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Tony Jaa joins the fray in Monster Hunter
Tony Jaa joins the fray in Monster Hunter
While a film is often judged by the way that it is received during the Awards season there are times when the best feeling in the world is to sit down and watch a film that is never going to be even mentioned during the illustrious awards period. Yes, it is great to sit down and watch a film that challenges you or makes you think, but at other times all you really want to do is sit down, turn your brain off and watch something dumb yet enjoyable. That is where films like Monster Hunter come into the picture.
Bob the Cat is back!
Bob the Cat is back!
Yes the tinsel and trees might already be up but to a lot of people it never really feels like Christmas until the Christmas movies start playing on television and in the cinemas. Perhaps it is the old classics like the spectacular It’s A Wonderful Life or the newer gems like Dudley Moore’s Santa Clause: The Movie that puts you in the Christmas spirit, whatever the case there is always something about a Christmas movie that make you overlook the cheesiness and overzealous holiday cheer and let’s you just sit back and relax.
A year for the ‘Wonder Woman’
A year for the ‘Wonder Woman’
Well at last 2020 has its own superhero – and her name is Wonder Woman. Over the last decade comic book fans have become used to having at least three or four superhero movies hitting cinemas each year. This year though with the blockbusters on hold those fans have had slim pickings. The underrated New Mutants came and went in the blink of an eye so the fans have just had to sit back and wait patiently for DC to launch their follow-up to 2017’s brilliant Wonder Woman. Now the wait is over and the result may surprise a few people.
The Croods make a comeback
The Croods make a comeback
The Croods! Easily the best family to come out of prehistoric times since The Flintstones and they are back in the new animated family film The Croods: A New Age. It is hard to believe that it has been seven years since the first film in the franchise was released – but then as a film itself The Croods did some pretty unbelievable things in its time.
Ghosts Of War, a deft mix of war, horror
Ghosts Of War, a deft mix of war, horror
One of the hardest challenges that a director can take on is the decision to make a film that mixes genres together. Occasionally these films do work remarkably well but sadly for every film like Scary Movie there are a hundred of others so bad that they never even make it into cinemas. With that in mind there is a little wonder why so many people are a little sceptical about Ghosts Of War –a film that proudly mixes together the war and horror genres.
Vince Vaughan does ‘Freaky’ in style
Vince Vaughan does ‘Freaky’ in style
If you’ve dug deep into some of the movie-themed accounts on YouTube then you’ve probably come across a few movie mash-ups during your time. Normally they are short videos put together by obsessed movie fans that have cut scenes or pieces of dialogue together from a number of movies to create a short film. Now a kind of cinematic movie mash-up is about to find its way onto the big screen.
Holding true to ‘The Craft: Legacy’
Holding true to ‘The Craft: Legacy’
Horror film fans are some of the most unforgiving cinephiles there are. They are never afraid to tell a filmmaker what is ‘wrong’ with a film and if someone dares make massive changes to a horror franchise, then you better believe that everybody on social media is going to hear about. While many filmmakers have come unstuck through the passion of the genre’s fans one group has managed to avoid any of that fury over the past few years – Blumhouse Studios.
Divisive ‘Force of Nature’ struggles through
Divisive ‘Force of Nature’ struggles through
Mel Gibson! Even a mention of his name is enough to divide cinema lovers around the world. You have some people who have blacklisted him – they don’t want to watch anything he is involved with because in their eyes he committed an unforgivable sin. Then on the flipside you have some film fans who have come to the conclusion that Gibson, as both an actor and a director, has created some of his best work after being ‘unofficially’ made untouchable in Hollywood.
Bill Murray and Sofia Coppola deliver sublime ‘On The Rocks’
Bill Murray and Sofia Coppola deliver sublime ‘On The Rocks’
When it comes to cinema, bigger isn’t always better. In fact sometimes something very simple can be the best. Sure big explosions and car chases are fun, but nothing works quite as well as a simple film that is just easy to sit back and enjoy. Filmmaker Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides) has been making those kinds of films for over 20 years now and to be really honest should be included as one of the finest directors in Hollywood at the moment. A quick scan over her career highlights a number of cult classics like Lost In Translation and The Bling Ring while her last film, The Beguiled, I felt was one of the most under-rated films of 2017.
Jai Courtney steals limelight in Liam Neeson’s ‘Honest Thief’
Jai Courtney steals limelight in Liam Neeson’s ‘Honest Thief’
At 68 years of age you could forgive actor Liam Neeson if he wanted to slow down. The good news for film lovers is that Neeson isn’t showing any sign of wanting to jump out of the fast lane any time soon. In fact while most actors have been starved of cinema time in 2020, Neeson is so hard working that he has two films released despite the pandemic.
