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News, Reviews & Features

Review: Yesterday: I saw a film today, oh boy

Movie Review | Ed Williamson | 30th June 2019

A common pub argument I have with a friend of mine is that the Beatles weren't as influential as everyone makes out. I tell him there weren't bands before the Beatles; just solo singers and backing groups. I tell him that artists didn't write their own songs before the Beatles. I tell him that the album wasn't an artistic endeavour before the Beatles; just a commercial ruse to package up a hit single or two with some filler and sell them again. He still won't have it. Obviously he is an idiot, but I hope to Christ he never sees Yesterday, because it'll only strengthen his wildly incorrect view. While it does have at its heart the idea that this was the most special collection of songs ever written, it overlooks that what the boys gave us all wasn't just the songs: it was far more than that.

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Review: Wine Country is a waste of a great ensemble cast

Movie Review | Luke Whiston | 17th June 2019

One thing that fascinates me about film-making is not the how of how movies are made, but the when. We see stars grow in real time these days and very often, once their careers have developed enough, they become producers - meaning the shows and films we watch follow their whims. That explains why we get a glut of movies about having babies, followed by a wave of thirties singleton rom-coms, and these subjects mould the wider zeitgeist. And now we're entering what should be the most interesting phase, where all your favourite stars are burnt out and holding grudges: the mid-life crisis. Fight! Fight! Fight!

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Review: Rocketman is a Bo Rhap glow-up... but then again, no

Movie Review | Ali Gray | 22nd May 2019

Put Bohemian Rhapsody out of your head: this jukebox musical about a flamboyant rock singer directed by Dexter Fletcher is nothing like that jukebox musical about a flamboyant rock singer directed by Dexter Fletcher. In principle at least, Bo Rhap made sense as a tribute to the mercurial nature of the Queen frontman, a celebration of his musical genius and his tragic legacy. Rocketman, however, is quite different. For starters, Elton John (Tantrums & Tiaras, Kingsman 2, every other fucking episode of the The Graham Norton Show, apparently) is alive and well and executively producing his own vanity biopic. As a celebration of Elton's music, Rocketman delivers a satisfying and foot-stomping soundtrack of wall-to-wall bangers, but as an exploration of the man himself, it lacks any notable dramatic impetus outside of the generic rise, fall and rise template. It's less a movie, more a West End stage musical in search of a worthy hero.

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7 things you didn't spot in the first-look photo of the new Terminator film

Movie Feature | Matt Looker | 1st August 2018

Whether you want it or not, Untitled Terminator Reboot is on the way. Arnie is back! Because lol. More importantly, James Cameron is back too! Now we just have to wait and see if his producer credit amounts to any more input than that time he tried to convince us all that Terminator: Genisys was a “Renaissance”. His actual word.

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Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Movie Review | Ali Gray | 10th June 2018

I am a Jurassic Park sequel apologist. I am a Jurassic sequapologist. There’s no shame in loving the original movie, obviously, and I maintain that Jurassic World was an unapologetic, fan-pleasing blockbuster that wanted to reach even farther than Michael Crichton’s visionary thinking. But the sequels? I am at war with myself. The Lost World sort of has some good bits? The birdcage bit in Jurassic Park III was cool, I guess? Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, sadly, is a different beast entirely: it is the first Jurassic movie I haven’t enjoyed unreservedly from the get-go. With the other duffers I’d eventually pick up on the flaws after multiple rewatches - this is the only Jurassic Park movie I’ll have to learn to love.

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Solo: A Star Wars Story

Movie Review | Matt Looker | 24th May 2018

Four films in four years of this newly rebooted output from a galaxy far, far away, and it’s safe to say that Star Wars fatigue might be setting in for some. While, in that time, there’s been plenty of new reasons to love and embrace and cheer on the franchise, does anyone still get the same goosebump thrill from yet another momentous money-shot moment for the Millennium Falcon? Does anyone still audibly chuckle as loudly as they used to at the mention of an obscure character thrown in the script just because? It’s ok to admit it. We’re all still fans. No one's turning to the Dark Side and there’s no hate or anger here. But is anyone else getting the sense that their enthusiasm for Star Wars is being a little... diluted?

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Movie Review | Matt Looker | 12th December 2017

If I could have had a small, green, wise mentor teach me the ways of online film criticism, he probably would have instilled in me a respect for the balance between objectivity and subjectivity. He would have told me that uninformed criticism is what binds the entire internet and that I should always try to be mindful of hype. But, halfway through my training, I would have still no doubt run off unprepared to face what is easily my greatest weakness: Star Wars.

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Marvel's Cine-CHAT-ic Universe: The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Movie Feature | Ali Gray, Matt Looker, Becky Suter, Ed Williamson | 10th October 2017

It's official: part two of this new feature means it definitely qualifies as a 'regular', although we haven't quite pinned down how often we'll be catching up with the Marvel movies - it basically comes down to when ITV2 get round to showing the next one. And as nobody came up with a better title, it's time to HULK SMASH the 'Read full article' button and enjoy the next chapter of (*winces*) Marvel's Cine-CHAT-ic Universe: The Incredible Hulk.

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Terminator 2: Judgment Day 3D

Movie Review | Becky Suter | 31st August 2017

3D movies are a bit like the T-1000: you can knock them down, but they will keep getting back up. Killing time until the Avatar sequels come out, James Cameron spent six months post-converting his 1991 classic to 3D, at the precise moment that major TV manufacturers announced they’re not going to make any more 3D TVs. You don’t need me to tell you that Terminator 2: Judgment Day is as close to perfect an action movie can get, so the question is: why bother with a rerelease? Fortunately the answer is simple: because it looks fricking awesome.

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Dear James Cameron, please stop encouraging Terminator sequels, ta

Movie Feature | Ali Gray | 14th August 2017

This is not a hit-piece on James Cameron. I love James Cameron. I think Terminator 2 is one of the best films of all time. I held the first screening of True Lies in London for 20 years. I cried at Titanic. I will vigorously defend the concept of the Avatar sequels to the hilt. But this is not a love letter to James Cameron either. This is a sternly worded warning to James Cameron that politely requests he stops encouraging, endorsing and/or making Terminator movies. I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed.

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