This is the End

 

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s writing credits speak for themselves; they’ve had their hits with stoner and teen comedies and have decided to launch their directorial career with an apocalyptic comedy that subverts their personas, plays up to their critics and includes a cast made up entirely of their friends. Sure, it’s indulgent but if you’re a fan of any of those involved, it’s a playful, entertaining and amusing way to spend a couple of hours.

 

My full review published by Starburst Magazine.

 

World War Z

World War Z comes to the big screen after a troubled production that led to reshoots, extensive rewrites and an overblown budget (reported to have reached $200 million plus), all of which unfortunately reflects on the final product.

 

Full review published by Starburst Magazine.



Review: Star Trek Into Darkness

In 2009, J.J. Abrams rebooted the Star Trek movie franchise with a thrilling mix of emotion, humour and adventure in a parallel universe where this crew have to find their own paths. Four years later and he is taking us into daring and action-packed darkness but also remembering to leave room for these characters to grow. Exhilarating free falling, vibrant visuals, marvel and menace, spectacular set design and spiralling starships deliver an immersive high that will leave you buzzing.  

 

My full review published in Starburst Magazine here.

Review: Stoker

Keeping with his usual dark themes, South Korean director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) makes an assured American debut with this stunning psycho thriller – a cruel, calculated coming of age story that glides elegantly through topics of sexual awakening and fractured family values. It pushes all the right buttons; paying homage to Hitchcock whilst having a distinct, chilling ambience all of its own.

Full review published on Starburst Magazine

 

Review: Antiviral

 

Brandon Cronenberg (son of David) has written and directed an intense and disturbing debut film looking at society’s increasing obsession with celebrity. Getting to the sick heart of this cultural disease, Cronenberg has created a white walled world that delivers a claustrophobic film experience with a mesmerising central performance from Caleb Landry Jones.

 

Full review published in Starburst Magazine here

 

Antiviral is out in the UK on 1st February 2013

 

Review: John Dies at the End

Phantasm creator Don Coscarelli returns with his first film since 2002's Bubba Ho-Tep, and it's a masterful manifestation of special effects, animation and humour, all mixed to make a slithering sickly platter of hellfire, damnation and demon-fuelled trippy aesthetics.

You can read my full review at Starburst Magazine http://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/latest-reviews-of-movies/3651-movie-review-john-dies-at-the-end

Released in the UK on 22nd March 2013 

Review: Painless

Director Juan Carlos Medina’s debut feature film (co-written with one of the [REC] writers Luiso Berdejo) is a haunting, visceral allegorical horror exploring the Spanish conscience in the aftermath of the civil war. When a group of children are diagnosed with the affliction of feeling no pain (a real condition called congenital analgesia) they are snatched away from their family, forced into straitjackets, tattooed with a letter and hidden away from the rest of the world in a sanatorium where they are experimented upon.

 

You can read my full review on Starburst Magazine

Review: Sightseers

With director Ben Wheatley’s body of work headed for cult status he’s a filmmaker whose output you cannot afford to miss, and with Sightseers he delivers yet again with a dark concept dominated by caustic characters.

You can read my full review over at Starburst Magazine 

Released in the UK on 30th November.

Showing at TIFF 11th, 13th and 16th September

http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiff/2012/sightseers

 

Bloody Brilliant Horror

My partner is not a fan of a lot of the horror films I watch, but on walking into the room half way through this, a smirk appeared and he sat down to watch the rest of the film.

This is small budget, scurrilous satire I highly recommend you adding to your DVD collection.

You can read my review over on Starburst.

Terracotta Distribution recently released Hansel & Gretel on Blu-ray and it looks amazing on this format. A sad and fascinating fantasy story that takes elements from the Brothers Grimm fairy-tale and twists them to ask the question ‘what would happen if the children never got saved’? A continuous carousel like nightmare plays out in the seemingly idyllic setting of a pastel hued house in a deep forest. 

 You can read my review over on Starburst 

 

Another Terracotta DVD release is Desire to Kill  which comes out on 20th August. You can read my review over on Cinetalk

Other horror titles I have reviewed recently are Lovely Molly which I thought  had a lot of potential...You can read my review over on the fabulous Filmoria 

And although it is not what I would classify as bloody brilliant I did enjoy 

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter as it made me laugh A LOT!

