Reviews

Nowhere is one of those movies on Netflix that you sometimes can overlook or watch and expect absolutely nothing from but I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised!

A Spanish production directed by Albert pinto tells the story of pregnant Mia fleeing a totalitarian country, who must fight for her life when a violent storm knocks the container in which she has been hiding overboard. Trapped, and alone Mia gives birth and is forced to survive to save her baby.

The film is taut, visceral in places (self surgery, giving birth) and quite moving in parts. One of the fundamentals of a good survival story is caring about the protagonist, you actually do feel for Mia and what would be a nightmare scenario.

This could quite easily of turned into a political statement about migration but refrains from the common, cliched Netflix approach. Some minor implausibility aside - would she and a newborn die of hypothermia, highly likely but that doesn't detract from the film's invention and mias ingenuity to survive any less compelling and heartwarming. If you enjoy films like cast away, the grey and other "against the element/odds" Nowhere should keep you watching right till the end.

First off 7.1 is painfully low a rating for what is still DCU's best superhero movie. Secondly if you're a none superman fan or a fan of the new 52 comics you'll love snyders vision of the character.

Being a true fan (read the graphic novels) I can understand why die hard fans don't like this take. Superman is traditionally a more wholesome, moralistic and optimistic character but Snyder offers the other arc which is more nihilistic.

Henry Cavill is pitch perfect as supes and Clark, and shouldn't be compared to Christopher reeve, given the era and version he played. Amy adams is likeable enough and captures the right amount of spunky sass of Lois, as is Michael Shannon as zod bringing the menace to his otherworldly denizen.

The action set pieces are well put together, with some nice VFX as well. A must mention is zimmers score: exhilarating, grandiose and even uplifting at times.

Just to address the main bone of contention and fallacy that has outraged a huge section of fans - "superman doesn't kill" FALSE! Throughout superman's storied history he HAS killed and more than once. Given the tone/arc Snyder took for the character this is more than appropriate it's just a question of where your tastes lie.

It's a travesty that Cavill didn't get to play the character again for a sequel But given the hate received for the above mentioned point I believe put the brakes on it ever happening. Damn shame!

First off it's a travesty that Deep impacts IMDB score is 6.2. Secondly you can like Armageddon whilst appreciating this movie!

I am almost certain that deep impact wasn't as well received as Armageddon(opening around the same time) in much the same way "the thing" failed to compete with a much more crowd pleasing movie in E. T back in 1982. Where the former excels in bombastic action and comedic relief, deep impact has strengths in other metrics - the acting for one is top tier and the emotional heft running through the movie is palpable.

I also feel deep impact has a certain realism to it that it's competitor lacks, it's a very human story with frayed and flawed characters all with intertwining lives to the central story. It's quite telling that deep impact was directed by a female - and I mean that in a positive way as mimi leder does an outstanding job (picked by Spielberg) in keeping up the tension, emotional drama and a deep rooted sentimentality all the way through the movies runtime.

Special mentions to Morgan Freeman as president tom beck, playing the part with a kind and reverential quality - well presidential to be frank. Tea leoni is also great as the journalist, sometimes coming across as nothing more than a selfish career woman but underneath that curt veneer there is a good soul who's not had an idyllic childhood. The scenes with her father played by Maximilian schell are particularly impassioned.

The score by James Horner is quite literally one of the most beautiful in cinema, encapsulating the human spirit, tragedy and triumph. Some of the scenes will genuinely make you either shed a tear or at least have a lump in your throat - horners score giving those sequences extra emotional Beats.

Deep impact all in all is, by comparison a low key disaster movie but from a dramatic and sentimental POV it's as heavy as any serious non sci fi drama out there. Have your tissues ready!

Australia has a knack for producing under the radar, low budget little diamond flicks and 'Bait' is no different.

Opening with a devastating tsunami (bargain basement CGI not withstanding) hitting a coastal beach town an eclectic bunch of survivors: sweet hot girl and boy, armed robbers, a cop - to name a few are trapped in a supermarket with a 12 foot great white shark for company.

The movie has both likeable and flat out insufferable characters - a plus on both counts as you find yourself rooting for, and by the same token wanting fish food out of others! Some of the CGI effects are horrific - and not in the good sense whilst in certain set pieces the animatronics definitely are vast improvement and hold a certain charm, much like older creature features.

The film also has a couple of subtle but smart twists and you do feel that because the premise is quite original (as these type of flicks go) under a bigger studio with more clout and better marketing this could of been an 8/10 instead a 6. If you like fun, nicely paced and silly this is for you!

Part thriller, horror and action movie this gem from 1986 sees a young man called jim Halsey travelling across the states to deliver a car from Chicago to California, picking up a stranger on a dark and rainy night - big mistake!

"John Ryder" is possibly one of the scariest bad guys ever put on film - a mysterious, menacing and quietly spoken figure who has a certain supernatural slant to his persona. Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, his real identity unknown and his motivations for why he does what he does only become evident later on. An empty shell devoid of compassion or care - even for his own life but calculated in the game he's apparently played with so many unwitting victims before. How do you stop someone with nothing to lose?

