I never got around to seeing the first film in the series that looked like little more than an American knock-off of Harry Potter, albeit one embroiled in the world of Greek Mythology. The sequel proves to be competent yet leagely inconsequential, as Percy, who is the illegitimate son of Poseidon, God of the Oceans, […] Read more »
I remember when I saw the first teaser trailer to Epic almost a year ago. Set to the gorgeous strains of Snow Patrol’s What If This Storm Ends? It looking genuinely stunning. Armies of tiny people dukeing it out in the grand green undergrowth of a regular family garden. It was Avatar meets the Flower […] Read more »
The great thing about attending a large international film festival like HKIFF is the element of discovery. There is always plenty of variety on offer, much of which even someone like myself – who tries his best to keep track of the year’s buzz titles – knows very little about. Blancanieves was just such a […] Read more »
While the title doesn’t offer much of a clue, Taniguchi Hitonori’s film is a loving homage to the work of directors like Quentin Tarantino, Tobe Hooper and Iguchi Noboru. Centring around the small community of Marukame in Kodokawa prefecture, the story follows Shinsuke as he returns home from the big city, and embroils his care-free […] Read more »
“Deru-cine” is a special filmmaking project helmed by writer Goto Hirohito, which discards the traditional notion of audiences watching films (“miru cinema”), in favour of appearing in the film themselves (“deru cinema”). Goto and his crew grab members of the public on the day of the screening and use them as extras (zombie hordes etc), […] Read more »
James Franco, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams and Mila Kunis star in Sam Raimi's "spiritual prequel" to the much adored classic The Wizard of Oz. Read more »
Oz the Great and Powerful sits at the intersection of two contemporary trends in cinema; it is both a prequel to a well loved classic and a CGI fuelled recreation of a familiar fantasy world. Therefore any viewer would feel compelled to approach this film with an equal measure of hope and trepidation. The cast […] Read more »
Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, Spider-man) re-teams with James Franco for this big budget prequel to the classic MGM musical, dispensing with the songs but layering on the lurid 3D visuals. Read more »
Sam Raimi’s spiritual prequel to MGM’s 1939 evergreen classic, The Wizard of Oz, is an incredibly mixed bag, that shows a degree of visual flourish and fun for younger viewers, but will mostly dissipate with a puff of smoke from the collective consciousness almost as soon as it’s over. It is understandable that Disney should […] Read more »
I am in serious danger of over-hyping Bryan Singer’s Jack The Giant Slayer, for the simple reason that I thought it was going to be rubbish, and it really isn’t. Played dead straight, without a whiff of post-modern irony that seems compulsory these days, the film takes some of the core elements from the classic […] Read more »
Bryan Singer’s big screen update of the classic fairytale proves a surprisingly fun slice of old fashioned escapism. Read my full review here Read more »
I had little interest or faith in Stephen Chow’s latest retelling of the classic Chinese fantasy, but there is some enjoyment to be had. The story, which is essentially the origin story of monk Tripitaka, relies heavily on large CGI beasts fighting each other for extended periods of time. This isn’t ideal, especially when the […] Read more »
A full year after it emerged as the buzz title from Sundance 2012, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild finally reaches Hong Kong, buoyed up by 4 Academy Award nominations including a surprising, yet richly deserved nod for six-year-old leading lady Quvenzhane Wallis. On the surface, Zeitlin’s film seems to be almost reveling in […] Read more »
Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton star in Tommy Wirkola’s fantasy sequel to the classic Brothers Grimm fairytale. What looked and sounded like a dreadful idea from the outset turns out to be a bloody, silly, but really rather entertaining little movie. Find my full review here. Read more »
Clive Barker’s 1987 directorial debut sees Clare Higgins graduate from philandering wife and stepmother to serial murderer, when she discovers the reanimated corpse of her former lover hiding out in the attic. While the splattery gore and sadomasochistic vision of hell remain effective and original (though clearly the makers of Silent Hill are fans), the […] Read more »
After the phenomenal success of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy it was a foregone conclusion that sooner or later we would see The Hobbit adapted for the big screen within the same universe. For a number of years, Mexican fantasist Guillermo del Toro was attached to the project, but perhaps inevitably the film […] Read more »
First-time feature director Rupert Sanders finds himself at the helm of this ambitious, straight-faced adaptation of the Brothers’ Grimm fairy-tale, with Kristen Stewart cast as the “fairest of them all”, opposite Chris Hemsworth as the nameless Huntsman and Charlize Theron as the evil stepmother, Queen Ravenna. Sanders brings a surprising confidence to the production and […] Read more »
If there was any doubt that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp needed to stop working with each other and go and sit quietly on their own in a blackened room, then DARK SHADOWS should be the final nail in the coffin. Based loosely on a little-seen 60s TV series, the film sees vampire Barnabus Collins […] Read more »
Following the success of 2008′s Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Warner Bros delivers a second outing based loosely on 19th century science fiction literature. Originally planned to involve a trip to Atlantis, this was later changed, and we now have teenage hero Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) pairing up with his new stepfather, Hank […] Read more »
While a cinematic adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s ballet, The Nutcracker carries a certain appeal, thanks to its fantastical plot and festive Christmas setting this film is one nobody could have envisioned. Written and directed by Russian filmmaker Andrei Konchalovskiy, most famous outside his own country for 1989′s buddy cop actioner Tango & Cash, the film dispenses […] Read more »