Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Ruben Fleischer Stars: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Jenny Slate, Scott Haze, Reid Scott, Woody Harrelson, Peggy Lu. Yet another superhero movie, this one featuring a second-tier character from the Marvel stable. Or should that be a super-anti-hero, because Venom is not your usual superhero? We first met Venom in the Sam Raimi-helmed Spiderman 3, when he was played by Topher Grace. And despite its origins with Spiderman, Venom clearly sits outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film itself has been produced by Sony …
UNA
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Benedict Andrews Stars: Ben Mendelsohn, Rooney Mara, Riz Ahmed, Ruby Stokes, Tara Fitzgerald. Based upon the controversial Olivier-award winning play Blackbird written by Scottish playwright David Harrower, Una is a confronting film that deals with some difficult and troubling and taboo material. Fifteen years ago, a 13-year-old Una (played by newcomer Ruby Stokes) had a crush on her next-door neighbour Ray (played by Ben Mendelsohn, from Animal Kingdom, etc), a much older man. She ran away with him, and he was eventually …
ROGUE ONE
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Gareth Edwards Stars: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Forest Whitaker, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Riz Ahmed, Jimmy Smits, Alistair Petrie, Ben Daniels, Ian McElhinney, James Earl Jones. One of the most anticipated films of the year was Rogue One, the latest stand alone spin off in the Star Wars franchise. While it doesn't quite live up to the hype it is still a solid film that delivers plenty of action that won't disappoint the die hard fans of the series. This "stand alone" Star Wars film …
JASON BOURNE
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Paul Greengrass Stars: Matt Damon, Alicia Vikander, Tommy Lee Jones, Vincent Cassel, Riz Ahmed, Julia Stiles, Gregg Henry, Ato Essendoh, Scott Shepherd, Bill Camp. The film adaptations of Robert Ludlum's novels about Jason Bourne, an amnesiac assassin trying to piece together his own identity while outrunning and outgunning assassins was very influential in shaping and reinvigorating the Bond franchise as well as inspiring action films like Taken and its ilk. Nine years ago, following The Bourne Ultimatum, Matt Damon, the star of …
NIGHTCRAWLER
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Dan Gilroy Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton. When we first meet Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) he is a loner, a grifter and petty thief stealing copper wire to make some extra cash. But then one night while driving around Los Angeles on the lookout for another opportunity he drives past a car crash. He spies a veteran cameraman (Bill Paxton) recording the carnage and quickly asks him a series of questions about his work. When he sees the footage on the morning news he believes he has found his …