Reviews

Godzilla x Kong is good fun. No where near being as good as Godzilla Minus One, but better then I remember Godzilla vs Kong being.

All the human characters I don't remember from the previous films, and won't remember again from this, exist either to read exposition off a wall, or deliver exposition they couldn't possibly know, in order to explain why the big monsters are kicking seven kinds of ahem out of each other. One is there to give us a bit of mystical woo woo, and why not.

Kong is basically the star of the movie, which is how it should be. Most of the action is well done, and whilst there are bits where the cgi is a bit, well cgi, mostly it's good, and there are some truly stunning visuals. The big battle at the end with lots of monsters smashing seven bells out of each other is a bit all over the place, so you often can't tell who's biting who, but, hey we've all had nights like that.

Far from essential, but you could do worse on a cold bank holiday afternoon.

I think I might prefer this to the original. I love the UK version, and am very sad it's coming to an end, but this is a very suitable replacement. Rebecca Wisocky is soo funny as Hetty. I love the new Pete. Alberta cracks me up, and Flower is hot and funny.

The characters are so warm, and the longer seasons allows for more development. Every one gets at least an episode to really shine.

There are a few ideas I hope they develop further. I'd like to see their assistant who realised the house was haunted come back, and his car ghost.

Overall, this is a bit like the office, on that it's enough of it's own thing to be well worth watching.

Lovely film about a group of Irish Women who go to Lourdes in hope of their own miracles.

Some great performances, especially from Kathy Bates and Maggie Smith. Recreates Ireland brilliantly. I could practically smell those plastic bottles full of holy water. Reminded me so much of visiting family there from the 70s.

It starts off light hearted, with hints of secrets lying beneath the surface. But once in Lourdes, when things come to a head, it does go to some very dark places. Catholic guilt runs deep

Does end on a warmhearted note, though.

And it's probably the most Catholic movie I've seen since the original Exorcist.

Have to say, given the reviews I was stealing myself to be disappointed by the new exorcist movie, expecting a so bad it's good experience. But it was actually pretty good. Not in same league as the original. And the chaotic multi denominational exorcism was, er, OK that happened. They also overdo the cgi in that scene.

But, the two girls who got possessed were both pretty good. In fact the film could have done with an extra ten minutes to flesh them out a bit. Anne Dowd is always good, and it was great to have Ellen Burstyn in it. She's not in it for long, but she's very good.

But Leslie Odom Jr really carries it as one of the girl's father. He's very believable the whole way through.

Overall it was a pretty decent horror film. It'll probably make you feel uncomfortable, more than scared. It doesn't outstay it's welcome, and there are some nice nods to the original.

It won't stay with you like the original. But nor will you come out, as per the Exorcist 2,thinking why did they make that?

I'd have maybe gone 6.5 if it was an option.

I do think it was worth seeing on the big screen, but it wasn't as good as the first two, and it kind of felt unfinished in places. I thought rocket's story worked really well, and got me a bit tearful in places.

But Will Pouter? I liked where he started and where he ended, but the whole middle seemed to be missing. I liked that people got to see more in Drax even if he didn't see more in himself.

Despite being over 2.5 hours long, it didn't feel like it overstayed it's welcome. 1 You know, there was enough good stuff to make it worthwhile, but you did have to ignore the missing beats in a lot of the subplots.

Overall, I thought it was like that one good song on an album by a band in a slump that's not as good as there best stuff but is just about good enough to make you think they still have something going on.

Only the French could come up with a swashbuckling boy's own adventure where the hero saves the day by covering up adultery, but I'm glad they did.

Whilst none of the versions of this come close to the Richard Lester classic (well, maybe Dog Tanian) this one is very good indeed.

The colour palette is the modern brown and grimy one we've gotten used to from the more recent Bond movies, which is quite appropriate since Eva Green features as the duplicitous Milady, will, why break the habit of a lifetime. She's probably the best one to play the part since Faye Dunaway, and I look forward to seeing more of her in the sequel, which is named after her character.

Anyway this is a lot of fun you'll care about the characters, and there is a breathtaking cliff edge horse chase. True, you'll miss Roy Kinnear's mumbling asides but there is plenty to enjoy here.

I was expecting more of the grimy Texas Chainsaw massacre that we had with X, which I loved, but was definitely it's own thing. Very dark, a little twisted and Mia Goth gives a performance that has you sympathising with a serial killer.

It's not really a horror movie, although there are a few grisly scenes. It's more a character study of a young woman destroyed being trapped in a small town where she doesn't fit in, a sick father and a bitter mother.

Mia Goth really is fantastic in this movie. You totally believe in her as a self obsessed, damaged soul hungry for fame, excitement and love. There is one long speech that is just heartbreaking.

