Bryce Dallas Howard

News, Reviews & Features

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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Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Movie Review | Ali Gray | 10th June 2018

I am a Jurassic Park sequel apologist. I am a Jurassic sequapologist. Thereâ€™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 Crichtonâ€™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 havenâ€™t enjoyed unreservedly from the get-go. With the other duffers Iâ€™d eventually pick up on the flaws after multiple rewatches - this is the only Jurassic Park movie Iâ€™ll have to learn to love.

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Jurassic World

Movie Review | Ali Gray | 11th June 2015

There is no escaping the fact that I can't write an unbiased review of a Jurassic Park movie. Jurassic Park is my Star Wars, my Lord Of The Rings - my formative moviegoing experience that opened my eyes to the wonder of cinema. I can never be too down on movies about rampaging dinosaurs; even a bad Jurassic Park movie - and there have been more of them than there have been good ones - is entertaining in its own way. But by any measure, whether you're a super-fan or a casual observer, Jurassic World knocks it out of the park: it's a shamelessly entertaining blockbuster that simultaneously pays homage to the original while putting a fresh coat of paint on the formula. If you're a Jurassic Park fan, Jurassic World is everything you want it to be - I'd even go as far as saying it's as good a Jurassic Park film, post Jurassic Park, that you could ever possibly expect.

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50/50

Movie Review | Ali | 23rd November 2011

You can always judge an 'illness' movie on how hard it makes you cry. Depending on the genre, it may also make you laugh or think or empathise, but when it comes down to it, the tears tell the story â€“ it's the one emotion that informs all others, the one that can't lie. So what saltiness level are we talking for 50/50, Jonathan Levine's buddy comedy based on writer Will Reiser's own cancer treatment? When it comes to the crunch, it's quite likely there'll be "something in your eye", with possible cheek wiping needed, and a fair chance of a little dry-sobbing at the end. It's unlikely to have you bawling, but 50/50 is smartly written and well acted enough to have you fully invested once it's time to find out if those titular odds come good.

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Hereafter

Movie Review | Ali | 27th January 2011

Hereafter opens with a tsunami. Despite some occasionally shaky CG effects (correction: occasionally shaky Oscar-nominated CG effects), it's a powerful, harrowing scene, particularly in light of the recent worldwide floods. It's also quite apt, as the following two hours of Hereafter can only be described as a tsunami of boredom - you'll be helpless as waves of indifference crash down on you and you're overcome by a strong torrent of sludgy dialogue. Before long, the afterlife starts to sound pretty damn appealing.

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Terminator Salvation

Movie Review | Ali | 21st May 2009

Terminator Salvation is explosive - not in the sense that it'll blow your mind, more in the sense that it'll burst your eardrums. Pound for pound, it features more explosions than any other movie I've seen - there's literally something detonating or collapsing or being shot or catching fire every 30 seconds. Even in quiet scenes...

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