month : 04/2020 30 results

Retro Movie Review – Terminator Genisys

The story throws a lot your way and it relies quite a bit on the viewer’s past knowledge of the Terminator film series and its liberal take on time travel. Most of the plot twists originate from that ethos and they are at times hard to follow. It also features a progression of special effects as the early reels show simpler CGI while the later reels try their best to blow your mind with what’s now possible with zeros and ones.   //   The new cast play better with ...

Retro Movie Review – Minions

Its timeline starts from the beginning of time and quickly accelerates to the swinging sixties and as such makes for some very funny history lessons. It also rewards those looking for popular culture references with a wide range of improbable moments. The soundtrack is also fantastically period appropriate and the filmmakers spared no expense in securing the original songs by the original artists. The licensing fees must have been through the roof.   //   The core of the ...

Watch the trailer for White Riot

Rock Against Racism (RAR) was formed in 1976, during a hostile environment of anti-immigrant hysteria and National Front marches. As neo-Nazis recruited the nation's youth, RAR's multicultural punk and reggae gigs provided rallying points for resistance.   //   As founder Red Saunders explains: 'We peeled away the Union Jack to reveal the swastika'. The campaign grew from Hoxton fanzine roots to 1978's huge concert in Victoria Park, featuring X-Ray Spex, Steel Pulse, Tom ...

Retro Movie Review – Amy

When Winehouse broke out in the early noughties, she really stood out. Here was a jazz singer that wrote incredibly personal lyrics, had great vocal chops and delivered them with a looseness that ran counter to a lot of jazz singer’s rigid professionalism. That she was a hot mess only added to the original appeal.   //   The film was made in the beginning with the family’s full approval but as the final cut came together their disapproval became pronounced and it’s ...

Retro Movie Review – Southpaw

The film also provides further proof (if any more is actually needed) on how fine an actor Jake Gyllenhaal has become. His take on the lead role, that of boxer Billy Hope is absolutely mesmeric. His time in the gym and time spent training to learn the techniques of boxing have paid real dividends.   //   Gyllenhaal fills the screen with electricity and menace and he makes the most out of what is a rather pedestrian screenplay. Sutter’s ability to plumb the depths of ...

Watch the trailer for Blithe Spirit

His picture-perfect new wife Ruth is doing her best to keep him focussed so they can fulfil her dream of leaving London for Hollywood. Charles’ quest for inspiration leads him to invite the eccentric mystic Madame Acarti (Judi Dench) to perform a séance in his home.   //   He gets more than he bargained for when Madame Acarti inadvertently summons the spirit of his first wife: the brilliant and fiery Elvira. Ready to pick up her life right where she left off, Elvira ...

The Hunt Movie Review

This tale of what came first, the chicken or the egg is an ideal project for the times. It will create dialogue and opinions and fill a much needed gap in new film releases. Seen as social commentary it is cutting, as entertainment, outrageous and as feminist propaganda, empowering. It does all this and still remains escapist especially in these isolationist times.   //   The idea of hunting humans for sport has been visited many times before on the big screen but never ...

Retro Movie Review – Trainwreck

The story set up is about a woman in the big city not looking for love but finding it anyway. She is comfortable turning around traditional rom-com situations in regards to male and female behaviour for the discomfort of some audience members. She also succeeds in giving the film a big heart amongst all the relationship carnage.   //   The way Schumer resolves the final situation is most unexpected and proves her comic ability to think outside the box. It’s a fantastic ...

Watch the trailer for the upcoming thriller Antebellum!

Antebellum is a terrifying new thriller from the producer of the acclaimed films GET OUT and US, and groundbreaking directors Gerard Bush and ChristoperRenz -an exciting new voice in filmmaking.   //   Antebellum will be released in cinemas later in the year. www.facebook.com/roadshow

Retro Movie Review – Django Unchained

When the rumours of Tarantino tackling the Western genre first surfaced, what a hundred years ago, it provided a number of great movie conservationist’s topics. Could his make cowboys look and sound cool? Could he recharge careers and get superlative performances from his regulars? Could he make an increasingly jaded audience stand up and cheer? In almost all categories the answer is a resounding yes.   //   Few are unaware of the film’s basic synopsis after another ...