Filmphonic.comTextTransparentBlack_356x40
twitter facebook rss

The Danish Girl (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on January 2, 2016

Review 120min Genre:      Fact-based, Drama, Romance Director:   Tom Hooper Cast:        Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard…and more Writers:    Lucinda Coxon & David Ebershoff -Synopsis- Transgender period drama about the unconventional love story of married Danish artists in early 20th century Europe, who struggle to cope with the husband’s transition into one of the earliest identified […]

Joy (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on December 31, 2015

Review 124min Genre:    Fact-based, Comedy, Drama Director: David O. Russell Cast:      Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper…and more Writers:  David O. Russell and Annie Mumolo -Synopsis- Jennifer Lawrence is reunited with director David O. Russell in a semi-biographical comedy/drama based on Joy Mangano and her journey from struggling New York single mom to entrepreneur, […]

Bridge of Spies (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on November 22, 2015

Review 141min Genre:      Fact-based, Drama Director:   Steven Spielberg Cast:        Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Scott Shepherd…and more Writers:    Matt Charman, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen -Synopsis- Tom Hanks stars as American lawyer James B. Donovan, who in the late 1950s was tasked with defending a Soviet spy in a US court only to then negotiate an exchange […]

Steve Jobs (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on November 14, 2015

Review 122min Genre:      Fact-based, Drama Director:   Danny Boyle Cast:        Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen…and more Writers:    Aaron Sorkin and Walter Isaacson -Synopsis- Based on the bestselling biography by Walter Isaacson and written & directed by Academy award winners Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle respectively, Michael Fassbender stars as the late Apple Inc. CEO and […]

The Lady in the Van (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on November 13, 2015

Review 104min Genre:      Fact-based, Comedy, Drama Director:   Nicholas Hytner Cast:        Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent…and more Writer:     Alan Bennett -Synopsis- British film adaptation of the autobiographical play by Alan Bennett, starring Maggie Smith as an eccentric and ornery transient elderly lady who lived in a battered van on his driveway and with whom he […]

The Program (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on October 16, 2015

Review 103min Genre:     Fact-based, Drama, Sport Director:  Stephen Frears Cast:       Ben Foster, Chris O’Dowd, Jesse Plemons…and more Writers:   John Hodge, David Walsh Biographical drama from British director Stephen Frears (The Queen, High Fidelity) about the rise and spectacular fall of cancer survivor, 7-time Tour de France winning cyclist and disgraced drugs cheat Lance Armstrong, chronicling […]

Black Mass (2015)- BFI London Film Festival 2015

Posted by Gui on October 14, 2015

Review 122min Genre:    Fact-based, Crime, Drama Director: Scott Cooper Cast:      Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch…more Writers:  Mark Mallouk, Jez Butterworth , Dick Lehr… and more Johnny Depp stars as notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, whose position as an FBI informant and brother of a Massachusetts state senator gave him virtual carte blanche to […]

Suffragette (2015)- BFI London Film Festival 2015

Posted by Gui on October 11, 2015

Review 106min Genre:     Fact-based, Drama Director:  Sarah Gavron Cast:       Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff, Helena Bonham Carter…more Writer:    Abi Morgan Carey Mulligan stars as a young working-class wife and mother in early 20th century Britain whose life is thrown into turmoil when she gets caught up in the Suffragette movement for women’s rights. As her commitment […]

The Walk (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on October 10, 2015

Review 123min Genre:    Fact-based, Adventure, Drama Director: Robert Zemeckis Cast:      Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Charlotte Le Bon, Ben Kingsley…more Writers:  Robert Zemeckis, Christopher Browne & Philippe Petit Director Robert Zemeckis’ (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) dramatization of the extraordinary story of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit’s 1974 illegal attempt to walk across a high-wire suspended 400 […]

Everest (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on September 18, 2015

Review 121min Genre:    Fact-based, Adventure, Drama Director: Baltasar Kormákur Cast:      Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal…and more Writers:  William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy Harrowing true story about the exploits of a climbing expedition as they struggle to reach the mighty Everest peak only to be hit by a devastating blizzard which leaves them fighting for […]

Legend (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on September 10, 2015

Review 131min Genre:     Fact-based, Crime, Drama Director:  Brian Helgeland Cast:       Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, David Thewlis…and more Writers:   Brian Helgeland & John Pearson Stylish and darkly comic British gangster biopic/drama starring Tom Hardy as the Kray twins Ronnie & Reggie, infamous British gangsters who terrorized the streets of London in the 50’s and 60’s while […]

Carlos The Jackal (2010) (English & other languages)

Posted by Gui on September 2, 2015

Review 165min Genre:     Fact-based, Crime, Drama Director:  Olivier Assayas Cast:       Édgar Ramírez, Alexander Scheer, Fadi Abi Samra…and more Writers:   Olivier Assayas and Dan Franck Adapted from the award-winning TV mini-series and based on a real but disputed story, ‘Carlos The Jackal’ is the extraordinary tale of how a Venezuelan Marxist-Leninist aligned himself with global revolutionary […]

