Category Archives: Film
Review: The Survivalist (2015/16)
Who needs an expository text dump to establish your film’s world? The state of the future in THE SURVIVALIST is illustrated as simply as it could possibly be with two coloured lines representing oil production and the human population steadily … Continue reading
Review: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)
In 2000 audiences and critics across the world were blown away by CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. The product of international co-operation between studios and directed by Ang Lee, an auteur celebrated both in his native Taiwan and China and in … Continue reading
Review: Hail, Caesar! (2016)
The problem when you have a really good run is that even the slightest stumble becomes very noticeable. Over the last decade NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, A SERIOUS MAN and especially INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS made you forget that these … Continue reading
20 Years On: Trainspotting (1996)
It’s that time again: enough sand has passed through the hourglass of eternity to discuss another classic in retrospective fashion. This week marks the 20th Anniversary of TRAINSPOTTING, Danny Boyle’s striking adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s game-changing novel about Edinburgh heroin … Continue reading
Review: Slow West (2015)
SLOW WEST is a bit of a stunner. It’s been an interesting few years for the Western, with few traditional examples but plenty of sideways looks and genre hybrids making noise and proving there’s still life in this (very) old … Continue reading
Review: Deadpool (2016)
DEADPOOL is exactly what it should be. It’s not big (by superhero standards) and it’s not clever but it’s lewd, violent and supremely self-aware, just like its titular scarlet-clad antihero. Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) makes a dishonest living as a … Continue reading
Review: The Martian (2015)
Almost Ridders, almost. This is undoubtedly the best thing Ridley Scott has produced in over a decade. For me though, THE MARTIAN doesn’t quite justify the plaudits it has received, but yeah it’s good. That’s pretty much it. You want … Continue reading
Review: Carol (2015)
When the awards come for CAROL, and come they will, it’ll be impossible (and unfair) to split Blanchett and Mara. One cannot exist without the other – the reason both actors work so well on screen how skillfully they play … Continue reading
SSP Thinks Film 
If Batman v Superman somehow bombs, what then?
It’s almost unthinkable, I know, but what would it mean if BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE bombs critically and/or commercially when it is finally released later this month? At the very least it might sound the death knell for … Continue reading →