Tim Burton’s saturated interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s famed wonderland was nothing short of impressive when it illustrated 2010’s hugely successful Alice in Wonderland, laying out a strong case for cutting-edge 3D tech in cinema – a relatively new phenomenon six years ago. Dubbed “Underland”, the ostentatious gothic fantasy land reiterated Burton’s unrivaled imaginative flair, and…
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When Morgan returned to The Walking Dead it was a very welcome addition mostly due to Lennie James’ stunning performance in Season 3’s “Clear”. Throughout this season his presence on the show became more and more divisive as he was used as a vessel for a particular philosophy, the same of which was used to…
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Ghostland isn’t your average documentary. It echoes the story of The God’s Must Be Crazy in both a whimsical and crushing way. Ju / ‘Hoansi Bushmen are a tribe in Namibia. After hunting laws came into place their way of life was changed. Without the ability to hunt they had to survive off bushland berries…
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“No one gets to clock out today, and hell, this is a story people are going to tell”. What a way to kick off the latter half of season 6. The Walking Dead has always been strongest when the crew are scattering smaller character moments within a big action set piece, and “No Way Out”…
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I’m not going to lie, undertaking the task of reviewing the new mini-series of The X-Files was a daunting ask. The show in its hey-day was a formative part of my teenage years, an obsession that has always lingered even long after the show finished. But I want to give it a go, I want…
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There was a time when we would only get a new Pixar movie every few years. Now, for the first time ever, we’re getting three in a 12 month period. This started with the box office smash Inside Out earlier this year and will end with the most anticipated animated sequel since Toy Story 3…
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In the Heart of the Sea is exactly as it sounds – a film centred on the perils for seamen and sea creatures alike. Directed by award-winning director Ron Howard, the film is historically based on the whaling ship Essex and how real-life author Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) became inspired to write the classic Moby…
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“Well that was different” I exclaimed as Woodstock-esque music accompanied the credits of this weeks episode of Ash vs Evil Dead. Four episodes in and the horror/comedy series has decided to wreak havoc on its tried and true formula and just dive head long into crazy town. I know, for a review of an episode of an…
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The Walking Dead just wrapped up it’s mid-season finale for Season 6 and, of course, there are some tense developments to mull over until the show returns next February, mostly in the form of two big cliffhangers. During last week’s hum-drum set-up episode we were left with the very ominous image of the watchtower falling…
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It’s devastating when a popular figure, particularly one who is renowned and hero-worshipped for their domination in their chosen field, is unmasked as a fraud. It’s especially hard news to swallow when the person in question denies cheating allegations again and again, and is seen as a community leader. This is exactly what happened to…
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“Heads Up” was not a very good episode of The Walking Dead if we were to consider it in a vacuum, but it certainly made some major moves to set us up for what will no doubt be a big, bloody mid-season finale next week. We also found some closure to what has been the…
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Absolutely Anything may be one of those laugh out loud type of comedies, but it’s also a subtle satire about the state of the world and the people populating it courtesy of Terry Jones, one of the original Monty Python crew. The premise is a bit like Hitchiker’s Guide To The Galaxy meets Bruce Almighty. When…
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Suzanne Collins’ trilogy of novels was finally adapted onto the big screen in 2012, with Collins herself writing the screenplay alongside Director Gary Ross, both of whom gave us a version of The Hunger Games which expanded and retooled the first novel into a powerful, effective, and affecting viewing experience, one which quickly saw the…
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As the big mystery surrounding Glenn continues to linger in the minds of viewers, impatience is inevitable when confronted with a slower character-focused episode which takes us far away from the answers we all crave and focuses in on other parts of the now scattered plan from the season premiere. Last week’s “Now” was a…
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Based on Irène Némirovsky’s bestselling novel, Suite Française challenges the true nature of people through forbidden love, generosity and understanding during a time of vast demise and depression resulting from the horrors of war. Directed by Saul Dibb, it is a romantic drama set in the small French village Bussy. The film follows the tribulations of…
