Tuesday 27 December 2016

ROSALIE BLUM (full review at The Reel Word)

Vincent (Kyan Khojandi) is a perennial nice guy, living alone with his cat. He is unassuming, shy, and tied to his mother’s aprons stings. She lives in the apartment above him and he looks after her since his father passed away. A chance encounter leads to Vincent meeting grocery store proprietor, Rosalie (Noémie Lvovsky). Overwhelmed by a feeling of deja-vu, Vincent is compelled to follow Rosalie in an attempt to find out more about her.  But she quickly cottons on to Vincent’s crude attempts at espionage, and deploys the services of her unemployed niece, Aude (Alice Isaaz), to follow Vincent in return.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
https://www.thereelword.net/rosalie-blum-movie-review/

IMDB: Rosalie Blum

Sunday 25 December 2016

2016 REVIEW

Top Ten Movies of 2016


1. La Noche Del Virgen (The Night Of The Virgin)
Utterly deranged Spanish horror movie that took me completely by surprise. Imaginative, disgusting and perverse in equal measure. Nothing matches the complete joy of unearthing a truly original horror movie and Night of the Virgin is a total degenerate pleasure.

2. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The first Star Wars movie since Jedi that doesn’t have to be qualified with an ‘if’ or a ‘but’. It isn’t really a stand-alone movie in as much as it’s an appendix to the original trilogy. It looks incredible and does its utmost to be as authentic as possible. I also love K2SO.

3. Green Room
Anton Yelchin delivers his best performance just prior to his untimely passing, in Jeremy Saulnier’s uncompromising punk siege movie. A violent, uncomfotable horror film that gives Saulnier a 100% hit rate so far.

4. The Neon Demon
Nicholas Winding Refn’s art-o treatise on beauty and ego. Horrific and beautiful at the same time, much like the characters themselves.

5. The VVitch
Effective old tyme creeper, as a disgraced young family ups sticks and moves next to a maligned forest. Favouring slow build tension over outright shocks, it twists your comfort zone into knots, as their God-fearing existence starts to look a lot less parochial than at the outset.

6. Baskin
Can Evrenol’s occult horror dreamscape really delivers the goods as a bunch of ill prepared cops stumble across a bloodthirsty cult. Bringing to mind Lucio Fulci at his most surreal, Baskin keeps it weird and visually challenging. A beautiful obscenity.

7. Hunt For the Wilderpeople
Taika Waititi gives you a gigantic cinematic hug with the tale of adolescent tearaway Ricky Baker and his Uncle Hec. Funny, sad and always uplifting.

8. Sausage Party
Despite suffering considerable fatigue with Seth Rogan et al, nothing can diminish the fact that Sausage Party is a flat out riot. Just when you think the laughs have climaxed, they insert you into a place you were sure they’d never go. Very filthy and very funny.

9. Everybody Wants Some!!
Linklater’s movies are by-and-large a masterclass in why character is everything. Even when the plot isn’t moving anywhere, you remain riveted because you want to spend as much time with these people as possible. Dazed and Confused comparisons are apt, but Everybody Wants Some more than holds its own. The Big Boys are on the soundtrack too.

10.
10 Cloverfield Lane
Another of the year’s best surprises. A tense, claustrophobic horror movie that keeps you asking questions right up until the end. John Goodman cranks the nutbag dial all the way to the top, as Mary Elizabeth Winstead grasps for any remaining threads of sanity.

The Other Best Movies of 2016
The irresistible good intentions of Rosalie Blum charmed their way into my heart; The bizarre and sweet magical realism of Swiss Army Man made it one of the best movies of the year; Ben Wheatley’s brutalist yet stylish tackling of High-Rise was an essential watch; and the compelling, salacious true story of American gutter politics made Weiner the best documentary of the year.


The Worst Movies of 2016

The Lobster
The oddball premise was not the cause of the Lobster’s undoing, its excruciating delivery and characterisation were. An über bore.

Suicide Squad
Spectacularly unimaginative in just about every conceivable department. It boggles the mind to think that DC believed they would be giving Marvel a run for its money with this. It’s not that it was bad – it was not anywhere near as grating as Man of Steel, for example - in so much that it set a new bar for the definition of average. Utterly predictable and it reeked of committee filmmaking.

Elle
If Paul Verhoeven is refusing to make sci fi anymore then frankly he should just get retired. Elle opened to limited but generally positive reviews but I utterly hated it. From its lazy depiction of gaming culture, to its generic 90s thriller tropes. Worst of all was its reprehensible attitude toward sexual violence. Verhoeven made some of my favourite movies of all time, but Elle is hot garbage.

