I’m eternally thankful that the title of Jerry Rothwell’s Greenpeace documentary, How to Change the World, is an ironic one. Structured around a series of Greenpeace founder Bob Hunter’s ‘rules’ (from “Plant a Mind Bomb” to “Let the Power Go”), Rothwell is more interested in deconstructing the failures of Greenpeace than lionising its successes (though…
I can’t really complain about the woeful storytelling on display in Dragon Academy’s first episode. The series – set in a medieval-kingdom-slash-high-school where students train dragons – is the kind of slight anime entertainment that I don’t expect much from. So I can forgive the preponderance of “As you know, your father, the king” dialogue…
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is neither the hero the superhero genre deserves nor the villain it dreads. This is a film about two superheroes waging war with one another that’s similarly at war with itself, riven between competing narratives, commercial concerns and an overarching ambition that sees it striving for meaning before collapsing…
A Bigger Splash is a distinctly musical film. It’s a music film, too – with Tilda Swinton channelling her versatile Bowie charisma as a world-famous rockstar and Ralph Fiennes exhibiting some irrepressible dance moves as a record producer – but what makes the film sing is how director Luca Guadagnino effortlessly bridges its distinct tones.…
In 2002, the world was introduced to a family that made us laugh, cry and above all, appreciate our own family. My Big Fat Greek Wedding became one of the biggest, most surprising cinematic successes ever – and one of the most profitable. The sequel is packed full of nostalgic references as it reacquaints audiences with the…
Sleeping with Other People is pretty much a hangout sitcom stretched out to 100 minutes. There’s nothing wrong with that! It’s populated with a winning cast of actors/comedians who’ve found success on the small screen – Alison Brie (Community) and Jason Sudeikis (Saturday Night Live) as the central sorta-not-really couple, surrounded by the likes of…
One of the perks – or side effects, if you consider my bank account – of my foray into cinephilia has been my introduction to the UK Blu-Ray/DVD distributors, Arrow. While perhaps less prestigious than the widely-celebrated Criterion Collection, Arrow combine a fantastic, diverse library – cult and trashy horror under Arrow Video and arthouse…
Merchandising — it’s a time honored way to make even more money off of the popularity of past and present pop culture heroes. Sometimes, though, the merchandise just doesn’t seem to make any sense. Here are a few of the stranger pieces we’ve recently come across. Kiss Kaskets – We have a sneaking suspicion that…
Growing up watching children’s television in the early ‘90s, it was practically impossible to get through a week without being treated to a parable – or if you were unlucky, a lecture – about prejudice and xenophobia. Cartoons would obliquely or explicitly address issues of racism, religion and even AIDS in the context of a…
I’m not quite sure what to make of SPL 2: A Time for Consequences, a Chinese-Hong Kong martial arts (and guns) action film that’s a “sequel in name only” to Wilson Yip’s SPL. Partly that’s due to my lack of familiarity with the genre; outside of a couple Ong Bak and Raid films, my knowledge…
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