Month: February 2016

Tremors (1990)-Film review

tremors

Tremors, staring Kevin Bacon and directed by Ron Underwood, is a survival monster movie with a similar premise to classic survival monster horror movies like Alien (1979) and the Thing (1982). Set in the small isolated town of ‘perfection’ in Nevada, tunnelling monsters start picking off the towns folk one by one and they must try to survive and escape. The film has a very simple premise and doesn’t try to make it more complicated than it is, it doesn’t take itself too seriously or get bogged down with explanations. It is in no way a perfect film and if you wanted to you could spend your time picking out all the plot holes, but then you’d miss the point as its just a fun monster horror movie and a great popcorn flick. Once you relax and get into the story it has some funny moments and is a very entertaining film.
Continue reading “Tremors (1990)-Film review”

Super (2010)-Film review

Super_Poster

Super is directed by James Gunn and stars Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page and Kevin Bacon. It is a dark and brutally violent comedy about a religious fanatic who believes God has chosen him to fight crime after his wife leaves him for a drug dealer. The film had some cool and funny moments, but is also very messed up and a bit depressing, so some of the comedy struggles to come through. The film has a very similar premise to Kick-Ass as its a normal person trying to be super hero, and a lot of similar things happen in the two films (although they came out in the same year so I wouldn’t say this was a rip off of Kick Ass). The big difference, though, is that Super keeps it feeling gritty. While being funny at times, it doesn’t have the fun tone of kick ass and is actually a bit of a downer throughout when you think about it.  Continue reading “Super (2010)-Film review”

Room (2015)-Film review

room-poster

Room is directed by Lenny Abrahamson and stars Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay as a mother and her 5 year old son who are being held in a tiny room and have been since before the boy was born. The film is very small and personal and has a very upsetting premise, but an overall feeling of hope and love in dark times. It is sweet and heartwarming while simultaneously being tragic and soul crushing. I don’t want to spoil anything from this film so my review might be a bit vague, but that is because I knew very little about this film when I went to see it, and that made this film an amazing experience.
Continue reading “Room (2015)-Film review”

Grimsby (2016)- Film review

Grimsby

Grimsby is a new comedy by Sacha Baron Cohen, star of Borat, and is directed by Louis Leterrier and staring Sacha Baron Cohen and Mark Strong. The film is about two brothers, one an international super spy (Strong), the other an idiotic football fan from Grimsby London (Cohen), who must team up to stop an Eco-terrorist group. I can’t really say I was disappointed by the film because I wasn’t expecting much, but I’m sad to say that this film was a disaster!
Continue reading “Grimsby (2016)- Film review”

Spotlight (2015)- Film review

spotlight

Spotlight is directed by Tom McCarthy and stars Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Brian d’Arcy James, John Slattery, Liev Schreiber and Stanley Tucci. It is a biographical film about the Spotlight reporters for the Boston Globe who uncovered the child molestation scandal within the Catholic Church. This horrible discovery in recent history is harrowingly presented in this film; it is tough to experience, but that’s what makes the film great. It doesn’t dumb down the events or over dramatise them, but instead presents them with terrifying truth, Spotlight is really brilliant.

Continue reading “Spotlight (2015)- Film review”

What We Do In The Shadows (2014)-Film review

What-We-Do-in-the-Shadows

What We Do In The Shadows is a mockumentary horror comedy written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi and stars Clement, Waititi and Jonny Brugh as three classic vampires who share a house in modern day New Zealand. The camera crew follow and interview Viago (Waitit), Deacon (Brugh) and Vladislav (Clement) and others as they try to attract pray, deal with vampire hunters, and hide in society, while also dealing with modern life and the stresses of house-sharing. It is a very funny and original and is full of heart, it never feels cliché or cheesy, it is a really enjoyable film.
Continue reading “What We Do In The Shadows (2014)-Film review”

World War Z (Max Brooks)- Book review 

world-war-z-book-cover

World War Z, an oral history of the zombie war, is a novel by author Max Brooks. Set after the end of a massive world wide war against the living dead, the book is a collection of storys and accounts from people all over the world who survived the outbreak of the undead collected by an unknown interviewer. The Interviewer sets up in the introduction how he wants emotional, personal, accounts from all aspects of the war; the story’s flow from the first appearances of zombies, to the start of the chaos, to how the planet started fighting back. The book is expansive and a fascinating fictional account of war, featuring classic George A Romero style zombies, that feels horrifyingly real. Max Brooks shows a masterful writing style with such amazing attention to detail that makes World War Z feel like a real historical account and not a work of fiction.
Continue reading “World War Z (Max Brooks)- Book review “

Birdman 0r (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)-Film review

birdman

Birdman is a poetic tale about fictional movie star Riggan Thomson who, as he is only famous for his role as superhero Birdman in the 90s blockbusters of the same name, is trying to recreate his image as a true “artist” by writing, directing and starring in a Broadway play. The film follows Riggan as the stress and pressure from the play and everyone around him cause him to steadily lose his sanity. The film questions what the difference between is between commercial fame and successes and true art, whether success means how popular you are or how respected you are, and just how far someone can go for there image. It is a spectacle and a best picture winner, a masterful film. It is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and stars Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Emma Stone, Amy Ryan and Naomi Watts.
Continue reading “Birdman 0r (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)-Film review”

Blade (1998)-Film review 

Blade_movie

Blade, staring Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson and N’Bushe Wright, is one of the first successful super hero films of this generation since the Superman and Batman films of the 1980s. It is, along with X-men and Sam Rami’s Spider-Man, is probably one of the reasons we have so many other super hero films as this was an example that it could work. This one is a bit forgotten about though which is a shame as I found this to be one of the best! It is a really good comic book film, and shames a lot of the current MCU and DCU films as it wasn’t afraid to be adult and it had a leading hero that was black, which the current ones have yet to do. Blade is, simply put, about a half-vampire vampire slayer, and is a great early super hero film!
Continue reading “Blade (1998)-Film review “

World War Z (2013)- Film review 

World_War_Z_poster

I’ve been reading the novel World War Z (which I will do a review of when I’ve finished, I’m not far from the end) so that’s why I’ve been in a zombie mood the last few days. I heard that the film World War Z has absolutely nothing to do with the book at all so that’s why I didn’t mind watching it before I finish reading it. It really doesn’t, it doesn’t even feel like it’s set in the same world as the book, because the zombies run in the film a which they don’t in the book. The film is its own story so if you like the film, go read the book because it’s completely different and awesome, and if you hate the film, go read the book because it’s completely different and awesome! It’s not the same characters or story or style or anything, the film is its own separate thing. Any way I’ll stop talking about the book and save that for my review, and I will ignore my opinions on the book for the bulk of this review, which is very easy to do because, like I said, they are completely separate. The film stars Brad Pitt and is directed by Marc Foster.  Continue reading “World War Z (2013)- Film review “