Tom Jolliffe looks at the disappointing box office returns for The Northman and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and the possible implications for cinema… The box office has been improving of late. We’re getting back to a stage of careful optimism and growth closer to the kind of numbers which films were pulling in […]
The Essential Action Movies of the 21st Century
Tom Jolliffe offers up a list of essential 21st Century action films… As an action aficionado and self-confessed old git, I quietly nod in a small amount of agreement with Ridley Scott and Martin Scorsese’s Marvel/modern cinema shade. I grew up in an era when action was performed almost entirely in camera, with an eye […]
The Crow: A Cursed and Unnecessary Reboot
Tom Jolliffe looks at the perpetually delayed reboot of The Crow and why it’s both cursed and unnecessary… The uninspired Hollywood reboot. It’s not a new phenomenon, but certainly in the last 15 years, there have been innumerable examples of cinematic reboots. It’s not always the case that the primo IPs, which bring with them […]
Why 2022 might just peak on April 22nd
Tom Jolliffe looks at two highly anticipated and unique films due to hit cinemas on April 22nd, The Northman and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent… April has perennially been something of a slow month in film release terms. In more recent times, given the sheer volume of blockbuster tent-poles, (particularly those under the Marvel […]
Cyborg: When Jean-Claude Van Damme and Albert Pyun rode the Cannon Express
Tom Jolliffe looks back at the early Jean-Claude Van Damme starrer Cyborg… April 7th, 1989. Hot off the monster success of Masters of the Universe, which went off as initially budgeted and without hitches, a sequel was released… or so what could have happened in theory. As it was, the Dolph Lundgren-headlined Masters of the […]
The Cinematic DNA of The Batman
Tom Jolliffe looks at Matt Reeves’ The Batman, and the movie influences littered within… So The Batman has settled itself in cinemas across the world. The box office coffers are merrily heaving and the industry itself is given a much needed extra shot of adrenaline to keep death from its door. The verdicts have largely […]
A Double Hit of Cyberpunk from 1992: Nemesis and Split Second
Tom Jolliffe looks at a pair of cyberpunk infused sci-fi films from 1992… The year is 1992. Video shops are still a thing. I spend many an hour perusing them and there are a number of VHS covers that stamp themselves into my brain and will remain fresh in my mind almost 30 years. These […]
Michael Bay and the Finer Points of Bayhem
Tom Jolliffe on Michael Bay’s unique approach to cinematic destruction… In the mid-1990s a young upstart director burst out of the music video scene and blazed into the action genre with the kind of blustering gusto very few helmers have managed before or since. When I was growing up as a young teen, the cinema […]
Anti-Revenge Cinema
Tom Jolliffe on when vengeance on screen is shown as futile… It’s a dish best served cold. Cinema has long held a fascination with revenge. As a sub-genre, the revenge picture still carries plenty of market appeal. Many actors over the decades, particularly cinematic tough guys, have made careers in dishing out vengeance. For the […]
The Fascination with Origin Stories
Tom Jolliffe looks at the fascination with origin stories… Film and TV have long had a burning desire to milk popular characters or franchises for all they’re worth. If it works and audiences respond to it, then logic dictates that more adventures must follow. It could be sequels, spinoffs, reboots (with iconic character played by […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- …
- 75
- Next Page »
