story"

 

Daily Express

 

Book

01/05/2008

 

"Empires crumble, hearts are broken"

 

The Times

 

Book

30/04/2008

 

"It's remarkable.  It's like a condensed history of Afghanistan, mixed with a Shakespearean tale of friendship and love...brilliant"

 

Ben Fogle, Daily Express

 

Book

10/04/2008

 

"Two sisters competing for the greatest prize...the love of a king"

 

Cover caption

 

Book

09/04/2008

 

"Tender and insightful"

 

Observer

 

Book

08/03/2008

 

"A triumph"

 

Financial Times

 

Book

03/03/2008

 

"Richly accomplished...Dazzling"

 

Sunday Times

 

Book

01/03/2008

 

"The most insightful of the post-Olympic books in which the super human rower demonstrates a reflectiveness that is rare amongst sportspeople.  He writes superbly."

 

Simon O'Hagan, Independent On Sunday

 

Film

05/02/2008

 

"The truth is, the original Belles Of St Trinian's (1954) would eat these newbies for breakfast. As the school's headmistress, only Rupert Everett shows true bulldog spirit, but it would be a stretch to see him back for a second term."

 

Stella Papamichael, www.bbc.co.uk/films/

 

Musical

01/02/2008

 

"Some will prefer the slick grandiosity of Peter Jackson's films; others will sneer at the very idea of singing hobbits. It's their loss. Warchus and his team have a created a brave, stirring, epic piece of popular theatre that, without slavishly adhering to J.R.R. Tolkien's novels, embraces their spirit. The show has charm, wit, and jaw-dropping theatrical brio; crucially, it also has real emotional heft."

 

Sam Marlowe, The Times Online

 

Book

01/02/2008

 

The eighteenth-century woman is a neglected creature but, in the figure of her heroine, Phillippa Gregory has defined a certain kind of wilderness...  This is a novel written from instinct, not out of calculation, and it shows.

 

Peter Ackroyd, The Times

 

Film

14/01/2008

 

"Disney takes a pop at its own back catalogue in Enchanted, a sprightly spoof on fairy-tale lore that both embraces and subverts its cartoon clich鳢

 

Neil Smith, BBC Film Reviews

 

Book

13/01/2008

 

"A page-turner and a heartbreaker, a tour de force of knotted tension and buried anguish"

 

Time

 

Film

09/12/2007

 

Free will is the object of the game in The Golden Compass, a big budget exercise in orienteering where witches and polar bears point the way to enlightenment. You'll have to look between the CG seams to find the original intent of Philip Pullman's atheistic novel, but this isn't the overriding problem. It's that writer/director Chris Weitz doesn't convey a strong enough sense of purpose. Thank goodness for the star presence of Dakota Blue Richards.Free will is the object of the game in The Golden Compass, a big budget exercise in orienteering where witches and polar bears point the way to enlightenment. You'll have to look between the CG seams to find the original intent of Philip Pullman's atheistic novel, but this isn't the overriding problem. It's that writer/director Chris Weitz doesn't convey a strong enough sense of purpose. Thank goodness for the star presence of Dakota Blue Richards.

 

Stella Papamichael, www.bbc.co.uk/films/

 

Book

20/11/2007

 

"For sheer pace and percussive drama it will take a lot of beating"

 

Sunday Times

 

Film

22/10/2007

 

"Every shot glitters with detail, every character hints at volumes of tales about them that could be told..."

 

Ann Kelly, BBC Film Reviews

 

Film

15/10/2007

 

"A sewer rat working undercover at a posh restaurant is a pretty icky premise, but in Pixar's latest and possibly greatest film, you'll be rooting for the rodent."

 

Paul Arendt, BBC Film Reviews

 

Film

13/10/2007

 

"It's a romantic comedy told from the male perspective, but Pegg, who also co-wrote the script, isn't afraid to reveal a soft, squidgy centre - and we don't just mean the beer gut. Plenty of dry, British humour serves as a counterbalance and makes for a surprising big-screen directorial debut by former 'Friend' (and Pegg's pal) David Schwimmer."

 

Stella Papamichael, www.bbc.co.uk/films/

 

Film

26/09/2007

 

You could throw a rock at a video shop and hit a movie about the joys of parenting, but very few of those gooey family flicks deal with the actual business of making the baby. That's where Knocked Up comes in. Delving fearlessly beneath the duvet of taboo, Judd Apatow's superb comedy follows the relationship between slobby stoner Ben (Seth Rogen) and go-getting TV exec Alison (Katharine Heigl) from a drunken one-night-stand to nursery shopping and labour pains.

 

Paul Arendt, BBC Film Reviews

 

Film

20/08/2007

 

'Norton's trademark intensity is perfectly suited to the enigmatic character of Eisenheim. He defies understanding as much as his impressive tricks. And as befits the subject, The Illusionist looks wonderful. Director Neil Burger captures every scene in an evocative daguerreotype tone. Not everyone will be taken in by the plot's final twist, but even if you guess how Eisenheim does it, you'll be won over by his showmanship.'

