Director: Scott Derrickson Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams In recent years it has been the comparatively lesser-known corners of the Marvel universe which have provided the best that the studio has had to offer, with underdogs Guardians Of The Galaxy and Ant-Man kicking up the most entertainment while working with lower expectations thanks to their relative … Continue reading Review: Doctor Strange
Director: Gavin O'Connor Stars: Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons The Accountant is a bad film. Which is a rather concise, damning statement. But wait. Because at the same time, it's one of the most watchable films of the year. That rare breed of peculiar which is exactly the right amount of crazy, stupid and misguided … Continue reading Review: The Accountant
Director: John Dower You can understand why affable documentarian Louis Theroux would save the subject of Scientology for his feature debut - directed by John Dower. The strange, secretive 'religion' is so notorious for its bizarre and ominous power and influence, especially within LA, that it's as juicy a target as he's ever encountered. The … Continue reading Review: My Scientology Movie
Director: Mike Flanagan Stars: Elizabeth Reaser, Annalise Basso, Lulu Wilson Vue Exeter might want to scrutinise their admissions policy. Given that this is a 15 certificate film, I haven't shared a cinema with so many children since The Good Dinosaur. I even got kicked in the head for my trouble when a particularly effective jump scare led … Continue reading Review: Ouija: Origin Of Evil
Director: Andrea Arnold Stars: Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough Andrea Arnold has already proven herself adept at crafting gritty and honest social realism here in the UK, particularly drawing attention for her 2009 film Fish Tank. Following a wilfully unusual (and sporadically inspiring) adaptation of Wuthering Heights, the indie extraordinaire has turned her attention, perhaps … Continue reading Review: American Honey
Director: Jim Hosking Stars: Michael St. Michaels, Sky Elobar, Elizabeth De Razzo There's a chain restaurant called Absurd Bird you may have heard of. At Absurd Bird you can, from limited experience, dine on unpleasant, dry and burnt combinations of chicken and miscellaneous carbs, served up in cramped locations filled with awkward swinging chairs. While you … Continue reading Review: The Greasy Strangler
Director: Mira Nair Stars: Lupita Nyong'o, David Oyelowo, Madina Nalwanga Few corporations can be viewed globally as avatars for Western society like Disney, yet when taking on the lead role in their latest live action film Queen Of Katwe, David Oyelowo was moved to call the project 'subversive' - hardly an adjective regularly associated with the Mouse Ears. … Continue reading Review: Queen Of Katwe
Let us continue then. Compiling this list hammered home for me the diverse nature of the beast at hand. Horror has so many subcategories. Vampire pictures. Zombie pictures. Portmanteau films. Found footage. And horror arrives at different tempos. There are the zany comedies. The restrained chillers. The gonzo gorefests. The brutally nihilistic. And, as in … Continue reading List: 50 Greatest Horror Films (25-1)
October, capped as it is by Halloween, is the month most routinely turned to for horror. Some of you out there may even be entertaining yourselves with the 31 days of horror challenge that rattles routinely around social media this month. I've been contemplating a best horror films list for quite a while now, always … Continue reading List: 50 Greatest Horror Films (50-26)
Year: 1976 Director: Jacques Rivette Stars: Juliet Bero (Leni), Bulle Ogier (Viva), Hermine Karagheuz (Lucie), Jean Babilée (Pierrot), Nicole Garcia (Elsa / Jeanne), Claire Nadieu (Sylvia Stern) Genre: Mystery / Fantasy If there is one thing I love, it's dream cinema. By which I do not mean dream sequences within otherwise conventionally made films (which … Continue reading Why I Love… #87: Duelle (une quarantaine)
Director: Tate Taylor Stars: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Luke Evans The Girl On The Train is the latest bestselling 'girl' thriller to get squeezed through the Hollywood machine, but it's the one that comes sputtering out the other end with the least amount of grace, presented to us as a clumsy assemblage of plot holes, … Continue reading Review: The Girl On The Train
Director: Peter Berg Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, John Malkovich On 20th April 2010 the semi-submersible oil rig from which this film takes it's title suffered a catastrophic failure of systems thanks to corners cut by BP in order to get the site producing as it was 43 days behind schedule. To do this, safety inspections … Continue reading Review: Deepwater Horizon
