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Considering Paul Thomas Anderson’s previous directorial effort had been the milkshake-drinking exploits of the universally admired and respected There Will Be Blood, it was perhaps inevitable and somewhat unfair that there would be some level of disappointment with his follow-up, The Master. Whilst some proclaimed it another intellectually-challenging masterpiece, many saw it as nothing more […]
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Over recent years Guillermo del Toro, director of numerous delights like Pan’s Labyrinth, has moved onto the producing side of filmmaking with ghostly Mama being his latest venture. The last horror film that del Toro produced was Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, a film that only provoked scares when you realised just how bad […]
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When the topic of the most influential ‘slasher’ films is brought up, the discussion often turns to shockers like Peeping Tom, Psycho and of course Halloween. However often omitted from this prestigiously terrifying list is Bob Clark’s 1974 festive effort Black Christmas. The film proved a success at the box office, has attained a cult […]
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It’s 1953 Los Angeles and life in the ‘City of Angels’ isn’t so great. Crime is rife whilst the LAPD has its fair share of corruption and crooked cops. A brutal and grisly murder at a local café seems like just another armed robbery gone too far to all except Lieutenants Ed Exley (Guy Pearce), […]
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Loosely based on writer-director Cameron Crowe’s own experiences as a Rolling Stone journalist, Almost Famous is an engaging lover letter to 1970’s rock music. Fifteen year-old William Miller manages to talk his way into writing an article on rock band ‘Stillwater’ for Rolling Stone magazine. Through his obvious passion for the band he is allowed […]
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Sylvester Stallone and his band of ageing, jacked-up super-soldiers incoherently grunt, punch and shoot their way through Eastern Europe here in the sequel to 2010’s The Expendables. Although an obvious improvement, this offering still fails to be anything other than cannon fodder on an entertainment level. The team are out for blood, and lots of […]
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Without its star Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass, the decision to continue the Bourne series was met with much scepticism. This would seem to be entirely justified when viewing the finished project as The Bourne Legacy fails to live up to the lofty standards set by the original trilogy. Perhaps at least some of […]
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Mother is a fantastically acted and riveting thriller that explores the extent to which a mother will fight to protect her son. Kim Hye-ja is phenomenal as the unnamed mother whose life is turned upside down when her mentally challenged son Do-joon, played by Won Bin, is arrested on suspicion of murder. She sets out […]
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Rambunctious yet lovable Delta House fraternity fight for their college survival against fun-sponge Dean Wormer and his preppy minions here in John Landis’s hysterical frat-comedy. Being one of the films to help launch the gross-out genre, the humour is of the immature sort that you’d expect. Yes, girls are ‘perved’ on, beer bottles are constantly […]
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It may seem insufferably stupid and have a God-awfully mushy ending but don’t be mistaken, Con Air hides a witty and self-mocking side that distinguishes it from the regular crop of testosterone-fuelled action flicks. Director Simon West and his talented cast clearly understand the absurdity of the material that they are working with and tackle […]
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Suspiria has become Italian horror maestro Dario Argento’s best known work and it’s not hard to see why as, despite featuring some of the most brutal death scenes you are likely to see, it is also a visual treat for the eyes. The plot itself is relatively simple and perhaps rather sub-standard; Girl moves to ballet […]
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Tracking the exploits of high-school student Ferris and his two friends as they skip school to instead slack-off around Chicago, John Hughes’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off has become an archetypal teen movie with great comic set-pieces, an iconic car and an even more memorable title character. Performances are spot-on and characterisation is surprisingly rich for […]
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Billy Bob Thornton is at his self-loathing best here playing Willie, a disgruntled alcoholic ‘Mall Santa’, a man who despises the kids that request presents from him almost as much as he hates himself. Every Christmas, Willie, and his obscenity-spewing dwarf companion Marcus (brilliantly played by Tony Cox) rob the Mall that they had been […]
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Though not quite as accomplished as some of the legendary Studio Ghibli’s finest works, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind remains a triumph in animation that helped to put the studio and director Hayao Miyazaki on the map. Composer Joe Hisaishi provides a typically sweeping and masterful score complimenting the epic nature of the story […]