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LEGEND (1985)
[usrlist “Theatrical Cut:2.5” “Director’s Cut:4.0”] While Ridley Scott’s long, eclectic filmography has its ups and downs, fans and non-fans alike generally agree that he’s never quite reached the heights of the early one-two punch Alien and Blade Runner. Some would include his first feature, The Duellists, and I’d add his 1985 fantasy epic Legend. While it’s clearly not quite…
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HEAT (1995)
Michael Mann’s Heat is essentially a ‘cops and robbers’ story. But, of course, it’s also a hell of a lot more than that. Unlike many of Mann’s greatest films—in particular Manhunter (1986), Miami Vice (2003), and more recently Blackhat (2015)—Heat is a film that was critically and commercially successful on release, and now regarded as…
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THE KNICK, 2.9 – ‘Do You Remember Moon Flower?’
As has so often been the case this season, the opening shot of “Do You Remember Moon Flower?” is designed specifically to startle us. The jarring sight of a vivid green jungle vista is perhaps the most colourful shot in The Knick’s history, and the opening moments are reminiscent of nothing less than one of…
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AMERICAN HORROR STORY: HOTEL – ‘She Wants Revenge’
“She Wants Revenge” begins promisingly, with the Countess (Lady Gaga), in voiceover, making plans to rid herself of everyone but Rudolph Valentino (Finn Wittrock); her one true love, who was recently released from several decades of imprisonment in the Cortez. The Countess is planning to build her own fortress by sealing off a floor of…
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TRIPPED – Series One, Episode One
The best word for E4’s newest comedy is ‘amiable’. Tripped, co-created by Jamie Mathieson (who wrote the Doctor Who episodes “Mummy on the Orient Express” and “Flatline“, in addition to working on Being Human), is the story of two slackers: Milo (George Webster) and Danny (The Inbetweeners’ Blake Harrison), who find themselves swept up into…
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TRAINWRECK (2015)
It’s both a success and failure that the funniest thing about Judd Apatow’s latest film is basketball star LeBron James. I’ve never seen him play on the court, but he can certainly play ‘the weirdo’ in a rom-com; appearing in Trainwreck as a bizarre version of himself who’s befriended doctor Aaron (Bill Hader), the subject…
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KRAMPUS (2015)
It’s impossible to talk about Christmas horror movies without referencing Gremlins, and Krampus knows that. Boasting a similar family-fight-festive-critters premise to Joe Dante’s 1984 classic, it’s got a similarly dark sense of humour, too—not least when its menagerie of creatures are finally unveiled. While director Michael Dougherty (who previously made decent 2007 Halloween anthology Trick…
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THE LEFTOVERS, 2.10 – ‘I Live Here Now’
Here ends one of television’s finest seasons, and a remarkable achievement in terms of The Leftovers transforming itself into a more inclusive drama without losing its identity. Fine-tuning is what happened this year, and it’s been a pleasure to watch and review 10 episodes that didn’t really put a foot wrong; becoming something of a masterclass in…
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DOCTOR WHO, 9.12 – ‘Hell Bent’
If there’s one thing that Steven Moffat’s “Hell Bent” achieves, it’s certainly not clarity. Picking up from The Doctor’s (Peter Capaldi) arrival back on Gallifrey, Moffat sidesteps any intention to make this the major conclusion to the particular quest that began with “The Day of The Doctor.” He’s got home “the long way round”, and…
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THE KNICK, 2.8 – ‘Not Well At All’
As “Not Well At All” unfolds, it quickly becomes the funniest episode of the season. It also happens to be the best episode, delivering a series of pay-offs and punchlines to plots that have been simmering all season in darkly humorous fashion. But by the episode’s end, the sly humour falls away, and we’re left…