You can read my review over on Starburst

The Dark Knight Rises

It finally arrives tomorrow and it is pretty good, you can read my review over on Starburst

The masks are cool and everything but Selina Kyle wears some wicked boots. Someone send me a pair. Juno Temple makes her way into the Nolan gang too (loved her in Killer Joe and Dirty Girl).

Brave

Pixar do it again! You can read my review over on Starburst

In cinemas Scotland and Ireland : Aug 3rd

In cinemas England and Wales : Aug 13th

Sci-Fi London 11

 

A weekend watching sci-fi related films was always going to be a high point for me and I was not disappointed. Thanks to the sci-fi London team and Louis Savy for being so accommodating. I spent most of it with Tom Jupiter whose love for Star Trek and sci-fi is inspiring and it was a great few days of films and japes.

Sound of My Voice was the highlight of the festival for me. A debut film from Director, Zal Batmanglij, presenting exactly the kind of  cleverly constructed sci-fi I love. Brit Marling co-wrote and stars in the film and is pitch perfect. You can read my review in Starburst Magazine.

Other debuts I watched that showed potential included The Last Push and Cycle also reviewed in Starburst Magazine.

I also caught a couple of documentaries, both about Star Trek... The Captains followed William Shatner round as he met with and interviewed the actors who have also taken on the role. Scott Bakula and William Shatner riding on horseback singing to Fiddler on the Roof was a highpoint. Shatner, of course, manages to make the documentary all about himself but in the most entertaining way possible. Arm wrestling with Chris Pine and singing with Avery Brooks makes for fascinating, fun viewing! 

Trek Nation follows Eugene Roddenberry around (son of Gene) but it just didn't reach the same level of entertainment as The Captains. It is informative, but for the initiated, may not shed any new light.

I suggest you read Tom Roberts' coverage over on Starburst Magazine here and here.

Trajectories and French Family

The Raid follows a powerful and well aimed trajectory. I couldn't take my eyes of the fast paced action and superbly choreographed fight scenes. One scene in particular stood out, involving a warrior reminiscent in stamina and power of horror legends, Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees. A force to be reckoned with in one of the finest fight scenes I've ever seen involving some fluorescent lighting. 

BOOM! Spectacular action - watch it on the big screen!

“Your family are like a reverse Godot”

An enjoyably absurd romantic comedy that has moments of brilliance along with a couple of great performances from Delpy and Rock. It also boasts an inspired cameo. Loved it!

You can read my review here.

Carrying on the Asian and French theme... 

I also reviewed the Chinese Superhero comedy, Inseparable, which stars Kevin Spacey over on Starburst.

And The Monk starring Vincent Cassel. The poster and trailers for this film were super spot on...

I was more than happy to be led into temptation.

Sundance London

 

Last week I attended the very first Sundance London Festival. It took place at the O2 in North Greenwich over a few extremely rainy, miserable days so I was happy to be inside the cinema with a cup of coffee.

The highlight of my festival going experience was watching Safety Not Guaranteed starring the wonderful Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) and Mark Duplass (mumblecore maestro). You can read my review here. 

My obsession with the 90s drew me to see Tricky and Martina Topley Bird performing Maxinquaye live at the Indigo2.  The sound at the venue was awesome, and the atmosphere at the front was excellent. Not sure why, but on entering the venue I kind of screamed that I was super excited for the gig to my friends. I made a young girl laugh quite a lot and we had a chat about how much I loved Tricky and Martina(and the shockingly expensive drinks). Turns out I was telling their daughter how much I loved her mum and dad... slightly embarrassing but flattering, no?

I saw a couple of strong documentaries in The Queen of Versailles - an absorbing (and funny) look at how a rich family dealt with the recession - and Chasing Ice that looked magnificent and raised the important issue of global warming and melting ice caps. I also saw Finding North which thoroughly depressed me, you can read my review here.

