Joeblade

Short reviews

  1. Hellraiser: Bloodline

    There’s a decent film somewhere in this PINHEAD! IN! SPAAAACE! triptych, but cuts and re-writes drag it to mediocrity. →

  2. The Girl With All The Gifts

    A great adaptation of a great book. Tense throughout, strongly performed, and enjoyably bleak. →

  3. The Guyver

    Some sterling rubber monster work and Mark Hamill’s moustache. Other than that, like watching a crappy Power Rangers knock-off. →

  4. The Train

    Burt Lancaster is the most American-sounding Frenchman ever, but it doesn’t distract from a complex and thrilling WW2 drama. →

  5. Christine (2016)

    Rebecca Hall is incredible here with a painfully believable portrayal of depression. A grim, intense, necessary piece. →

  6. The Royal Tenenbaums

    One of my all-time favourites, with some career-best performances from almost the whole cast. Great soundtrack as well. →

  7. Keanu

    At times a bit of a one-joke film, but Kay & Peele are so hilarious with it, it doesn’t matter. Loved it. →

  8. Airport

    An entire genre of film rendered unwatchable by having watched Airplane! →

  9. The Man Who Haunted Himself

    ‘70s Roger Moore doppelgänger thriller. Tense, strong stuff all round, and some nice shots of 70s London. →

  10. The Mummy (1932)

    I know it’s a classic but TO BE HONEST I FOUND IT A LITTLE DRY →

  11. Salt

    A fun action thriller. Angelina Jolie just massively more competent than everyone else, and Liev Schreiber purrs happily away. →

  12. Bride of Frankenstein

    Mostly felt sorry for the Bride; alive for maybe a minute before she’s condemned to death for not fancying Karloff. →

  13. Pontypool

    I love it. Inventive, claustrophobic and funny, and Stephen McHattie’s face and voice are perfect. Generally, I mean. →

  14. The Glass Key

    A solid and coherent bit of noir that’s surprisingly light-hearted given the utter pasting the male lead gets halfway through. →

  15. Disorder

    A mostly-unremarkable French thriller that gets by on a decent amount of sudden violence and some really good glaring. →

  16. Fantastic Planet

    Brilliantly surreal French animation, like the sort of thing you’d find on Channel 4 when off sick from school. →

  17. La La Land

    A spectacular beginning and a strong finish, but I just didn’t care all that much for everything in the middle. →

  18. Born to be Blue

    Decent Chet Baker biopic that I couldn’t take seriously as I’ve seen Walk Hard “Goddammit, this is a dark fucking period!” →

  19. Sicario

    Honestly wanted to enjoy this more than I did. I can’t fault it in any particular way, but it just didn’t hold my attention. →

  20. The Dressmaker

    Australian revenge flick that’s tonally all over the place but still utterly brilliant. Winslet is a perfect femme fatale. →

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