In what seems like an attempt to start up another Jason Bourne type franchise, American Assassin falls short due to a lacklustre screenplay and a somewhat bland lead performance, but there is still some fun to be had here.
The immense hype IT has built has been of blockbuster proportions, with the highest number of views ever recorded for a movie trailer on YouTube. So the big question is, does it live up to it? Yes and no, is the only answer that comes to mind.
Luc Besson’s epic space saga Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets can be best described as an overly ambitious, beautiful looking mess.
What we see throughout An Inconvenient Sequel is evidence of the harshest effects climate change has to offer when it comes to affecting our planet. Whether you believe it or not, it is must-see viewing.
In 1979, a group of childhood friends set out to make a horror movie, with little to no experience besides a few homemade short films. A 22 year old Sam Raimi along with his leading man Bruce Campbell and other various cast and crew members, put themselves in the middle of the woods to shoot a movie simply titled, The Evil Dead.
Edgar Wright’s 5th film shows no signs of his fast-paced style slowing down anytime soon. Thanks to his kinetic direction, he keeps Baby Driver in high gear and never drops the pace due to some well written and performed characters.
In the wake of the release of the critically acclaimed psychological horror film It Comes at Night starring Joel Edgerton, it seems fitting to look back on the ‘slow burn’ sub-genre of horror that occasionally gets overlooked or underappreciated.
Pixar has arguably one of the movie industry’s best records, but the Cars movies don’t seem to have the same universal love of say, the Toy Story or Monsters Inc. franchises. This doesn’t mean they are necessarily bad films; far from it, as Cars 3 manages to entertain nonetheless.
Life is exactly what this film needed in order to succeed. It’s a shame too because it comes close to being really good and whilst it has its moments, it never quite gets there.
Slow-burn horror films get mixed responses almost every time one is released and recently, The Witch (2015) was a good example of how well it can be done. Daguerrotype, whilst not in the same class, can be put under the same category and it almost succeeds, falling slightly short due to a messy screenplay.
With only just under four years since the Boston City marathon bombings, one would think that a movie based on the events would be considered ‘too soon’, but it’s safe to say that Patriots Day delivers a heartfelt and gut wrenching depiction of actual events, without a hint of exploitation.
The last few years of horror has produced some noteworthy titles including It Follows, The Babadook, Don’t Breath and various other independent films that will be shown for generations to come. Unfortunately Queen of Spades falls into the direct-to-DVD category and will most likely stay put.
Dark Diamond is a low budget, rough-around-the-edges crime thriller set in Antwerp, Belgium, that slowly builds tension and leads into a messy climax, showing that a decent story can overcome the typical Hollywood churn-out and special effects.
Acclaimed filmmaker Pedro Almodovar’s latest effort Julieta stays true to his form of detailed character study and raw human emotion in a draining but commanding effort by all involved.
Boys in the Trees is an Aussie film that tries to break the mould of a straight-up drama with elements of fantasy and horror, but ends up being a hit-and-mostly-miss bag of results in what could have ultimately been a good film.
In what should be a compelling story that reveals one of the US government’s biggest secrets at the hands of Edward Snowden is heavily weighed down with some poor pacing and confusing computer jargon that leaves the viewer scratching their head.
