See cinema differently
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillet Stars: Jenna Ortega, David Arquette, Melissa Barrera Like a snake eating its own tail, the only reason that the fifth Scream movie isn't called Scream 5 is so that it can make a self-referential joke about this decision. Yes, the oh-so-meta comedy slasher franchise is back from the dead once again, unfeasibly …
Director: Lana Wachowski Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick Any story, novel, play or film with genuine longevity is in some way changed by its own legacy. When the idea, its symbols and values add up to something larger than that initial kernel, that initial nugget. When a lived-in experience has been added by …
Director: Johannes Roberts Stars: Kaya Scodelario, Robbie Amell, Avan Jogia Play pretty much any video game nowadays and there'll be a selection of optional 'trophies'; pre-set goals to complete to improve your overall ranking and measure how thoroughly you've bested it. A fairly commonplace one - and one present on the recent Resident Evil II …
Continue reading "Review: Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City"
Director: Adam Robitel Stars: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Indya Moore I must admit I have a soft spot for Escape Room. Adam Robitel's initial movie in this unlikely series felt like something of an underdog when it was released with little fanfare two and a half years ago. Who wanted or needed a YA Saw film? …
Continue reading "Review: Escape Room: Tournament of Champions"
Director: Leigh Janiak Stars: Kiana Madeira, Elizabeth Scopel, Darrell Britt-Gibson The latest in the unending is-it-a-movie-is-it-TV discourse, Netflix's time travelling teen horror trilogy/mini-series hops further back than before as it reaches its final frontier - or should that be frontier finale? Largely reusing its extant cast, Fear Street Part Three: 1666 takes us back to …
Director: Everado Valerio Gout Stars: Ana de la Reguera, Tenoch Huerta, Gregory Zaragoza James DeMonaco's Purge franchise lumbers onward. While it predated and has now surpassed the short sorry presidency of Donald Trump, it is the series that feels most laboriously representative of the whirlwind ills that the disgraced orange bile-pod brought to the Oval Office. …
Director: Cate Shortland Stars: Florence Pugh, Scarlett Johansson, Ever Anderson There are two prominently featured middle-aged white men in Cate Shortland's Black Widow and they nearly capsize the whole thing. I've been stuck on this since leaving the multiplex. For it's entire first act, this feels like a breath of fresh air for the Marvel …
Director: Justin Lin Stars: John Cena, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson There's a point in nearly any long-running TV series or soap opera when desperate writers will start to retcon character histories to bring in hitherto unknown relatives (usually younger siblings) in an effort to tell new stories and freshen up the cast list. It usually …
Director: John Krasinski Stars: Noah Jupe, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds John Krasinski's A Quiet Place was an unassuming hit. Nobody really expected much from him as a director, let alone a smash sci-hi horror with a wicked gimmick and a heartfelt crush for Spielberg. I remember when I saw the film in a capacity screening for …
Year: 2012 Director: Paul WS Anderson Stars: Milla Jovovich, Li Bingbing, Sienna Guillory Okay, stick with me on this. Paul WS Anderson - a largely derided or simply dismissed director - is a man preoccupied. His career can be looked at like someone obsessively playing a video game over and over. His first feature, Mortal Kombat, …
Continue reading "Why I Love… #124: Resident Evil: Retribution"
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: Jake Kasdan Stars: Karen Gillan, Danny DeVito, Awkwafina When, in combination, The Greatest Showman and Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle took more money for Sony than the last Bond film, it seemed inevitable that at least one of them would be franchised as quickly as possible. Jumanji was the obvious choice. After all, it was …
Director: Tim Miller Stars: Mackenzie Davis, Linda Hamilton, Natalia Reyes In hindsight, perhaps we ought to be thankful for just how dire Terminator Genisys turned out to be. That movie - which pissed all over a pretty well sodden franchise - ended with the threat of further sequels. Fortunately, those plans have been terminated (ha!). Dark Fate …
Director: David Leitch Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Vanessa Kirby The promotional materials for Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw are something else. Cheaply green-screened face-offs to camera in which Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Shaw (Jason Statham) shit-talk one another while a whole load of rapidly cut nonsense explodes all around them. These promos said one …
Director: Gary Dauberman Stars: Katie Sarife, Madison Iseman, Mckenna Grace Ah, back again. The franchise offshoot that just won't die. Annabelle is a weird one. A series centred on an evil doll from The Conjuring which is completely inanimate, yet acts as a conduit for a cumbersome demon that wants to suck your soul out. The first …
The Lost Highway Hotel 