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Reviews
The Girl on the Train
The Girl on the Train rolls into cinemas with nary a delay in sight. Relocating the novel to America (it better suits the picturesque houses and environment) Emily Blunt stars as the titular girl who, fascinated by a couple she glimpses everyday on her commute, gets involved as the woman mysteriously disappears. Hyped as this year's Gone Girl, Tate Taylor's thriller doesn't quite hit the heights of Fincher's film, mainly down to a lack of 'did-that-really-just-happen' twists.
Oct 24, 2016
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Tim Burton's latest, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, is based on Ransom Rigg's young adult novel of the same name. Seemingly promoted and set up as a family franchise lead-off but don't be fooled, this is as dark, scary and (no pun intended) peculiar as the rest of his oeuvre. We do, though, follow a young-adult story and see events through the eyes of Jake (Asa Butterfield, convincingly American) and typical young-adult (now a genre in itself) tropes abound: a l
Oct 6, 2016
The Girl with All the Gifts
The Girl with All the Gifts dares to innovate in the rather saturated zombie market. It's a fair while since we've seen a post-apocalyptic film of this type in the cinemas, largely down to the success and brilliance of The Walking Dead which, of course, is able to tell a larger story. The Girl with All the Gifts is an adaptation of Mike Carey's novel and the treatment has been delivered by the author himself and directed by Colm McCarthy, known more for his TV work (such as P
Sep 28, 2016
The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven, frustratingly, keeps up 2016's record of delivering blockbusters with a distinct 'meh' factor. Perhaps not daring to dishonour the 1960 original it's based on (or Kurosawa's Seven Samurai which, in turn, that was based on) Antoine Fuqua's film just feels a little behind the times when compared with this year's stellar Western quota (The Revenant and The Hateful Eight being the two most prevalent examples.) As such, expect a breezy plot line about a ragt
Sep 27, 2016
The Infiltrator
The Infiltrator continues TV and film's ongoing obsession with the 'War on Drugs.' A portrayal of Robert Mazur's amazing, true-life, undercover mission to infiltrate the American workings of Pablo Escobar it arrives, coincidentally, with Narcos' wildly popular version of the story reaching series two and stars the darling of the fictional drug world Bryan Cranston. Mazur's tale is quite extraordinary. The depths he plumbed to puncture the inner workings of these notorious cri
Sep 21, 2016
Cafe Society
Café Society is a love letter from Woody Allen to old Hollywood. We've been treated this year with the Coen Brother's Hail! Caesar which also focused on a similar era of cinema and this is as much of a delight. Funny, heart-breaking and nostalgic all in one, this is vintage Woody. Woody's always had muses and inspiration and it looks like the two leads here could be his next staples. Jesse Eisenberg plays a classic Allen character and bears such a striking similarity to the D
Sep 8, 2016
Sausage Party
Sausage Party could be Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's best creation. It could even be the film of the year. Hype has seemingly been a curse at the cinema this year with the mightiest names falling foul to the social media hype-machine and either not quite delivering (Suicide Squad, Warcraft) or just flat-out failing (Batman v. Superman.) With its delayed release, years of creation and all-star cast, Sausage Party could have been the latest also-ran but I'm delighted to say th
Sep 5, 2016
David Brent: Life on the Road
Thirteen years after The Office bowed out with its masterful Christmas special double-header it still stands as possibly the finest sitcom to ever grace our screens (with only Peep Show standing on the top of the podium with it.) Part of its genius was leaving us wanting more and Ricky Gervais has finally relented, bringing back his most celebrated creation in David Brent: Life on the Road. It's well known that, incredible as his track record is on the small screen (Extras, D
Sep 2, 2016
The Purge: Election Year
The Purge: Election Year is another triumph for what could be a really long-running series. Let's ignore the obvious contrivances and plot holes with the overall idea (and pray for the long-rumoured prequel film about the Purge's genesis) as it's a freaking brilliant premise for a movie. All crime is legal for one terrifying night a year. It's difficult to argue with that. Like the brilliant 'Anarchy' before it, we start here with some disparate story arcs and characters who
Sep 1, 2016
Suicide Squad
Suicide Squad: touted as the film of the summer before being slammed as the worst superhero film ever by mainstream reviewers. The truth? It's neither of these things. A note to the fans first of all: go and see it. It's an enjoyable treat and, finally, a chance to see these characters on the cinema screen for the first time and done properly, in the most part, as well. It's better than the reviews suggest but, and here's the kick in the teeth, it's another missed opportunity
Aug 9, 2016
Finding Dory
A Pixar sequel (Toy Story exempt) is often cause for concern. As much as they've never strayed too far from quality, their follow-on films tend to lean more towards marketability than anything else. Perhaps it's because they're so damn good at introducing characters, or maybe because their standalone films are always so beautifully rounded off. I'm pleased to say that Finding Dory is an exception to the rule and is a wonderful sequel to Finding Nemo (a whole 13 years after!)
Aug 5, 2016
Jason Bourne
Matt Damon returns in the, imaginatively titled, Jason Bourne. Jeremy Renner-starring The Bourne Legacy firmly behind them (no silly blue and green pills here, although a Renner-helmed Bourne follow-up is reportedly in the works) Damon reunites with Paul Greengrass to reform the Bourne dream-team. Once again, this latest instalment absolutely slays all post-Casino Royale Daniel Craig Bonds and exposes them for the archaic, stuck-in-the-muds that they are. Bourne's gritty real
Aug 3, 2016
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