Her mother is also brilliant.

Great film all round. Go see.

Had to rewatch Barb Wire after the recent Pamala Anderson documentary. And have to say its probably one of the best remakes ever, even if it strays a bit from the original Casablanca.

True. Pammy is not as good an actor as Bogart, and she doesn't have anything like the same chemistry with Bobba Fett that he had with Ingrid Bergmann.

It's also true that the dialogue isn't quite as (mis)quotable. Don't call me babe isn't really up there with I think this might be the start of a beautiful friendship.

And I have to admit, that even allowing for a good cover of dancing barefoot, it didn't have any songs up up there with "As Time Goes By".

It's also true that the guy playing the Peter Lorre character is doing a bad impression of the original so obvious you'd believe he thought himself to be in a cheap knock off of a much better film.

But look what it gets right.

It's way ahead of its time with all the gender and race swapping.

In predicting the second American Civil war would happen in 2017, it was only 6 or 7 years out (we'll find out soon enough)

But most importantly, it has Pamela Anderson in wet PVC. In the opening credits.

Great movie.

Play it again, Pam.

Watched expecting to hate this. US versions of UK comedies generally suck (as do UK versions of US ones.)

But it was actually OK. The changes to the characters made sense with the different histories of our countries, it had it's own thing going whilst keeping the spirit of the original.

This might just turn out to be another office, a comedy that actually translates well

Looking forward to where they take it. Tyke much longer series in America mean they're going to have to come up with their own stories, which should be fun.

Not loving the pantless wall St guy so far, he's not as sleazy as our version, but maybe he'll grow on me.

You know how most horror comedies are light on the horror, heavy on the comedy, this is the other way around. I wouldn't really call it a horror comedy at all.

It starts a bit slow, and the main character is very annoying, but after about the first fifteen minutes it really kicks into gear. The story is about a live stream from a haunted house that turns out to be more demonic then expected.

The comparisons with Blair Witch are obvious, and the house is the same as you've seen in a million low budget found footage movies, but as the story progresses you get more involved. Shaun almost grows as a human being a few times as he faces his fears, but always manages to pull himself back to his shadow self.

There are some genuinely scary moments, and the use of Internet chat from those watching the live streams is well fine, providing most of the humour.

I'd say the film it reminds me most of its the Evil Dead. Obviously, it's not the classic that one is, but it's worth a watch.

Possibly even the best since End Game. Really felt that Marvel had been going off the boil lately. Dr Strange was a mess, Thor Love and Thunder was underwhelming and the Eternals erased all the goths from Camden.

But this one was very good, really packed am emotional punch, especially Letitia Wright as Shurri, grieving for her brother. That woman really deserves to become a big star. She had some serious acting chops.

It's not perfect, it's a bit overlong, Riri feels shoehorned in, and Namor's second in command could do with a bit more fleshing out, especially since what little we saw of her was interesting. But overall, really enjoyed it.

Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that Julia Roberts was now the mum, you might mistake this for an 80s Romcom. I've seen many reviews complaining about lack of originality, but that's missing the point, it's an unapologetic generic romcom. Complaining about lack of originality is like complaining that one Ramones song sounds like another. That's the actual point.

When it comes to this kind of film three things matter, does it give you the warm and fuzzies, does it make you laugh, do you like the characters. This film delivers on all three. It's not a classic. We're not talking Annie Hall, Pretty Women or Down with love, but if you like this kind of thing, you'll enjoy it.

Shout out to Billy Lourde, who is surely just one breakout roll to genuine stardom, she's great as the alcoholic best friend. And has the best lines..

I'm a bit biased, but that may be the best music documentary ever. 100 years from now when they're teaching kids about bowie they should just show them this. There is a lot missing, you can't cover everything in just two hours, but as an intro to bowie the artist it's peerless. Don't go expecting a life story though, it's really not that kind of film. Let's put it this way, both wives get less then five minutes added together and there is no mention of drugs.

What it is, is an examination of Bowie the artist through his own words and music. The only people to speak other then Bowie are the people interviewing him. The music is largely presented through well chosen live performances, and since very cool montages (Let's dance is particularly well done.)

And you finally get to see (some of) the Jeff Beck Gene Genie performance from the Ziggy farewell gig.

See it on the big screen, ideally played at maximum volume.

Which is a very good thing, as if there's one person we don't want spinning in his grave it's him.

It's nothing like the film it's supposed to be based on, although there are a few small nods, and it's not up there with Z Nation or the early walking dead. But it is fun, and I find myself binging the whole series whilst stuck at home due to a train strike and a little hangover.

Basically it's the story of a small town hit by a zombie outbreak, and comes across a bit like Northern Exposure meets Shaun of the Dead. The characters are just the right side of over the top, there is some great gore and the story just flies along. I'm not sure why there is so much hating on the acting, I thought the cast were fine.

