I cast my mind back to my 14-year-old self living in the year 1997, going to school, coming home, listening to Steve Lamacq and John Peel on the radio, playing Nintendo 64 games with friends and watching any VHS we could get our hands on with an 18 certificate. Among the most beloved of these … Continue reading Review: Everly
It was Mark Cousins and his epic documentary The Story Of Film which first made me aware of Roy Andersson. In one of the late entries in the series he approached modern cinema and spent a fair amount of time discussing Songs From The Second Floor in that magnificent lilting tone of his. With such exceptional, venerated … Continue reading Review: A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence
Imagine how exhausting it must be being a regular civilian living in any densely populated city in the Marvel universe. You live day-in day-out with the constant threat that, at any moment, a bunch of supernatural acrobatic crime fighters might descend on your bustling home, bringing with them a shitstorm of carnage as they do … Continue reading Review: Avengers: Age Of Ultron
It begins with the prone naked figure of a woman in a blurred out world. A mezzanine place. Who is she? What has happened to her? Within this white questionable expanse we receive flashes of other, more disquieting imagery. Suggestions of violence. The ethereal score swells. Welcome to the opening of Christopher Butler's debut feature The … Continue reading Review: The Scopia Effect
"This is a true story" reports Fargo at it's very beginning; an untruth that spun out into the world back in 1996 like so much yarn tumbling down the stairs and is still cascading into today's cinemas, thanks to this wonderful little film from David Zellner. The image of the Coens' smirking disclaimer opens Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, albeit … Continue reading Review: Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Ryan Gosling's directorial debut Lost River was conceived while the actor was visiting abandoned and derelict areas of Detroit, the story built around his burgeoning desire to express the tumbledown romance of those abandoned neighbourhoods. As such there's a shabby-chic post-apocalyptic twang to the movie, albeit the same kind felt in Beasts Of The Southern Wild; a sense … Continue reading Review: Lost River
Imagine for a second if, in Die Hard, Hans Gruber not only knew who John McClane was, but knew the reputation he'd grow to have over the next few movies. Exactly how much bad guy shit McClane would put pay to over the years. Exactly how many mercenaries would die. Knowing, with grim inevitability, that he was … Continue reading Review: John Wick
Aaaaaand we're back. I'm making good time on this today (I have evening plans, believe it or not). At this rate the aforementioned oven foods may not be needed at all. And despite Bring It On Again, I'm still optimistic that there's some fun to be had here. We've got a lot more ground to cover … Continue reading Pretty Vacancy: Bringitonathon Part 2
It's April 5th 2015. I've been woken up by church bells calling the faithful to celebrate(?) Easter. I'm not a religious person, so instead I'm sat in a room, alone, with all five Bring It On films for the latest in my often-masochistic occasional series of franchise marathons. I'm about to watch all five in a … Continue reading Pretty Vacancy: Bringitonathon Part 1
It may have taken prior directorial mainstay Justin Lin a few goes to truly nail down the formula, but let's approach Fast & Furious 7 as what it is; the latest entry in a franchise that bears as much resemblance to real life as Guardians Of The Galaxy. Except in Fast & Furious everyone's either Drax or Gamora. … Continue reading Review: Fast & Furious 7
