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Reviews
Pitch Perfect 3
The first two Pitch Perfect films are exceedingly good, all-round entertainment which latched on to a growing trend and a gap in the market at the perfect time. A more mature look at university societies than High School Musical, actually funny and with a great soundtrack. The sequel was an inevitability and a clever way of moving the characters on from the events of the first film. A threequel, given the success of the first two, was also an inevitability but, unfortunately
Jan 1, 2018
The 2017 Albums Of The Year
2017 has been a particularly fine vintage for music. The less said about other things the better but there's nothing like political...
Jan 1, 2018
The 2017 Films Of The Year
After squabbles, in-fighting and more shuffling than a Vegas casino I present the best films of 2017: 20. Okja 19. Free Fire 18. The Lego...
Jan 1, 2018
The 2017 TV Of The Year
The small screen has been squabbling with the big in recent times and can certainly boast its own inimitable run of 'event' watching. For...
Jan 1, 2018
The 2017 Playlist: Tracks of the Year
Amidst all the strife of 2017 we always have music to turn to. Chunks of life and artistic expression to take three or four minutes at a...
Jan 1, 2018
New Artists for 2018
2017 has been an incredible year for music (as the Best Albums and Tracks lists will confirm) and 2018 is set for more brilliance. Here are some artists to look out for next year, all of whom have released some smashing singles or EP's this year but are yet to release a debut album. NB. There are plenty of new bands who've released great debuts this year but only those yet to release a full album are eligible for this particular list. No ranking here, just an alphabetical
Dec 18, 2017
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is not the nostalgia-fest that The Force Awakens and Rogue One were. It’s not The Empire Strikes Back to The Force Awakens' A New Hope either, or the pointless middle chapter that was Attack Of The Clones. It’s entirely its own beast and, for that, Rian Johnson deserves a lot of credit. Picking up the heavy baton from JJ Abram’s masterful last film (Abrams is now on producer duties) Johnson pulls more rugs here than a carpet salesman (terrible simile
Dec 15, 2017
The Disaster Artist
The Disaster Artist does a fantastic job of bypassing the expectant mockery that James Franco, Seth Rogen et al. could very easily adhere to. Instead, they offer up a treatise on Hollywood, the movie industry and the notion of following your dreams regardless of circumstance and talent, a potentially incongruous premise considering its status as a semi-biopic of the making of one of the most notoriously ‘bad’ movies ever made. The Room is a film that just wouldn’t be made now
Dec 13, 2017
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
‘Tis the season for blockbusters and seasonal fare but the biggest surprise of this chock-a-block month could well be a jungle-set remake that no one was really calling out for: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Power Rangers take note, this is how you update a 90’s favourite: by leaning strictly on the family-fun side of things rather than veering down a self-serious tween path. OK, yes, we still get the outdated teenage stereotypes lazily drawn together in a quick-dash charac
Dec 11, 2017
Justice League
Superhero fatigue, eh? Debate is a pillar of society. Whilst the old adage of opinions being like arseholes is totally true our passions, thoughts and instincts make us who we are. It’s not just those in the spotlight anymore though, you can’t eat out, travel or shop without someone already having passed judgement. Everyone’s livelihood is up for review. The notion of walking into a cinema, switching your brain off and mindlessly enjoying the spectacle is not an alien concept
Nov 20, 2017
Murder on the Orient Express
The Titanic sinks. Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's Father. ET returns home. Endings ingrained in popular culture, but not at all damaging to the films in which they occur. The same, unfortunately, is not true of the latest adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express. Agatha Christie’s classic tale has been read, retold and adapted countless times and was rife for another big screen version. Kenneth Branagh’s 2017 vintage is a faithful translation but doesn’t quite add the bell
Nov 13, 2017
Thor: Ragnarok
Marvel’s proclivity to use lesser-known, and stylistically varied, Directors throughout the MCU is to be earnestly applauded. It adds disparity, differentiates each film and phase in the series and enables each character film to feel like an evolution. This particularly elevates their latest addition to the MCU, and third this calendar year, Thor: Ragnarok. Phase Three has, so far, eclipsed all of Marvel’s achievements thus far, impressive considering we’re onto film number 1
Oct 31, 2017
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