Reviews by Ed Blagrove
Neville's Island
Ed Blagrove
Tim Firth's play is one I have been meaning to catch for a few years. A friend of mine has always spoken so highly of it so when I saw that the Old Gaol were putting it on I jumped at the chance to ...
13 years ago
Neville's Island
Seize The Day - 2 Comic Plays
Ed Blagrove
A loutish car playing bass heavy music and an amusement arcade both interrupt Lance (a wonderful turn from Daniel Lawson) in his search for coins. So starts Kathryn Duffy’s one act play Treading ...
13 years ago
Seize The Day - 2 Comic Plays
Sucker Punch [12A]
Ed Blagrove
Don't worry, Zack Snyder directed this. Matthew Vaughan directed Kick-Ass. Which is excellent.
14 years ago
Sucker Punch [12A]
A View From The Bridge
Ed Blagrove
Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge isn’t perhaps the best tonic to a dreary autumn evening, the play itself being a dark and brooding study of human nature and family bonds. But the Oxford ...
14 years ago
A View From The Bridge
Inception [12A]
Ed Blagrove
Here we have something fantastic: a Hollywood film that makes you think! There are no neon, flashing signs with the plot on them, you have to listen. It's all there, but you have to ...
14 years ago
Inception [12A]
The Wolfman [15]
Ed Blagrove
Werewolves and Vampires. They seem to be everywhere these days, in cinemas at least! Wolfman is a true remake, a homage but also fresh and full of great moments. It is true that the man in the rubber ...
15 years ago
The Wolfman [15]
In the Box
Ed Blagrove
By all accounts Cricket is a Marmite sport. When discussing with friends that I was going to a Q & A session about Cricket I was greeted by some with a very enthusiastic response, with ...
15 years ago
In the Box
Transformers 2 [12A]
Ed Blagrove
If you’re looking for a true modern summer blockbuster there is nothing better than this!Revenge has a basic but driving plot, Sam finds a shard of the All Spark (the Macguffin from the first film) ...
15 years ago
Transformers 2 [12A]
Terminator: Salvation [12A]
Ed Blagrove
The Terminator was ground-breaking cinema: it is still tensely enjoyable 20-something years on and its sequel T2:Judgement Day ranks among my top 5 action films ever. T3 was a bit of a let down, with ...
15 years ago
Terminator: Salvation [12A]
Disney's Beauty And The Beast
Ed Blagrove
Near perfect as Family entertainment! This show offers magic, great vocals and some wonderful staging. 'Be Our Guest' suffers a little from not having enough bodies on stage to make it the spectacle ...
16 years ago
Disney's Beauty And The Beast
Angels and Demons [12A]
Ed Blagrove
Angels & Demons is one of the Dan Brown books I have not read so was looking forward to the film with an open mind and a clean slate. Many aspects of it are superb. Howard's direction is second ...
16 years ago
Angels and Demons [12A]
Coraline [PG]
Ed Blagrove
Based on the Novel by Neil Gaimen, Coraline follows the story of a young girl whose parents (both professional gardening writers) move to an old house due to its large garden and multiple rooms where ...
16 years ago
Coraline [PG]
Philip Pullman In Conversation
Ed Blagrove
I have been to several ‘In conversation with….’ Presentations, most recently with the enigmatic Ian Mckewan at Oxford's Literary Festival, and I have always found them enjoyable and ...
16 years ago
Philip Pullman In Conversation
Gran Torino [15]
Ed Blagrove
Go and see this. It really is superb. I found it incredibly moving and very funny in equal measures, possibly the finest film Clint Eastwood will ever be involved with.
16 years ago
Gran Torino [15]
Lesbian Vampire Killers [15]
Ed Blagrove
Is Lesbian Vampire Killers going to change your world? No. Is it going to make you question your outlook on cinematic media? No. Is it going to make you laugh? Yes.It's a Ronseal film. It does ...
16 years ago
Lesbian Vampire Killers [15]
Art
Ed Blagrove
Art is quintessentially a play about relationships. Nothing new there, but Art is about the relationships between three male friends, something not that common in theatre. The Burton Taylor is decked ...
16 years ago
Art
Twilight [12A]
Ed Blagrove
Twilight is a phenomenally successful book, especially in the States, and this movie has been made on a modest budget of around £30m.Now I will begin by admitting I am not the target ...
16 years ago
Twilight [12A]
The Spirit [12A]
Ed Blagrove
The Spirit is one of the most widely acclaimed Graphic Novels ever written. It is painted in broad reds, whites and blacks. The film is painted in a similar style.Gabriel Macht is not a name I had ...
16 years ago
The Spirit [12A]
Tropic Thunder [15]
Ed Blagrove
This is great stuff!Tropic Thunder apears to be, if you listen to the press releases coming out of Hollywood, a bit of a labour of love for Ben Stiller. He originally got the seeds of the ...
16 years ago
Tropic Thunder [15]
The Dark Knight [12A]
Ed Blagrove
Batman Begins gave us arguably the best reboot of a failing movie francise ever. The Dark Knight continues the trend set up in Begins and goes a whole yard further.We open with a different Gotham, a ...
16 years ago
The Dark Knight [12A]
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [12A]
Ed Blagrove
Much as with 'The Phantom Menace', 'Indy IV' was always going to have an almost impossible task to pull off. However I think Indy IV comes considerably closer than TPM did.It is true that ...
17 years ago
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [12A]
Terry Pratchett: Making Money
Ed Blagrove
The Studio Theatre Club are a delight to watch. It is unquestionable that they are all absolutely loving it!Briggs is, of course, the star of the show with a part practically written for him, but big ...
17 years ago
Terry Pratchett: Making Money
The Winter's Tale
Ed Blagrove
The Winter's Tale is not often performed. Maybe because it is a strange combination of the comic and tragic, or maybe because it is hard to pull off and there is easier Shakespearean fodder out ...
18 years ago
The Winter's Tale
Casino Royale [12A]
Ed Blagrove
Being a bit of an old fashioned Bond fan I was both looking forward to and slightly wary of Casino Royale. However I made myself keep an open mind… and boy am I glad I did! Here is a great film, ...
18 years ago
Casino Royale [12A]
