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July 2013

A Psychedelic Trip, Down History Lane

MOVIE REVIEW
A Field in England (2013)

A-field-in-england-movie-review-reece-shearsmith-peter-ferdinando
Dean Rogers/Picturehouse Entertainment

Ben Wheatley has steadily established himself as a director of considerable craft, boundless diversity and unabashed ambition; seemingly as comfortable helming an occultist horror thriller (“Kill List”) as he is a pitch-black comedy (“Sightseers”). For his fourth full feature, Mr. Wheatley turns his hand to 17th-century English Civil War psychedelia with “A Field in England,” a baffling but brave sojourn into the fantastical.

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The Lashing Samurai

MOVIE REVIEW
The Wolverine (2013)

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Ben Rothstein/20th Century Fox

Be it James Mangold or Darren Aronofsky in the director’s chair, Christopher McQuarrie or Mark Bomback on script writing duties, this is very much Hugh Jackman’s vision of how Wolverine should be.

The actor has pushed hard for this particular version of Wolverine to be committed to film, and now his wish has been granted. Supposedly based on a collection of comics from Frank Miller and Chris Claremont loosely known as the Japan Saga, “The Wolverine” transports Logan to Tokyo where he clashes both with the culture and the local yakuza.

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Rovers Return

MOVIE REVIEW
The World's End (2013)

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Laurie Sparham/Focus Features

“The World’s End” is the third part in a loose trilogy of films directed by Edgar Wright, which started with “Shaun of the Dead” and continued with “Hot Fuzz.” This new film is a sort-of sequel to “Shaun of the Dead,” both for the characters, who are taking refuge in a pub from hordes of zombie-like people, and for the filmmakers, representing a homecoming for the director after “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” and for stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost after “Paul.” The characters in “The World’s End” are older and more world-weary, though, with the disappointments and missed opportunities of their lives pressing on their minds as they approach middle age.

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