Robin Hood (2018) - Movie Review

Why do stories get retold? In the world of cinema, the answer is obvious: The almighty dollar, something that’s easier to pinch from the audience’s pockets when a story they recognise is dangled in front of them. However, the purpose behind this particular retelling appears to be a might less cynical than all that. I mean, King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword is what ultimately got this production off the ground, and that film tanked, so this being a plain cash grab isn't the most logical conclusion to draw. But still, if not money, then why are we getting this again? Well, from the looks of things, it’s because this is a story that keeps being retold because these events continue to exist in our world.

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.

Baby Driver (2017) - Movie Review (+ Q&A with Director/Writer Edgar Wright)

I briefly got into this when I went over Ant-Man, but it bears repeating: Edgar Wright is made of stone-cold awesome. Making his name with a penchant for cross-breeding genres like a cinematic alchemist, from the zombie-horror/romantic-comedy Shaun Of The Dead to the social sci-fi/martial arts action/restyled Arthurian legend of The World’s End, Wright is easily one of my all-time favourite filmmakers. In fact, I almost feel bad for first mentioning him on this blog during Ant-Man, given the rather dubious circumstances in which he left the project; knowing how good this guy is, the last thing you should hear is him being dropped over “creative differences”. 

 

Nevertheless, the man is back with a vengeance with a film that has somehow managed to outdo Get Out in terms of explosive hype; the trailers for it over here boasted a full 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, something that has since changed because nothing is perfect, and barely any films even get to that point during the press lead-up. Since this is another occasion where, even if I never picked up this critical gig, I’d still be compelled to watch his latest effort. So, how good is it?

Annie (2014) - Movie Review

I’ve gone into films with low expectations before: The Best Of Me, Tammy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. However, of everything I’ve gone out to see this year (including a couple that I have yet to see), this is undoubtedly the one I was dreading the most. Whether it was my attachment to the 1982 version, the snippet of the music I got from the trailer or the general impression I got from its attempts to modernise the script, I couldn’t be looking forward to this any less. I will try to put my initial impressions to one side and let it stand or fall on its own.

Horrible Bosses 2 (2014) - Movie Review

Given my compulsion to review every new film I see, I will inevitably come across some films that are easier to talk about than others; whether it’s because it’s easier to talk about bad films than good ones or because some films engage me more and leave me more to work with in terms of writing, not every film will give me the same amount of content. This is such an occasion, only for different reasons than usual. It isn’t because this film is entirely good, leaving me with less to talk about, nor did it fail to leave me with much to talk about. No, this time the difficulty in writing a review for this movie is, put simply, because it is just plain unpleasant to recollect.