Josh Radnor presented an extremely engaging and amusing yarn about growing up in Liberal Arts

I was a little bit let down by Nobody Walks considering it had Lena Dunham's name attached to it as co-writer.  Paul Dano's return to the big screen in For Ellen allowed for some moments of brilliance including him dancing to Whitesnake in a scene I would like to watch over and over again. There were quite a few walkouts (at the press screening) for Terence Nance's An Oversimplification of her Beauty but it provided a heartfelt and creative look at the subject of love and relationships. 

I enjoyed it.

 

Alex Mack, Eerie Indiana and Ethan Hawke

In my quest to envelop myself in 90s nostalgia I recently watched the entire first series of The Secret World of Alex Mack starring Larisa Oleynik from 10 Things I Hate About You. Her attire of oversized checked shirts and jeans pretty much sums up my wardrobe as a kid. It didn't stand up to the test of time, but it had its moments, you can read my review over at Starburst Magazine .

Let's be honest, nothing was going to compare 90s kids show wise considering my love for

Eerie Indiana (more on this soon).

I also watched A Midnight Clear - a film I had never seen before - it's set in 1944 (released in 1992) as the Second World War was coming to an end and follows a squad of US soldiers who have been placed together due to their above average intelligence.

Ethan Hawke stars in an early role, and his performance is full of its usual intensity.

It also features a young cast of Kevin Dillon, Peter Berg, Ayre Gross, Frank Whaley and Gary Sinise - who all shine in their roles.

You can read my review over at Cinetalk



Terracotta Film Festival and Third Window

Himizu closes the Terracotta Film festival, which runs from 12-15th April at the Prince Charles Cinema in London, and I have reviewed over on Starburst Magazine. It is based on bestselling manga by Minoru Furuya and is Sion Sono's reaction to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of 2011. Himizu is released by Third Window from 1st June in the UK.

My Way opens the festival on 12th April and is epic goodness, the wonderful Charlotte Linton  has reviwed it here.

 Monsters Club is also showing at the festival; I saw it last year at TIFF and although it was not what I was expecting it still has some visually original and stunning moments. You can read my thoughts on Cinetalk.

Third Window are also set to release Kotoko this year in the UK and I can only recommend this film. It is absolutely insane, disorientating and mesmerising.

I recently reviewed Adrift in Tokyo (out on DVD now) for the fab Filmoria another one I would recommend.

Full Programme for the festival here.

Daria and The Doom Generation

Last week I hung up my coconutboots and swapped them for Daria boots* as I travelled back to the nineties to watch Gregg Araki's The Doom Generation.

The soundtrack features Nine Inch Nails, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Aphex Twin whose overly long music videos were always a highlight of my youth:

The Doom Generation is part of Gregg Araki’s “Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy” (out on DVD now) the other films being Totally Fucked Up and Nowhere. 

You can read my review over on Starburst

*copyright Dawn Hughes

Shit Religion

You can read my review over on Starburst Magazine

You can read my review over on Starburst

John Carter

Haters be hatin' but I thought John Carter was a bucketload of sci-fi fun!

You can read my review over on Starburst Magazine

Chronicle and Costume

 Mixing elements from teen, horror, sci-fi and superhero flicks, Max Landis has crafted a strong script that is complimented by great direction from Josh Trank, resulting in a fresh entry into the already crowded 'found footage' genre.

You can read my review over on Starburst Magazine here.

If you like the content over on Starburst Magazine it is now back in print and you can subscribe to the magazine here.  

Speaking of Max Landis and his writing skills, last week I met his parents...

His mum, Deborah Nadoolman Landis is curating a show at the Victoria and Albert Museum and it's all about Hollywood Costume. It starts in October and it looks spectacular.

I attended a presentation where Deborah Landis spoke all about the event. I wrote about it over on Filmoria here. 

After the presentation we were invited to speak to the curators and museum folk on an individual basis. On my way down the auditorium I spotted a man sitting by himself that looked suspiciously like John Landis... it was.  I had a chat with him about Chronicle, at that time he had only seen the first twenty minutes but said it looked like it was heading to a dark place. He also seemed like an extremely proud father.  I also had a major "Geek Out" as I had just met the man who had directed An American Werewolf in London one of the best films ever. Fact. And what a friendly man he was!