Samsara, 2011. Directed by Ron Fricke. SYNOPSIS: Samsara casts a beautiful light on 25 countries and the stories and landscapes of each. Nearing the first hour of Samsara director Ron Fricke shows us a series of assembly lines. Disturbing in some senses (the sheer monotony of the job or the slaughter of chickens, cows and […]

Gangster Squad, 2013. Directed by Ruben Fleischer. Starring Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Sean Penn, Robert Patrick, Michael Pena, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Nick Nolte and Josh Pence. SYNOPSIS: In 1940s LA, a group of incorruptible police officers band together to stop an up and coming mafia boss. Throwing aside due process and badges and […]

Among the many projects George Lucas had with the Star Wars franchise, there was one that had been rumoured for many years – the live action TV series. Much like the Star Wars comic books, it should come as no surprise that since Disney purchased the series from Lucasfilm, ABC are now returning to this […]

Simon Columb attends the Roman Polanski retrospective at BFI Southbank… Roman Polanski remains a fascinating filmmaker to this day. Alongside Andrej Wajda and Jerzy Skolimowski, Polanski came to the fore in the late 1950s in Poland. The BFI in London are screening all of Polanski’s films during January and February 2013 and throughout January, essays […]

Anghus Houvouras reviews the first issue of The Superior Spider-Man… “THEN!… Peter Parker spent a lifetime living up to the responsibilities his powers foisted upon him but his Amazing story finally ended dramatically in the historic Spider-Man #700. NOW!…The new Amazing Spider-Man has arrived and he is better in every single way. Smarter, stronger…Superior.“ Spoilers […]

Chris Cooper reviews the first issue of IDW’s four-part miniseries Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Secret History of the Foot Clan… “Demons, ninjas, and hostile takeovers-what more can you expect from a TMNT comic? The first instalment of this new miniseries reveals a history never told before about the original founder of the Foot. Join the […]

Baraka, 1992. Directed by Ron Fricke. SYNOPSIS: A montage of photographed images telling, “The story of our planet, and human interaction within it.” Cinema is by definition a visual medium, and if this is the beating heart of cinema, then director Ron Fricke and producer Mark Magidson’s Baraka adopts this identity with power. The opening […]

Luke Owen takes in a Muppet movie marathon…Where 3 guys (this time joined by girlfriends and children) watch franchise movies one after the others. This marathon is sponsored by pizza.(This was back in December, so I’m a bit late on the report – sorry!) It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights, it’s […]

Luke Owen reviews the latest issue of Transformers: Robots in Disguise… “ON THE PROWL! It’s “no more mister nice guy,” as CYBERTRON burns and one AUTOBOT is all that stand between order and anarchy. Meet the new PROWL—deadlier than ever, colder than any other AUTOBOT, and ready to end the DECEPTICON threat—forever.” I came under […]

Luke Owen reviews the second issue of IDW’s January Mars Attacks series… “In 1970s New York, four teens are handed the power to become godlike figures… unless some attacking Martians find a way to steal that power for themselves! A tale torn from the original 1976 Kiss comic, courtesy of Chris “God of Thunder” Ryall […]