Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Pablo Schreiber, Roland Moller, Noah Taylor, Chin Han, Byron Mann, Hannah Quinlivan, McKenna Roberts, Noah Cottrell. Skyscraper is essentially a cross between Die Hard, the best action film of the 80s, and The Towering Inferno, the best of the 70s cycle of disaster films with an all-star cast and great special effects for its period. This is a big dumb action film, and no-one is better at making big dumb action blockbusters than the charismatic Dwayne Johnson, who is Continue reading
SUBURBICON
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: George Clooney Stars: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Oscar Isaac, Noah Jupe, Mickey D Cohen, Glenn Fleshler, Gary Basraba. Set in a neat, homogenous suburban neighbourhood, this deft mix of black comedy, film noir crime thriller and social commentary lays bare the darker underbelly of 50s America, exposing a seething hotbed of racism and violence. With its elements of infidelity, murder, insurance fraud and blackmail, Suburbicon is steeped in the tropes of the classic noir films of the 40s, particularly the likes of Double Indemnity Continue reading
GOLD
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Stephen Gaghan Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Edgar Ramirez, Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll, Bruce Greenwood, Craig T Nelson, Toby Kebbell, Bill Camp, Joshua Harto, Timothy Simons, Rachael Taylor, Stacy Keach, Mason Blair, Adam Lefevre. Matthew McConaughey goes from strength to strength with his recent choice of roles, and here he gives another winning performance in the financial drama Gold. He plays Kenny Wells, the eccentric, overly confident, alcoholic and down on his luck prospector and hustler, the son of a legendary and Continue reading
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 Continue reading