Blair Witch
With Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett on board, Blair Witch should have been great. The result was a muddled disaster that relied exclusively on cheap sound effect scares and, most criminally of all, missed the point entirely about what made the original so exceptional.


Movies that came out at the tail end of 2015, or bypassed Australian cinemas altogether so I was unable to include them on last year’s list a.k.a. everything that Kurt Russell has done lately.

The Hateful Eight

Tarantino’s gripping chamber play pitted a motley assortment of travellers against each other, as paranoia and suspicion take over. It had more in common with The Thing, then just the soundtrack.

Bone Tomahawk
Top drawer cannibal western, with Kurt Russell leading a superlative cast off in search of Patrick Wilson’s kidnapped wife. It burns slow at times, but it’s simply prepping you for an unforgettable denouement.


Movies I wanted to see but missed
Don’t Breathe
Arrival
Hell Or High Water
Mechanic: Resurrection
The Nice Guys
Midnight Special

Saturday 17 December 2016

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY (full review at The Reel Word)

Rogue One is the first stand alone Star Wars movie in the new, post-Lucas era, and follows the group of rebels responsible for obtaining the plans to the Death Star, thus enabling the events of Star Wars: A New Hope.

As a child, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), witnesses the capture of her engineer father, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), by Imperial Director Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) and a platoon of Death Troopers. Krennic is the driving force behind the creation of the Death Star and requires Galen Erso to create it.  Forced into hiding for many years, Jyn is recruited by the Rebel Alliance, following the defection of Imperial pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), who brings a message from Galen in the hope that the rebels will defeat the weapon he has created.

Read the full review at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story-movie-review/

IMDB: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Friday 9 December 2016

TONIGHT SHE COMES (full review at The Reel Word)

Probationary mailman, James (Nathan Eswine), travels to a remote country house / cabin, intent on delivering the final letter on his route. Also arriving at the cabin are Ashley (Larissa White) and Lyndsey (Cameisha Cotton), due to rendezvous with their friend Kristy (Dal Nicole), who unbeknownst to them has been killed in mysterious circumstances. They soon encounter the feral inhabitants of the house who have attempted to resurrect something from beyond the grave. Using copious amounts of their own blood to fend off the evil outside, they find themselves trapped within the cabin.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/tonight-she-comes-horror-movie-review/

IMDB: Tonight She Comes

Wednesday 30 November 2016

LA NOCHE DEL VIRGEN (THE NIGHT OF THE VIRGIN) (full review at The Reel Word)

On New Year’s Eve 2015, the perpetually unlucky and titular virgin, Nico (Javier Bolando), is seduced by older woman Medea (Miriam Martin) and invited back to her apartment. When Nico arrives Medea reveals an educated side to herself, interested in eastern philosophy and an obscure Nepalese religion. Conversely, her home is a grimy, cockroach infested hovel. Driven by his rampaging hormones, Nico ignores this and spends the night anyway. In the morning Nico and Medea find themselves barricaded within the apartment by Medea’s angry and jealous ex-boyfriend Spider (Victor Amilibia).

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/night-of-the-virgin-movie-review/

IMDB: La Noche del Virgen (The Night of The Virgin)

Wednesday 23 November 2016

PEELERS (full review at The Reel Word)

On the last night of work before selling her strip club, Blue Jeans (Wren Walker) oversees the final evening's entertainment alongside a motley assortment of regulars, staff and new customers. When a group of miners turns up for the night, we discover they have unearthed a mysteriously infectious black goo, which mistaking for oil, causes the afflicted to projectile vomit a lot and turn into psycho monsters.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:


IMDB: Peelers

THE NEON DEMON (full review at The Reel Word)

The Neon Demon is Nicolas Winding Refn’s tenth movie and the story of young model, Jesse (Elle Fanning), who moves to Los Angeles in the hope of making it big in a cut throat and superficial fashion industry. Dropping out of high school and alone in the seedier side of Pasadena, Jesse befriends make-up artist Ruby (Jena Malone) and begins to make a name for herself in the industry, much to the disgust of rivals Gigi (Bella Heathcote) and Sarah (Abbey Lee).



Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/the-neon-demon-movie-review/





IMDB: The Neon Demon

Monday 10 October 2016

CAFE SOCIETY (full review at The Reel Word)

Café Society, so called because of the term given to the bar and club hopping high life of the 1930s, is Woody Allen's 47th movie. Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) leaves behind his father’s jewellery business in New York City, to forge a new life for himself in Los Angeles. In search of employment he visits his uncle Phil (Steve Carell), a successful Hollywood agent who helps him out with a job. Taking him under his wing, Phil arranges for his secretary, Vonnie (Kristen Stewart), to show Bobby around town. Bobby immediately falls for her hook, line and sinker, but Vonnie is already involved with someone.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/cafe-society-movie-review-woody-allen/

IMDB: Cafe Society

Sunday 9 October 2016

NO STRANGER THAN LOVE (full review at The Reel Word)

Lucy Sherrington (Alison Brie) is a popular high school teacher. A do-gooder in the finest Capraesque tradition of small town Americana. Her dad is the mayor, and everybody likes her. But perhaps a bit too much, because she is the object of the besotted affection of every male in town. Lucy suffers their attentions with patience and good humour but is only interested in married, high school football coach Clint Coburn (Colin Hanks). When Clint sneaks out one night to visit Lucy at home, a large hole magically appears in her living room, into which Clint falls. With Clint trapped in the hole, the entire town turns out to look for him, as well as Rydell (Justin Chatwin), a novice loan shark to whom Clint owes gambling debts.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/no-stranger-than-love-movie-review/

IMDB: No Stranger Than Love

Monday 19 September 2016

BLAIR WITCH (full review at The Reel Word)

In 1999 the Blair Witch Project created a phenomenon. A pre-internet marketing campaign, devoid of lead actors and perfectly realised with a fleshed out back story, it generated monumental hype, suggesting the events and mythos of the movie were true. The fact that Cannibal Holocaust had done the same thing, twenty years prior, was rendered immaterial by the fact The Blair Witch Project was a bone fide masterpiece.  A lesson in the craft of tension, horror and low budget filmmaking. It created a feeling of unease and genuine scares with seemingly little effort. But as seventeen years of imitators have shown us, it’s not as easy as it looks.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/blair-witch-movie-review/

IMDB: Blair Witch

Wednesday 31 August 2016

BASKIN (full review at The Reel Word)

Can Evrenol’s Baskin  is an expanded version of his acclaimed 2013 short film of the same name. Baskin is a surreal, grisly horror movie, taking a simple premise and doing a hell of a lot with it. Evrenol has delivered an accomplished debut feature, and a cracking horror movie.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/baskin-movie-review-horror/

IMDB: Baskin

Sunday 7 August 2016

ELLE (full review at The Reel Word)

Paul Verhoeven is responsible for some of the finest science fiction movies of the last thirty years, and although he conquered Hollywood in the 90s, it’s easy to forget that he is also the man responsible for Basic Instinct and Showgirls. As the credits open on Elle and the wannabe Bernard Hermann soundtrack screeches all over it, those memories come flooding back.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/elle-movie-review-paul-verhoeven-isabelle-huppert/

IMDB: Elle

Wednesday 3 August 2016

HIGH-RISE (full review at The Reel Word)

Generally speaking, it’s safe to say the words ‘unfilmable novel’ should not be taken as a challenge. But who better to take it up, than one of the most compelling and interesting filmmakers to emerge in recent years, Ben Wheatley. Wheatley’s debut, the gritty crime drama Down Terrace, put him on the map. He duly followed it up with a stunning tale of occult horror in Kill List – arguably the greatest horror movie of the last ten years. Sightseers combined the darkest of black comedy with English eccentricities, and for his fourth movie he gave us the divisive and surreal A Field in England. With High-Rise, Wheatley gets his teeth stuck in to J.G. Ballard’s classic dystopian novel. Grindhouse Ben Wheatley has morphed into Arthouse Ben Wheatley.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/high-rise-movie-review-tom-hiddleston/

IMDB: High-Rise

Monday 1 August 2016

STRANGER THINGS (full review at The Reel Word)

Having only been on release for a mere two weeks, Netflix’s latest binge watch sensation, Stranger Things, is already gaining an inordinate amount of column inches and social media traction. Part thriller, part science fiction, part nostalgia trip, its stylish blend of retro aesthetic and Spielbergian adventure is connecting with a lot of people. But does Stranger Things live up to the hype? You bet it does.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/stranger-things-review-netflix-series/

IMDB: Stranger Things

Wednesday 20 July 2016

SWISS ARMY MAN (full review at The Reel Word)

Never let it be said that post-Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe went for the safe choices or the easy options. From his stage performance in Equus, through the black comedy of Horns, via the gothic horror of The Woman in Black, he has compiled an impressive and eclectic anti-Potter C.V.  His latest outing, Swiss Army Man, is a film like no other.  Boasting a bizarre premise and two strong central performances from Radcliffe and Paul Dano.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/swiss-army-man-movie-review/ 


