You could hear the cries of lament from space. Guillermo del Toro has chosen not to helm the sequel to his intelligent, bombastically brilliant 2013 film Pacific Rim, a critical and commercial hit that saw the Earth attacked by fearsome giant monsters known as Kaiju from the dimensional beyond Continue Reading
Movies
A proclivity for greatness … or not? Find out what you’re made of with Prospect
SNAPSHOT A teenage girl and her father travel to a remote alien moon, aiming to strike it rich. They’ve secured a contract to harvest a large deposit of the elusive gems hidden in the depths of the moon’s toxic forest. But there are others roving the wilderness and the Continue Reading
Cinema sounds: My three current favourite soundtracks (Black Panther, Call Me By Your Name, The Shape of Water)
Soundtracks are knitted into the soul of every movie you see. Often well done, sometimes not, but where they work, and work superbly, they add immeasurable depth, breadth and spine-tingling, soul-stirring emotion to a film, augmenting stellar performances by the cast. elevating key plot points and ensuring that, Continue Reading
Mash-up of #GoT and Monty Python’s Holy Grail sniffs scornfully in your general direction
It goes without saying, but hey, I’m going to say it anyway. Game of Thrones is serious, very, VERY serious. Monty Python, and specifically, The Holy Grail, is not (although, as a satire, it conveys some fairly serious ideas). So then, does combining the two rather disparate approaches to Continue Reading
No Small Parts: The superlative acting style of Sally Hawkins #TheShapeofWater
SNAPSHOT On IMDB the following is described as one of her trademarks; an apologetic and grateful presence with a shy and nervous demeanor that’s pretty accurate but there are still a few surprises …Sally’s role as as Elisa in the ‘Shape of Water’ suits her perfectly. Elisa has elements Continue Reading
Movie review: BPM (120 Battements par minute)
We often forget in the cold, reflective light of history, that there are real flesh-and-blood people in the events we’re examining. People who stormed the battlements, fought in wars, made bold scientific discoveries, and in the case of Robin Campillo’s BPM (120 Battements par minute), made repeated and concerted attempts Continue Reading
Weekend pop art: Solo – A Star Wars Story character posters
SNAPSHOT Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his mighty Continue Reading
Movie review: Tomb Raider
As a group, cinematic archaeologists and adventurers of the treasure-hunting variety are not the brightest of people. Sure, they’re brave, intrepid, a little reckless and with chutzpath to burn, but bright? Not so much. Time and again, adventurers like Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander in this iteration), who returns in Continue Reading
The short and the short of it: Things go bump in the night in I’m Scared
SNAPSHOT 8-year-old insomniac Ralf warns his little brother Crumbs of all of the dangers that lurk in the shadows, waiting to devour the two of them. (synopsis via YouTube) Be honest – when you were a kid you were convinced there was plenty to be scared of in the Continue Reading
How’d they do that? The stop-motion animation puppets of Early Man
SNAPSHOT Set at the dawn of time, when dinosaurs and woolly mammoths roamed the earth, Early Man tells the story of how one plucky caveman unites his tribe against a mighty enemy and saves the day! (synopsis via Coming Soon) I am, and will always be, a fan of Continue Reading