After 11 years and a seemingly endless procession of ear drum and eyeball pummelling films, the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes to a close with the three-hour behemoth Avengers: Endgame. This collision of superhero action flick, high-tech sci-fi film, Tolkienesque fantasy epic and pompous Wagnerian myth has so far received reviews verging on the orgasmic with some
Read moreOn-screen text at the beginning of Sicario: Day of the Soldado, the sequel to the much lauded 2015 drug-crime drama Sicario, delivers what seems to be a disturbingly ‘conservative’ message about people smuggling across the Mexican-US border, much like the sort of statement we might expect from a certain oddly-coiffured world leader. It appears that this film may have shelved
Read moreThe Cohen brother’s latest film Hail, Caesar!, a satire of Hollywood’s golden age of the early 1950’s, is an engaging movie rather than the witty, insightful and confronting film we expect from the Cohens. Set at the feverish production lot of fictitious Capitol Pictures, the film sees hard-nosed executive Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) constantly trying to extinguish fires created by
Read moreWith its dangerous mountain climbing scenario and all-star cast, that includes Sam Worthington, Jake Gyllenhaal and Keira Knightley, Everest looked certain to be an old school, over-the-top disaster movie. Impressively, though, Everest side-steps the typical disaster movie clichés by adopting a low-key, matter-of-fact approach that provides a less sensational but more intense drama. The film is based on actual events
Read moreSin City: A Dame To Kill For takes us once again into Frank Miller’s hyper-stylised noir fantasy world. Adapted from Miller’s lauded graphic novel, the film mixes animation and real life action for a film that looks stunning looking but is marred by a rudimentary and often clichéd plot. Co-director’s Miller and Robert Rodriguez don’t seem to know if they
Read moreBased on the novel by Joyce Maynard, Labor Day may be a clichéd story of a prisoner on the run finding love with the woman he has taken hostage but a quality cast featuring Josh Brolin, Kate Winslet and young Gattlin Griffith transform this familiar tale into an affecting human drama. Set in 1987, the film is largely seen through
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