The Duke Movie Review
The film starts when his protest against the TV levee that the government inflicted back in the sixties lands him in jail where he does time. Broadbent is perfectly cast as the heart of gold Bunton as is the always impeccable Helen Mirren as his long-suffering wife Dorothy. His activities escalate until he is accused of stealing a portrait of the Duke of Wellington by the Spanish painter Goya.
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Bunton is so unassuming and eccentric that even with a country-wide ...
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Movie Review
This sequel ramps things up considerably and loses sight of what made the first edition so charming. It was always going to be silly and that’s not necessarily a deterrent to having fun. It just now feels bloated and trying too hard to be entertaining.
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There are some amusing gags and enjoyable homages to classic films like Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Raiders of the Lost Ark but it never comfortably finds its comic groove. The visuals have been elevated at the ...
The Bad Guys Movie Review
Voicing the main character of Wolf is Sam Rockwell. He does his best poor man’s George Clooney (there is even a reference to the Clooney factor in the script) and his smooth delivery fits the role perfectly. Wolf is the leader of a band of criminals featuring a snake, shark, piranha, and tarantula.
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These members of the animal kingdom are considered bad or threatening and this plays into their sense of self. The movie’s not-so-subtle idea to not always judge a ...
Broadcast Signal Intrusion Movie Review
As that undertaking expands so do the number of strange events he is privy to. He seeks out more examples of hackers injecting bizarre visuals into broadcast signals and finds these intrusions have been captivating people for years. He also finds numerous connections to his own life.
On-screen creepiness is always more visceral when you are given only hints and have to fill in the blanks with your own perceptions. Obsessive behaviour is easier to understand with this slow delivery of ...
Dog Movie Review
The setup is simple. Jackson Briggs (Tatum) is a war veteran who is tasked with taking a military service dog Lulu to the funeral of the dog’s handler and his fellow Army Ranger who has died by suicide. Briggs had served with both dog and soldier. Both are suffering, Briggs from the after-effects of head trauma and Lulu from PTSD.
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Lulu is tightly wound and hyper-aggressive and the beginnings of their road trip are fraught with animosity between both former ...
Black Friday Movie Review
Building on an already crazy premise (that consumption orgy in America that traditionally occurs on the fourth Friday of November), this Black Friday follows the beleaguered staff at a toy store. The fun begins when a pulsating chunk of flesh comes rocketing through the tin roof of the store and infects an employee stupid enough to look it face to blob and not run away as most sane folks would.
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You can tell from the opening that things aren’t going to go well ...
The Batman Movie Review
On the casting front, things are uniformly effective with Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne and his alter ego Batman more than holding up his end, he has brooding down to a science. Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle (AKA Catwoman) hits all the right notes and looks great in tight black leather while Colin Farrell is almost unrecognisable as Oswald Cobblepot (The Penguin). Jeffrey Wright as Lt. James Gordon and John Turturro as the crime boss Carmine Falcone turn in their usual strong workman like ...
Studio 666 Movie Review
The story (of what little there is) revolves around the band recording their new album in a haunted house and as Dave becomes more possessed the proceedings become more and more gruesome. The deaths when they come are weighted more towards to end of the film. This makes the first half a little dry but rewards those with a taste for stage blood in the later reels as buckets flow.
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As Mister Grohl picks off the unfortunate members of his band, the hilarity becomes ...
Cyrano Movie Review
Dinklage’s singing voice while being slight is buttressed by interesting lyrics and a heartfelt delivery. Elsewhere female lead Haley Bennett as Roxanne has a fine singing voice as does Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Christian, who is competing for Roxanne’s heart. Ben Mendelsohn is also interesting as De Guiche, who gets to get his Goth on via a deep resonant voice.
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With a backdrop of war and the struggle of the class system breaking into song at any moment is ...
C’mon C’mon Movie Review
Joaquin Phoenix is Johnny, an audio documentarian who is traveling around the country interviewing young people to get their take on some of life’s biggest questions. He seems inward-facing and somewhat broken. He visits his estranged sister Viv (Gaby Hoffmann) and her son Jesse (Woody Norman).
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The relationship between the two siblings is frosty and when Viv has to travel to look after her husband, Jesse’s father, Johnny is tasked with looking after Jesse. The ...
