Because Everybody Else Has One

Age of Ultron isn't the only new release worth checking out, after all. Oh, also, one thing I didn't mention in my review is that the soundtrack is pretty damn great, as it reworks a bunch of new and old pop songs into Mariachi numbers - with Radiohead's Creep being a particular delight. I go on a bit about the film's awesome visuals but make no mistake, the soundscape is just as important in creating the overall effect. This review is also up at Channel 24 . What it's about Monolo and Joaquin are childhood friends fighting over the same girl but when supernatural beings make a bet on the outcome of their (usually) friendly rivalry, this love triangle becomes a struggle between life-and-death itself. What we thought The Book of Life with its fixation on death (as a kid in the film says: “what is it with Mexicans and death!”) and its overpoweringly twisted visuals is probably not for for very young or highly sensitive kids but for anyone with ...

No introduction necessary here, but I should say that my feelings about this film haven't been entirely constant. I adored it while watching it, was slightly disappointed when it finished and for a few hours after it and finally settled on my current largely enthusiastic position and very slightly conservative rating.  And, oh yeah, there be no spoilers here. This review is also up (in slightly shorter form) at Channel 24 . Follow the link for an alternative take by Gabi Zietsman as well. The Avengers: Age of Ultron is a rollicking, endlessly entertaining joy from beginning to end but it's one that may also fall prey to its own build up. Indeed, even my own reservations about the film have less to do with the film itself, than certain expectations I have created in the intervening years between the Avengers' first big screen outing in 2012 and now. But first, the good stuff. Once again, the real joy of the Avengers is watching these disparate characters int...

Liam Neeson is an actin thriller? Surely not! This review is also up at Channel 24 What it's about Jim Conlon is a washed up mob enforcer plagued by demons of his past, but when he kills the son of his boss and best friend while defending the life of his own estranged son, those demons come to the fore as he has to choose between his flesh and blood and the man to whom he has been loyal his whole life. What we thought Teaming up once again with director Jaume Collet-Serra, with whom he already made two of his more solid action thrillers, Unknown and Non-Stop, Liam Neeson once again reminds us just how good he is at playing the grizzled action hero and just how capable he is of playing so much more than just the grizzled action hero. Run All Night definitely falls somewhere towards the top of Liam's late period ouvre, which was in itself quite a pleasant surprise, but it's hard to shake the feeling that it would perhaps have been far more effective –...

Where's an exploding helicopter when you need one... This review is also up at Channel 24 What it's about A look at the peak ten years in the the hedonistic, bohemian life of acclaimed French designer, Yves Saint Laurent. What we thought You wait all your life for one biopic about Yves Saint Laurent to come along, only for two to come along at once. I'm kidding, of course. Only one of these biopics actually reached these shores – the equally creatively titled, Yves Saint Laurent is MIA – and, far more pertinently, if Saint Laurent is any indication of its real-life subject then I really can't imagine anyone waiting a day, let alone a lifetime, to pay good money to spend even five minutes of their time with this insufferable bore. Lucky me though, I did get to spend, or should I say “do”, my time with this insufferable bore! But not for five minutes. Oh, no, not for five minutes. I had the pleasure of losing a full two and a half hours of my ...

Oh, Sean. Oh, Sean. What have you done? This review is also up at Channel 24 What it's about After a high-profile assassination of the minister of mining in the Congo, former special forces soldier turned mercenary hitman, Jim Terrier, tries to leave his old life behind him and embarks on a career working for a non-profit organisation. His past soon catches up to him, however, as he is attacked while on a philanthropic mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo and he quickly learns that his entire team is now the target of shadowy forces. What we thought Directed by Taken's Pierra Morrel, the Gunman effectively tries to do for “serious actor” Sean Penn what Taken did for fellow (once) “serious actor” Liam Neeson: turn him into an action star that can go head to head with the likes of Jason Statham or Dwayne Johnson. Also like Taken, it tries to mix serious world issues – human trafficking in Taken; American corporations' exploitation of third world cou...

The title does kind of sum up the film's biggest problems, but I'll be lying if I said I didn't very much enjoy it. This review is also up at Channel 24 What it's about An out-of-work engineer takes up a substitute teacher job at a severely under-funded, mismanaged public school of mostly Hispanic, sometimes illegal, immigrants but when a diverse group of four students approach him to help them enter a highly competitive robotics competition, he soon finds himself becoming embroiled in his young students' lives far more than he ever expected. Based, somewhat loosely, on a true story. What we thought While there is admittedly what to be sniffy about in this quite obvious and clichéd (yet still mostly true) feel-good drama, I nonetheless found Spare Parts to be one of the most charming and pleasantly surprising minor gems to come out so far this year. Faint praise, perhaps, but that seems oddly fitting for a film that is this unassumingly lovely....

Despite it currently being something of a lackluster period in cinemas - as it always is this time of year - there are three quite big films out right now that deserve at least a quick, cursory glance. One is a well done but slightly redundant remake, one is daft but fun and one is just daft. Guess which one's which... Insurgent. The Hungers Games film franchise, despite its generally positive critical reviews and enthusiastic public reception, has often been the target of frankly often sniffy critics and bitter hipster contrarians as nothing more than juvenile nonsense that does nothing more than knock off classic examples of the dystopian genre for the rapid consumption of stupid, ADHD-suffering teenagers. Quite aside for the fact that this overlooks the franchise's many obvious merits, as well as the fact that they may well serve as a perfect "gateway drug" for a whole new generation to check out classics like Brave New World, Battle Royale or A Clockwork Orang...

Perhaps not a "top five" comeback but still, it's nice to see the very talented Chris Rock back on solid form... This review is also up at Channel 24 What it's about Andre Allen is a comedian trying to be taken seriously as an actor but as he tries to promote his latest “serious film”, his life is thrown into disarray by an in-depth interview with a beautiful and fiercely intelligent journalist and his upcoming televised wedding to his reality-star fiancée. What we thought Top Five walks a very fine line between self-indulgence and honest self-exploration but it is very much to Chris Rock's credit that his clearly immensely personal dramedy stays mostly on the right side of that line. And considering that much of this is presumably autobiographical and is written by, directed by and starring the man himself, with ample support from his many famous friends, that's no small feat at all. Indeed, though it's a stretch to call Top Fiv...