In 2016, director Steven Soderbergh announced he was taking a break from filmmaking to concentrate on other projects. Thankfully, this intriguing, idiosyncratic auteur has returned to the big screen for the subdued but quirkily charming hillbilly heist comedy/ drama Logan Lucky. Set in an economically depressed part of West Virginia the film sees recently sacked construction worker and former high
Read moreAnnabelle: Creation is the competently made but tepid origin story for the sinister doll that creeped the bejeezus out of everyone in the Conjuring movies. Set in three time periods but predominantly the 1950’s, the film features a group of orphaned girls who take up residence at the dilapidated farm house inhabited by grumpy, taciturn Mr Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia) his
Read moreSet in 2007 in the last official days of the Iraq war, Doug Liman’s latest film The Wall reworks, into a reasonably tense psychological thriller, the familiar scenario of the deadly unseen sniper pinning his prey. The film sees two American snipers Allen Isaac (Aaron Taylor Johnson) and Shane Matthews (John Cena) surveilling what seems to be a regulation attack
Read moreThe Trip to Spain is the third in Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s comedy/ dramas in which they play slightly altered versions of themselves as they journey through scenic countryside reviewing up-market eateries. This time they’re imbibing the cuisine, landscape and culture of Spain as they drive from to Santander down to Malaga. Once again directed by Michael Winterbottom, this
Read moreGifted is an unashamed tear-jerker but a surprisingly effective one. It falls into the vulnerable kid genius sub-genre along with films like Little Man Tate although, refreshingly, the wunderkind here is a little girl. Mary (McKenna Grace) is a seven-year-old orphan who has lived with her mechanic uncle Frank (Captain America’s Chris Evans) since her mathematician mother’s death. Home-schooled for
Read moreHaving previously been adapted for a TV mini-series in 1990, Stephen King’s clown horror novel It now comes to the big screen. While not deserving the praise some have heaped on it, this film manages to continue a recent thread of strong mainstream horror films established by the Conjuring franchise and small-scale spookfests like Lights Out. In an apparent attempt to
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