For an old school monster fan, the prospect of a resurrected Kong and Godzilla franchise seemed like a dream come true. Unfortunately, from the goofy but energetic Kong: Skull Island to the mind-numbing Godzilla: King of Monsters, which saw CGI overload and nonsensical plotting worthy of a Transformers movie, the franchise has proven at best erratic. Despite attempts to construct
Read moreRidley Scott’s Alien is rightly regarded as a classic fusion of sci-fi and horror. Not surprisingly this film has led to countless imitations. While taking inspiration from a masterpiece is understandable, imitation jeopardises a film’s individuality and overall impact. This is the case with the latest Alien-inspired sci fi thriller Underwater. From its story of a working-class crew in a
Read moreCargo is an Australian post-apocalyptic zombie film and while that concept might elicit groans from some people Cargo doesn’t always subscribe to horror convention and instead transforms a familiar scenario into a potent human drama reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and confronting allegory of Australia’s racially divided landscape. The film sees husband and wife Andy (Martin freeman) and Kay (Susie
Read moreLike many of the nerd persuasion I would stay up to ungodly hours as a kid to watch a zero-budgeted Japanese movie in which Kong fought a giant cockroach. It’s in this fine cinematic tradition that we now have films like Rampage, ludicrous guilty pleasure monster fests but with a bigger budget than the old Kaiju films and CGI replacing the
Read moreColossal from writer director Nacho Vigalondo is a strange beast mixing downbeat personal drama with quirky comedy and a Kaiju monster movie; it’s an odd but mostly successful combination. Recalling Charlie’s Theron’s character from Young Adult, Anne Hathaway plays Gloria a once successful writer whose life has spiralled into drunken chaos. When her prat of a boyfriend Tim (Dan Stevens)
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