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,…
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…
eXistenZ is destined to always be second choice. Looking for a David Cronenberg film that eroticises the unerotic? Your first choice is Crash; eXistenZ comes a distant second. Looking for a film that cursorily engages with videogaming culture before becoming a philosophical treatise on the nature of reality? The Matrix does that better than eXistenZ,…
I’d like to say that my extremely late write-up of this phenomenal episode of Breaking Bad was caused by emotional shellshock – the episode did reduce my partner to gasping sobs as Skyler collapsed in the middle of Negra Arroyo Lane. The real explanation is less poetic; I simply had a tonne of exams to…
I’ve been considering introducing some kind of star ratings or rankings over here for quite a while now, but it seemed like my 300th post was a good time to roll out a ratings system for ccpopculture. Details: The ranks are, appropriately enough, on a scale from 0 to 200. At this stage it applies…
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