Directed by: Lucia Aniello Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Zoë Kravitz Having been denied the opportunity to check out the well-liked Girls Trip last month thanks to its selective distribution in this part of the country, I opted to take a chance on Rough Night as a sort of consolation prize, this despite the advance buzz that when … Continue reading Review: Rough Night
Director: Kôji Fukada Stars: Mariko Tsutsui, Tadanobu Asano, Kanji Furutachi While it is not wholly inaccurate to describe Kôji Fukada's latest as a quiet film, the use of loud sounds to punctuate and ratchet tension proves repeatedly integral. Take a key scene from the second half. By this time a malaise has settled firmly over the … Continue reading Review: Harmonium
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
Having penned the Lethal Weapon films, Last Action Hero and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (also his directorial debut), Shane Black has already proved himself wise to the tropes and the traps of the Hollywood action movie. He's got a proven track record of jimmying open a tired cliché and emptying its contents out onto the table, in the process … Continue reading Review: The Nice Guys
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
Full disclosure upfront: my favourite author is Cormac McCarthy. Suttree. Blood Meridian. All The Pretty Horses. The Crossing. There's four masterpieces right there. Give me time and I'll make cases for Outer Dark and The Road too. As an aspiring writer, his is the level of ability I measure my own attempts against, and its no wonder I find … Continue reading Review: The Counsellor
***originally written 12 September 2011*** The Guard doesn’t appear to have had a lot of publicity, or perhaps I’ve just not been in the right places to see it. But there doesn’t appear to have been much buzz about it. Mentioning to several people that I wanted to see it prompted at best questions as … Continue reading Review: The Guard
So it's a film called The Town and it's directed by Ben Affleck. Not only does Ben Affleck direct the movie, he co-authors it's screenplay and he's the lead. You'd forgive me for not going weak at the knees over this proposition. But hold on. His previous directorial effort Gone Baby Gone wasn't too bad, … Continue reading Review: The Town
