Towards the end of “Felina,” Walter White scrabbles on the floor with his car keys, pressing the button again and again. We know – or can guess – that it’s about to unleash death upon Walt’s enemies. But for a few seconds, it doesn’t. Nothing happens. In another universe, Breaking Bad ends there. Walt’s final…
There are lots of things to like about sci-fi series Orphan Black; they’re all Tatiana Maslany. She plays a range of different characters – a frustrated housewife, a scattered scientist, an English punk, a Russian assassin – for reasons that I probably shouldn’t spoil … but let’s be honest, your first guess (something-something-clones something-something-shadowy-organisation) will…
Originality is a lauded characteristic of modern music, but there’s something to be said for executing a time-honoured formula with enthusiasm and talent. CHVRCHES’ debut record, The Bones of What You Believe, is hardly original, but if, like me, your ‘80s childhood has left you with soft spot for synth pop, you won’t have any…
Anyone expecting an action extravaganza on par with The Avengers from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be quickly re-educated mere minutes into the show’s pilot. The opening scene is a traditional “superhero saves damsel from burning building” bit with special effects that, on the continuum from ‘60s Doctor Who to Iron Man 3 fall, appropriately enough,…
Last night I went to a preview screening of Tim Winton’s The Turning, presented by director and producer Robert Connolly. The book it’s based on is a collection of seventeen short stories from one of the Australia’s greatest authors, stories set on or around the Western coast of Australia; stories about childhood and parents and…
This final half-season of Breaking Bad has been like a game of ten-pin bowling at times. That may seem like an odd metaphor, but bear with me: there’s so many pins to knock over in this final stretch that we need to have a break every couple of episodes to line them up again –…
Side Effects is cinematic sleight of hand. It’s a beguiling performance from the movie magician; the great Steven Soderbergh. It feints at being a story about the questionable practices of the pharmaceutical industry; it’s not. Early scenes drift elliptically through Emily (Rooney Mara)’s life; she seems depressed, and she seems to be the film’s protagonist.…
Hatchet III continues the escalation that Hatchet II began: where the first sequel replaced unarmed tourists with armed hillbillies, the second sequel upgrades to an entire SWAT platoon (and consequently, even fewer female characters). The same intensification is evident in the gore, which is more excessive but less imaginative than the earlier films. Where Hatchet…
Story: Hatchet II retells and reconfigures Victor Crowley’s origin story, which seems fitting given the recasting of MaryBeth (the first film’s Final Girl) and the way its chief inspiration, the Friday the 13th series, would reinvent Jason Voorhees with each sequel. The main plotline is a double-edged revenge story (for MaryBeth and Victor) which is…
Hatchet is generally described as a horror-comedy, but the qualifier doesn’t quite fit. It’s not exactly horror – Hatchet is hardly trying to scare its audience – but its jokes are mostly in-jokes, references or cameos that will put a grin on horror fans’ faces without really being funny. This is a horror film made…
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