It's not a classic by any means, but if you like a little zombie action, and you set your expectations to a medium level, you'll probably enjoy it.

Not as bad as the reviews say, but they've now made two versions of one of my favourite Stephen King books, and they've both been very average. Have to say I think the young girl playing Charlie was a much better actress then Drew Barrymore, even if she doesn't have the same charisma. But Zac Effron was no where near as good as the dad, and the woman playing Charlie Sheen was dreadful.

But the biggest problem was the exact opposite of most modern movies, it was too short. The first hour or so did a reasonable job of telling the first third of the book, then it's like they realised they'd run out of time/money and thought, sod it, let's ignore the rest of the book and go straight to the bit where she fries everyone. Oh, we've run out of money to do that, well let's just sizzle them a bit. Sure no one who's read the book will come see it anyway, they'll never know the difference.

Marc Rylance is having a bit of a moment, isn't he? Phantom of the Open cracked me up a few weeks ago, and now here he is gluing me to the edge of my seat throughout this excellent little thriller. He really is a fine actor.

All set in his Tailors shop (although he insists he's a cutter), mainly over one night, this tells of how his involvement with some local gangsters comes to a head.

With more twists and turns then a twisty turny thing, and an excellent central performance, this film will have you gripped from start to finish.

Loved it.

By rights this should have been awful, a francise, on its uppers, a shameless cash in to try and wring a final few dollars from the ape craze.

But it's really not.

Look the first will always be the best. A genuine classic, with one of the best endings in Hollywood history, even if the poster spoiled out somewhat.

And beneath, the first sequel was both very strange and genuinely creepy. Escape mostly high camp fun as the apes come back to the 70s,with another powerful ending.

This one gets gritty. The effects are noticeably cheaper, but the script makes up for that. The allogories for slavery are a bit too on the nose, but still effective. The ape rebellion is lots of fun with some great action scenes and genuine tension.

But the highlight for me is Roddy McDowell's speech at the end. That is one powerful piece of acting, especially since it's c done in an ape suit. Worth seeing just for that.

And.

One of the other reviews described this as nothing more then purile humour and boobs. I can't think of a higher recommendation, so I gave it a go

Honestly, if there is a better movie about chemically induced giant zombie beavers killing unlikeable teens, I'd like to see it.

And not only that, but the best beaver jokes since the Naked Gun, and that only had one of them, this has lots.

Highly recommended to all who love a bit of thrash on a Friday night.

Set in the 20s it's about a maid having an affair with a rich guy. Starts a bit slow. Then becomes Downton Abbey with added nudity, which is a definite improvement, despite a couple of "I've just seen Prince Charles cock" moments.

But as it moves on and out becomes obvious that it's about the sheer volume of grief following the first World War, it becomes genuinely moving.

Doesn't all work. The wraparound story feels unnecessary, but some very good performances, and worth a look.

That was one good looking film. They deserve an Oscar for the production design alone. One of those every frame could be a painting deals.

Not read the books, and only vaguely remember the David lynch version, but really good story, and interesting characters. The hero could have come accross as a whiney little emo, but the actor managed to make that not the case. Plus Jason Momoa finally gets to keep his shirt on.

Only real criticism is that the music is a bit generic. It could have done with a memorable theme or two. Not bad, just generic. .

It ends on a bit of a to be continued thing. Hope they get to make the sequel or it'll be the most dissapointing flop since the Lord of the Rings cartoon.

Go see it on the big screen. Your eyes will love you for it.

No time to die is great. Daniel Craig is my least favourite Bond, but he's gone out with a bang. Really taut thriller, a villain with a lair worthy of Ken Adams some nice nods to the early films, cool gadgets accedently topical plot, and the best ending since OHMSS. There's a nice but underused nod to the book You only Live Twice, which I think might be a hint of how they'll start the next film.

Could have done with a bit more of the signature bond humour, and Remi Mallick is a bit wooden at times (but very creepy at others), but overall the best of the current era.

Because what the world needs is a dark and gritty version of some of the funniest books ever with all the jokes taken out, and the stories, and all the interesting bits of all they characters. Starring a man acting drunk as if he's never had a drink in his life, and he can't act.

Production values that would make an 80s TV kids show ashamed, the whole thing looks like it's been directed by someone on acid, but not in a good way.

Truly awful.

Basically two hours of Emma Stone and Emma Thompson trying to out camp each other to a soundtrack of Bowie, the Stones, Queen and the Stooges.

Not sure when Disney decided that their Target market was basically me, but it was a very good idea.

Oh, and go and see it in the cinema, those fabulous outfits deserve the big screen, and your TV isn't big enough to contain all that hair.