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PIXELS (2015)
Laziness is how we get films like Pixels. The desperately sad lack of commitment on display here is astounding, as Adam Sandler and cohorts barely even attempt to string together a film that could pretend to be entertaining. It’s the new frontrunner for the worst film of 2015, providing us with unfunny broad humour (that’s…
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VIDEODROME (1983)
David Cronenberg’s seminal 1983 body horror Videodrome begins with a shot of a TV screen and ends with its main character re-enacting what he’s just seen played out on another screen. In-between, there are scenes of extreme brutality, physiological weirdness, philosophical debate, and sexual ambiguity, but Cronenberg repeatedly returns to the relationship between the screen…
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FANTASTIC FOUR (2015)
There’s no way to argue otherwise; the main reason a Fantastic Four reboot’s been made is so the rights can stay with 20th Century Fox. The situation is strikingly similar to why The Amazing Spider-Man was made by Sony (so soon after Sam Raimi’s trilogy ended), and it’s why this film will probably get a sequel, regardless of its box office…
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HANNIBAL, 3.9 – ‘And the Woman Clothed With the Sun…’
We’re two episodes into Hannibal‘s version of Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon and, so far, the biggest surprise is how faithful an adaptation it’s been. Opening where last week’s episode left off, with Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) and Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) reunited after three years, it’s surprisingly close to the structure of the same scene in the book—even going so…
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HUMANS – series one, episode eight
Had this been the last episode of Humans ever, it would be easier to be more vitriolic about the ways it disappointed me, but with this week’s announcement the show will definitely return, it’s somewhat easier to forgive its failings—at least this isn’t how it ends. It’s a solid enough hour, really, but it’s one that struggled to…
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TRUE DETECTIVE, 2.7 – ‘Black Maps and Motel Rooms’
Among the many problems I have with season two of True Detective, probably the main one is the show’s insistence on writing cheques its plot simply isn’t cashing. “Black Maps and Motel Rooms” was a taut episode in many ways, and one which set things up nicely for an interesting and no doubt action-packed finale,…
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IT FOLLOWS (2014)
It Follows opens with a shot of a quiet, average suburban street, with the seeming calm of the camera’s slow pan across the neighbourhood interrupted by a terrified young woman abruptly exiting her house as she flees an unknown threat. The shot continues moving in a 360-degree pan as she pauses when her dad asks if…
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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION (2015)
There’s never enough at stake in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. It whizzes along at a quip-a-minute, with stunning stunts from handsome Tom Cruise, and a gleeful indulgence in globetrotting that sees various set-pieces unfold in dusty Morocco, postcard London and, fleetingly, perfect Paris. But something about it feels lightweight and misguided—as though the first draft’s…
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GHOSTBUSTERS: I Ain’t Afraid of No Girls
Any moviegoer would have predicted Ghostbusters to become one of the most sequelled movies ever, but the 1984 comedy’s live-action hopes fizzled after 1989’s poorly-received follow-up—which had fun moments, but was ultimately a pale shadow with a dumb villain. Since then, rumours of a third Ghostbusters have floated around almost continually, with creator and star Dan Aykroyd fanning the flames of idle…
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HANNIBAL, 3.8 – ‘The Great Red Dragon’
Let’s start with the most unmistakably meta moment in “The Great Red Dragon,” which occurs when Dr. Chilton (Raúl Esparza) visits the now-incarcerated Dr. Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen). When Chilton, comparing Hannibal to serial killer at large ‘the Tooth Fairy’, tells the doctor that “You, with your fancy allusions, your fussy aesthetics, you’ll always have niche…
