Disney's Zootopia has arrived in UK cinemas this weekend - arbitrarily renamed Zootropolis on this side of the Atlantic - and seems like a sure winner for the studio, trading in the kind of animal hijinks that helped make the Mouse Eared behemoth what it is today. In it we follow the adventures of an enterprising young rabbit … Continue reading Review: Zootropolis / Zootopia
Back in 1999 following the immense success of The Blair Witch Project (the first 'viral' word-of-mouth film?) there was a notable rise in the number of found footage films being made. Dramas disguised as documentaries. They were cheap, they drew crowds, they made money. They were, with one or two exceptions, awful. But they were starting … Continue reading Review: 10 Cloverfield Lane
Spying on his mother from the vantage of the twenty-sixth floor balcony, a young boy named Toby (Louis Suc) is spotted by Dr. Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston) from the balcony below. Laing asks what Toby can see through the kaleidoscope he has in his hands. Toby replies, "the future". This seemingly insignificant moment may be the central … Continue reading Review: High-Rise
At the surreal apex of 1999's Being John Malkovich, Charlie Kaufman presented us a restaurant populated entirely with Malkoviches. It's the absurd comedic highlight of the film. Now imagine the kernel of that idea expanded across the world. What if everyone had one face? And instead of being hilarious, it's desperately sad. A world in which … Continue reading Review: Anomalisa
I keep thinking about M Night Shyamalan. Putting aside its now-notorious twist ending, what hit home on first approaching his debut film The Sixth Sense was the palpable atmosphere of dread and the tremendous confidence you felt behind the camera. And the commendable level of restraint. A run of diminishing returns has somewhat corrupted it's legacy, but it's … Continue reading Review: The Witch
With a plot seemingly salvaged from the wastepaper bins of the 24 writers' room, London Has Fallen director Babak Najafi has managed to cobble together what must be The Room of zealously patriotic terrible action movies; a construction that is in itself an act of terrorism against not only cinema but basic common sense. Absolutely nothing about the movie is … Continue reading Review: London Has Fallen
