Category Archives: Film Review

Review: La La Land (2016)

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Sam S-P

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 →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged Academy Awards, Damien Chazelle, Emma Stone, La La Land, Oscars, Ryan Gosling, Singin' in the Rain | 4 Comments

Review: Silence (2016)

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Sam S-P

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 →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged Adam Driver, Akira Kurosawa, Andrew Garfield, Apocalypse Now, Drama, Film, Historical Drama, Liam Neeson, Martin Scorsese, Movies, Silence, The Mission | 1 Comment

Review: A Monster Calls (2016)

Posted on January 11, 2017 by Sam S-P

I read A MONSTER CALLS over Christmas in preparation for this. What took me so long? Conor (Lewis MacDougall) doesn’t have the luxury of a happy childhood. Between his mother (Felicity Jones) losing her battle against cancer, his icy grandmother … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged A Monster Calls, Drama, Fantasy, Felicity Jones, Film, Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro, JA Bayona, King Kong, Lewis MacDougall, Liam Neeson, Monster Movie, Movies, Pan's Labyrinth, Patrick Ness, Sigourney Weaver | 1 Comment

Film Confessional: Gods of Egypt

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Sam S-P

I have a confession to make…I actually quite like GODS OF EGYPT. I enjoyed watching the film that made Alex Proyas aggressively lambast film critics for not giving him a chance, pretty much from when the first trailer dropped. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Feature, Film Review | Tagged Alex Proyas, B-movie, Chadwick Boseman, Dark City, Film, Flash Gordon, Geoffrey Rush, Gerard Butler, Gods of Egypt, Jason and the Argonauts, Movies, Nicolaj Coster-Waldau, Ridley Scott, Shakespeare, The Crow, Tolkien, Transformers | Leave a comment

Review: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Posted on December 21, 2016 by Sam S-P

Was the emotionally bereft GODZILLA remake just a blip for Gareth Edwards? Thankfully yes it was. There is more genuine humanity, imagination and enjoyment to ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY than there was not only in the ill-advised giant … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged A New Hope, Alan Tudyk, Ben Mendelsohn, Blockbuster, Diego Luna, Fantasy, Felicity Jones, Film, Forest Whitaker, Gareth Edwards, Godzilla, Lucasfilm, Mads Mikkelsen, Movies, Platoon, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Saving Private Ryan, Sci-fi, Star Wars, The Force Awakens | 4 Comments

15 Years On: The Fellowship of the Ring

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Sam S-P

There are three film franchises that have impacted me above all others. First, there came STAR WARS, which kept me happy throughout my first decade (on VHS – sadly I’m too young to have seen the original trilogy on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Feature, Film Review | Tagged Alice in Wonderland, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, Fantasy, Film, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Howard Shore, Ian Holm, Ian McKellan, Liv Tyler, Movies, Narnia, Peter Jackson, Sean Astin, Snow White and the Huntsman, Star Wars, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Viggo Mortensen, Weta Workshop | 1 Comment

Review: Spotlight (2015)

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Sam S-P

For many, SPOTLIGHT was the surprise winner at last year’s Oscars. The true events the film is based on might be ripe for dramatic adaptation, but with its low-key performance and style, and actors that did not subject themselves to … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged Brian d'Arcy James, Drama, Film, Josh Singer, Mark Ruffalo, Movies, Oscars, Rachel McAdams, Room, Spotlight, The Big Short, The Revenant, Tom McCarthy | 1 Comment

Review: Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Sam S-P

Six years ago it seemed like Tim Burton had found the perfect material to marry with his distinctive visuals and irreverent take on the world: Lewis Carroll’s Alice books. The resulting film, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, may have been colourful but … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged Alice in Wonderland, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Fantasy, Film, Helena Bonham Carter, HG Wells, James Bobin, Johnny Depp, Lewis Carroll, Mia Wasikowska, Movies, Sacha Baron Cohen, Terry Pratchett, The Time Machine, TIme Burton | Leave a comment

Review: The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Posted on December 4, 2016 by Sam S-P

If there’s a film I never expected THE LEGEND OF TARZAN to remind me of, it was THE LONE RANGER. Both films are beautiful looking genre pieces with entertaining set pieces and shudder-inducing cultural insensitivity. Johnny Depp should never have … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged Alexander Skarsgard, Christoph Waltz, David Yates, Djimon Honsou, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Fantasy, Film, Guy Ritchie, Johnny Depp, Margot Robbie, Movies, Samuel L. Jackson, Sherlock Holmes, The Legend of Tarzan, The Lone Ranger, The Lord of the Rings | Leave a comment

Review: Arrival (2016)

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Sam S-P

ARRIVAL is nothing like the way it was marketed (though you can’t blame the marketing guys for trying to get people through the door by making it out to be a disaster movie). Denis Villeneuve’s latest is a razor-sharp conceptual … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged A Nightmare on Elm Street, Academy Awards, Amy Adams, Arrival, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Heisserer, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Jeremy Renner, Oscars, Sci-fi, The Thing, Up | 2 Comments

Category Archives: Film Review

Review: La La Land (2016)

Review: Silence (2016)

Review: A Monster Calls (2016)

Film Confessional: Gods of Egypt

Review: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

15 Years On: The Fellowship of the Ring

Review: Spotlight (2015)

Review: Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

Review: The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Review: Arrival (2016)

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