Jesse Eisenberg breaks Marcel Marceau’s silence on ‘Resistance’
Jesse Eisenberg breaks Marcel Marceau’s silence on ‘Resistance’
Love or hate him, Jesse Eisenberg has become one of the most important and diverse actors of modern cinema. His over 70 acting performances in cinema and theatre has seen him play roles as vast as one of DC Comics most well-known villains in the form of Lex Luthor, a zombie hunter in the Zombieland franchise and of course Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in the award-winning film The Social Network.
Oscar-worthy ‘The Assistant’ puts Hollywood’s dark practices in the spotlight
Oscar-worthy ‘The Assistant’ puts Hollywood’s dark practices in the spotlight
‘Art imitates life.’ It is a clichéd phrase that you often hear said at film awards nights. It is a nice sentiment, but perhaps not always true. Unless your next-door neighbour drives to work in a Batmobile or you’re studying to become an Avenger, then cinema is certainly one art form that has not imitated life for the past decade.
Getting ‘Buffaloed’ is a good thing
Getting ‘Buffaloed’ is a good thing
In these days and times you could be forgiven for thinking that films only work if they have big-name stars and are full of superheroes. That certainly isn’t the case though and sometimes it takes a small film like Buffaloed to remind you that all you need for a great film is a talented cast and an intriguing screenplay.
‘Blood Vessel’ keeps vampire horror afloat
‘Blood Vessel’ keeps vampire horror afloat
Excuse the pun, but weren’t vampires supposed to be done and dusted in cinema? The relationship between the blood-sucking monsters and the big screen has always been an extensive one. From early adaptations of Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula through to heroic tales of vampire slayers like Van Helsing and Buffy.
Disney’s ‘New Born Royals’ takes teens to heart
Disney’s ‘New Born Royals’ takes teens to heart
One of the biggest criticisms aimed at the super-hero genre over the past few years has been that nobody out there is doing anything different. As far as the box office goes, superhero movies remain supreme. Place a new Marvel movie on the big screen and you are guaranteed to get a healthy return at the box-office and to many it has felt that has given the studios behind them an excuse not to be creative. Why change a formula that works, right?
While COVID stalls blockbusters, Mulan makes it through
While COVID stalls blockbusters, Mulan makes it through
If there were ever a week where Hollywood had to decide whether to be pessimistic or optimistic, it was this week. Hot on the heels of Tenet performing well at box offices in countries where cinemas have reopened came the news that Dwayne Johnson and Robert Pattinson had tested positive to COVID-19 temporarily suspending the productions they were working on – including the blockbuster The Batman.
Oscar-nominated Les Miserables puts French society underbelly on show
Oscar-nominated Les Miserables puts French society underbelly on show
Nothing quite hits you the way a hard-hitting cop drama does. Remember when you were first introduced to Vic Mackie in The Shield or that feeling you got when you watched Woody Harrelson put in the performance of his career in Rampart. There is something about giving an actor a badge and getting them to play a controversial police officer that seems to bring the best out in them. That is certainly the case for new French cop thriller Les Miserables.
‘New Mutants’ breaks curse, hits the big screens
‘New Mutants’ breaks curse, hits the big screens
Like a sleeping giant coming out of hibernation, the cinematic world is finally starting to awake from its slumber. Some countries, including Thailand, have had their cinemas open for a few weeks now. Other countries including Australia and the United States have some cinemas open while others remain closed in lockdown areas.
‘Black Water: Abyss’ – an interview with director Andrew Traucki
‘Black Water: Abyss’ – an interview with director Andrew Traucki
When it comes to genre filmmaking, Australian filmmakers have always punched well out of their weight division. The result has been a number of Australian-made genre films doing well overseas while names like George Miller, James Wan and Leigh Whannell have become household names for fans of the genre art-form.
‘Think Like A Dog’, for big people too
‘Think Like A Dog’, for big people too
For a long time family films were a dull, boring affair that seemed at times to not even work for kids. Sure you had those that marked a generation like ‘Frozen’ but few were entertaining or mature enough to provide any entertainment for the adults that were forced to watch them with their kids. The 2020 cinematic year seems to have bucked that trend though with films like ‘Spies In Disguise’, ‘Sonic The Hedgehog’ and ‘My Spy’ offering something for kids and adults alike. Now we can add another film to that list – ‘Think Like A Dog’.