 

Matt McNally, BBC Film Reviews

 

Film

10/08/2007

 

For 18 years The Simpsons have been successfully putting the fun into dysfunction on our TV sets. On the big screen, however, the 'funk' comes across almost as strongly. It could be the pig poop that Homer fatefully dumps into Springfield's lake, or it could be the sweaty desperation of eleven writers (including series creator Matt Groening) all sat in a room, struggling to fill 90 minutes of Movie. Okay, so it's quite funny, but sometimes concentration drifts and - mmm, popcorn...

 

Stella Papamichael, www.bbc.co.uk/films/

 

Book

29/07/2007

 

 

A N Wilson, The Sunday Times

 

Film

16/07/2007

 

Order of the Phoenix is entertaining enough, but it feels like a stopgap, a stepping stone to later, greater thrills. It takes an awfully long time to get going, but fans will be rewarded with an action-packed final third full of duelling wizards, portentous prophecies and Helena Bonham Carter giving plenty of loony as Bellatrix Lestrange.

 

Paul Arendt, BBC Film Reviews

 

Film

15/07/2007

 

'It is a truth universally acknowledged that the original Die Hard was one of the greatest action movies of the 80s, so it's no surprise that Len Wiseman's Die Hard 4.0 doesn't cut it as an heir to the throne. Or should that be sweaty vest?'

 

Laura Bushell, BBC Film Reviews

 

Film

12/07/2007

 

The summer of threequels continues with Shrek The Third, a serviceable CGI toon with enough wry humour to keep weary parents amused.

 

Paul Arendt, BBC Film Reviews

 

Film

08/07/2007

 

"While Dead Man's Chest was a damp squib enlivened by a giant squid, the third entry in the Pirates series clunks like a rusty anchor. Captain Jack (Johnny Depp) and the rest of the Black Pearl's crew may return, but director Gore Verbinski cares more about tying up every loose end before the bum-numbing, 169 minute running time expires. Talky, action-lite and saved only by Depp's increasingly cavalier performance, it's less At World's End than When Will It End?"

 

Jamie Russell, BBC Film Reviews

 

Book

28/05/2007

 

'Trust my snap judgement, buy this book: you'll be delighted'

 

The New York Times

 

Film

07/04/2007

 

"A scene where guns are silenced by the sound of a crying baby cuts straight to the heart of the matter and lingers afterwards. Like the film on the whole, the surrounding noise can be distracting, but there are deeper truths that strike a chord."

 

Stella Papamichael, www.bbc.co.uk/films/

 

Film

24/03/2007

 

'Pedro Almod󶡲 gets back in touch with his feminine side in Volver, the Spanish helmer's most femme fable since 1999's All About My Mother. One of that film's stars, Pen鬯pe Cruz, here takes centre stage as a domestic drudge caught up in family strife - including the return of her supposedly dead mother (Almod󶡲 veteran Carmen Maura). Despite dwelling on death, there's plenty of life in this mix of tears and laughter, although the style's subdued compared with the writer/director's earlier melodramas.'

 

Matthew Leyland, BBC Film Reviews

 

Book

15/11/2006

 

"A seamless comedy of manners."

 

Independent

 

Book

19/09/2006

 

'Hugely enjoyable ... yields a golden harvest of family truths'

 

Daily Telegraph

 

Film

20/08/2006

 

A SLICE OF PURE CHEESECAKE

 

Paul Arendt, www.bbc.co.uk/films

 

Book

07/08/2006

 

"The novel is slick and pacey and the author has done her research...if you like a brisk read with a soft centre, then this is the novel for you."

 

The Sunday Times

 

Book

24/07/2006

 

"Wonky, sexy, incredible"

 

The Times

 

Film

24/05/2006

 

"It is a truism that good books make bad films, and vice versa. By that reckoning, Da Vinci ought to be an excellent film, since the prose is awful and the plot is tremendous. But something has gone badly wrong."

 

Paul Arendt, bbc.co.uk

 

Book

09/04/2006

 

'Is as full of warmth and jokes and humanity as you could wish.'

 

Time Out

 

Book

07/03/2006

 

'Funny, exciting, imaginative and energetic.'

 

Tim Lott, Evening Standard

 

Film

11/12/2005

 

In short, it's a focussed, efficient film that lacks charm but gets the job done.

 

Paul Arendt, Film 2005

 

Film

15/10/2005

 

'It's a lovely family film packed with cheeky gags and buoyant fun, like the best-ever Bumper Holiday edition of the Beano, with the merest hint of Viz.'

 

Peter Bradshaw - The Guardian

 

Film

01/10/2005

 

"Some of the plot links are spongy, but the central idea plays out with much wit."

 

New York Post

 

Book

18/09/2005

 

"One of those rare novels that combine brilliant plotting with sublime writing..."

 

Sunday Times

 

Book

08/12/2004

 

"Among the best of its genre to appear in recent years..."

 

New York Times Book Review