Double Film Review: Sing And Split

Sing

From Illuminations, the team behind the Despicable Me series, Minions and last year's The Secret Life of Pets, comes Sing; yet another computer-animated entry about anthropomorphic animals, but one that thankfully doesn't include those meddlesome yellow tic-tacs (although I'm sure there are plenty of easter eggs more visible upon repeated viewings). Sing follows koala bear, Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey, because who else), who is fighting tooth and claw to keep his late father's failing theatre running, but turns somewhat crooked when he publicly announces a $100,000 prize for the winner in a new singing contest - one which he, a koala bar with no more than some nine-hundred dollars to his name, will host.

What Time Is It? It's Morphin' Time...

Like many if not all blockbusters over the last couple of years that have served as big-screen adaptations, reboots, re-imaginings, sequels or prequels, the new Power Rangers movie has also been the target of hatred, scepticism and resentment. And without jumping on the anti-fanboy bandwagon, as a fan of the franchise myself, I'll be the first to admit that, whilst excited for the most part, some of the more recent concept images - mainly those of toys with almost zeo - sorry, zero marketing of the film itself, for reasons unknown - have been downright shocking...

Double film review: A Monster Calls and Manchester By the Sea

A Monster Calls

From director J.A. Bayona (next set to branch out with 2018's Jurassic World sequel) comes this tragic-to-be tale about facing inevitable loss, through the eyes - and deeply unsettling dreams - of young Conor (Lewis MacDougall), as we drop in more than halfway through his mother's failing battle with cancer. But as Conor deals with the crushing weight of her illness, while also fending off his otherwise LA-based father (Toby Kebbell), his estranged grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) and school bullies, he is visited by a giant, powerful tree (a godly-voiced Liam Neeson, of course), who has apparently come to help Conor by offering three seemingly-irrelevant fairy tale stories, all the while encouraging Conor to lash out wherever possible. 

Still Fighting Those January Blues? Then Take A Trip To La La Land...

After reluctantly watching a musical I actually end up enjoying, I always come to the realisation that I possess a seldom-spoken love for a jolly good sing-along, whether it’s one of Disney’s animated classics or the much darker likes of 2007's Sweeney Todd or 2014’s Into the Woods. And then of course there’s theatre: The Lion King, Wicked, Thriller, to name but a few of the classics that have seen me fighting those unstoppable shoulder-gyrations. But quite often, I also find myself fantasising about living in a world where we all sing and dance in harmony and flawless synchronisation. What a world that would be. In fact, you could call such a place “La La Land”…

Collateral Beauty Review

Over the past twenty years, the strangely-still-fresh Prince Smith has established himself incredibly well as the bad boy of action, from, ahem, the Bad Boys movies, to last year’s Suicide Squad, with all the others in between too like Independence Day, the Men in Black movies, I, Robot and I Am Legend, to name but a gazillion. 

Assassin's Creed: Avoid If You Suffer From The January Blues

Who said movies based on video games are bad? Well, they have a point. The only real effort that usually comes to mind is 2006’s horror epic Silent Hill, which brilliantly captured the nightmarish atmosphere of the games. Then there's 1995’s Mortal Kombat, but that’s usually before I remember it’s a film that hasn’t aged at all well. In other words; it’s pretty bad, but as a guilty-pleasure it’s still a better opponent than its sequels. The same goes for the original semi-decent Resident Evil movie, now squandered by its endlessly-reanimating and utterly-outlandish sequels. Angelina Jolie embodied a perfect incarnation of Lara Croft, though the films themselves were pretty lacklustre. 

Why Him Review

James Franco has never been a stranger to comedy, having delivered some genius flicks in recent years, with the likes of Pineapple Express, the hugely-underappreciated This is the End (and if you’re a true Franco-fan, Pineapple Express 2), the insanely-controversial The Interview and 2015’s The Night Before and last year’s jaw-droppingly-unforgettable Sausage Party. And neither has Bryan Cranston, who might be more well-known as the formidable Heisenberg from AMC’s TV classic Breaking Bad, but had us all laughing our abs into shape in years prior during his days as the butt-of-all-pranks-dad in Fox’s Malcolm in the Middle. Now, Christmas comedy Why Him sees both megastars unite on-screen, though it’s not a particularly friendly affair.