Joeblade

Short reviews

  1. Buster’s Mal Heart

    Rami Malek is at his most outstandingly oddball in this surreal thriller. Dark and desperate stuff.

  2. The Killers (1964)

    A stylish, brutal and nihilistic action thriller that had me hooked until the end, even without anyone to root for.

  3. Midnight Run

    One of the all-time great 80s buddy films with everything you expect from the genre: double-crosses, male bonding, desperate jumps into rivers, the works.

  4. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

    Just an absolute car crash of a film. No budget, terrible locations, nothing about this works, nothing redeems it, nobody comes out looking ok. Highly recommended.

  5. Superman III

    A fairly dull sequel that favours overlong slapstick comedy over heroic action, but a film that gave us Evil Superman vs. Clark Kent in a junk yard can’t be all that bad

  6. What Happened to Monday

    A fun sci-fi action piece with Noomi Rapace going full Orphan Black playing seven versions of herself. Decent action, a taut script, thoughtful plotting.

  7. Tremors 2: Aftershocks

    Surprisingly decent sequel that does the best it can with a dramatically-reduced budget. Nothing outstanding but if you’re a fan of Tremors then this doesn’t hurt

  8. The Comedy of Terrors

    A fantastic cast and a mean, dark story, but let down by incredibly broad comedy. Film may as well be waggling its eyebrows at the audience with every gag.

  9. Supernatural Forces

    A scrappy homage to early Cronenberg, this supernatural thriller isn’t a great film but it’s got plenty of enthusiasm and some fantastic practical head-exploding effects, both of which counts for a lot

  10. Miracle Mile

    An apocalyptic thriller set across a single night and day that’s so preposterously 80s I couldn’t help but love it.

  11. The Bleeder

    A decent enough biopic of Chuck Wepner, the man who inspired Rocky. Nothing particularly original, but it’s attractively shot and thoughtfully performed.

  12. Half of a Yellow Sun

    Respectable historical drama set during the 1960s Nigerian civil war. Strong performances, though the story wanders around a bit

  13. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

    A decent sequel, and probably an improvement on the theatrical cut, but its use of test footage and an ending ripped from the first film makes this more of a historical curio than anything.

  14. Superman

    Feels absolutely timeless, and Christopher Reeve is forever perfect in the role. I can even forgive that godawful poem scene.

  15. Peter Pan (1953)

    All the expected charm of a Disney film from that period, though some of that wears pretty thin during the dubious ‘Red Indian’ sequences.

  16. Good Time

    A bracing, exhilarating chase flick, all lurid neon and John Carpenter-esque synth soundtrack. Couldn’t tear my eyes away. Robert Pattinson excels.

  17. The Counselor

    A ponderous, philosophising thriller; often the case with a Ridley Scott film, it does nothing, but it does so immaculately.

  18. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

    Coincidence-driven plotting, a baffling, lop-sided structure, so many nits to be picked, but I loved it, and may never entirely understand why.

  19. Free Fire

    An appealing mix of elements — cast, outfits, action, soundtrack — that somehow still never came together into anything I cared about.

  20. Becoming Bond

    Fantastic dramatisation/documentary of how George Lazenby became James Bond. Funny, moving, absolutely lovely.

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