Mark Strong

News, Reviews & Features

18 questions I still have about Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Movie Feature | Ali Gray | 28th September 2017

It's been two weeks since I saw Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the movie motion picture event of September, and barely a day goes by that I don't think about it. It's a movie that really makes you question everything you know. Questions like 'Who is actually enjoying this?' and 'How do you turn something as joyous as a foul-mouthed Elton John cameo into a depressing chore?' Join me as I ask more spoiler-filled questions of Kingsman: The Golden Circle and wait fruitlessly for it to answer me.

Read full article »
Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Movie Review | Ali Gray | 20th September 2017

The first Kingsman movie made a stylish entrance at precisely the right time i.e. just as Bond movies were about to get rubbish again. Spectre would go on to prove that being a secret agent was no laughing matter, and absolutely no silly business would be tolerated; Kingsman, on the other hand, was of the opinion that spies just wanna have fun, grasping hold of Moonraker's blunt end with a nudge and a wink and performing a passable karaoke cover of the Moore era's kitschiest hits. Unfortunately, that included the era's sexist horseshit: Kingsman signed off with a jarring anal sex joke that - if you'll pardon the single entendre - left behind a sour taste. The sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, is of the very same caliber as its predecessor, in that it is ostensibly a fun, colourful and occasionally inventive action flick, but one that is nonetheless torpedoed by an off-colour joke so brazen and shameless it defies belief.

Read full article »
Miss Sloane

Movie Review | Ali Gray | 13th May 2017

You have to feel for anyone brave enough to release a political movie in this day and age, where even the 24-hour news cycle feels insufficient enough to get a handle on current events. Miss Sloane, from Brit director John Madden, is not explicitly about U.S. government per se - there are two ideologically opposing political parties though neither are named - but it is impossible to watch without viewing it through the lens of post-truth politics. Slick as it is, Miss Sloane is about a huckster lobbyist who can lie, cheat and talk her way out of anything - and she's the hero! However, if you can tune out the Kellyanne Conway-isms and mentally frame it as a romanticised throwback to political potboilers of old, when corruption was something that happened in underground car parks and not in broad daylight, then there's lots to enjoy.

Read full article »
Before I Go To Sleep

Movie Review | Becky Suter | 7th September 2014

At one point during Before I Go to Sleep, I convinced myself that I too had anterograde amnesia; like Nicole Kidman's character Christine, sometimes my mind would wipe the previous day's events from my brain. However, I quickly realised the link between my memory loss and how many whisky cocktails I'd consumed the night before (hashtag legend) and so, panic over. Much like a whisky-induced hangover though, Before I Go to Sleep will also make you struggle to fill in the blanks with an increasing sense of dread. Hopefully with a bit less sick.

Read full article »
The brutality of Mark Strong

TV Feature | Ed Williamson | 18th September 2013

I haven't seen Low Winter Sun yet, but if this is anything to go by, it looks like pretty intense stuff. Witness Mark Strong, a tough cop hardened by a life seeing horror after horror on the streets of Detroit, giving a man a wet willie till he coughs up the information he wants. Next week: Mark nicks a guy's He-Man lunchbox and throws it on the roof of the science block to teach him a lesson.

Read full article »
Advertise with us!
Welcome To The Punch

Movie Review | Matt | 11th March 2013

At the press screening that I attended for this film, writer-director Eran Creevy gave a short introduction in which he outlined his main objective: to create a stylish US action thriller, but set in London. The kind of film that we just donâ€™t see made on our home turf â€“ glossy and sleek instead of gloomy and bleak. But is that a valid goal? To swap out stark realism in favour of polished spectacle? The answer of course is: "Shut up already and give me all of your cinema tickets".

Read full article »
Zero Dark Thirty

Movie Review | Neil | 21st January 2013

If you think your job's difficult, try being a CIA officer on the hunt for the world's least favourite terrorist. If it's not bad enough that your quarry is probably holed up in an anonymous cave in the middle of nowhere, you can barely enjoy your lunch break without something exploding all over you and you have to be across some of the world's most baffling jargon. So next time your PC point blank refuses to communicate with the office printer, think yourself lucky you're not involved in a black bag operation at angels two zero AGL with only three mikes left before you're completely winchester.

Read full article »
The 10 dumbest things about Green Lantern

Movie Feature | Ali | 19th June 2011

If you thought my review was harsh, then a) you're wrong, and b) here's even more reasons why I was right. Now let's take these pants off and make some complaints!

Read full article »
Green Lantern

Movie Review | Ali | 15th June 2011

Advance word hasn't been good, but tonight I finally saw Green Lantern, one of the most anticipated superhero movies of the summer. A fair and balanced opinion, after the jump. Sort of.

Read full article »
Sherlock Holmes

Movie Review | Kirsty | 4th January 2010

Sherlock Holmes is one of Britain's most enduring literary figures, thanks in no small part to previous adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle's books on the big and small screens. Whilst it's not known whether anyone has actually read a Holmes book in the last few decades, everyone has a clear mental picture of the detective in question and can throw out a few misquotes when the situation calls for it.

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!