Thriller
Dangerous Animals Review
Australian filmmaker Sean Byrne is obsessed with obsession. From the power drill wielding Lola in his masterful feature debut The Loved Ones to Tucker, who has an unhealthy appreciation for sharks in Dangerous Animals, Byrne loves to delve into the psyche of people who are consumed and love to see their victims squirm. While The Loved Ones looked at how an unhinged prom queen wannabe responds to r...
Ballerina Review
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is the latest chapter in the ever-expanding John Wick universe. The action/thriller stars Ana De Armas as freshly trained assassin Eve Macarro, who sets out on an epic revenge mission after the murder of her father. Fans of the action franchise, like myself, are hoping that this new assassin, Eve, can proudly stand tall next to the legendary Baba Yaga himself...
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Review
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is the latest and (supposedly) final entry in the long-running espionage film series, with an impressive and lengthy run that spans almost 30 years. Tom Cruise, director Christopher McQuarrie and crew are all hoping to go out with a bang! Before heading into Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, I sat and watched the entire Mission: Impossible f...
The Surfer Review
Nicholas Cage (Mandy, P I G) returns to cinema screens this week with The Surfer, directed by Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium). In short, the film is a strange one and you’ll either love it or hate it. Set in Western Australia, starring Nicholas Cage and written and directed by a couple of Irishmen. The film reaches high but doesn’t hit the mark. Lacking authenticity while haphazardly dabbling with them...
The Accountant 2 Review
After nearly a decade of waiting, the highly anticipated sequel to 2016’s The Accountant has finally arrived. Director Gavin O’Connor (The Accountant) brings back all the familiar faces in this action-packed follow-up to the original, hoping to up the stakes whilst keeping true to what made the 2016 action thriller so popular. I’m a massive fan of The Accountant (2016). Its slick, gritty and bruta...
Conclave Review
Ed Berger’s Conclave is interesting. It may be tempting to skip a pontificating deep-dive into the ritual process of electing a new Pope, for fear of ponce and boredom. However, Conclave keeps its head above water for two hours by exploring the various ambitious tom foolery and backstabbing those left clutching the rosary will get up to, to be elected for the top job. Half the priests in the room ...
Heretic Review
Heretic, directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (65), is a slick little chamber flick starring Hugh Grant as Mr. Reed. A welcoming old fella who has a few points to push. With sinister charm and Grant’s signature romantic persona. Heretic is a decent psychological thriller, somewhat hostage horror flick that grabs you from the start and doesn’t let go until a muddy third act shift. Some spoilers t...
Joker: Folie à Deux Review
Joker: Folie à Deux is one of the most anticipated films this year, given how excellent the first film was. Todd Phillips’ Joker (2019) was a gritty character study that changed how people thought about what a comic book movie could be. With this film introducing Joker’s partner in crime – Harley Quinn, DC fans have very high expectations for this sequel. One of the most talked-a...
The Critic Review
Star-studded and stuffed with promise, The Critic should be a recipe for an engaging and delicious murder mystery but unfortunately its debut has been met with some pertinent critique of its own. Loosely based Curtain Call, a novel by Anthony Quinn, and directed by Anand Tucker, The Critic stars Sir Ian McKellen as Jimmy Erskine, a cruel queer critique of theatre, based at the Daily Chronicle, and...
Speak No Evil Review
An American couple are on an Italian holiday in Tuscany with their young daughter. They are Ben and Louise Dalton (Scoot McNairy and MacKenzie Davis). Among the others on holiday are a rather boring Danish couple that Ben and Louise attempt to avoid and in doing so, they end up spending time with a friendly British couple Paddy and Ciara (James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi). They have a son Ant (D...
Sleeping Dogs Review
In Adam Cooper’s directorial debut Sleeping Dogs, Russell Crowe (Gladiator, Virtuosity) plays Roy. A retired Washington county homicide detective. Based on the novel The Book of Mirrors with screenplay co-written by Cooper. Roy is vulnerable and grizzled, battling Alzheimer’s disease and recovering from an experimental procedure to stimulate regrowth of neural pathways. This part of the narr...
Longlegs Review
Nic Cage (Mandy, Renfield) is back! Portraying the sinister powder wearing titular character Longlegs. More on him later. Longlegs is more than just another wild Nicholas Cage flick. There’s a lot of detail under the hood. Spoiler warning. Skip to the last paragraph if you wish to remain fresh. Just know that on viewing Longlegs, it’s important to remember that nothing is initially as it seems whi...