Director - Mark Hartley
The title says it all, this is a wild, fast-paced doc about Australian b-movies from the late '60s through to the start of the '90s. Leaping through porn, car-porn, horror and comedy director Hartley obvious not only knows his subject but is head-over-heels about it. By the time the end credits roll you’ll have scribbled down a huge list of ‘must see’ films. Really entertaining.
Director - Wes Ball
Disappointing sequel to the enjoyable first Maze Runner film. Picking up where that film left off the surviving kids find themselves chased from location to location trying to find figure out who can be trusted along the way. Whereas the first film had momentum this one just plods, the savvy plot twists of the original are sadly absent too. So what we end up with is a road movie that goes nowhere. Missed opportunity.
Director - Michael Mann
Mann’s debut big screen feature still manages to pack a neon-reflected-in-rain-soaked-streets-to-a-throbbing-electronic-soundtrack punch. Mann takes the downbeat '70s crime guy and drags him kicking and screaming into the '80s. James Cann stars as the diamond thief out to do one last heist, and is perfect in the role. Themes that are touched on in this film show up again and again in most of Mann’s future films, with Heat being the ultimate culmination of that. W O N D E R F U L.
Director - Christopher McQuarrie
Tom Cruise saves the world yet again. This time around Sean Harris is the big bad heading up some shadow organisation that only the Cruiser knows about. MIRN (as no one called it) follows the same template as the rest of the series, having the Cruiser hunted not only by the baddies but by his own people too. Same old, same old. That said McQuarrie handles the action with aplomb, Simon Pegg is funny and the usual 'bit of skirt' for Cruise to rub up against (Rebecca Ferguson), is actually more than his equal and possibly the best thing about the film. Five films in and it still feels like there's life in the old dog yet. Perfect Saturday night flick.
Director - Wes Ball
Dystopian teen flick. Bunch of teen boys find themselves in a huge clearing surrounded by high walls on the other side of which is a vast ever-changing maze. Food and provisions are sent in to them at regular intervals, so the big question is should they stay or should they try and escape? It's Logan's Run meets Lord of the Flies filtered through modern Big Brother culture. It's also one of the many slew of teen flicks that have arrived on screens in the wake of The Hunger Games. The Maze Runner rattles forwards at a fair old pace, the acting is pretty good (especially Will Poulter) and visually it's quite a treat too. Bit too scary for anyone not quite into their teens, but otherwise perfectly good Saturday night fluff.
Director - Peyton Reed
Using the same story template as the first Iron Man film (good guy has a super suit that bad guy wants to sell to even badder guys), and suffering from a last minute change of director (Edgar Wright bailed at the eleventh hour after 'creative differences'), Ant-Man is a surprisingly decent entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink attitude of the Avenger's films it's refreshing to see a film play out on a smaller scale. The only drawback is the crowbarring in of future Marvel storylines, which all felt way too clunky. Hats off to Peyton Reed for being able to pull off the seemingly impossible. Perfect Saturday night popcorn fare.
