Comedies often seem to fall into two categories: gross out ones (for whom penis/testicle sucking is the apotheosis of humour) and non-comedies (for whom a knowing wry curl of the lip is the equivalent of the guffaw). Wilderpeople is nearer the latter category, but has genuine laughs – imagine Wes… Continue reading
There are some films you go to, where your expectation is that they will be adequate. Magnificent Seven is overdue a decent remake, and this was a film I could see with my daughter. I didn’t expect it to have the same impact watching the original did for a 7… Continue reading
The Purge series has become quite interesting as it has developed. It started with a fairly ludicrous idea, as the frame for some straightforward violence and redemption. In the second, and arguably best, instalment, it developed its own aesthetic. The idea of the Purge as a Holiday, with all the… Continue reading
[Probably a bit SPOILERy but not too much] This horror/thriller from the director, Fede Alverez, who did the remake of the Evil Dead (yes, I don’t know why either) uses post-recession Detroit as the backdrop for a home invasion gone wrong thriller. Three young thieves, seeking to escape Detroit, are… Continue reading
Finally another decent movie has come along in 2016. The last film that I would have heartily recommended was Eye in the Sky. This summer has been a bust, so I was thankful for David Mackenzie’s perfectly paced Texan drama. It follows two pairs of men: Chris Pine and brother… Continue reading
You will probably have seen the BBC list of top 100 films of the 21st Century. Like all such lists it generated a lot of debate. It contains a lot of great films, a lot of films I haven’t seen (I’ve done about half of them) and a lot of… Continue reading
I’m pretty sure that future historians will trace the fall of modern civilisation to the moment when people began to speak reverentially of “the Marvel universe” or “the DC universe”, as if it was the Manhattan project of literature. I mean we don’t talk in sonorous tones of “the Eastenders… Continue reading
For each of us, not all genres are created equal. Horror is one of my preferred genres, so I’ll happily watch a formulaic horror with a 5.1 IMDB rating, whereas I’ll criticise a rom com with the same score for being cliched. And a musical had better be brining 8.5… Continue reading
Atom Egoyan’s film was actually a 2015 release but it had a delayed outing in the UK, and I’ve only just come across it, so here it is. The film details Alzheimer’s sufferer Christopher Plummer on a revenge road trip across North America, co-ordinated by his fellow old-homes resident Martin… Continue reading
I am old enough to remember going to the cinema to see the first Star Trek film in 1980. And that in itself was a reboot of the TV series which was nearly always on rotation on TV. I bumped into some mates from school at that screening and the… Continue reading
