It’s not that often you see a film like Tuner. A cross-genre drama that is part romance, part heist movie, with more than a whiff of 70s paranoia thriller about it. It takes a simple yet effective premise and allows both the scenario and the character development to flesh out. At the same time, it…
Scary Movie
The legendary film critic Barry Norman once said of a movie, “Laugh? I thought I’d never start!” That is exactly how I felt about this sixth instalment of the spoof comedy (?) that I thought had died a death after number 5 back in 2013. Now the Wayans, who made the first two films, are…
Masters Of The Universe
Toy company Mattel have done pretty well out of their He-Man toys. First, they became a huge success with their figurines, which led to the popular cartoon series in the 80s. Then, Cannon Films produced the cult-favourite live-action version back in 1987, with Dolph Lundgren as He-Man. Now, just when you thought the characters were…
Backrooms
It’s not often that a major film studio would hand over a $10 million movie to a 19-year-old director fresh out of high school. Yet that is exactly what A24 have done with Backrooms, based on a YouTube series by director Kane Parsons. It seems to have paid off, as this intriguing, often uncomfortable cross-genre…
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu
The last time there was a Star Wars movie in cinemas was in 2019, with The Rise of Skywalker. Since then, the franchise has taken over Disney+ with countless series, to the point of almost saturation. Now, one of the first series to appear on the channel has made it to the big screen. The…
The Christophers
Given that director Steven Soderbergh announced his retirement from filmmaking in 2013, he has not worked since. In the past year, he has made four films: the creepy horror Presence, the underrated and underseen Black Bag, and, still to come, a documentary, John Lennon: The Last Interview. His latest, The Christophers, is probably his quietest…
The Sheep Detectives
Never judge a book by its cover. When you hear of a title like The Sheep Detectives, you may think that it is going to be dire, another kids’ movie that adults will have to endure to keep their little ones quiet. Well, think again. The Sheep Detectives is one of the big surprises this…
The Devil Wears Prada 2
Some films don’t have sequels for a reason. The original works as a standalone, and it doesn’t need another film. In most cases, the sequel brings nothing to the table and thus causes a small backlash to the film that first captured everyone’s imagination. I can safely say that The Devil Wears Prada, a mid-budget…
Michael
There have been many biopics about musicians over the years. Some have worked, others haven’t. The likes of Rocketman, the story of Elton John, worked because, although it was part fantasy, it wasn’t afraid to go to the darker places in John’s life. The same can be said of Better Man, the Robbie Williams story,…
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy
It’s not often that a film director would put his name ahead of the title of a movie unless they have made a huge impact on the cinematic world. You’d expect Alfred Hitchcock to do it, or Quentin Tarantino, but who exactly is Lee Cronin? He’s an Irish filmmaker who has only made two other…
California Schemin’
James McAvoy has established himself as a reliable actor, whose credits have included The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Atonement and Split. Now he’s taking on his next challenge, behind the camera as director of California Schemin’, based on the incredible true story of how two Dundee lads took on the record industry. Based…
The Drama
Could film-makers please stop making anxiety-ridden, packed movies, as my nerves cannot cope anymore. With films like Marty Supreme and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You out in the world, I often leave the cinema frazzled. Now we can add The Drama to the collection. It was certainly the worst of the group, starting…
Stu Loves Film 