See cinema differently
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra Stars: Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Dwayne Johnson Now, ordinarily, you'd have to drag me to see a Disney picture based on an extant IP that also happens to be a theme park ride, but Jungle Cruise got me voluntarily. Why? Jaume Collet-Serra. Sure, he's better known these days as the for-hire guy …
Director: J.J. Abrams Stars: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega You could feel it coming; a disturbance in the force. Gradually, as the press junkets for The Rise of Skywalker began, different members of the cast started speaking fondly of how Abrams' return felt so welcome. Abrams himself joined the fray. You could sense the urge …
Director: Josh Cooley Stars: Tom Hanks, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves The BBFC certificate card for Toy Story 4 confirms that it is rated U for universal, as expected, but it also advises that the film contains 'mild violence' and 'scary scenes'. A murmur ripples out across the packed cinema audience. 'Scary scenes'? This is a Pixar …
Director: Tim Burton Stars: Danny DeVito, Michael Keaton, Eva Green "This is a disaster," exclaims Alan Arkin's character during the climactic scenes of Tim Burton's live action Dumbo remake, and given the savaging the film has received from most quarters of the UK press, one might assume that this line will live to take on a …
Director: Rian Johnson Stars: Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver J.J. Abrams may take his expected executive producer credit on Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but he never could have made it. This despite the movie opening with one of his trademark lens flares. No, this is Rian Johnson's film through and through. It's wantonly idiosyncratic, …
Director: Bill Condon Stars: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans There seems to be an unspoken opinion in certain circles of film criticism that populist cinema is just plain bad. Bad in execution, bad even in principle. That by attempting to appeal to everyone, you implicitly censor yourself until there's nothing to say. It's a sweeping generalisation, …
Director: Gareth Edwards Stars: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen To begin with, and for a little while after that, one thought kept persisting, and that thought was: It just doesn't feel like Star Wars. Gareth Edwards' Rogue One arrives after a somewhat turbulent journey with expectations jockeyed by stories of re-shoots and sundry internet conspiracy theories. …
Directors: Ron Clements, Don Hall Stars: Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House It's been a rather good year for Walt Disney Animation Studios. Back in spring they broke formula with the much-loved Zootopitropolis(whatever), ditching the princess angle so often leaned upon in favour of something more progressive, delivering a great message of inclusivity right along with it. And …
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. …
Director: Jon Favreau Stars: Neel Sethi, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson I usually try to get these seen and written as close to release as possible. It's more useful for everyone, right? Yet, when it came to Jon Favreau's remix of The Jungle Book, I found that my usual get-up-and-go had got-up-and-gone. I think the reasons for …
Director: Rich Moore Stars: Sarah Silverman, John C. Reilly, Mindy Kaling I'll admit it, Wreck-It Ralph was my second choice of movie this evening. Work commitments kept me from a one-off screening of Pablo Larraín's No. Not to be deprived of entertainment of some kind, and with a blog to keep updated an' all, I decided to …
The Lost Highway Hotel 