IMDB: Swiss Army Man

Monday 4 July 2016

HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE (full review at The Reel Word)

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the fourth film from New Zealand director Taika Waititi, and follows on the heels of 2014's excellent horror-comedy What We Do In The Shadows. Waititi's stylish, almost whimsical approach brings us a funny and uplifting movie, which has much in common with his warm and idiosyncratic second feature, Boy.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the story of Ricky Baker, a troubled inner city kid, moved around his whole life in a variety of foster homes. As something of a last resort, Child Services case worker Paula brings Ricky to stay in the countryside with kind hearted Bella, and her curmudgeonly partner, Hec. As Ricky begins to soften, and learn what it is to have family, tragedy strikes. Circumstance forces Ricky and Hec to flee into the bush, and live on the run. An outlaw odd couple, who capture the public’s imagination. As Child Services and the Police pursue them across the country, Ricky and Hec learn to trust and respect each other.

Although at its essence the plot is one of a begrudging friendship, it is the journey, rather than the destination that will propel Wilderpeople into your heart. It defines itself with a good natured sense of humour and a rich vein of pathos; the laughs are broad and frequent, but we do find ourselves in some dark territory on occasion.  Somehow, this darker element ought not to work, but Waititi balances the general tone with a charming silliness and a poignancy to the darker moments.

As Ricky Baker, Julian Dennison is the heart of the picture. And he’s terrific.  Ricky is cocky and overconfident, but never malicious. He’s more of a scamp and a tearaway than a thug, and it is this approach which allows us to sympathise with him. Sam Neill excels too, as Uncle Hec, walking the thin line between irritation at his young charge and a burgeoning paternal affection. Paula House and Oscar Kightly provide big laughs as the somewhat hapless pursuing authorities, and regular Waititi-player Rhys Darby delivers a ridiculous cameo. The stunning New Zealand landscape dazzles the eyeballs as Ricky and Hec take to the countryside. The elements and terrain almost as much of a character as the rest of the cast.

Waititi is an intriguing director, with a style that brings to mind Wes Anderson with less of a retro fetish. Surprisingly, he is soon helming Thor: Ragnarok for Marvel which on current evidence suggests will be a very interesting prospect.

On a couple of occasions the tone of Wilderpeople gets a little awkward – most notably in a church scene – and one or two of the more ridiculous elements threaten to get out of control. But ultimately Wilderpeople’s honest, cockle warming centre builds up such goodwill in the audience, it could convert even the basest cynic. Taika Waititi has crafted a beguiling, redemptive comedy which is almost impossible to dislike. Hunt For The Wilderpeople is an absolute delight of a movie.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/hunt-for-the-wilderpeople-movie-review/


IMDB: Hunt For The Wilderpeople

Monday 27 June 2016

TOP TEN FUTURE MOVIE SPORTS (full article at The Reel Word)

Sports, sports, sports! Everyone loves sports don't they? We're just a big old sports loving nation. Well, I've got some news for you, buddy. Future society isn't content with our boring, pedestrian 21st century sports. Whether you're living in a grim dystopia, ruled by scheming corporate overlords, or just trundling about a post-apocalyptic wasteland, the future sports punter wants to raise the stakes. So you’ll be in for something brutal, from a more basic age. Or something too convoluted and futuristic for our puny, antiquated brains to understand. Gladiatorial variations are popular, as are violent evolutions of today's games. Future sport is big business. Future sport is life and death. Future sport is secretly critiquing society as a whole. So sit back, pick a team and get ready for kick off with the Top Ten Future Movie Sports.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/top-ten-future-movie-sports/

Wednesday 25 May 2016

THE BLOB (full review at The Reel Word)

In 1988 the relatively unknown director / writer team of Chuck Russell and Frank Darabont, fresh off A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, tackled a new version of a classic Steve McQueen monster movie. Russell would go on to score a big hit with Jim Carrey comedy The Mask, and Darabont  would achieve global acclaim with his much-loved adaptation of Stephen King’s Shawshank Redemption. But the seeds of their future success were sown in the gory, body horror slime of their Blob remake.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/reel-classic-the-blob-1988/


IMDB: The Blob

Monday 16 May 2016

GREEN ROOM (full review at The Reel Word)

Jeremy Saulnier’s sophomore movie, Blue Ruin, by-and-large slipped under the radar for a lot of people. But those that managed to catch it witnessed a tense, brutal tour-de-force; a stunning, bloody revenge picture that lingered long in the memory. Fortunately, for those of us excited to see how he would follow it up, much the same can be said about Green Room.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/green-room-movie-review/


IMDB: Green Room

Wednesday 20 April 2016

BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE

Two years after the events of Man of Steel, Superman (Henry Cavill) and Batman (Ben Affleck) are framing the debate over whether the World needs a superman and/or brutal vigilantes. Fuelled by rage at the collateral damage from Superman and Zod's fight, Bruce Wayne/Batman feels duty bound to bring the Kryptonian to heel. Combined with Clark Kent's distaste for Batman's thuggish street justice, and Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) pulling the strings from behind the scenes, the two icons find themselves on course for the biggest playground scrap of all time.