Straight Outta Compton (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on August 26, 2015

Review 147min Genre:      Fact-based, Drama, Music Director:   F. Gary Gray Cast:        O’Shea Jackson Jr., Jason Mitchell, Paul Giamatti…and more Writers:    Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff , Alan Wenkus … and more Gritty ghetto biopic drama chronicling the rise of rap supergroup NWA on the dangerous streets of Compton Los Angeles, from authority-resistant local gangster-rap heroes to […]

The Wolfpack (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on August 19, 2015

Review 90min Genre:      Documentary, Drama, Fact-based Director:   Crystal Moselle Cast:        Bhagavan Angulo, Govinda Angulo, Jagadisa Angulo…more Country:   USA Documentary recounting the remarkable story of the Angulo brothers, a large group of teenage siblings who use their obsession with movies to connect to the outside world after being confined to a small New York apartment for […]

The Salt of the Earth (2014) (English, French & Portuguese Language)

Posted by Gui on July 22, 2015

Review 110min Genre:      Documentary Directors:  Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado Cast:        Sebastião Salgado, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado…and more Writers:    Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier Powerful documentary chronicling the life and work of renown Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado as he recounts 40 years of travelling the globe and capturing the human condition and […]

True Story (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on July 19, 2015

Review 99min Genre:    Fact-based, Drama, Mystery Director: Rupert Goold Cast:      Jonah Hill, James Franco, Felicity Jones…and more Writers:  Rupert Goold, David Kajganich & Michael Finkel Based on the memoirs of New York Times journalist Michael Finkel, ‘True Story’ tells the real tale of how FBI Most Wanted murderer Christian Longo assumed Finkel’s name whilst laying-low […]

Amy (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on July 3, 2015

Review 128min Genre:    Documentary, Fact-based Director: Asif Kapadia Cast:      Amy Winehouse, Mitch Winehouse, Tony Bennett…and more From the team that gave us the unforgettable ‘Senna‘ comes a gripping and candid look at the remarkable and ultimately tragic life of British singer Amy Winehouse, featuring rarely seen home video as well as archive footage and paparazzi […]

Rosewater (2014) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on May 5, 2015

Review 103min Genre:    Fact-based, Drama Director: Jon Stewart Cast:      Gael García Bernal, Kim Bodnia, Shohreh Aghdashloo…and more Writers:  Jon Stewart, Maziar Bahari & Aimee Molloy Drama based on the memoirs of Iranian “Newsweek” journalist Maziar Bahari who was imprisoned and abused by Iranian authorities on charges of espionage following the highly disputed Iranian presidential elections […]

Kidnapping Mr. Heineken (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on April 7, 2015

Review 95min Genre:      Fact-based, Crime, Drama Director:   Daniel Alfredson Cast:        Jim Sturgess, Sam Worthington, Anthony Hopkins…and more Writers:    William Brookfield, Peter R. de Vries Big-screen dramatization of the real 1983 kidnapping of Dutch CEO and heir to the Heineken beer empire Freddy Heineken, a well planned Amsterdam operation which resulted in the largest ever private […]

Top 10 Movie Biopics

Posted by Gui on March 19, 2015

The ubiquitous “Biopic” genre has provided us with some of the greatest movies ever made, a tricky film style to get right as directors try to balance historical accuracy with dramatic content while somehow not putting across a predictable story arc. We give you our picks for the Top 10 biographical films based on the […]

Kill The Messenger (2014) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on March 6, 2015

Review 112min Genre:    Fact-based, Drama Director: Michael Cuesta Cast:      Jeremy Renner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Oliver Platt…and more Writers:  Peter Landesman, Gary Webb & Nick Schou Jeremy Renner stars in a mid-90s political drama based on the true story California investigative reporter Gary Webb’s shocking exposé of the crack-cocaine trade on the streets of America, after exposing […]

Selma (2015) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on February 4, 2015

Review 128min Genre:     Fact-based, Drama Director:  Ava DuVernay Cast:       David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson…and more Writer :   Paul Webb David Oyelowo stars as Martin Luther King Jr. in a particular period of the American Civil Rights movement where a socio-political struggle for equal voting rights in the south led to the legendary Alabama march, […]

American Sniper (2015) (English Lang.)

Posted by Gui on January 16, 2015

132min Genre:      Fact-based, Action, Drama, War Director:   Clint Eastwood Cast:        Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Jake McDorman…and more Writers:    Jason Hall, Chris Kyle, James Defelice… more Clint Eastwood directs and Bradley Cooper stars in a dramatization of the autobiography of US Navy Seal Chief Chris Kyle who is considered the US Army’s most lethal marksman ever […]

Wild (2014) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on January 13, 2015

115min Genre:      Drama, Fact-based Director:   Jean-Marc Vallée Cast:        Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski …and more Writers:    Nick Hornby & Cheryl Strayed Reese Witherspoon stars in this real-life account of a young woman on a downward spiral due to a tragic event in her life, who hikes 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail alone […]

Big Eyes (2014) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on December 31, 2014

