Lara Croft has always been a problematic character – a strong iconic female action hero but one that was definitely created as a teenage male fantasy. This reboot starts with Vikander looking ripped engaged in a boxing bout to indicate that this is not about eye candy for the teen… Continue reading
One of my favourite movies, and one which I often try to implore people to watch, is the 1945 Ealing portmanteau horror, The Dead of Night. The anthology horror flick is one that has persisted pretty well, with Tales from the Crypt and recent outings such as VHS, XX and… Continue reading
Lynne Ramsey gave us We Need to Talk About Kevin & Ratcather, so her latest offering was never going to be a bubbly rom-com, but this is bleak even in her oeuvre. Powerful, moving and interesting too. But bleak. Phoenix plays a traumatised war vet Joe, a familiar enough trope,… Continue reading
Steven Soderbergh came out of retirement (surprise!) with this low key psychological horror, shot entirely on iPhone over ten days. For the practically non-existent budget of $1.5M it’s an impressive reminder of what you can do with a decent script and central character who can hold the screen (everyone’s favourite… Continue reading
This film is pretty impossible to review. It was there, it passed, it was ok, we left. But here goes. First of all, it’s not _that_ terrible, indeed it is probably better than Jurassic World (okay, that’s a low bar). It’s way better than trainwrecks such as Independence Day 2,… Continue reading
Let’s be honest, I was never going to be an advocate for this immature, male comedy. But the concept, and true(ish) life story of a group of friends playing a prolonged game of tag over 23 years appealed to my daughter, and I value any cinema trips together, so I… Continue reading
This horror movie has been gaining kudos for eschewing many of the staples of the genre – jump scares, excessive gore, torture, CGI, etc. And it is to be applauded for taking a much more character based approach to horror. I admire trying to do something different with the genre,… Continue reading
This account of the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III and the subsequent clash between his mother, Gail, and ‘richest man in history’ Jean Paul Getty to pay the ransom is directed by Ridley Scott. It turns out Scott is still a very competent director when he has a fixed… Continue reading
It is rare that you delay seeing a film, and that increases its value. Usually by the time you get to see it, you have heard enough about it that it essentially ends up filling in the gaps of your knowledge. But watching Coco last week, as the horror of… Continue reading
Director Saul Dibb follows up his WW2 drama Suite Francaise with this WW1 account of life in the trenches, marking the centenary of the battle it depicts. British First World War accounts have been appropriated along with the poppy by the Tommy Robinsons of the world. Films tend to be… Continue reading
