Maleficent is studio-mandated fan fiction, a Sleeping Beauty remix with sumptuous visuals that never really provides a good reason for existing. I’ll grant that it’s the first competent execution of the post-300 “artificial live-action” aesthetic, but the narrative adjustments to the classic tale – a sympathetic villain, an excoriation of dictatorial hierarchies and a hefty…
The Cat Returns is one of those sweet, charming fairytales until all of a sudden it isn’t; like most Studio Ghibli pictures, there’s depth behind this charming, colourful animation. When Haru (Chizuru Ikewaki/Anne Hathaway) saves the life of a cat on her way home from school, she finds herself caught up in the intricacies of…
You know what you’re getting into when you watch a film with a title like Cheerleader Massacre. Bad acting is par for the course: the actors might look like the Days of Our Lives type, but their thespian ability falls short of even that mark. There’s no reason to be surprised by home-video quality cinematography…
X-Men: First Class is a breezy slice of blockbuster. It’s fun while dabbling in the conventional superhero stuff – origin stories and brief banter, all interspersed with the mandatory action – but stumbles when it tries to be something more than disposable entertainment. There’s a lot to like here. Matthew Vaughan frolics through the sixties…
Bad Milo has everything it needs to be a modern cult horror-comedy classic, from an eclectic, impressive cast (Ken Marino, Gillian Jacobs, Kumail Nanjiani, Peter Stormare) to a perfectly silly conceit: a monster living in the rectum of sadsack Duncan (Marino) that emerges in a homicidal rage whenever he’s overcome with stress. Why, then, does…
On the Job is a grim yet likeable Filipino crime thriller, where cops and hitmen are pitted against one another while corrupt politicians pull their strings. It’s a familiar story, and while there are surprises lurking within an impressively dense narrative, there’s no spark of originality to distinguish it from any number of other crime…
Beneath the quietly sparkling waters of this lake is something dark and terrible. The lake is the focal point for a cruising spot for gay men. A rumour circulates that a 30-foot predatory fish lurks in the water. This alleged silurus may not exist, but when Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) watches Michel (Christophe Paou) murder his…
Spy thrillers are generally sleek and seductive. They have the cold gleam of gunmetal with the occasional sparkle of a diamond-studded Rolex. The spy thriller is a debonair gentleman clad in the perfect black tuxedo. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a different kind of spy movie altogether. Instead of a tuxedo, think an aged duffel…
It’s hard to talk about A Hijacking without comparing it to Captain Phillips so, fuck it, here we go. The two cover similar content, both narratively – focusing on commercial ships hijacked by pirates – and thematically, with each film drawing implicit links between their events and the damage wrought by modern commercialism/capitalism. Where Captain…
How I Live Now is a good movie whose potential greatness is squandered by a staggeringly wrong-headed romantic plotline. The set-up of the film is engaging – sixteen year-old American teenager Daisy (Saoirse Roman) moves to England to stay with her cousins just as the country is embroiled in a devastating nuclear war, the details…
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