It was doomed, in a way. Having weathered the Grand Guignol misfire of 1997's Alien Resurrection, and ran the gauntlet of the insipid (non-canon) Alien vs Predator movies of the mid-2000s, xenomorph fans needed something to believe in. Word that the Godfather of Alien himself - Ridley Scott - was returning to the series set … Continue reading What About… Prometheus
Director: Tom Hooper Stars: Francesca Hayward, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift When I was 16 I took LSD for the first and only time in my life. I had anticipated, thanks to TV and film, to suddenly see conjured pink elephants and gateways to other dimensions. Time-lapsed flowering mushrooms and the like. That didn't really happen. … Continue reading Review: Cats
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 … Continue reading Review: Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw
Director: Aaron Sorkin Stars: Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Michael Cera For those not previously acquainted with the life and (mis)deeds of Molly Bloom there are two main draws to this new film, which seems intent on slipping out unnoticed in the shadow of Star Wars. Firstly, the acting clout of Jessica Chastain, comfortably one of the … Continue reading Review: Molly’s Game
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 this are two-fold, if you'll indulge me briefly. 1) I … Continue reading Review: The Jungle Book (2016)
There's a moment in one of the early 'Treehouse Of Horror' episodes of The Simpsons that sprang to mind while I was watching Thor: The Dark World. The Simpson family inherit an old spooky house with a host of haunted goings-on occurring within. In one room is a vortex into which Homer chucks an orange. Immediately after, … Continue reading Review: Thor: The Dark World
I went into Pacific Rim very much in two minds, much as I've remained in two minds about Guillermo del Toro's output to date. As feted as the Mexican director has become for his popularist whirlpools of dark genre fiction, I've never particularly connected with any of his films. Even the universally adored Pan's Labyrinth leaves me … Continue reading Review: Pacific Rim
***originally written 2 June 2012*** ***THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. BIG ONES*** Still here? Okay. Hype. Hype and expectation can be funny things in the film industry. They can make or break a film. Creating them is the master craft of the marketing department. Product placement. Trailers. Tie-in promotions. Journo exclusives. And in the modern world, … Continue reading Review: Prometheus
