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Showing posts with the label novel

MORTAL ENGINES - REVIEW

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Review available on the new website .

THE DISASTER ARTIST - VLOG REVIEW

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I talk a bit about James Franco's The Disaster Artist .

IT - REVIEW

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A convenient 27 years after the memorable miniseries, we are finally treated to a movie adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel IT with Bill SkarsgÃ¥rd taking on the role of creepy killer clown Pennywise made iconic by Tim Curry back in the day. The film focuses on the child characters, a group of seven friends who are each terrorised by random sightings of Pennywise years after the latter abducted a child called Georgie by luring him into the sewers. Georgie's older brother Bill (Jaeden Lieberher) has been trying to find him ever since and this becomes his and his friends' main goal. Unfortunately, particularly dangerous bullies, crappy lives at home and specific fears brought up by Pennywise get in the way of their mission. Like an ingenuous mix of Stand By Me and The Goonies with some  Stranger Things thrown in, IT is both an effective coming-of-age story with a group of very different but equally likeable kids at its heart and a supernatural horror film every

BABE - REVIEW

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Based on Dick King-Smith's novel "The Sheep-Pig", Babe was such a big hit back in 1995 that it even earned itself a Best Picture Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe. Not bad for a film about a talking pig becoming a sheepdog. On paper, Babe sounds like just another straight-to-video kids' movie but a unique storybook look, some nifty visual effects and tons of charm elevated it to well above average. Indeed, there's something irresistible about this tale of a pig who is bought by farmer Arthur Hoggett (James Cromwell) and finds a new, unlikely purpose. The film definitely has its silly kid-friendly moments but also a surprisingly serious tone at times, never sugar-coating farm life too much or devolving into farce. One second you're following duck-turned-rooster Ferdinand join Babe on a quest to destroy an alarm clock (don't ask), the next you're mourning the death of a sheep as Babe is almost executed for a crime he didn't commit. It's t

JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK - REVIEW

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Tom Cruise returns with  Jack Reacher: Never Go Back , the first sequel to 2012's successful action thriller Jack Reacher based on a series of novels by Lee Child. A much less flashy franchise than the Mission: Impossible series, the Jack Reacher films aim for a darker, grittier take on the genre more akin to an episode of 24 than a bombastic blockbuster. While lower key than some of Cruise's other vehicles, the first film did include some stand-out elements like the deliciously tense Bullitt -style car chase, the inspired casting choice of Werner Herzog as the intimidating main villain, a particularly brutal fist-fight and an instantly compelling plot. Most sequels tend to go bigger and sillier but Never Go Back takes a page out of the Bourne movies and keeps things relatively restrained. From the mostly star-free cast to the character-centric approach, this is, against all odds, a significantly less over-the-top film than its predecessor. Which is not to say it's

SONG FOR MISS PEREGRINE

Yes, Miss Peregrine has a song now. Enjoy. Song For Miss Peregrine by TheRetroCritic

MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN - REVIEW

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Tim Burton returns with Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children , a new movie based on Ransom Riggs' popular Young Adult novel. The plot, which involves monsters, bizarre teenagers, suburbia and time travel certainly seemed like an ideal vehicle for the director. Asa Butterfield is Jake, an ordinary suburban kid who, one night, finds his grandfather (played by Terrence Stamp) dying with both his eyes missing. Following the path outlined by the late old man's bedtime stories, Jake travels to Wales with his father where, supposedly, he would find the school for oddball children he'd heard so much about. Initially disappointed by what he finds, he eventually stumbles upon one of the students who leads him to the school which happens to be purposely stuck in a time loop. Jake meets the rest of the pupils including an invisible boy, a girl who can float, a kid who spits out bees and a super-strong little girl, among others. It's easy to see why Burton would be k

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1999) - REVIEW

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Several years before Tim Burton rebooted Lewis Carroll's surreal masterpiece with all the 3D bells and whistles, we got this Alice In Wonderland TV movie in 1999 as an all-star cast took on the classic story. There was something irresistible about this interpretation of Alice In Wonderland as, not only would it be packed with great actors in familiar roles but it was the perfect opportunity to explore parts of the tale the older versions never explored and show off some creative new visuals. The film starts very differently from the book, which is a little off-putting at first, but soon enough Alice goes to Wonderland and the story finally begins in a faithful way with some added moments from "Through The Looking Glass" thrown in. The first thing you'll notice is Tina Majorina (known for  Napoleon Dynamite and Veronica Mars ) feels somewhat miscast as Alice: her performance is much too awkward, her English accent isn't convincing and that yellow dress she&#

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1 - VLOG 21/12/14

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I break my own promise to not go and see another Hunger Games movie by... Going to see the new Hunger Games movie .

