Through his often crazed screen presence, Nic Cage has become a strange pop cultural icon and his films have almost become a subgenre unto themselves. His kooky charisma is given full licence to go into hyperdrive as he plays none other than Count Dracula in the slightly bonkers action/ horror comedy Renfield. Despite the imposing presence of Mr Cage, the
Read moreTolkien is the literate, sophisticated but occasionally lacklustre biopic of The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit author JRR Tolkien. Directed by Finn, Dome Karukoski (The Grump) the film sees Tolkien as a young officer (Nicholas Hoult) in the hell of the trenches in First World War France. Wounded and delirious he recalls his early life in which he
Read moreWith the initial Mad Max film trilogy, director George Miller established an idiosyncratic but distinctly Australian franchise that earned first a cult then a mainstream following and provided a springboard for star Mel Gibson’s ascent into the Hollywood stratosphere. After a mere 30 years Miller has delivered the fourth instalment Mad Max: Fury Road. The film has thus far had
Read moreI have to confess, I’m not normally a fan of zombie movies and that includes lauded films like 28 Days Later. I generally find the sight of people in bad make-up shuffling around and eating gizzards pretty tedious. Warm Bodies, however, is a different kind of zombie film. First of all, it’s told from a zombie’s perspective and secondly it
Read moreI have to confess, I’m not normally a fan of zombie movies and that includes lauded films like 28 Days Later. I generally find the sight of people in bad make-up shuffling around and eating gizzards pretty tedious. Warm Bodies, however, is a different kind of zombie film. First of all, it’s told from a zombie’s perspective and secondly it
Read moreParents be warned, Jack the Giant Slayer is not as kid-friendly as you might expect. Although it’s based on the Jack and the Beanstalk fable, it’s no cute fairy tale. This is a loud, violent action fantasy that’s closer to Robert Zemeckis’ intense reimaging of Beowulf than any fairy story and may traumatise children under 12. The violence begins in
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