Author Archives: Sam S-P
Review in Brief: The Purge: Election Year (2016)
This would be a whole lot funnier if he hadn’t won. THE PURGE as a franchise didn’t exactly hit the ground running – the first movie was dull and clunky and not the least bit scary – but the franchise … Continue reading
Review in Brief: War on Everyone (2016)
What a fall from grace WAR ON EVERYONE represents for John Michael McDonagh. Michael Peña and Alexander Skarsgård are both fine, but the characters they play manage to be unappealing and uninteresting at the same time. They’re up against a … Continue reading
Review: The Crown – Season 1 (2016)
THE CROWN was by far and away my television highlight of 2016. Following the first decade of Queen Elizabeth II’s long reign, it boasts stately performances, sumptuous production design and an intimate examination of real people in a unique situation. … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Our Kind of Traitor (2016)
OUR KIND OF TRAITOR has a series of stunningly pretty images to open with: sparkling snowscapes, dappled sunlight, a slow-motion ballet performance. Even the death that follows this montage is beautifully composed, as horrible as the act remains. The visual … Continue reading
Review: T2 Trainspotting (2017)
T2 TRAINSPOTTING was never going to match its predecessor. Lightning, we are told, doesn’t strike twice. TRAINSPOTTING captured the zeitgeist and summed up so succinctly and stylishly the people and culture of Britain in the 1990s. We fell instantly in … Continue reading
Review: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)
I wasn’t expecting to get as much out of WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT as I did. I do like most of Tina Fey’s work, but war comedies can be a difficult balancing act, especially when handling such recent, raw events. Thankfully, … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Don’t Breathe (2016)
What a treat of a horror-thriller DON’T BREATHE is. Stephen Lang’s Blind Man fighting off teenage burglars isn’t just played as an unstoppable monster (though he becomes that towards the end) but also a scared and unhinged human being. Between … Continue reading
Review: La La Land (2016)
Every so often a film comes along that captures the public imagination and wows critics alike. Usually in the lead-up to the Oscars, critics and cinephiles have plenty to talk about but the public can be left cold. Between the … Continue reading
Review: Silence (2016)
The release of a new Martin Scorsese film is still something to mark on your calendar, but perhaps the undoubtedly ambitious guilt trek SILENCE was too personal for his own good. Two Portuguese Jesuits travel to Japan to investigate reports … Continue reading
Series Retrospective: Bourne
In the latest look back at a long-running series, I’ve decided to look at everyone’s favourite amnesiac assassin, Jason Bourne. Robert Ludlum’s antidote to Bond has been knocking around for a while, and has not let his author’s passing and … Continue reading
SSP Thinks Film 