Telling the true story of 2015’s Hatton Garden Robbery, King of Thieves assembles an all-star cast to pull off the job, but doesn’t quite get away with it.
Bumbling Old Men: The Movie (King of Thieves review)
Month: September 2018
80’s Sci-Fi reboot should be left in the past (The Predator review)
Shane Black is one of the highest regarded writer directors working currently, known for writing ‘Lethal Weapon’ 1 and 2, and for writing/directing ‘Iron Man 3’, ‘The Nice Guys’ and ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ (all great films). Unfortunately, his latest film continuing the Predator franchise is a break from his pretty consistent track record, and one that features a dull story, ropey CGI and offensive stereotypes.
Family horror film ticks along quite nicely (The House with a Clock in Its Walls review)
Based on the 1973 kids book, The House with a Clock in Its Walls is Eli Roth’s first step into family film territory, having made predominantly gory horror films up to this point. While his knowledge of horror works wonders in casting a darkness to this family scare fest, the film is flawed by an ever-growing silliness and a lack of confidence in its source material.
Blake Lively is gone, girl (A Simple Favour review)
Director Paul Feig is back after hits like Bridesmaids and Spy. Known for his comedies, this is his first attempt at a Thriller. Tragically, his attempts at ditching comedy aren't entirely successful, and instead this film becomes a hybrid of the two where either the jokes come in the way of the suspenseful mystery, or vice versa.
Money makes the parents frown (Crazy Rich Asians review)
Crazy Rich Asians is making headlines because of its transgressive production. It is the first major Hollywood film since 1993 to have a majority Asian-American cast, and the joy of this movie is that it proves this is inconsequential to the film. It delivers enough laughs and heart to stand alongside most rom-coms, though it does fall short of true greatness.
A Sinister First Look at ‘Joker’ (2019)
Plans (and desires) for a standalone Joker movie have been rife for many years. Those plans will finally be coming to fruition in October of next year when Todd Phillips takes the directing and co-writing job on ‘Joker’ (catchy title). With Joaquin Phoenix’s first make-up test being released, I thought I’d look into what we know about what is already one of the most anticipated films of 2019.
Dark satire is all too timely (BlacKkKlansman review)
Directed by Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman is a biographical comedy-drama that interprets the true story of an African-American police officer infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan. Using great performances, interesting ideas and timely themes, Lee’s ‘comedy’ is more of a dark social satire turned horror film.
Docu-Drama delivers nauseating heist story (American Animals review)
Telling a shockingly true story of four friends planning to rob their university library of a book worth $8 million, American Animals is the heist film this year deserved after letting us down with Oceans 8. Combining documentary and drama into one fantastic film, American Animals is a triumph.
Gripping thriller has viewers glued to the screens (Searching review)
When it was announced that Sony were producing a thriller film shot entirely on phone and laptop screens, I was initially skeptical. It seemed to be a gimmick that was being used as the next level of ‘found footage’ movies, like 'The Blair Witch Project' and 'Cloverfield'. How wrong I was, because this unique premise has been perfectly executed. Not since Gone Girl has there been such a deviously gripping thriller.
Daniel Robinson: From Reel to Real 