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If you know anything about Malala Yousafzai, you would know that her story is not necessarily one of happiness, but one of suffering, struggle, but most of all inspiration. It is the powerful character and true story of this now 18-year-old girl that dominates the character-driven documentary He Named Me Malala. The documentary is directed by…
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In Frances Ha, co-writers (and real-life couple) Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig brought to the screen this generation’s twenty-something creative; simultaneously spoilt and burdened by choice. Their Frances, played adorably by Gerwig herself, was lively and resourceful, optimistic yet melancholic in her struggle to achieve some level of “success” and establishing a career post-college. Mistress America,…
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In The Road Within, writer and director Gren Wells makes her Directorial debut; an adaptation of the Italian film Vincent Wants to Sea. She brings us the story of three patients at a mental wellness centre in Nevada, who escape to travel to the beaches of California to scatter the ashes of Vincent’s (Robert Sheehan, best known for this role…
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Just like starting over. Danny Collins is a film about an aging rocker who is strongly influenced by John Lennon. This dramedy is a predictable and formulaic film but it is redeemed by some great performances and its pleasant foray into the world of music. The film marks the directorial debut of Crazy, Stupid, Love…
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Infinitely Polar Bear was both written and directed by Maya Forbes. She seems to have a talent for speaking through children. Her track record of childhood perception is both entertaining and frustrating. Frustrating because sometimes it’s too right and sometimes it’s too simple. There’s nostalgia to this film. Set in the late 70s, the aesthetic…
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Cut Snake is not your average crime thriller, it also explores the deeper and darker mysteries of understanding ourselves and sharing our secrets with the people we love. The complexity of life and love and how it’s not a simple case of black and white, and how the lives of three people become changed forever….
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In this origin story but not quite an adaptation of the beloved J.M Barrie book Peter Pan this film takes us on a journey that seems to have no real rhyme or reason other than Peter trying to find his mother, accidentally stumbling into an adventure and ultimately discovering his destiny. Peter (Levi Miller), a…
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Gaspar Noé has proven himself an imaginative auteur, highly capable of and fiercely loyal to surreal, experimental cinema. He shocked with the unforgettable Irreversible and warped minds with the visually satisfying Enter the Void – undoubtedly his two most famous works – but now he seeks to add a more tender, sentimental touch with Love….
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Euphemia “Effie” Gray was once a woman stuck between a rock and a hard place. This free-spirited, Scottish lady was living in Victorian times and was trapped in a loveless and sexless marriage to a renowned art critic named John Ruskin. Divorce was not an option for Gray but despite this, she managed to find…
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It would be hard to deny Unfriended as an imaginative and innovative film; Director Levan Gabriadze takes an initially uninspiring concept and makes it work with admirable attention to detail and a genuine sense of tension. However, in the film’s pursuit of as much realism as possible, the viewer is left unable to escape from…
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The documentary, Killswitch makes some interesting points in support of whistle-blowers and hacktivists like Aaron Swartz and Edward Snowden. That is that their only real crime is that they’ve out-smarted you. Killswitch is an unoriginal but interesting film about the battleground that is the Internet, which describes how our rights to free speech and privacy…
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The title of this film doesn’t really give much of an insight into its narrative and in fact, the word “life” has a bit of a double entendre. It couples as both the act of existing as well as the name of the publication that one of our leads works for. Not so surprisingly though,…
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In a small town in America’s Bible belt, Christianity and tradition reign supreme. For the past 88 years a community in the Holy City of the Wichitas have staged an Easter passion play/pageant that once saw audiences number the tens of thousands. Jesus Town USA is a documentary that is warm and sweet-enough but can…
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Fear the Walking Dead continues to, very slowly, take shape with the second episode of the spin-off series, and it’s much of the same we got in the pilot only with a bit more punch behind it. There’s still that almost lethargic pace behind one splintered family’s perspective of a city unknowingly flung into chaos,…
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Usually when imagining a career in rock n’ roll and a band called “Ricki And The Flash” you wouldn’t imagine it to involve a handful of old timers in a shabby Californian bar with a 60 something year old lead lady whose only ever record produced is stored in her ex-husband’s rubbermaid. And yet, this…
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