A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES - REVIEW

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Liam Neeson's back and yes, once again someone's been taken. And he has a very specific set of skills. A Walk Among The Tombstones definitely, on paper, may sound like yet another Taken rip-off (*cough* Unknown *cough* Non-Stop ) but chances are you'll forget about Neeson's gimmicky yet career-redefining B-turned-A-movie quickly as you sit through this one, which is based on a series of novels. The plot sees an ex-police detective turned private detective take on a case involving a drug dealer's wife who was kidnapped for ransom money then delivered to him in little pieces. The dealer understandably wants to find those responsible in order to, at the very least, ruin their day. Neeson soon follows a trail of suspects as the killers plan their next abduction. Along the way, our troubled detective meets a young boy called T.J. (Astro) who elects himself to be his partner and although that may start giving you Cop And A Half flashbacks, this movie handles

AMERICAN PSYCHO - REVIEW

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Adapting Bret Easton Ellis' chilling novel was always going to be a challenge yet director Mary Harron did really well to find a unique, stylish angle on it. While nowhere near as gruesome as the book, the film's classier, more implied approach works perfectly well, keeping it firmly in the horror genre but also making sure to make the satire of 80's excess and vanity as biting as possible. Christian Bale plays wealthy New York banking executive Patrick Bateman in his most substantial stand-out role pre-Batman. To date, this is quite probably his most striking performance even if, on a purely physical level, his dedication to his roles in The Fighter and The Machinist are particularly memorable. In American Psycho , he gives us an all-around full-on portrayal of a serial killer complete with creepy monologues, conflicting morals, bat-shit insane breakdowns and a meticulous approach to his looks and how he is perceived by his peers. Instead of putting us directly deep

THE BIRDS - REVIEW

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With Michael Bay thinking of producing a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's classic Daphne Du Maurier adaptation of The Birds , there's no better time to go back and watch the original then confirm how good it is and how a remake of it would be not only completely unnecessary but just silly. About as silly as The Birds II: Land's End ... The film sees Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren in her iconic screen debut) make a mischievous attempt to play an elaborate prank on a guy she clearly secretly likes only to find that the small town she's travelled to is about to be attacked by seemingly random waves of killer birds. Daniels and Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) first meet in a bird shop, out of which Hitchcock himself walks with his dogs in his obligatory cameo, and the former soon starts using her connections to find out where the guy lives before driving off to Bodega Bay so fast, the love birds she's bringing him pivot in their cage with every turn. One of the film's

THE PLEASURE OF MY COMPANY - THING OF THE WEEK

HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE - REVIEW

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Spirited Away sure must have been a tough act to follow so you would have expected Hayao Miyazaki to take it easy and release a lighter, smaller film before bringing us another substantial effort but that didn't happen. Instead, we got Howl's Moving Castle , one of the director's most creative works to date. Based on a novel by Diana Wynne Jones, the film follows 18 year-old Sophie as she is turned into a 90 year-old woman by a witch because the latter was jealous about the young hatter meeting some wizard called Howl, which she herself had her eye on. Sophie then wanders the land in search of the witch, potentially the only one who could reverse the spell at this point, but instead she finds some weird-looking scarecrow who ends up leading her to the titular castle. There, she meets Calcifer, an adorable fire demon, voiced by Billy Crystal in the English version, who agrees to help turn her back into her old... well, young self, rather, if she can help break his own c

