Over the last decade especially, the Coen Brothers' output has swung steadily like a metronome; from bleak, lean thriller No Country For Old Men to the acidic comedy of Burn After Reading; the existential crisis of A Serious Man to the crowd pleasuring adventurism of True Grit; the melancholy of Inside Llewyn Davis to their latest effort, Hail, Caesar! - a classic … Continue reading Review: Hail, Caesar!
I live in two minds about award ceremonies. On the one hand picking the best anything is an act of futility. Taste has so much to do with it. So because of that they seem indulgent and overblown, at worst self-congratulatory acts of excess when so many more vital things warrant the cost and attention. … Continue reading The Lost Highway Hotel Awards 2016
The horror anthology endures. It's popularity may wane from time to time, but it always comes back. Over the last few years it's been reinvigorated by the V/H/S series, but with those movies presently on pause (and with the less said about The ABCs of Death the better), it's good to see the sub-genre in particularly rude … Continue reading Review: Southbound
Last year veteran genre director Joe Dante attempted a film about a relationship troubled by the baggage of bereavement and managed to bring us one of the worst of the year. Now, a few short months later, British pair Ben and Chris Blaine tread very similar ground, but with mercifully better results. 19-year-old Holly (Abigail Hardingham) … Continue reading Review: Nina Forever
Those unfamiliar with the work of Hou Hsiao-Hsien but whose interest in The Assassin has been piqued by the buzz and awards it received on the festival circuit last year might do well to research what they're getting themselves into. Cards on the table; I was one of those people. I've not seen his previous work and … Continue reading Review: The Assassin
It's been a week since Valentine's Day. My local HMV has a special display of LPs under the heading "Best Break Up Albums" and How To Be Single has just hit cinemas. Evidently a lot of marketing execs don't fancy our chances. They do know how to lure an audience in, however. If you've seen the … Continue reading Review: How To Be Single
The Green Inferno was another name by which Antonio Climati's 1988 film Cannibal Holocaust II was known. Not only that, but it was also the title of the film-within-a-film in Ruggero Deodato's original Cannibal Holocaust from 1980; a less than subtle nod from Eli Roth to the horror subgenre he here plays homage to. Roth's Inferno is date stamped … Continue reading Review: The Green Inferno
I'm the kind of contrary arsehole who, when those around me at large start whetting their appetites for a movie based on it's heavy-handed marketing campaign, starts to smell a pretty big rat. And the marketing for Deadpool has been pretty obnoxious. Some of it funny, some of it clever, granted, but all of it pretty … Continue reading Review: Deadpool
The image above encapsulates one of the (many) problems with Burr Steers' totally unnecessary adaptation of the novelty book Pride And Prejudice And Zombies. Firstly, the film's chief plus point is also featured. The women here are just as capable as their male counterparts and frequently more so; training, arming and defending themselves against the zombie hoards … Continue reading Review: Pride And Prejudice And Zombies
Belated sequels can be tricky things. While Zoolander wasn't Ben Stiller's star-maker, it's safe to say it's one of his most beloved incarnations. As a film it's far from perfect, but comedy is a tough gig, especially comedy features, which fail as often as not. It's an incredibly tough balancing act to get right, and even then you have … Continue reading Review: Zoolander 2
