Rebel Without a Pause Button

NO SPOILERS OR ANY PLOT DETAILS 10 years ago, George Lucas put what we thought was the final nail in the Star Wars coffin with Revenge of the Sith, the culmination of the hugely disappointing prequels that laid waste to all that Star Wars was in the first place. Simply put, the series is best known for its fun factor, providing numerous breathtaking sequences with an expansive universe of lore and some of the most imaginative design ever seen. Who better then to resurrect Star Wars than JJ Abrams, fresh from his successful rebirth of Star Trek (though let's not dwell on its sequel, Into Darkness, for too long).  With The Force Awakens, Abrams brings back to the series what Lucas had been trying to do for years: pure, unadulterated fun.  The directing style is ambitious in the best possible way, drawing the viewer right into the heart of every scene and amplifying the impact of every exchange and battle.  What rea...

Thank you all for 6000 views, very grateful for all the positive feedback recently!  Off all the well known brands waiting to be turned into a film franchise, Hasbro's board game Battleship was certainly an odd choice. The game, which revolves around a mixture of luck and tactics, was adapted into 2012's blustering blockbuster to much head-scratching and mirth. So was Battleship doomed to sink from the start or is it a behemoth with a surprising amount of bravado?  It wasn't much of a surprise to learn that the plot is scant at best, with a n opening that revolves around central character Alex Hopper's (Taylor Kitsch) quest for a chicken burrito providing the instant indication of the choppy waters that Battleship is heading towards right from the off. It is clear that t he writers put in as little effort as Kitsch does in the central role, with both being bland and clearly drawing inspiration from Michael Bay's Transformers and Shia LaBeouf's laugha...

For two of the greatest comedy minds in film history, there has been sadly very little at all about Laurel and Hardy in past years. It seemed that the pair had been tossed into obscurity, instead of being universally celebrated like figures such as Charlie Chaplin still are today.  Step forward the Laurel & Hardy Roadshow , who have been leading the "Laurel & Hardy Revival of 2015/16" which has involved re-releasing a number of their films in beautiful HD for the first time. Seeing two of their films The Music Box and Block-Heads  on the big screen in beautiful quality felt like the perfect treatment for a duo who were pretty much at the pinnacle of the entertainment industry for several years during the 1920s and whose combination of smart, snappy writing and pure, inventive slapstick was completely unmatched.  What really struck me was how well their material still stands up today. Every joke felt fresh and new while the chemistry betw...

Wes Craven's 1984 classic holds a very similar place in the horror hall of fame to my last reviewed film, Halloween. Craven's creation is equally as terrifying and nightmarish, with the killer Freddy Krueger being a highly disturbing figure whose inescapable reach increasingly takes ahold of the viewer in a way few characters do. The central idea is that Krueger manifests himself in the dreams of teens Tina, Nancy, Rod and Glen (which happens to be young Johnny Depp's first role). They soon become aware of the connection between their dreams and fear falling asleep, as Krueger draws further and further out of their dreams and into the real world itself. The idea allows for unsettling moments where it is not certain whether scenes are taking place in their dreams or not. The blurred line between real and imaginary is well explored by Craven, with the dubious parents and police grounding their suspicions firmly in reality while the teenagers fear the supernatural ...

John Carpenter's horror classic remains as sickeningly brutal today as ever and is considered quite rightly as a highly influential film by many. Halloween is paced almost sickeningly slowly, with the tension climbing to ghastly levels for over an hour before unleashing the ever mysterious but brilliantly realised Michael Myers. Jamie Lee Curtis plays the terrified teen Laurie to perfection, depicting the perfect balance between sheer terror and bravery, but the real star is of course Myers who we ironically see very little of for most of the film. Foreboding shots of him from a distance combined with the subtly chilling soundtrack, composed by Carpenter himself, and Myers' heavy breathing are enough to haunt many a bold viewer.  Halloween succeeds largely through its subtle nature, with a simplistic plot and an unexplained killer creating more and more unease as Myers edges ever closer towards Laurie. As mentioned, the soundtrack plays a large part, and, as with the...

The conclusion to the Daniel Craig helmed reinvention of the 007 series looks to end the series on a high. So is it full of British bravado or just brainless Bond bluster? The narrative begins with the typical efficiency that the series has become known for, with Craig's pursuits centered around locating the elusive Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz). However the film soon escalates rapidly into an expansive plot that involves characters both new and old. It was pleasantly surprising how well Spectre drew together the previous three films and it often felt like a greatest hits compilation of the modern reincarnation of Bond in the best possible way.  The combat is just as brutal and Borne-inspired as ever courtesy of Dave Bautista's Mr Hinx, who is essentially Oberhauser's one man team of henchmen. Action sequences were never dull or overly familiar, with a well struck balance between vehicular and on foot action.  The return of Skyfall...

Late last year, the next James Bond film was announced at Pinewood Studios in the UK and the wait since has been agonising. Finally, after almost a year of set news and teaser trailers, the latest in the long-running spy thriller series is days away from release. So what will make  Spectre worth the anticipation? Hopes have been high for the series since the last installment Skyfall which impressed with its breathtaking action set pieces (including an excellent introductory sequence), impressive cast and all-round fast-paced directing. If Spectre is anywhere as good as the previous film then it will have achieved highly. Considering that much of the same team worked on both films, my hopes are high.  The vital difference between Skyfall and 2008's  Quantum of  Solace , it's  highly disappointing precursor , was that the latter lacked any real pace aside from a small handful of moments. It felt largely disjointed, with a col...