-
OUTLANDER, 2.7 – ‘Faith’
One of Outlander’s strengths is showing the emotional impact of life-changing events on its characters. And by show, I mean show rather than tell. This was very true of the male rape scene at the end of the first season; a very graphic depiction of ‘Black Jack’ Randall’s torture of Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) that…
-
POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE (1986)
The original Poltergeist casts a shadow its sequels and remake are doomed to sit under; in terms of objective quality, place in urban legend thanks to its alleged ‘curse’ (predicated on the death of child star Heather O’Rourke), and behind-the-scenes gossip that director Tobe Hooper and producer Steven Spielberg didn’t see eye-to-eye. Many people still…
-
THE AMERICANS, 4.10 – ‘Munchkins’
While Henry (Kendrick Sellati) is mostly absent from “Munchkins”, he gives the episode one of its most memorable elements while he’s totally offscreen, bouncing a ball against the garage door while Elizabeth (Keri Russell), Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Paige (Holly Taylor) discuss what’ll happen if Pastor Tim (Kelly AuCoin) stays lost and Alice (Suzy Jane…
-
UNDERCOVER – Series One
The premise of one half of a married couple harbouring dark secrets is a cornerstone of the thriller genre. It’s fuelled so many successful works of fiction over the years—from Hitchcock’s Suspicion to Adrian Lyne’s Fatal Attraction, and countless others—the so-called ‘marriage thriller’ is recognised as a sub-genre in itself. It isn’t hard to work…
-
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE (2016)
Before the mayhem truly begins in X-Men: Apocalypse, a group of mutants leave a cinema showing Return of the Jedi and Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey declares “the third one is always the worst” in a way that could either be a dig at that Star Wars film, an acknowledgement of how atrocious X-Men: The Last…
-
IN A LONELY PLACE (1950)
In a Lonely Place is a film about Hollywood. But, more precisely, it’s a film about Dixon Steele (Humphrey Bogart), a screenwriter whom we’re told is talented. He dismisses commercial film projects and rails against others in the industry who he sees as mere “popcorn salesmen”. It’s right to doubt his talents, though: not because…
-
GAME OF THRONES, 6.4 – ‘Book of the Stranger’
This week on Game of Thrones, there were two heartfelt reunions, two clever manipulations, a secret plan was put into motion, and everything ended with a fiery finale. Oh, and some people died. Of course. At the Wall It looked like Jon Snow (Kit Harington) had decided to retire and leave Castle Black immediately last…
-
OUTLANDER, 2.5-6 – ‘Untimely Resurrection’ & ‘Best Laid Schemes…’
After a week’s break, Frank Collins returns with a double-bill of Outlander season 2 reviews, covering the fifth and sixth episodes “Untimely Resurrection” and “Best Laid Schemes”… ‘Untimely Resurrection’ With a title like “Untimely Resurrection” the fifth episode of Outlander signals to its audience that the longed-for reunion between the Frasers and their nemesis, Jonathan…
-
EASY RIDER (1969)
There have been many American movies specifically concerned with the country itself. Few are as biting, inventive, and also endlessly relevant as Easy Rider. It’s not hard to see why the release of Dennis Hopper’s film, about the volatility and polarity of American society, seems as prescient today as it was at the end of…
-
THE AMERICANS, 4.9 – ‘The Day After’
The early sequence in this week’s episode of The Americans, that cuts to various characters watching the made-for-TV movie The Day After, with rapt attention, isn’t an exaggeration. The nuclear era cautionary tale, which gives this week’s episode its name, was viewed by nearly 100 million people in America on the night it premiered in…
