"Let the hate flow through you!"
Despite 'Empire' being my all time favourite movie, this by no means gives a free pass to 'Jedi' as the best flick of 1983. It's by far the weakest of the original trilogy, does the most notorious bounty hunter in the galaxy a massive disservice, forgets to give Han much to do, and has entirely too many Ewoks...
But, then we get to the good stuff -
When this works, it's still absolutely tremendous.…
For me, this was David Cronenberg does 'Postcards From The Edge'. Whilst certainly not light and fluffy, Postcards' never really convinced me. The subject matter of addiction never properly hit home, with much of the blame at smiley Meryl Streep's door. Maps to the Stars definitely adds the grit.
As with much of Cronenberg's material, it really is dark stuff. For the squeamish, by warned that there's some pretty extreme violence here. And the nudity is truly gratuitous in places.…
"I think we need a break..."
From the hideously generic title (the working one was even worse -Chase) to it's Breakdown 'lite' premise, Brian Goodman's new missing persons thriller fails to break much new ground, but it might just satisfy as a solid by the numbers Friday night movie.
Nutshell premise - Gerald Butler's and Jamie Alexander's fractured couple stop for gas, and wouldn't you just know it - Alexander disappears seemingly into fresh air. Cue lots of anxiety and…
"I don't like that look man."
"It's the only one I got."
Full disclosure - I've never been the biggest fan of 80s 'classic' Top Gun. It's far from Tom Cruise's or the late Tony Scott's best film, but is a fun enough diversion, and there's no denying the impact it had on pop culture. A re-watch one day prior to the new sequel did however give me a lot of appreciation what makers try to achieve with the long…
"I hate to agree with conspiracy Santa..."
Based on some very lacklustre trailers, tepid promotional artwork, and it's direct to streaming nature, this had me sharpening my critical knives prior to viewing. I'm unexpectedly happy to report that it's more than worth your time if you're a fan of the genre. Although it doesn't get much beyond it's premise of Chris Pratt Vs Aliens, it never takes itself too seriously and has more than a bit of fun with it's…
"Is that Darth Vader or Yoda?"
I never saw this one coming! What an utterly charming little film. I'm far from the biggest fan of the rom-com genre, but the fusing of it with a 'time loop' scenario elevates it above the ususal fare. Yes, Groundhog Day wrote the book on this, and it's referenced more than once in the film, as is 'Edge Of Tomorrow'. But this time around, it's more of a 'knowing' journey with lead Kyle Allen…
