Film Review: Ant-Man and The Wasp

They say that size doesn’t matter, but that’s unlikely to be of much consolation to the makers of Ant-Man and The Wasp. For having been requisitioned to follow on from the gargantuan critical and commercial success of both Black Panther & Avengers: Infinity War, there’s no denying that, true to the heroes of its title, this 20th instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe feels a little, well… diminutive. The story follows on from the events of Captain America: Civil War,...

Film Review: Mission Impossible – Fallout

Name three action film heroes? You probably went for… Bond, Bourne and McClane. Or maybe The Rock? Perhaps however it is time to re-consider Ethan Hunt. Tom Cruise has played Ethan Hunt since 1996. 22 years and six films later we arrive at Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Surely this once rebooted character from a short lived 1960/70s US TV show cannot still be around? Cannot still be relevant? Or even be interesting? Well yes, actually, because Mission: Impossible - Fallout is...

Film Review: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Grab your GoGo boots, slap on the sunscreen, and warm up that vibrato, for it’s finally time to return to the fictive Greek isle of Kalokairi; a lush landscape where the sky is always blue, the sea always sparkles, and where no problem is too big that it can’t be resolved by someone belting out a couple of garish hits from the ABBA Gold album. It has been 10 years since we saw the sun set on Sophie Sheridan’s (Amanda...

Film Review: Hotel Artemis

Setting films in one place or over one night run the risk of not being able to gain enough depth to the characterisation or theycan feel hemmed in by their own surroundings. Hotel Artemis attempts to tell its storyboth over one night and in one location, drawing the audience in with a tasty mix of funk and pop, neon lights and the promise of close quarter action and several, sometimes unnecessary, f-bombs. The premise of Hotel Artemis is simple, Jodie...

Film Review: Skyscraper

Let’s face it, nobody has ever gone into a Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson action movie expecting a coherent plot or even a believable storyline, and to be frank this hasn’t stopped the actor from becoming one of the most bankable actions stars of the last decade. In the case of Skyscraper, Johnson’s latest vehicle, the stakes are stacked even higher than usual in this hugely enjoyable, if entirely preposterous heist movie which pits the former wrestling superstar against a group...

Film Review: The First Purge

The First Purge’s marketing campaign caused a stir when it released a teaser trailer in the style of a political advertisement. It riffed on classic Republican adverts and baited Donald Trump’s base, with a narrator asking the question, “What makes America great? The answer's simple, really, Americans make America great. You are the lifeblood of the nation, and your rights as Americans must be safeguarded." As stock footage of a baseball team, farmland and a blonde haired, prepubescent boy waving...

Film Review: Whitney

I was too young for Whitney-mania ('I Will Always Love You' finished its streak at No.1 the week I was born), but to my generation also she is always known as a massively talented individual. She is engrained as a purveyor of 'legacy' music, a voice and a performer that rightly became instantaneously legendary. Whitney dives into the star's rise and fall, filmmaker Kevin Macdonald's experience of Touching The Void surprisingly relevant for this painful tale of both Whitney's undeniable talents...

EIFF ‘18 First Look Review: The Parting Glass

In his debut feature as director, actor Stephen Moyer (True Blood, The Double) offers a decently put together and beautifully acted family drama which seems to tick all the right boxes thematically, but sadly fails to completely convince due to its overwrought and slightly-too-meandering screenplay. Written by actor turned screenwriter Denis O’Hare (True Blood, American Horror Story), The Parting Glass follows a day in the life of a group of adult siblings and their father, as they come to terms...

Film Review: Jurassic World – Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic Park became the highest grossing film of all time when it was released in the summer of 1993. Its impact has been undeniable, as it ushered in the era of special effect laden blockbusters that we are still witnessing to this day. The original may have been followed by two disappointing sequels but the series roared back into life in 2015 with Jurassic World and returns once more with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The problem with the franchise’s sequels was that they were...

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