Ghostbusters 2016 review

I won’t lie and say I’ve been a Ghostbusters fan since the original movie came out in 1984, being the same age and all - give or take a month or two. But amongst my vast – and ever-growing – Ghostbusters merchandise collection, there are only remnants of the toys I possessed as a child. As is usually the case, things disappear over the years. That, or your mother takes them to a car boot sale once you’re considered ‘too old’ to play with toys. So perhaps over the last few years I’ve been subconsciously trying to make up for this by collecting almost every piece of Ghostbusters merchandise under the sun. I certainly haven’t been to any car boots in the hope that some of my old toys are still circulating though… No, that wasn’t me.

Now You See Me 2 offers a different kind of movie magic

When Now You See Me came out in 2013 it was, for the most part, considered to be nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Whilst a financial success, it was criticised for its failure to flesh out its characters and conclude key plot points. But with a cast that included the likes of Woody Harrelson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Jesse Eisenberg and Mark Ruffalo, it was hard not to imagine a sequel being put together backstage. 

Central Intelligence has plenty of Hart but not enough brains

I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in the cinema that I ended up having to discreetly pick popcorn from the hair of the person in front of me, although I did come close with three of my most favourite comedies in recent years: 2008’s Step Brothers, 2013’s Anchorman 2 and the highly-underrated This Is The End. A lot of it is personal taste, of course. But for the most part, comedy movies miss the bullseye, sometimes veering too far off-target altogether, with this year’s Zoolander and Bad Neighbours sequels being the most recent examples of unfunny and plain wrong standing in for concrete comedy writing. 

Independence Day: Resurgence gives new meaning to ‘disaster movie’

Back in 1996, cinemagoers were blown away (as was the White House and many other famous landmarks) by what is arguably the best alien invasion movie of all time. Independence Day delivered an unforgiving alien assault on our planet in the most epic way ever seen on screen, with King of the 90s Jeff Goldblum’s hair-raising one liners, Fresh Prince Will Smith’s bad boy charm, and Bill Pullman’s unforgettable speech.

The Secret Life of Pets is no secret worth sharing

Ever since Toy Story broke new ground in 1995 with its computer-animated timeless storytelling, there has been a plethora of CGI movies. Of course, they’ve not all had the luxury of critical or box office success, but what is it about these movies that we love so much? Is it the bright colours, the wide-eyed characters and the total escapism? Partly, yes. But mostly, we’re drawn to the story. The animated world is just a beautiful and creative way to convey that story. Without one, it’s nothing more than eye candy.

The Conjuring 2 Review

I don’t think I’m alone when I say that a good horror film these days is rare, whether that’s because people just don’t scare easily anymore or because most horror films are complete rubbish, lacking in both atmosphere and execution. But in more recent years, the likes of Sinister, The Purge, Insidious and It Follows (all thanks to Blumhouse Productions, with the exception of the latter), with five sequels collectively, have started to drastically change the landscape of horror, returning it to its rightful place.