AfrAId (2024) Review
AfrAId (2024) Review was last modified: September 6th, 2024 by Craig Holton
Beetlejuice (1988) Review
Beetlejuice (1988) Review was last modified: September 5th, 2024 by Craig Holton
Blink Twice (2024) Review
Forgive and forget becomes fight or flight in Kravitz’ blistering directorial debut Like a too-good-to-be-true invitation to a billionaire’s private island, Blink Twice lures you in with its promise of sunlit shores and champagne-soaked afternoons, only to slowly, methodically peel back the layers of its pristine exterior to reveal a world where power and privilege ..
The Crow (2024) Review
It’s hard to believe anyone would bother waking up for The Crow, let alone return from the dead. For a film where the hero’s motivation is explicitly “to put the wrong things right”, The Crow sure lets a lot of the right things go wrong in this re-adaptation of the original 1989 comic (don’t call ..
Trap (2024) Review
M Night Shyamalan’s latest thriller falls into a trap of its own making. The Shyamalan family is having quite the 2024, with M. Night producing his middle daughter’s directorial debut The Watched and now devoting an entire film to showcase his eldest daughter’s musical aspirations in Trap. One can only assume his youngest daughter is ..
Day One (1989) Review
Aaron Spelling’s 1989 TV Movie is the bomb! There’s something deliciously ironic about Day One—a film produced by the same man who brought us glittering soap operas, sun-soaked teenage dramas that defined an era, a man who virtually created the concept of glamourous, high-concept prime time entertainment. Aaron Spelling, king of melodrama and glitz, seems ..
Alien: Romulus (2024) Review
Stop trying to make “engineers” happen. It’s not going to happen. Fede Alvarez’ name might be on the director’s chair but make no mistake, producer Ridley Scott’s fingerprints are everywhere in Alien: Romulus, his DNA the dominant strain in this latest instalment of the sci-fi horror hybrid franchise. Rain (Cailee Spaeny), an orphan, works with ..
Borderlands (2024) Review
With some films you need to decide if your glass of piss wash is half full or half empty. I went into the Borderlands movie with no prior knowledge of Borderlands (beyond the vague awareness it existed). I’ve never played any of the games and know nothing of its lore. I also knew nothing of ..
Alien Resurrection (1997) Review
An Adventure 200 Years In The Making If you copy something over and over again, you’re bound to end up with an unexpected mutation or two. That seems to be the metatextual theme at play in Alien: Resurrection, the fourth entry in the Alien franchise, a film that splices together DNA from a number of ..
Alien³ (1992) Review
Abandon hope all ye who enter here… For a film that’s often dismissed as the unloved child of the Alien franchise, Alien³ is actually the misunderstood brooding artist in a family of action heroes— misinterpreted, introspective, and definitely not here to make you comfortable. Released in 1992, this third instalment in the Alien saga marked ..
The Woman King (2022) Review
History is rewritten by the warriors They say that history is written by the victors, but in The Woman King, it is rewritten by the warriors. Like a tempestuous force of nature, this film storms onto the screen, a narrative of valour and vigour that pays homage to the indomitable spirit of women who refuse ..
Aliens (1986) Review
Aliens is the mother of all sequels When it comes to crafting sequels, few filmmakers have orchestrated the symphony of cinema as deftly as James Cameron with Aliens. This 1986 sci-fi classic didn’t merely revisit the haunting universe introduced by Alien; it ignited an explosive barrage of action and emotion, merging horror with high-octane spectacle ..
Harold And The Purple Crayon (2024) Review
It may be time for Zachary “goofy manchild” Levi to get a new agent The simplicity and whimsy of Harold and the Purple Crayon has long mde the beloved classic a bedtime favourite, but turning such a cherished, though slight, tale into a feature film is a challenge fraught with difficulty Director Carlos Saldanha’s adaptation ..
Alien (1979) Review
In space no one can hear you scream – but you’ll want to anyway In the vast, infinite expanse of space, where no one can hear you scream, Alien found a voice that echoed across the cinema, forever altering the course of science fiction and horror. With a fearsome creature lurking in the shadows and ..
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) Review
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is far better than it has any right to be Some things never change – and thankfully, Axel Foley’s wisecracking charm is one of those timeless delights. Eddie Murphy’s return in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F – a source of trepidation following Beverly Hills Cop III – feels like cleaning ..
Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) Review
If life is a rollercoaster, Beverly Hills Cop III sees Axel Foley heading for the drop It’s hard to deny that the overall experience of Beverly Hills Cop III is the cinematic equivalent of heading to your favourite theme park only to learn that your rollercoaster is closed for maintenance. It retains most of the ..
Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) Review
Beverly Hills Cop II dials up the action and dials down the colour temperature for a stylish sequel If the 80s taught us anything, it’s that sequels aren’t for reinventing the format – they’re for more of the same, only bigger. In the hands of Tony Scott, Beverly Hills Cop II is an amber-hued, neon-streaked, ..
Beverly Hills Cop (1984) Review
The genius of Beverly Hills Cop lies not in its story but in its execution Beverly Hills Cop is more than just a movie; it’s a time capsule, an irreverent combination of action and comedy that redefined the genre for a new generation. When Eddie Murphy steps onto the screen as Axel Foley, the charismatic ..
The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) Review
Guy Ritiche assembled a dirty dozen action movie homages to staff up The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare It’s said that time heals all wounds, but there are some wounds that cinema can’t help picking at, and the Second World War is one of the biggest. And who can blame Hollywood when each passing year brings ..
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) Review
Deadpool & Wolverine disappears down its own Fox[Glory]hole First things first: Deadpool & Wolverine is fun. A lot of fun. So much fun. Really, just a whole load of fun. But… actually, hold on. Before we get to that, let’s rewind little. Using Cable’s time machine, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) makes his way to the Sacred ..
Twisters (2024) Review
Twisters sets out to make anticyclones great again Going into Twisters, a film taking the Alien -> Aliens naming convention, there was only one question on my mind: is it a sequel or a remake? The answer, it turns out, is both, maybe? Or neither. In the end, it hardly matters as the clouds roll ..
Time Bandits (1981) Review
Time Bandits sets the indelible Gilliam template Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits sees the ex-Python take on a rollicking, kaleidoscopic journey through time and space, brimming with eccentric characters and tinged with his trademark biting surreal satirical edge that skewers the mundanity of modern life. It’s a film that masquerades as a children’s adventure while delivering ..
Despicable Me 4 (2024) Review
Bit by bit, Despicable Me 4 amuses After the side quests trying in vain to propel the minions from sidekicks to leads, Despicable Me 4 brings back our favourite ex-villain Gru and family for another colourful, anarchic romp that delivers plenty of laugh out loud moments of fun. When his old school rival escapes from ..
Disney’s Descendants: The Rise Of Red (2024) Review
The Rise Of Red falls flat Proving that for IP-driven corporate thinking, there’s always life after death, The Descendants saga returns, albeit without most of its principal cast, ironically except for the principals of Auradon prep itself. Descendants: The Rise of Red, directed by Jennifer Phang, introduces us to the hitherto unmentioned Auradon-adjacent kingdom of ..
Twister (1996) Review
This is one movie that’ll spin you right round, baby Hold on to your hats, folks, because Twister is the movie that whipped up a storm of thrills and spills, leaving audiences breathless back in 1996. Helen Hunt starred as tenacious storm chaser Jo Harding, whose estranged husband, Bill (Bill Paxton), was trying to leave ..
Superman III (1983) Review
Making the case for a Superman III renaissance… Who would have thought that the Man of Steel’s greatest weakness wasn’t Kryptonite, but rather, slapstick comedy and behind-the-scenes drama? SUPERMAN III landed in cinemas with a campy twist that left fans either chuckling or cringing. Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) returns to Smallville for a high school ..
A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) Review
That Darned Cat! Two-thirds of the way through a planned trilogy may seem like an odd time to take a sidestep into prequel territory, but that’s what A Quiet Place: Day One seems to be offering us. Relocating the action from upstate New York to the heart of Manhattan, it shows us how the city ..
The Exorcism (2024) Review
The exorcist becomes the exorcised in The Exorcism The last time we saw Russell in robes, he was taking mass and kicking cassocks as The Pope’s Exorcist, but this time, he’s not casting out demons but is instead the one being haunted. Thanks to the quirks of filmmaking schedules and that ever-pesky pandemic, The Exorcism ..
The Exorcist: Believer (2024) Review
The Exorcist: Believer fails to make your head spin First things first, I’ma write all the words inside my head, I’m fired up and tired of this dreary old cash-in [ooh-ooh], a charmless litany of cliché [ooh-ooh]. Second things second, don’t you tell me that you think that it could be a legacy sequel, it’s ..
The First Omen (2024) Review
The Devil’s in the details as The First Omen conceives a way to illuminate the ante-Antichrist Not since the heady early days of Big Finish has an established narrative timeline been twisted and contorted like a prizewinning pretzel at Oktoberfest, but this prequel risks to blaspheme a horror classic in its quest to wring just ..