Tom Jolliffe looks at the controversy surrounding Anna Paquin’s role in The Irishman… As we sit here in an age where voicing an opinion is so simple, we have also witnessed the rise in the self-righteous keyboard warrior, who stands heroically in front of the oppressed (even if said oppressed never asked for it). In […]
Movie Review – Hell On The Border (2019)
Hell On The Border, 2019. Directed by Wes Miller. Starring David Gyasi, Frank Grillo, Ron Perlman, Rudy Youngblood, Manu Intiraymi and Gianni Capaldi. SYNOPSIS: This epic, action-packed Western tells the incredible true story of Bass Reeves (David Gyasi), the first black marshal in the Wild West. Having escaped from slavery after the Civil War, he arrives […]
Are we watching Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker through routine rather than passion?
Tom Jolliffe on whether audiences are sleepwalking into the latest and possibly final Star Wars instalment… Christmas is almost upon us. The Christmas ‘event’ movie is something that has historically drawn crowds with some years proving more enticing than others. The three year run of Lord Of The Rings proved exciting and something of a […]
Why 2019 is the year of Shia LaBeouf
Tom Jolliffe looks at a productive year for Shia LaBeouf, in what could be a triumphant comeback… There was a time, at the height of his blockbuster fame, when Shia LaBeouf was a persistent presence in the media spotlight. That presence too, as he transitioned into adulthood from teen (and pre-teen) superstar, was often connected […]
Will the studios learn their lesson after a year full of box office duds?
Tom Jolliffe looks at some of the box office bombs in 2019, and whether studios will learn from their mistakes… 2019 has been an interesting year. There have been the expected successes with Marvel (particularly Avengers: Endgame), and unexpectedly gargantuan success with Joker (which was expected to do well, but that well?). Like every year […]
It’s Chinatown Jake: The Joys of the Unhappy Ending
Tom Jolliffe looks at the unhappy ending, and why they often have a more lasting impact (spoilers abound!)… Cinema has the power to move us. It can be an escape. The overriding formula has historically involved a happy resolution, because lets face it, after journeying through the crisis that the protagonist finds himself in, it […]
2019 in Review: Revisiting cinema’s biggest releases, news and talking points
Tom Jolliffe looks back at 2019 in film… Whilst we all come to terms with deleting and retyping 19 as 20 on documents, letters, invoices etc, lets make time to look back at 2019 and further confuse matters. As a year of cinema, 2019 has been interesting and with a usual mix of pop culture […]
Could dumbing down cinema threaten the legacy of timeless classics?
Tom Jolliffe looks at the current monopolisation of cinemas from Hollywood tentpoles, and whether timeless classics are at risk of being forgotten… The debate has raged throughout the last half year. Martin Scorsese was at the forefront. Cinemas are being overrun with Theme park rides. The cultural, dramatic and thematic impact with some of these are […]
The Snyder Cut. The Abrams Cut. How about cut the sh*t?
Tom Jolliffe looks at the recent demands for director’s cuts with Justice League and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker… A film comes out. The director hits the press circuit prior and things seem to be rosy. The film comes out and is greeted with derision. Suddenly there are growing calls for a directors cut. […]
There’s just one blockbuster to get excited for in 2020: The year of Tenet
Tom Jolliffe looks ahead to Tenet, and why it stands head and shoulders over every other tentpole release in 2020… With the Disney machine making record money this year even before they’d fired out Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker to a public who seemed to go with a half-hearted, sleepwalking obligation over a fiery […]
