Tom Jolliffe chats with action legend Mark Dacascos about his illustrious career… Among action aficionados, Mark Dacascos is a name associated with a string of cult favourites like Crying Freeman, Drive and Brotherhood of the Wolf. He’s also known to TV audiences for his recurring villainy in Hawaii 5-0 and the recent Wu Assassins (not […]
Mann, Refn and the Safdies: Mastering Neo-Noir
Tom Jolliffe looks at a few examples of classic neo-noirs… Dark tales in rain sodden streets with the glistening neons of a big City. There comes that inevitable moment. A wrong choice, the self-destructive move to an inescapable corner. The neo-noir, the resurrection of the classic film noir genre that typified much of 30’s-50’s cinema. […]
The Problem with Hereditary’s Marketing
Helen Murdoch on the problem with Hereditary’s marketing… All of the recent 5 star reviews of Ari Aster’s horror Hereditary have got me thinking about what we expect going into a film versus what we actually see. Hereditary depicts the most horrific displays of grief that I’ve ever seen committed to screen, but based on […]
Why Mark Dacascos is the best piece of casting in John Wick: Chapter 3
Tom Jolliffe on why Mark Dacascos is a great piece of casting in the third John Wick instalment… Two John Wicks in and the Keanu Reeves fronted action franchise is firmly established as one of the best in recent years. The first film was great. The second was even better. In fact the second film, […]
The Triumphant Return of the 80’s Style Synth Score!
Tom Jolliffe takes a look at the return to popularity of the 80’s style synthesizer score… Cinema and the orchestra have had a long-standing relationship. Over the years the big screen has been almost as much about the accompanying music as the film. When someone like John Williams creates iconic, rousing, emotional, bombastic and beautifully […]
The Essential Ryan Gosling Films
Continuing in the build up to Blade Runner 2049 [read our review here], Tom Jolliffe takes a look at the essential Ryan Gosling… In the past decade, Ryan Gosling has seen something of a transformation. He’s developed into an actor who can be relied upon to deliver a note worthy performance. He’s gone from being […]
Ryan Gosling: From Mouseketeer and indie darling to Hollywood movie star
Sara Hemrajani on the rise of Ryan Gosling… La La Land, the award-tipped ode to musicals from Hollywood’s Golden Age, sees Ryan Gosling dance, sing, wax lyrical about jazz and woo Emma Stone’s aspiring actress in modern day Los Angeles. It’s a terrific performance and the 36-year-old seems to be a lock for one of […]
Going Against the Critical Grain: When Expressing An Opinion Takes Bravery
Sean Wilson explores the difficulties writers face when their opinion flies in the face of the popular consensus… Film journalists such as myself frequently get slammed for daring to criticise a movie we hated: we didn’t make it, we had no idea of the stress involved in organising a small army of cast and technicians […]
The five best roles of Oscar Isaac
With his new film Mojave set for release in the UK tomorrow (Friday March 25th), we take a look back at some of the work of the great Oscar Isaac, arguably the best working actor in Hollywood right now… Up until mega-blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens you could very well be forgiven for asking, […]
IDW adapting James Sallis’ Drive as a four-part miniseries
IDW Publishing has announced that it is set to hit the sun-bleached streets of L.A. this summer with a comic book adaption of James Sallis’ modern noir classic Drive, which served as the inspiration for director Nicholas Winding Refn’s acclaimed film starring Ryan Gosling. The four part comic book series will be adapted by writer […]
