There might not be a more highly-regarded composer and songwriter in modern Hollywood than Alan Menken. For many people my age, his songs in Disney films were the soundtrack to our childhoods, and the late-80’s revival of Disney’s fortunes owes a lot of its success to Menken’s songwriting. Of course, he didn’t do this alone,…
When it comes to great directors, very few have a perfect record. Stanley Kubrick may have been a masterful filmmaker, but he also made Eyes Wide Shut, Steven Spielberg has War of the Worlds, and Quentin Tarantino has Death Proof. No-one is perfect, much less film directors. Ridley Scott is a great example of this.…
Anyone remember the Dark Universe? That ambitious shared cinematic universe idea based off the old Universal monster properties? The franchise that was knee capped after one terrible film? You don’t? Can’t say I blame you. Well, this is the attempt to subtly bring that idea back, a co-production between Universal and prolific horror producers Blumhouse,…
Remember last week, in my Honey Boy review where I talked about a film baffling me? How it can be a good or bad thing? Well, I didn’t expect to be left feeling that way twice within seven days. The Lighthouse first came onto my radar (is that a pun? Let me know, because I…
Horror fans of the last few years might recognise the name Jennifer Kent. Her previous film, The Babadook, was a success both critically and commercially (comparatively anyway) and instantly put her on the radar of fans and critics alike, and made her next film one to watch. That next film materialised as this, The Nightingale,…
Horror remakes really are ten-a-penny. There seems to be no once-profitable franchise that is so dead it can’t be revived for one more round, and they are almost always universally terrible. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, eh? What this film is, is a holding pattern. Blumhouse can’t seem to resist when a new…
Any director who willingly follows-up a film made by Stanley Kubrick is, to my mind, either monumentally brave, or self-destructive to a worrying degree. Not only are you following a classic, you’re following a classic made by one of the best to ever stand behind a camera. Having said that, it’s not a baseless sequel;…
Happy Halloween, one and all! Guess how I celebrated the occasion? Why, I went to the cinema, of course! Not for any old film however, but a special screening of Don’t Look Now, considered one of the greatest horror films, and British films, of all time. I had never seen the film, I knew it…
I’ll be the first to admit that the first IT film (the 2017 one that is not the first first one) took me by surprise. As someone who is often left cold by horror films and their often predictable tropes, it drew me in with its immersive setting and focus on a core nucleus of…
Guillermo Del Toro has certainly had a good few years recently. On the back of winning his first Best Picture Oscar for Shape of Water, suddenly the outlook was very rosy for mr Del Toro. This film is not one that is directed by Guillermo, instead he serves as the screenwriter an producer, basing his…
