Philhelm Scream

Source Ghost in the Shell was a Masamune Shirow manga series that spawned Mamoru Oshii’s 1995 anime film of the same name.   As it now a popular trend, that animation has been remade as a live action (English language) feature.   Set in a future where human’s are able to upgrade body parts with cyborg versions, Scarlett Johansson plays the first woman to have her brain planted in a completely cyborg body after hers was destroyed.  This comes at a cost though.   She has very little (if any memory) of her past, and with her advanced body is used as a perfect soldier. Source I haven’t seen the original(s), and had actually disregarded the trailer of this new take as a poor Matrix rip-off at best (and nothing more than an excuse to get Scarlett Johansson in a skin tight body suit at worst).  It wasn’t until later that I read that this is the wrong way around, and that actually it’s the Wachowski’s Matrix films were heavily inspired by the Anime Ghost i...

Source Although it only feels like Peter Jackson's King Kong was released a couple of years ago, it is now actually 12 years old. I'm going to blame ITV4 for confusing my timeline seeing as they have the remake on every single weekend, but it still feels very soon to be having another interpretation of the 1933 classic in cinemas. I remember watching the original during a school half term and being really surprised at how much I enjoyed it and it's now dated effects. There's a charm to the stop-motion special effects used so well in King Kong, and I think I've loved that style since the terrifying skeleton army in Jason and the Argonauts (1963). Jackson obviously took the special effects to another level in his 2005 remake, but I was pleased with how the heart of the story, and the tragedy of it remained. Kong is more than just a mindless monster that smashes and crashes in to things and Jackson captured that essence really well, even if the run time could have ...

Source Going in to a film feeling mentally unprepared makes it sound a much more arduous way of spending your time than it is. With all of the 'heavier' Oscar films on the horizon though, and with a preview screening of Mel Gibson's war epic, Hacksaw Ridge on the following evening, Charlotte and I were looking forward to disengaging our brains for a change. We had therefore gone to go and see M. Night Shyamalan's latest, Split. That isn't to say I'm expecting that to be an easy ride with it's multiple personality plotline, but certainly a lot less 'meaty' than those films released around this time of year. Unfortunately when we got to buying our tickets the screen was sold out (this has left us even more determined to catch it - particularly after the girl behind the counter then went on to tell us how good it was... no need to rub it in). Fortunately, another film released this weekend gone was starting in 10 minutes - and that is why we ha...

Source A labor of love for ten years, Martin Scorsese's interpretation of Shūsaku Endō's 1966 novel of the same name is the first film I've caught in 2017.  Although we managed to bravely struggle through the hangovers to watch it yesterday on the 1st Jan, it's taken me a while to digest and think on exactly how I feel about.  That I've been thinking about Silence ever since the credits began to roll should be enough to persuade many to go and make their own minds up.  Ultimately I think its too much hard work to say it meets the high expectations we and Scorsese set for it, but if you're after a stunning looking and thought provoking start to the year, this film is certainly that. Source Two 17th century Jesuit priests receive word that their mentor (Liam Neeson), has abandoned the faith upon facing persecution in Japan.  They decide they must search him out to find the truth as well as attempting to spread Catholicism in the country.  Andrew Ga...

Source Written by Scotty himself (Simon Pegg) and Doug Jung, Star Trek Beyond is the first of the revamped series not to be helmed by JJ Abrams. Fast & Furious director Justin Lin directs this time, and it’s fair to say the trailers for this were pretty rubbish, painting it to be nothing more than one elaborate action scene after another… or Fast & Furious in space (at least the poster campaign was superb). Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto et al reprise their roles, this time joined by Sofia Boutella and Idris Elba. Following an attack on the ship, the majority of the story plays out with the Enterprises’ crew split up and divided from each other on the planet Altamid. I enjoyed this as it forced entertaining interactions between characters that we hadn’t seen in such prolonged close proximity. Where this works the best is with Spock and Karl Urban’s grizzly Bones. I always thought Urban had taken a back seat in the previous two instalments, making way for The Kirk & S...

Source Ahead of watching the new Star Trek film, Charlotte and I decided to go back and revisit JJ Abrams’ Star Wars audition and its sequel. The first I knew quite well, but I had only seen the second the once at the cinema, and it became one of many DVDs I have sat on my shelf still in its cellophane.  I’ve never been a Star Trek fan by any stretch. I’ve probably seen a little of the original series, and then the odd episode of Star Trek Next Generation TV series as a kid while waiting for The Simpsons, Robot Wars or Malcolm in the Middle to come on. I was always a big Star Wars fan and seemed to think you could only be in one camp or the other for some reason. As far as I’m aware Trekkie reception to the 2009 and 2013 reboots were largely positive bar the pretty one dimensional villain in the first, and the whitewashed return of a popular villain from the Star Trek canon in the sequel. This film seemed to cater for all though. If you wanted comedy, you got it in abundan...

Source Paul Feig helms the reboot of the much loved 1984 Ghostbusters classic, directing and co-writing with Katie Dippold. It reunites his Bridesmaids (2011) stars Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, alongside comedian and Saturday Night Live star, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon respectively. Ignoring the previous two films, the latest installment again tells the story of four mismatched New York City parapsychologists hunting and capturing ghosts. I’ve loved the original film ever since our mum bought it for my brother and I on VHS one summer to keep us entertained (and quiet). I don’t think she would have got it us had she been aware of jokes about phantom oral sex, and a possessed Sigourney Weaver saying she wants Bill Murray inside her (“It sounds like you’ve got two or three people in there already”), but that tape kept us quiet for a whole summer. I’m also still proud of the ghostbusters fancy dress outfits we did one Halloween at university complete with C...

Source Jodie Foster takes her place the directorial chair for this (largely) self-contained thriller. Lee Gates (George Clooney) advises the country on the buying and selling of shares on his flashy TV show until he's taken hostage live by bankrupt loose canon Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell). His Ocean’s Eleven partner in crime, Julia Roberts, plays his long suffering director Patty Fenn. The trailer for this film had caught my eye a while back. Mixed reviews had put me off (it currently sits at 55% on Rotten Tomatoes) but when I found myself with a free afternoon on my hands, I ended up grabbing a showing in what I imagine will be towards the end of it’s run in cinemas. Source For large parts I was pleasantly surprised with this film. Foster builds the tension extremely well as Jack O’Connell’s character locks Clooney in the studio at gunpoint. He’s forced to offer an explanation over poor financial advice he offered on his show that has hit the down and out...