Batman Vs Superman (BvS) is a typically stylised affair from Snyder (love it or hate it), but is unfortunately po-faced, pretentious and very average. Some un-fleshed out pontificating on the nature of being a 'meta-human', alongside senate committee grandstanding, mean the World's disillusionment with Superman never really resonates. BvS wants to say something profound on the subject, but much like our two heroes, doesn't really say much at all.

The clunky shoehorning in of future Justice League members feels cynical, and the aesthetic choices are weird. Bruce Wayne is a millionaire who lives in an unkempt field and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), although cryptically interesting, looks like a reject from Snyder’s 300.

The biggest problem with BVS is that Snyder is unable to direct a coherent action sequence.  Early on we are accosted with a murky, disorientating car chase that achieves nothing for the story (Batman chases something he knows is owned by Lex Luthor, which leads him directly to... Lex Luthor). And the fight sequences are all a post-Bourne jumble of crunchy bone snapping and wobbly-cam realism. It begs the question of why bother to have Affleck bulk up, or choreograph a multi opponent punch up, if the results are lost in tight close ups and amphetamine editing.

The real tragedy of this incarnation of Superman is how abjectly boring he is. Henry Cavill spends two and half hours frowning at variety of people, although in fairness it is hardly his fault, as the script denies Superman anything by way of interesting dialogue. Christopher Reeve's earnest take on Kal-El might have been a bit of a boy scout, but it can't be denied how enjoyable it was. This bleak, scowling, dullard of a Superman will be enough to turn kids off the character for decades.

But despite its many flaws, BvS is still not quite the terrible movie the internet would have you believe. There are no complaints with Bat-fleck – a gruff, curmudgeonly Frank Miller-style Dark Knight; and a future Batman movie in Affleck's hands could well be something to get excited about. Kevin Costner's five minute cameo simply highlights what it is to have some natural acting chops, and Jesse Eisenberg's Zuckerberg-channelling turn as Lex Luthor is really quite alright, and far less annoying than the trailers might have you believe.

At two and half hours, BvS is most definitely overlong. It’s also most definitely flawed. But the reality is that it sits between the critical scorn and the fanboy love, settling somewhere on the spectrum marked mediocre.


IMDB: Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

Monday 29 February 2016

SCOTT BAKULA INTERVIEW for The Reel Word

I recently interviewed the legendary Scott Bakula for The Reel Word, about the forthcoming Quantum Leap blu ray release. You can read the full interview here:

http://www.thereelword.net/exclusive-interview-scott-bakula-talks-quantum-leap/

IMDB: Scott Bakula

Wednesday 20 January 2016

SPOTLIGHT (full review at The Reel Word)

Spotlight is the true story of an investigative reporting team, working for the Boston Globe, who in  2001 uncovered endemic child abuse within the Catholic Church. Beginning with a look into a single case of abuse by a priest, the investigative team’s enquires snowballed dramatically to reveal abuse on a scale none of them had ever imagined. Working closely with the survivors’ lawyer,  they discover the abuse was allowed to go unreported for decades due to the machinations of the Church.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/spotlight-review/

IMDB: Spotlight

Sunday 17 January 2016

THE HATEFUL EIGHT (full review at The Reel Word)

Set not long after the end of the American Civil War, The Hateful Eight follows bounty hunter John ‘The Hangman’ Ruth (Kurt Russell) as he transports his profitable quarry, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), to the town of Red Rock where she is due to be hanged. Along the way, they meet fellow bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L Jackson) and prospective sheriff Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), when they are Waylaid by an unforeseen blizzard. The quartet, plus their stagecoach driver O.B., seek refuge at Minnie's Haberdashery knowing that the inclement weather will force them to hole up for a few days. As the storm closes in, paranoia and suspicion prevail, and the bounty hunters and their fellow guests begin to understand that perhaps all is not as it seems.

Read the full article at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/the-hateful-eight-review

IMDB: The Hateful Eight