What an opulent life the future holds. The first tower of a new high rise complex in London offers state of the art elevators, in-built gym, pool and squash facilities, and includes a supermarket stocked with the biggest brands and ...
Read More »A Bigger Splash: Everyone’s obscene.
The world’s biggest rock star, Marianne Lane, has lost her voice and is recovering on a sun-kissed Italian island with her lover, Paul. Restive paradise is shattered, however, by the arrival of her boisterous producer, and former lover, Harry. Bubbling ...
Read More »We Have Always Lived in the Castle: I am going to put death in all their food and watch them die
There has been a recent spate of reviews and discussions of this novel popping up on sites I read. When I was wandering around my local bookshop, I spotted it on a recommended pile and couldn’t resist. Now that I ...
Read More »The Hateful Eight: Where’s the goddamn tension, QT?
I’m often told that you either love or loathe Quentin Tarantino. I can’t say I have such a black and white experience with his filmography – there are many of his films I greatly enjoy, and others I find thoroughly ...
Read More »Spectre: The ghost of a story
Creating story to a set structure is nothing to sniff at. After all, it’s worked for Bernard Cornwell all these years. But after the fresh of breath air that was Skyfall, the familiar ground covered in Spectre tastes stale. There ...
Read More »Sicario: You saw things you shouldn’t have seen
The war on drugs comes to the big screen in a very visceral rendition with Sicario. If not wholly successful as a film, it certainly has merit as an aesthetic and thematic exercise. Plot and character work made seem crucial areas to ...
Read More »Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Tom Cruise is a high-ranking member of an allegedly evil cult with widely known accusations of psychological and physical abuse, financial malpractice, and a tendency to sue anyone who criticises their shady dealings and crazy beliefs. I therefore find it ...
Read More »Maggie: Decay moves slowly, so make death quick
This slow-moving, emotional, low-budget film feels out of place amongst Arnold Schwarzenegger’s filmography. But I suppose, like anyone, Arnie gets sick of doing the same thing over and over. It’s an impressive attempt at branching out. His role in Maggie ...
Read More »Way Down Dark by James Smythe
I enjoy a good dystopian YA thriller as much as the next Hunger Games fan, but there comes a point when I’ve got to say enough is enough. They have all become so samey. Once the initial depressing world is ...
Read More »Jurassic World: Your boyfriend’s a badass!
I am fed up with Hollywood churning out remakes and sequels of well-known franchises and previous hit films (and some flops even), but the latest incarnation of the Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World, has proved some of these franchises still ...
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