PERFECT BLUE - REVIEW

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Made in 1997 and based on the novel of the same name, Perfect Blue is one of those rare anime features which could have easily been live-action but which works so well as what it is that it's hard to picture it as anything else. A psychological thriller, Perfect Blue follows a character called Mima, the leader of a popular girl band called CHAM! who decides to retire from her music career in order to focus on trying to be a respected actress. Unfortunately, she learns that her new career is a very different, much scarier path to take which demands various un-glamorous undertakings which, she fears, might end up ruining her life. Throughout all this she is not only plagued by a creepy fan who may or may not be messing with her through the internet but also by the ghost of her old self who constantly judges everything she does and might just be driving her insane. Eventually, strange murders start occurring around her and the film world, her hallucinations, her dreams and reali

TOP 10 RUMOURS AROUND J.J. ABRAMS' STRANGER

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UPDATE (12/09/13): The book?! Really?!! Ok then. So J.J. Abrams recently released a trailer for an unknown project and everyone since has been geeking out and coming up with their own guesses as to what tat project might be. Some of them making more sense than others. Here are my favourite guesses that I've heard so far: 10 being the more probable/boring guess and 1 being the more outlandish/exciting guess. Here we go: 10 BELIEVE Nothing can stop J.J. from dipping his toe in the TV world, it seems. The man is always looking to find the next Alias , the next Lost or the next Fringe . And you gotta love him for that. Almost Human is, of course, the next big thing he's making that's coming out (yes, that robot Karl Urban thing) but he's also been working with Alfonso Cuaron on a grittier sci-fi show with some clear potential. Believe would follow a little girl with psychic abilities and a dude who's trying to protect her from some shady organisa

JACK REACHER - REVIEW

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Tom Cruise is back. In Jack. Reacher, that is. In what may start some kind of lasting Bourne-style action franchise (but probably won't), Jack Reacher sees tough cookie ex-army Sherlock dude Jack Reacher (well, duh) being hired to help shed light on a case involving a sniper taking out a seemingly random group of people for no apparent reason. Of course, Reacher suspects there's much more to it than just another psycho losing it and leads his own investigation. What follows is a CSI-meets-Mission-Impossible hybrid which sees Tom Cruise, as usual, taking his top off and acting way taller than he actually is. Oh, also Werner Herzog, of Werner Herzog fame, pops up as mysterious villain "The Zec" who doesn't do much besides talking and sitting but manages to be awesome nonetheless thanks to his inherent, unparalleled Herzoginess. Give the guy a dead eye, a gnarled hand, a dark setting to monologue into and voila! That classic documentary-friendly soothing v

THE WOMAN IN BLACK - REVIEW

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As good as it is to see Hammer back in town, so far their movie choices haven't exactly been mind-blowing. The Woman In Black , if the play was anything to go by, seemed like a promising vehicle though. With its moody, dated look, an effective ghost story at its heart and more than just some woman wearing a silly mask (see the play) to scare the bejeesus out of us. Daniel Radcliffe is our protagonist and heads to the rather unpleasant, reportedly haunted, house in the middle of nowhere. There's also a small town nearby with a bunch of dodgy inhabitants all hiding some sort of big secret which might have something to do with several kids randomly committing suicide around the village. Yes it's pretty standard and very predictable but it's also very Hammer so there was a lot of schlock potential there! These guys practically invented this nonsense, surely this should be a walk in the park for them. Well, yes and no. There is a sense throughout The Woman In Black

AMERICAN PSYCHO - REVIEW

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Strangely underrated adaptation of Brett Easton Ellis' grim and gory novel, American Psycho is a stylish black comedy with a welcome touch of twisted madness. Christian Bale has never been better than as Patrick Bateman: the smooth yet rotten and, ultimately, criminally demented Wall Street Genesis fan is a complex character to pull off but he does so effortlessly. The film itself looks super-slick and feels just as classy and wicked as its main protagonist. Bateman's restrained fits of jealousy and meticulous approach to serial killing, not to mention his interactions with fellow yuppies being highlights. More of a black comedy with blood than a straight-up slasher film, American Psycho is still an unpleasant enough tale to qualify as a horror. Even if the film is considerably less gruesome than the novel, the right atmosphere and overall spirit of the book is brilliantly captured here. All in all, well worth seeing if only to see Christian Bale's tour d