ALIENS (1986)
A famously amusing story is how James Cameron convinced 20th Century Fox to make Aliens by handwriting the word ‘ALIEN’ on the back page of his screenplay for the sequel, before adding an ‘S’… which...
View ArticleTHE CROW (1994)
The tragic death of Brandon Lee casts a long shadow over The Crow, yet secures its place in cinematic history. No one can watch Alex Proyas’s superhero film without feeling saddened that Lee was...
View ArticleDOCTOR WHO, 14.1 & 14.2 –‘Space Babies’&‘The Devil’s Chord’
Following last year’s frothy Christmas adventure, “The Church on Ruby Road”, the fourteenth series of the revived Doctor Who gets properly underway. (Or Season 1 if you prefer the Disney-dictated...
View ArticleDOCTOR WHO, 14.3 –‘Boom’
Steven Moffat’s episodes were always the highlights of the early years of Russell T. Davies’s reign as showrunner. This made him the natural choice to take over Doctor Who in 2010. He then ran the...
View ArticleDOCTOR WHO, 14.4 –’73 Yards’
The focus is on Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) throughout “73 Yards” as she arrives with The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) on the picturesque Welsh coast, only to disturb an occult “fairy circle” of string and...
View ArticleDOCTOR WHO, 14.5 –‘Dot and Bubble’
There’s an intriguing premise behind this episode, heavily influenced by Black Mirror, particularly the episode “Nosedive” with its pastel-coloured society obsessed with social media interactions....
View ArticleTHE LONG GOOD FRIDAY (1980)
John Mackenzie’s low-budget British classic, The Long Good Friday, is a seminal gangster film, although often overlooked these days in favour of the more modern, post-Tarantino approach pioneered by...
View ArticleDOCTOR WHO, 14.6 –‘Rogue’
There have been a lot of “unusual” episodes this season, which go against the grain of what a typical Doctor Who story is; the limited locations of “Boom”, the almost Doctor-less “73 Yards”, and “Dot...
View ArticleDOCTOR WHO, 14.7 –‘The Legend of Ruby Sunday’
After seven episodes, including the Christmas special, it’s time for answers about who abandoned Ruby (Millie Gibson) as a baby in 2004, and why the same woman (played by actress Susan Twist) has been...
View ArticleDOCTOR WHO, 14.8 –‘Empire of Death’
This finale showcased the strengths and weaknesses of Russell T Davies’s writing. The sci-fi plot mechanics made little to no sense, while everything that was down-to-earth and based on interpersonal...
View ArticleBEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F (2024)
There comes a time in every pop star’s career when they accept that fans just want to hear the old hits. The same’s true for legendary Hollywood actors. Like Harrison Ford before him, the ageing Eddie...
View ArticleTHE LAST STARFIGHTER (1984)
The seismic impact of Star Wars (1977) can’t be understated. Much of the 1980s in Hollywood was spent trying to emulate its success. The Last Starfighter is one such attempt, borrowing from many other...
View ArticleALIEN: ROMULUS (2024)
Fede Álvarez remade the “video nasties” classic Evil Dead (2013), but it’s fair to say Sam Raimi’s 1981 original had long shown its age and deserved a modern update. But how do you approach reviving...
View ArticleTHE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK (2004)
The Chronicles of Riddick deserves reappraisal. A few decades after it debuted to poor box office and mostly negative reviews, David Twohy’s ambitious sequel is still underappreciated. Today, so many...
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