A remarkable cast utterly wasted in a truly unfunny and misguided film. The cinema was so quiet when the ‘jokes’ happened, you could actually hear Sir Arthur Conan Doyle turning in his grave. Do Not Watch.
Mary Poppins, made in 1964, is practically perfect in every way. It is the jewel in Disney’s live action crown, and is rightfully regarded as one of the best films ever made. Naturally, in today’s modern saturated movie market, a long overdue sequel was made. While Mary Poppins doesn’t begin to eclipse the original, it gives it a damn good try.
Produced by Peter Jackson, Mortal Engines is a film about giant cities on wheels that drive around and attack one another. While the bizarre concept is perfect Peter Jackson territory, this fantasy adaptation spoils its fantastic special effects with a cliché screenplay, poor performances and a lack of interesting personality.
Green Book tells the true-life story of African-American pianist Don Shirley, and Tony Vallelonga, his bodyguard and driver during a two-month tour of the deep south. A story of acceptance, understanding and love, the film uses a hilarious comic tone to underplay the powerful statement against racism, and is a triumph in both respects.
DC have done it again! Thrown loads of money at a massive CGI fest that forgets that the script is where some of the best films start. Aquaman is a ludicrous premise, and many people were unsure how DC would manage to well adapt this superhero in their dark cinematic universe. The answer is they haven’t, and what’s left is another inconsistent, dull and dragged out DC Superhero film.
Re-releasing Deadpool 2 as a PG-13 festive comedy sounded like a fun idea. Marketing showed Deadpool kidnapping Fred Savage before reading him the bedtime story of Deadpool 2 in a running joke about the premise of The Princess Bride. This interesting premise did not work, and in fact was just a shameless money maker that … Continue reading Festive Re-Release is a Cynical Flop (Once Upon a Deadpool review)
It’s rare to see a film debut as this, but Boots Riley’s absurdist dark comedy is just that. Telling the story of a young African American telemarketer who speaks in a ‘white voice’ to sell to his clients, it’s themes, tone and ideas are utterly bizarre and pretty original. If Black Mirror was to make an fuelled movie, this would be it.
It’s always going to be a bold claim to make after the hugely successful Infinity War coming out, but Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the best superhero movie of 2018. Infinity War, with it’s exciting scenes and bold ending, was still fairly by the numbers. Huge CGI action and a dreadful subplot about Thor’s axe brought it down in my rankings. This, however, is such a powerful film, with amazing humour, incredible design and heartbreaking emotion.
Ready Player One has competition! It now may not be 2018’s film with the most Pop-Culture references, as Wreck It Ralph takes a trip through the Internet. Following on from 2012 Disney animation, Ralph Breaks the Internet is a fun and colourful sequel through contemporary technology, but one that will ultimately be lost by time.
The Coen Brothers are back! The masters of dark comedy have returned to smaller screens this time with their Netflix distributed western anthology film ‘The Ballad of Buster Scroggs’. After a limited theatrical release, it’s the first of their films to be distributed on a streaming platform. Though it seems a shame that the majority of viewers (myself included) won’t get to see the beautiful frontier locations on the big screen, it actually makes a perfect film for Netflix and a wonderfully enjoyable piece of entertainment.
Daniel Robinson: From Reel to Real 