Film

Next up in a line of sequels that were never needed comes Independence Day Resurgence. Roland Emmerich returns on directorial duties desperately attempting to recapture the magic of the first film and failing spectacularly. This is the sequel to 1996’s blockbuster event film, this time around losing Will Smith in favour of new comers to the franchise - Liam Hemsworth as Jake Morrison and Jessie T. Usher as Dylan Hiller – son to Will Smith’s Steven Hiller. Unfortunately Will Smith...

One of the strengths of the series since the pilot episode has been the characterisation of not only our regular band of misfits, but also the ancillary characters that prop up the world of Annville. ‘Monster Swamp’ sees Jesse fade into the background, in favour of fleshing out the side characters and the writing team does this admirably – continuing to weave the webs that connect the members of this community. The episode opens with imagery that wouldn’t be out...

After an action packed episode 2, Preacher returns to its famed slow boil this week using this latest outing to unpack the characters and reward the audience with some startling revelations. Spending the first two episodes tearing through Texas, we open with Tulip trading in the map she stole in the pilot – it turns out it was mere currency for the last known address of an ex-accomplice. Whilst we don’t see what the map contains, it’s great to finally see...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt/@Afrofilmviewer As we are seemingly embarking on a more skeptical and paranoid, right-leaning era, it's more than a little disheartening that Trumbo pulls it's lefty punches and holds no real political relevancy. Whether this is partly due to the film being made way before the feverish excitement of Trump delirium, or the simple fact that director Jay Roach is only really interested investing in the political aspects Hollywood's golden age with the spikes removed. These are...

Review by Ben Holliday After a two-week hiatus, Preacher makes an explosive return to our screens with Episode 2 exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in the UK. Similarly, to the first episode, this was a slow burner, tentatively building the suspense surrounding our main cast of characters. However, episode 2 makes use of its cable home, with incredibly graphic and impressive action scenes truly upping the ante. Now that isn’t to say that character building is foregone in the name of...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Controversial filmmaker has called Britain a “toxic place” and refused to visit the UK for his latest film. The film, Where To Invade Next, doesn’t feature the UK as Moore didn’t think he could learn anything from Britain, a place that has “damaged the world.” He made the comments while promoting his new film, and the 62-year-old was unrepentant on his views on the UK. In the film Moore travels across Europe to try and...

A thriller starring Al Pacino and Anthony Hopkins took £97 in its opening weekend at the UK box office. Misconduct, a film about an ambitious young lawyer who takes on a big case against a powerful and ruthless executive of a large pharmaceutical company, only showed at five screens on its debut weekend, with each taking an average of £19.40. The $11m-budget flick had received negative reviews before landing in cinemas, being described by one critic as a "compellingly terrible film". The Observer’s Wendy Ide...

Review by Leslie Byron Pitt Gabriel Ripstein’s minimalist 600 Miles has a naïve, young gun runner (Kristyan Ferrer) deciding that the best thing to do with an injured ATF agent (Tim Roth) is to take him hostage. It’s a novice mistake and one that many could only see happening in the fictional world that certain crime films inhabit. That said, one thing Ripstein’s feature does well, it is illustrating just how green the young lead of the story is.  It’s...

Review by Ben New There are two basic types of proper rubbish films; ones that know they are rubbish and ones that don’t. The perfect example of the latter would be Tommy Wiseau’s The Room which, although could be described as the Kruger-Dunning effect 24 times a second, becomes almost an extra-terrestrial meditation on what a film is. I am Wrath, however, is closer to the former. It is safe to assume director Chuck Russell, whose credits include The Mask,...