New Movies

Review by Ben Holliday/@bholliday Bad Neighbours 2 follows a trend of sequels that weren’t asked for nor needed but thankfully, that is where the similarities with poor 2016 comedy sequels end. The Nicholas Stoller helmed sequel is full of laughs and most surprisingly of attempts to tackle societal issues. With life having surged on since the events of the first film, Mac Radner (Seth Rogen) and wife Kelly (Rose Byrne) are preparing to sell their house and move on to...

Review by Ben Holliday X-Men: Apocalypse is the latest entry in the 16 year old franchise and marks the fourth time director Bryan Singer has helmed an X-Men picture. Unfortunately, it may be time for him to move on from the genre he helped create. The film starts off strong enough with a visceral set piece introducing us to the main villain Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) in ancient Egypt. In fact the first half an hour or so flies by, bringing...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt Moments after the title credits for Everybody Wants Some pop on the screen, it’s clear to many that College was never like this. But director Richard Linklater’s latest feature is the type of coming of age film that allows a few viewers to wallow into the fantasy that this college is what they wish it would be. Considered a spiritual successor to the hazy 70’s set cult hit Dazed and Confused (1993), Everybody Wants Some,...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt Jeremy Saulnier’s stomach churning thriller; Green Room hits you with the blunt force of a dull cleaver. Its execution is brutal, it's characters timely and its tension more than palpable. Saulnier previously delved into the mundane yet murky effects of amateur revenge in his earlier feature; Blue Ruin. Here in Green Room, he mines at the often mentioned white anxieties with a similar, creepy accuracy, compacting a measurable amount of visceral thrills into a tight...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt Arabian Nights finishes in very much the same it started two volumes ago: Obliquely. As mentioned in a previous instalment, praise cannot go high enough for Miguel Gomes ambition to capture his home country in a desolate state of stasis.  Ravaged by austerity, in the first volume we saw the director himself unable to create the film he envisioned due to the country’s economic strife. Now, in The Enchanted One, we almost see the grand...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt The second section of Miguel Gomes’ Portuguese austerity odyssey doesn’t lighten the load in anyway, though at time it feels more engaging than the previous entry. This section features more nude women that play along with its fantasy elements. Unfortunately, two of the tales featured are more tedious than what’s come before it. Again the ideas are sound. The first tale informs us of a condemned man and how he arranges his guilt after many...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt Arabian Nights – The Restless One is the type of film in which you can easily imagine certain cliques chomping at the bit to discuss and lavish praise upon. However, if the film doesn’t hit the same sweet spot, you can easily see the same cliques instantly dismissed as some sort of Philistine. At one private joke. Almost as if they’re laughing at you. It’s hard not to think this. You just spent a good...

Review by Jack Deslandes Filmed entirely in one take, Victoria is a roller coaster ride of nail-biting tension and heart-stopping suspense that, if you make it through, will leave you bitter, cold, and gasping for breath. The story takes place between the hours of 4 and 6 am as it follows a young woman’s night, which quickly descends into a world of class A drugs and violent criminal gangsters. In a night that begins with her carelessly partying in an...

Written by Ellery Nick Escaping into the Welsh wilderness, a young couple takes a wrong turn in their car and ends up nose first in a stream. As luck with have it, the crash is heard by the only man for miles around who hurries to lend a hand. But why were they fleeing? It seems the couple have some secrets and they’ve just found a stranger with a few of his own. And so Gareth Bryn, director of Hinterland,...