A Quiet Place (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Humanity is on the brink of extinction. An alien species has landed that will attack at the slightest sound, forcing the survivors like Lee (John Krasinski), his wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and their children Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe) and Beau (Cade Woodward) to be live a literal quiet existence or else they will be killed. As they try to lead as normal a life as one can have in this situation and prepare for the arrival of their next child, the creatures lay in wait for them to make even the smallest of mistakes... and snatch their prey.

The Death Of Stalin (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: In 1953, Joseph Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin), the leader of the Soviet union, has died. As his inner circle tries to deal with the power vacuum, Deputy General Secretary Georgy Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor), Moscow Party Head Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) and head of the interior ministry Lavrentiy Beria (Simon Russell Beale) begin their plans to become the new leader. However, between those who wish to live up to Stalin's legacy and those who want to replace it with their own, things are about to get chaotic in Russia.

The Open House (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: After the death of her husband (Aaron Abrams), Naomi (Piercey Dalton) moves herself and her son Logan (Dylan Minnette) into her sister's house until they can get back on their feet. As they encounter the locals, and shuffle around the 'open house' schedule for the house that is currently on the market, Logan starts to notice strange things going on inside the house. It seems that there are some drawbacks to opening up one's home to other people.

Top 100 Favourite Films: #10-1

#10: Do The Right Thing – The Doomsday Clock of racial tension

This film genuinely gives me chills every time I watch it. The depiction of a tight-knit Brooklyn community in the midst of a record-breaking heatwave highlights so many real-world racist attitudes that it feels less like it’s painting a specific target and more like it’s depicting, with blinding honesty, how much everyone gets caught up in it. While community connections run deep, prejudices run even deeper, to the point where some people hold onto these bigoted beliefs because… well… it’s all that they know.

Top 100 Favourite Films: #20-11

#20: Ouija: Origin Of Evil – Even The Other Side has rules

This is one of those films that instantly sounds like a bad idea. The 2013 film Ouija was such a horror non-event that it’s surprising that anyone even cared enough to remember it, let alone try and expand on it. Add to that the influence of producers like the annoyingly prolific Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions and the reliably dismal Michael Bay, whose studio Platinum Dunes have made the words “horror” and “prequel” synonymous with “run” and “hide”. Enter director/co-writer Mike Flanagan, fresh off of an already unprecedented success with Oculus, who did something that no-one would have expected from a production with this starting point: He put the effort in to make it work.

Top 100 Favourite Films: #30-21

#30: Monty Python’s The Meaning Of Life – Life is absurd, go out with a song

While most people go with the religious satire of Life Of Brian or the absurdist masterpiece of The Holy Grail as far as the best Monty Python has to offer, my heart has always lied with the dark horse in this race. I’ve always been more interested in their sketch work, like the Trade Descriptions Act or the ever-popular Dead Parrot, than their lengthier narratives and this film shows them at the height of that mode.

Top 100 Favourite Films: #40-31

#40: Terminator 2: Judgment Day – Grabbing the metallic throat of destiny

Watching “classic” films for me has always come with a certain amount of baggage. I feel like, because a given feature has garnered legendary status since its initial release, I’m under some obligation to at least understand why, let alone agree with the masses. This film is one of the major exceptions to that, as not only was it instantly clear why this film has held up as well as it has, I also fell in love with the thing pretty damn quickly.