Ad Astra is almost a great sci fi film. With a physical beauty reminiscent of Gravity and 2001: A Space Odyssey, weighty themes such as the fragility of life on earth and the fundamentally destructive nature of human beings, it’s an aesthetically striking and at times thought-provoking film. Unfortunately, the film rests on a dull father-and-son reconciliation story that fails
Read moreThe Dead Don’t Die is indie film darling Jim Jarmusch’s typically idiosyncratic take on the zombie movie. With a phenomenal cast that includes Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Steve Buscemi, Tilda Swinton, Chloe Sevigny, Iggy pop and Tom Waits this should have been a riot. While it has a few gruesome horror moments and flickers of humour, it rarely works as
Read moreThis Friday on ‘Built For Speed’ we take a look at Brad Pitt’s latest film, sci fi epic ‘Ad Astra’. We’ll also tell you about Jim Jarmusch’s contribution to the zombie film genre, ‘The Dead Don’t Die’ which stars Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Adam Driver and Tom Waits. There’ll be plenty of fine tunes with new Aussie indie rock, classic
Read moreBased on the novel by Emma Jane Unsworth (who also wrote the script), edgy Irish/ Australian romantic drama Animals explores a compellingly messy world of female friendship, modern feminism, failing dreams and the pressures of adult responsibility. Holliday Grainger stars as Laura, an aspiring novelist living on the ragged fringes of the Dublin arts community, whose attempts to write a
Read moreDirected by Troll Hunter’s André Øvredal and based on the book series by Alvin Schwartz, teen horror film Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a stylishly made but familiar horror flick that turns spooky ‘torch under the face’ campfire tales into an It-style battle between teen nerds and a malevolent supernatural force. The ersatz Losers Club here are
Read moreThe Rambo film franchise began encouragingly in 1982 with First Blood, a convincingly raw and gritty survivalist action movie with Sylvester Stallone memorable as the Vietnam vet John Rambo battling personal demons and Sheriff Brian Dennehy. The sequels saw the quality rapidly nose-dive as Rambo transformed into a ridiculous, mulleted killing-machine who slaughtered his way through nations of evil non-Americans
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