When Joss Whedon was first announced as the director of the original The Avengers, the fans delighted at the appointment of someone with such a glittering geek-friendly background. But with no commercial success' in his filmography, it was a big gamble by Marvel Studios and one that reaped success to the tune of $1.5b at the box office. The second time around the man behind … [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: The Voices (2014)
Of all the things that the director of Persepolis could have gone on to make, no one could have predicted that it would be The Voices. A pitch-black horror comedy about a mentally unstable serial killer who talks to his pets, it is, if nothing else, a sure sign of Marjane Satrapi's versatility. … [Read more...]
Review: Appropriate Behaviour (2015)
It's always good to find a fresh voice in cinema, and when that voice is as unique as Desiree Akhavan's, it's even better. Appropriate Behaviour, her feature debut as writer, director and star, may not be entirely original, owing something of a debt to Lena Dunham's Girls among others, but it is a remarkably confident, assured start to what should be an extremely promising … [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...]
Review: Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Apart from the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, space opera seems to have entirely disappeared in films. As the genre often relies on extreme spectacle interweaved with political intrigue, it requires a large budget, and often space opera stories don't have enough name recognition to warrant the investment from the Hollywood bigwigs. … [Read more...]
Review: The Boy Next Door (2015)
Starring Jennifer Lopez and directed by Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious and xXx), The Boy Next Door is an ˜erotic' psychological thriller revolving around high school teacher Claire (Lopez), whose recent divorce and strained relationship with her child have left her in emotional tatters. … [Read more...]
Review: Selma (2014)
It's a little hard to believe that this is the first proper biopic of Martin Luther King, Jr., but at least it was worth the wait. Instead of trying to track his whole life and all of his efforts as part of the Civil Rights Movement, Selma wisely narrows its focus to a single episode of his campaigns, documenting the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. … [Read more...]
Review: Inherent Vice (2014)
Drenched in 1970s California sun and a haze of pot smoke we are introduced to Larry ˜Doc' Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) the private detective with huge sideburns who is the heart of the latest Paul Thomas Anderson film Inherent Vice. Based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon, it is a hard-boiled private detective genre given a contemporary spin by Anderson. … [Read more...]