Film

So there is a bad Coen Brothers film. Dispiritingly, this was my first thought once the credits rolled for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Even worse, I started to think it about 30 minutes in. As someone who has spent the last decade insisting The Big Lewbowski and No Country for Old Men are more than just overly-violent nonsense, I had to concede that the latest offering from Joel and Ethan is, sadly, just that.  The film's plot (and it's generous to claim it has one) rests...

Disclaimer: I had watched seven John Carpenter films in a row immediately prior to sitting down to this. I do not think this affected my judgement, but I don't know for sure. Wreck-It-Ralph is a hugely fun movie. A heartfelt nod to the arcade games of yonder, a protagonist echoing without plagiarising Toy Story, and some sentimental and hilarious moments to show that Disney Animation Studios could still compete with Pixar. Which is all what made Ralph Breaks The Internet so disappointing to me....

If you splice Mean Girls, Spring Breakers and Tarantino levels of blood together you end up with Assassination Nation. Focusing on how the suburban enclave of Salem “loses its motherfucking mind”, after a mysterious hacker divulges the town’s deepest, darkest secrets online. Sam Levinson’s film starts off with its pedal to floor and doesn’t relent for a dizzying 110 minutes. The fatal trigger for the town is when the conservative (used here instead of Republican) town mayor is outed as a cross-dresser. The scandal! As one townsperson says, “he ran on a ticket of family values!”. He commits...

Just a couple of reviews this week, both from my catch up on 2018 titles. Megan Leavey In this fact based drama, Kate Mara plays Megan Leavey, who, at 20, joins the Marines out of a sense that her life isn’t going anywhere. She ends up training as a dog handler, paired with a bomb clearing dog named Rex. Megan and Rex are injured while clearing a field of mines. In danger and with another dog unit hours away, they...

The first Lisbeth Salander story not to be penned by acclaimed nordic noir writer Stieg Larsson sees the return of the infamous kick-ass vigilante hacker in a film that sadly fails to measure up to its predecessors on almost every front. Directed by Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead) and adapted from David Lagercrantz’s 2015 novel of the same name, The Girl In The Spider’s Web stars Claire Foy (The Crown, First Man) in a role first made famous by Noomi Rapace, and later Rooney Mara.  Kicking off with a prologue...

A real-life robot based on homicidal HAL 9000 - the most terrifying computer in movie history - has been created by scientists

Using a technology featured in the cult sci-fi fantasy series, scientists say it combats both air - and noise - pollution

Thelma and Louise star Susan Sarandon dropped by Sara Leroy's gallery and bought eight of her 3D inspired art and prints.

High-octane action shots from the set of the upcoming The Fast and the Furious spin-off have emerged