We Have A Ghost (2023) - Movie Review

Christopher B. Landon’s latest film sees him shift from the ‘(insert ‘80s movie) but it’s a slasher’ prompting that’s been part of his last handful of releases, but only somewhat. He’s still quite indebted to the nostalgic films of that era; it’s just that the specific horror genre flavouring is different.

In this case, we have a haunted house story that plays out like a cross between Beetlejuice and E.T., showing Kevin (Jahi Winston) moving into a new house and making friends with ghost Ernest (David Harbour), while Kevin’s father (Anthony Mackie) and brother (Niles Fitch) try to make bank off of Ernest on social media. And honestly, the entertainment value varies quite a bit depending on what is being pulled from.

Gran Turismo (2023) - Movie Review

Video game movies tend to come in two flavours. They’re either about video game characters in their separate video game world, or they’re about those characters making in their way into the ‘real world’. On both counts, studios have historically struggled with making such movies worthwhile, although with the recent successes of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (I specify the sequel because the original is still pretty naff), that tide has definitely been turning of late.

Violent Night (2022) - Movie Review

 

Well, if nothing else, hopefully this film’s mere existence will be enough to finally put that boring-as-all-hell “Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?” debate to rest. Seriously, even as a meme, that shit got old a long time ago.

No Sudden Move (2021) - Movie Review

And now, for the other Steven Soderbergh feature from this year, and indeed my last proper review of 2021. After how far outside the margins he went with Let Them All Talk, I’ll admit to being somewhat relieved that we’re back in more familiar territory this time around. A crime drama set in mid-‘50s Detroit, it starts out as a small-scale hostage thriller, but ends up ballooning out into a much deeper conspiracy involving industrial espionage and (as is usually the case with Soderbergh) a look at capitalism’s lack of ethics.

Black Widow (2021) - Movie Review

“Better late than never” isn’t always the case. And when it comes to Black Widow, the member of the Phase One Avengers in most need of real character development, it arriving so long after that point is rather disheartening. Not to mention out of step with how thought-out the MCU generally is when it comes to story arcs over the span of several features. But now that it’s finally here, and the Marvel status quo is slowly returning after the COVID runaround, I can’t say that I hate it… but I can’t say I’m entirely into it either.

Hellboy (2019) - Movie Review

Well… this is going to be interesting. After being stuck with the flu for the past several days, I’m finally getting around to what is already being heralded as one of the worst comic book movies ever made. Oh, the joys of critical hyperbole. Not to say that this film doesn’t have its issues but, compared to some of the worser flicks I’ve covered on here like Fant4stic, Venom and even Justice League, this doesn’t even come close.

Sleepless (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: Las Vegas cop Vincent Downs (Jamie Foxx), after a botched undercover operation, discovers that his son Thomas (Octavius J. Johnson) has been kidnapped by casino owner Stanley Rubino (Dermot Mulroney). The release conditions are simple: Vincent has to return a delivery of drugs that he and his partner Sean Cass (T.I.) stole during the operation. As Vincent sets out to get his son back, Internal Affairs officers Bryant (Michelle Monaghan) and Dennison (David Harbour) are on his trail as part of a continuing investigation into corruption in the Vegas police force.