Advertise with us

Don Johnson

News, Reviews & Features

  • Review: Knives Out is a modern-age murder mystery that absolutely kills it

    Movie Review | Matt Looker | 4th December 2019

    Traditional murder mysteries must be the hardest stories to write, because audiences are always second-guessing everything, desperate to work out the twist before the genius detective. Writers have to seed important details among their pool of suspects without giving the game away, whilst also offering red herrings that have to feel like they could still be relevant. Meanwhile their audience is constantly reading too much into everything, determined not to be outsmarted. So a film like this one is already at make-or-break point for each viewer. If they don’t guess the killer and the motive, and the reveal still makes sense, then they can be satisfied with the thrill of being outplayed. But if they solve the mystery before the end, it’s "Nah, that’s rubbish, mate. I saw it coming a mile off". And audiences are actively rooting for the latter. They’re the ones with the knives out.

    Read full article »

  • Cold In July

    Movie Review | Ed Williamson | 24th June 2014

    Ever play that game where you begin with a sentence, then go round the circle and everyone gets a turn to write the next sentence, and you end up with a story? Not since you were nine, you say? OK, bear with me. Imagine that everyone in the first half of the circle was a black-hearted fan of moody, intense home invasion thrillers. And everyone in the second half was Quentin Tarantino at his most excitably goofy. Click to read the rest if you like, but you're pretty much there.

    Read full article »

  • Django Unchained

    Movie Review | Ed Williamson | 14th January 2013

    I've seen Django Unchained twice now. After the second viewing, I looked back through the notes I'd made after the first, and realised that most of them were now useless. As with a lot of Quentin Tarantino's work, it takes more than one watch to fully form an opinion, but in this case I'd changed my mind almost entirely. I read back through them, crossing out complaints regarding its lengthy, meandering scenes and its jarring refusal to end at its obvious conclusion. But I understand these things better now for what they are: exercises in character development that make this one of its author's richest and most engaging works.

    Read full article »

Support Us

We are now using Patreon to cover some of our hosting fees. So if you like our brand of "content" and would like to see us do more, please consider chucking a few digital pennies our way by clicking on the link below. Thanks!

Patreon logo

Follow Us

Recent Highlights

Advertisement

Advertise with us

And The Rest

Quick Links

Jurassic Park Star Wars Marvel DC Superheroes and that Batman Nicolas Cage Posters John Travolta Mission: Impossible Horror Movies Netflix Reviews Cine-CHAT-ic Universe Truthful Posters
Advertise with us