Ben Wheatley is one of the brightest rising stars of British cinema. With the surprisingly potent one-two punch of small-time gangster drama Down Terrace and sinister hitman thriller Kill List (I rated it the best horror of 2011), Wheatley has established himself as a master of the miserable and morose. He’s promised something ‘lighter’ with [...]
With four decades between it and its inspiration, can Tim Burton and Johnny Depp draw fresh blood from Dark Shadows? Read our take to find out.
Rating: The world of Nicholas Sparks is not one of my preferred cinematic vacation spots. I’ll admit this up front, and concede that the author has absolutely perfected this white-washed but utterly contrived universe as a safe haven for his hungry fans. If you are wary of clichés and emotional manipulation that suck away at [...]
The Cabin in the Woods is going to surprise a lot of people when it opens Friday. Yes, it’s got the usual geek accolades and hyperbole swirling around it, but the marketing campaign has done a nice job of suggesting what the film is without actually revealing it’s hand. And there are several people who will [...]
A cult favorite from the golden days of TV movies, Gargoyles pits Cornell Wilde against demonic beasties in Arizona
“When you see this movie, kids will believe one day that these turtles do exist, when we’re done with this movie. These turtles are from an alien race, and they’re going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely lovable.”–Michael Bay on the planned demolishment of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles So you are telling me that [...]
Until recently, The Sound of My Voice wasn’t even on my radar. Debuting at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, the indie thriller was one of two films co-written by and starring Brit Marling. As some of you might know by now, Marling is the extremely talented young actress who played Rhoda in Another Earth, the other sci-fi flick [...]
This new trailer for Wrath of the Titans–sequel to 2010′s remake of Clash of the Titans–is exactly what I want to see from the franchise; a big, silly fantasy film packed to the gills with outrageous monsters. The flaws of Wrath’s predecessor were a super-serious script and a lack of charm and creatures, all of [...]
Rating: Reviewing a movie like Act of Valor is like walking a tightrope. A film about the behind-the-scenes heroism of the Navy SEALs starring active-duty SEALs engaging in fictional but realistic campaigns is going to be something of a sacred cow.
Rating: An insular community entwined with its environment is the most ominous suspect in Andrew Okpeah MacLean’s On the Ice, a murder mystery of sorts set amongst the Iñupiaq people of Barrow, Alaska. Based off his own 2008 short film, On the Ice is MacClean’s intriguing and resonant exploration of his own culture through [...]
One of my most cherished childhood birthday presents was a collector’s edition of Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, complete with handsome ink illustrations. It was given to me by intrepid relatives who gambled on an 19th century adventure novel being of interest to a kid of the video game era, and [...]
Is there a less successful subgenre among SyFy’s stable of schlock than the natural disaster flick? I’m at a loss to remember a particular one that works; if you think cgi killer animals come off unconvincing and silly, then consider how large-scale destruction looks on a shoestring budget with novice animators onboard. It doesn’t help [...]
He felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach, as hewiped his sword on the grass and put it back into its sheath.‘I will give you a name,’ he said to it, ‘and I shall call you Sting.’”
Our agent across the pond Jarv, brings us the lowdown on the real identity of the Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy adaptation. How does it measure up to the book, or for that matter, the Alec Guiness mini-series? Read on to find out….
Like many other genres, when horror movies are bad, they can be very bad. However, when they are good they can sometimes be great. The horror films of 2011 seemed to fall mostly along this divide; there was either mainstream junk not even worth a Redbox rental or vile, pretentious drivel disguised as indie [...]