C. Thomas Howell does a good job as the terrified, wet behind the ears teenager and Jennifer Jason Leigh is always convincing in whatever role she's portrayed. The film also has possibly one of the most memorable death scenes of the 80s - proof you can have an effective set-piece without gore, with the old psychological adage of "what you don't see" makes things even the more nightmarish

In conclusion watch the hitcher if you like your thrillers with a nihilistic tone to them.

Shown on television in the early 1970s Duel was Steven spielbergs first plunge into feature films and was a bookmark of what was to come from this innovator in suspense cinema. The beauty about this film is it's simplicity - a cat and mouse thriller about a travelling salesman harassed by a faceless psychopath driving a tanker truck across the mojave desert.

Most audience complaints with older movies - particular younger ones is the pacing of the story but the same cannot be said about duel as it is based on a short story by Richard matheson and this is adapted to the screen expertly by Spielberg.

Dennis weaver plays the part of the mild mannered protagonist effectively, giving a genuine sense of dread and fear to his situation. The film almost has a supernatural feel to it given that the antagonist is barely seen and his true motivations are never revealed making it all the more eerie.

All in all the action is intense, the score is foreboding and unlike most modern day films you actually care about the character. A tv movie that should of been a cinema release. Excellent!

Kurt Russell is one of those actors that won't win any awards, yet every project he's involved with he is always solid. He is obviously recognisable for iconic characters like snake plissken but what he does equally as well is play the Everyman role.

Breakdown is one such role where an ordinary couple are thrown into a cat and mouse struggle with some professional criminal anglers looking for ransom money. The pacing is swift and the tension keeps up to the pace. The bad guys are heinous pond life (JT Walsh a particular stand out) synonymous with a lot of 80s and 90s villains - you know the ones you really want to see get their comeuppance! The action is well done - not the over the top CGI fests common place in todays films.

Like so many thrillers of the decade: unlawful entry, single white female, ransom etc this is Well acted, no convoluted plot, some good suspense and a spot on run time make this well worth a viewing.

As somebody who has a knowledge of sharks - their hunting /feeding habits, territorial quirks and their capabilities I won't wax lyrical on the inaccuracy's of the movie.

Those things aside this was a a taut little thriller that engages you from the start and manages to keep you their till the end. Blake lively puts in a good and likeable performance as the main protagonist. Theres also a sentimental element at the core of the movie which always helps in a man/woman vs insurmountable odds type narrative.

The shallows is without doubt one the better creature features - more specific shark themed films since jaws and if you want a simple but entertaining 90 mins this should do the job.

This is one of those films where you expect nothing from it and get pleasantly surprised. Ray Stevenson in my opinion has been the best version of Francis castellione to date - he captures his nihilism, physicality and looks.

Skipping past the origin story of why castle became the punisher and instead jumping into his eternal battle with crime and his internal struggle with himself. Action sequences are solid with some nice gore - straight from the pages of grant Morrisons comic run and it's good to see a villain like jigsaw on screen - played brilliantly by Dominic west.

All in all it's a leave your brain at the door decent actioner that you feel with the right budget and better writers could of been an 8 or 9/10.

This film possibly has one of the most unlikeable protagonists I've ever seen: a lefty socialist anarchist pissed off at the class system. Commits crime, hates the police but then calls them when it suits him! Boo hoo get a job - and a bath! With it being a Netflix production though it's barely a shock as most of the narratives are seen from one particular angle

Decent performances all around Hugh bonneville in particular stands out with a quietly menacing display. George mackay was great in 1917 and he's convincing here too but it's hard to get behind a character you cannot relate to - an issue a lot of modern movies suffer with

Overall an average watch. In summary it's sort of a poor hybrid of V for vendetta and don't breath - so I'd say watch those 2 films separately instead.

I don't think I've ever watched a film wanting the main character to be killed off as much as the mother in this film!!!

This is the type you of movie that if directed by a Sam Mendes, Chris Nolan or Ridley Scott it would of been superb. Poor performances from everyone involved, the vfx are back dated about 20 years and the script is absolutely terrible!

I've thought the BBC were lower than a snakes belly, but this reaches new depths! Self loathing white people of British colonialism, eating meat is bad -it's all thrown in here by the paragon of virtue that is the biased broadcasting corporation. Avoid unless you're a virtue signalling vegan lefty!

The writing for this movie is mostly poor, drago junior is nothing but a cardboard cutout, creed himself has gone from a likeable unassuming lad to a whiny needy millennial. The training is almost a mirror of rocky IV - man vs nature transferring from Siberian snow to Mojavi desert but nowhere near as pumped. The fight scenes are very short, and very formulaic. I think the only reason I watched it was to say goodbye to rocky as a character and on that note will be the last movie in this cannon I will watch