As of late my reviews of Ridley Scott films have included caveats regarding how the man's output has disappointed me for quite some time. Granted, I gave the odious looking Exodus: Gods and Kings as wide a berth as possible, but aside from that it's time for me to eat a little humble pie. While far from perfect, … Continue reading Review: The Martian
Just how far can a movie make it propelled by nostalgia alone? That's the question that Turbo Kid seems intent on asking the viewer. In much the same tenuous way that Robert Rodriguez's Machete films sprung into being off of the back of a fake trailer housed within the Grindhouse project, Turbo Kid began life as a short that was … Continue reading Review: Turbo Kid
Year: 1990 Director: Joe Dante Stars: Zack Galligan (Billy Peltzer), Phoebe Cates (Kate Beringer), John Glover (Daniel Clamp), Robert Protsky (Grandpa Fred), Robert Picardo (Forster), Christopher Lee (Doctor Catheter), Haviland Morris (Marla Bloodstone), Dick Miller (Murray Futterman), Howie Mandel (Voice of Gizmo), Tony Randall (Voice of Brain), Frank Welker (Voice of Mohawk) Genre: Comedy / … Continue reading Why I Love… #82: Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Watching Everest, director Baltasar Kormákur's all-star throwback disaster movie, I was reminded of something simple I'd forgotten about myself; I hate heights. I'm terrible at them. That dizzying sense of imminent danger, combined with the occasionally fleeting sensation that I might irrationally hurl myself down, down to oblivion. Because of this I tend to keep away … Continue reading Review: Everest
Faults, written and directed by Riley Stearns, begins with a front-runner for best opening scene of the year. It introduces us to Ansel Roth, sitting in a hotel restaurant finishing a courtesy meal. He has a voucher to prove he is entitled to it. Thing is... he used up his voucher the night before, and the … Continue reading Review: Faults
When I think of great dual performances, there are two that spring instantly to mind. First, Jeremy Irons as the Mantle twins in David Cronenberg's 1988 surgical drama Dead Ringers (one of the best films in a cluttered career), and then also Nicolas Cage portraying both Charlie Kaufman and his fictional brother Donald in Spike Jonze's … Continue reading Review: Legend
The beginning stretch of Straight Outta Compton culminates in Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), black rapper with N.W.A, striking a tentative deal with white manager Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti). Heller sells his usefulness with frankness, pitching that he can get Eazy-E and N.W.A through doors that would otherwise remain closed to them. He can, in his words, legitimise … Continue reading Review: Straight Outta Compton
Year: 1977 Director: Robert Altman Stars: Sissy Spacek (Pinky Rose), Shelley Duvall (Millie Lammoreux), Janice Rule (Willie Hart), Robert Fortier (Edgar Hart) Genre: Drama It's no great surprise that I watch a lot of films. Often more than one in a sitting. I just have that kind of facility to back-to-back movies sometimes. Yet very … Continue reading Why I Love… #81: 3 Women
Watching Me And Earl And The Dying Girl, I sort of came to realise how vampires in movies and literature have always felt when they come upon a mirror or reflective surface. The film charts a year or so in the life of teenage Greg (Thomas Mann), a narcissistic self-hating clique-skirting amateur filmmaker whose main character trait … Continue reading Review: Me And Earl And The Dying Girl
