My experience of the fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons is limited to playing it for about 20 minutes 40 years ago. Suffice to say I’m not an expert on its intricacies and can only vaguely suggest how much has been woven into the new cinema adaptation, Dungeons And Dragons: Honour Among Thieves. Whether or not the film has obsessive fidelity
Read moreTaika Waititi’s previous instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor: Ragnarök was, at least for a while, a strikingly odd experience and refreshingly different flavour in what had become the bland cinematic equivalent of a fast-food franchise. Suddenly, droll, pisstaking Kiwi humour had entered the overblown Wagnerian Marvel superhero fantasy universe. At first, it felt quite subversive but the film
Read moreThe Aladdin story has been the subject of numerous cinema adaptations including the 1940 classic The Thief of Baghdad, the much-loved animated 1992 version with the late Robin Williams and outrageously camp English pantomimes. The latest version, a musical directed by Guy Richie, is elaborate, colourful and energetic but tonally inconsistent and not always as funny or charming as it
Read more‘Built For Speed’ is back for 2019 and this week we have a packed show for you as we catch up with some of the big films released over the Christmas period including ‘Aquaman’ and ‘The Favourite’. We’ll also tell you about the Interpol gig at the Palais last Friday. There’ll be plenty of fine tunes including some Interpol faves,
Read moreEven by superhero film standards the latest DC offering, Aquaman is ludicrous. With its convoluted plot, ridiculous characters, strange casting and outrageously over-the-top visuals, Aquaman is a little like the dream – or perhaps nightmare – someone might have after consuming a dodgy pizza before bed time but that’s not to say this garish, lumbering monstrosity of a film doesn’t
Read moreA Wrinkle in Time is the long-awaited cinema adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s1962 children’s sci fi fantasy novel. As director Ava DuVernay emphasised in a pre-movie address, the film is aimed at tweens and focused on their interests and concerns: identity confusion, bullies, first romance, the desire to see magic enter their dull suburban lives and the belief that their personal
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