I'm going to lay my hand on the table straight away here: 1. I have never seen Entourage TV show and 2. This is not going to be a rant. Believe me, I was fully expecting to come back from the cinema and rip Entourage to shreds, but I won't be doing that. Instead, this is going to be a defence of the film from all the vitriolic (and I feel undeserved) criticism it has received. … [Read more...]
Review: Tomorrowland (2015)
Brad Bird. Just the name should send feelings of childlike wonder through the body of any film fan. From The Iron Giant, to The Incredibles, even to Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Brad Bird has proved he is one of the most talented directors working in Hollywood today. He has the uncanny ability to make any sequence instantly awe-inspiring, whether it's the final scene of … [Read more...]
Review: Big Game (2015)
In the midst of his terrible physical state and his declining poll approval, things are going very well for President William Alan Moore (Samuel L. Jackson). Things get even worse when Air Force One's defenses all seem to fail at once and the plane is attacked. His escape pod lands deep in the Finnish forests, where he is happened upon by Oskari (Onni Tommila), a young hunter … [Read more...]
Review: Spooks: The Greater Good (2015)
Spooks: The Greater Good is a continuation of the immensely popular UK TV show that ended back in 2011. Starring Peter Firth as the series lead Harry Pearce, the film focuses around the events following a leak occurring in MI-5 which led to a high-level target escaping from their custody before he could be handed over to the CIA. After this happened under his control, Pearce … [Read more...]
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
It's not often that something is labelled a classic as soon as it comes out. Films like Citizen Kane and The Shawshank Redemption took years of re-evaluation and rabid praise in order to become the hallmarks of the art form they are today. It takes a while normally. Here, I feel completely comfortable saying that Mad Max: Fury Road is not only the best film of the series, but … [Read more...]
Unfriended (2014)
When her cyber-bullying crosses over into the real world, teenager Laura Barns kills herself publicly. Unfriended takes place on the one year anniversary of her death. Five teenagers (or archetypes) - Blaire (the protagonist) (Shelley Hennig), Mitch (the protagonist's boyfriend) (Moses Jacob Storm), Jess (the protagonist's best friend) (Renee Olstead), Adam (a boring guy) (Will … [Read more...]
The Salvation (2014)
The Western as a genre has been pretty played out. Whether it's the cheesy John Wayne westerns, or the gunslinging Sergio Leone Spaghetti Westerns, the genre has very few things left to do with originality anymore. Django Unchained came close, mostly taking the standard Western formula and transplanting it into the setting of late-19th century American slavery. Even that, … [Read more...]
Review: Insurgent (2015)
Insurgent, sequel to the 2014 YA flick Divergent, is based around Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James), who are both on the run from Jeanine (Kate Winslet), who is hunting them down. This is due to the fact that Tris is a Divergent, a person who fits into several factions (segregated communities based on human virtues). Jeanine needs Tris to open a box that she … [Read more...]
Review: It Follows (2015)
Horror is currently going through something of a renaissance. 2011's Insidious, 2012's The Woman in Black, 2013's The Conjuring, and 2014's Oculus and The Babadook are all excellent horror films that don't rely on showing all of the gore and torture to terrify the audience. Even our bad horror films aren't as bad; some low budget found footage fare like Devil's Due even went as … [Read more...]
Review: Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
Fifty Shades of Grey. Ever since its release in 2011, you can barely say the first two words of the title without getting in a heated debate between the vocal fans and the even more vocal detractors. This very website did an article on the subject, so in this case I will not repeat the views of others. … [Read more...]