105min Genre:    Drama, Fact-Based, Comedy Director: Tim Burton Cast:      Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Danny Huston …and more Writers:  Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski Amy Adams stars as world famous US painter Margaret Keane in a true-life story of her early life as an artist in the 50s and relationship with her conman husband Walter, played […]

Foxcatcher (2014) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on December 22, 2014

134min Genre:    Drama, Fact-based, Sport Director: Bennett Miller Cast:      Channing Tatum, Steve Carell & Mark Ruffalo …and more Writers:  E. Max Frye & Dan Futterman Based on a true story, Foxcatcher examines the relationship between US Olympic wrestling champions the Schultz brothers and their bizarre coach/sponsor the millionaire du Pont family heir John du Pont, […]

The Theory of Everything (2014) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on December 16, 2014

123min Genre:    Drama, Romance, Fact-based Director: James Marsh Cast:      Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Harry Lloyd …and more Writers:  Anthony McCarten & Jane Hawking Eddie Redmayne stars as Stephen Hawking and Felicity Jones as his wife Jane in an English period-piece drama about the complex relationship between one of the greatest minds in modern human history […]

Get On Up (2014) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on November 24, 2014

139min Genre:    Biography, Drama, Music Director: Tate Taylor Cast:      Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis, Viola Davis …and more Writers:  Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth & Steven Baigelman The life of The Late Great music legend James Brown gets the big-screen treatment à la Ray and Walk The Line, Chadwick Boseman stars in a story spanning Brown’s tough […]

Hunger (2008) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on November 20, 2014

96min Genre:    Drama, Fact-Based, Crime Director: Steve McQueen Cast:      Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham …more Writers:  Steve McQueen, Enda Walsh Set in the early 1980’s and Based on real events during the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, Hunger follows the story of Provisional IRA member and self-declared Political Prisoner Bobby Sands, who following years of […]

The Imitation Game (2014) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on November 14, 2014

114min Genre:    Drama, War, Fact-Based Director: Morten Tyldum Cast:      Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Charles Dance …more Writers:  Andrew Hodges, Graham Moore Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, the legendary British mathematician and wartime code-breaker who helped to end World War II and save millions of lives and in the process become the father of modern […]

Million Dollar Arm (2014) English Language

Posted by Gui on August 30, 2014

124 min Genre:     Family, Fact-Based, Comedy, Drama, Sport Director:  Craig Gillespie Cast:       Jon Hamm, Suraj Sharma, Madhur Mittal…and more Writers:   Thomas McCarthy Based on a true story, Jon Hamm stars as a down-on-his-luck American sports agent who gambles on a strategy of scouting Indian cricketers through an X-factor-like talent contest to become Major League Baseball […]

Senna (2010) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on May 13, 2014

106min Genre:    Documentary, Fact Based, Sport Director: Asif Kapadia Cast:      Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Ron Dennis…and more Writers:  Manish Pandey Multi award-wining Senna is a documentary from British Filmmaker Asif Kapadia chronicling the life and times of the late-great Brazilian Formula 1 racing legend and sport superstar Ayrton Senna. The film seamlessly combines archive footage […]

Blackfish (2013) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on April 12, 2014

83min Genre:    Documentary, Fact-Based Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite Cast:      Tilikum, Dave Duffus, Samantha Berg …and more Writers:  Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Eli B. Despres, Tim Zimmermann If you enjoy documentaries that challenge long held beliefs in things you’ve taken for granted then Blackfish is a must watch for you. This is essentially a film that questions the way […]

Chopper (2000) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on April 1, 2014

94min Genre:    Crime, Comedy, Fact-Based Director: Andrew Dominik Cast:      Eric Bana, Simon Lyndon, Vince Colosimo …and more Writers:  Mark Brandon Read, Andrew Dominik Based on the autobiographies of legendary larger-than-life Australian criminal and now bestselling author Mark “Chopper” Read, Chopper paints a brutal but darkly comic picture of the life of a man as comfortable […]

The Monuments Men (2014) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on March 20, 2014

118min Genre:    War, Drama, Comedy, Fact Based Director: George Clooney Cast: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett…more Writers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Robert M. Edsel, Bret Witter  The 12A Rating for this film suggests that you should not expect a particularly gritty or profound film despite being set in World War II and […]

A Prophet (Un prophète) (2009) (French Language, English subtitled)

Posted by Gui on March 14, 2014

155min Genre:     Drama, Thriller, Crime Director:  Jacques Audiard Cast:       Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif …and more Writers:   Thomas Bidegain, Jacques Audiard, Abdel Raouf Dafri… more A Prophet is a gritty and uncompromising drama set in modern day France and tells the story of Malik a young French-Algerian man navigating his way through a tough […]

Dallas Buyers Club (2013) (English Language)

Posted by Gui on March 13, 2014

117min Genre:    Drama, Fact Based Director: Jean-Marc Vallée Cast:      Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto …more Writers:  Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack Based on a true story and set in the height of the AIDS epidemic in 1980s Texas, this is the story of Ron Woodroof a rough living Texas good ole boy whose life is […]