REVIEW: First Reformed

I spend a lot of my time in the cinema and consider myself pretty hardened when it comes to long dark nights of the soul, but First Reformed may be the darkest I’ve seen, and one of the most compelling.

Reverend Toller is pastor of the First Reformed Church in Snowbridge, New York – an austere Dutch Colonial-style ghost of a building that in many way resembles the man who has become its steward.…

PODCAST: Mission: Impossible – Fallout & Skyscraper [Electric Shadows]

Ep 48 of The Electric Shadows Podcast sees Robs Daniel & Wallis pulling a late nighter to talk about Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

Our intrepid casters in pod had just seen the film and were both suitably impressed by Tom Cruise’s latest attempt to risk life and limb to provide maximum entertainment to his audience.…

COMPETITION: Win a copy of Journeyman on DVD

“Packs a powerful punch… Considine is astonishing”
★★★★ Empire
“Paddy Considine’s heartbreakingly human boxing drama will floor you”
★★★★ The Daily Telegraph

Studiocanal is delighted to announce that JourneymanPaddy Considine’s highly acclaimed second feature, will be released on Blu-RayDVDDigital download, and VOD on July 30th along with exclusive new extras.

Where Next For Star Wars? [by Max Eshraghi]

By Max Eshraghi

 

With the under-performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story, Kathleen Kennedy, JJ Abrams and the rest of the creative team at the Mouse House are re-calibrating. If rumours are to be believed, they are abandoning a number of the standalone anthology movies planned and focusing solely on the main series going forward.…

PODCAST: The Dark Knight 10th Anniversary [Electric Shadows]

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Dark Knight’s theatrical release, episode 47 of The Electric Shadows Podcast has gone big.

Across four hours, Robs Daniel and Wallis and Bat-expert Ian Bird discuss Nolan’s landmark trilogy. Plus, a wider discussion of the Caped Crusader in comic books and on the small screen, both animated and live action.…

REVIEW: Skyscraper

Has there even been anyone in the history of Hollywood who seemed more suited to being an action star than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson?

He has the physical presence of Arnie, the easy, self-deprecating charm of Denzel, and the charisma of an experiment grown in a vat with the aim of creating a future President of the United States..…

RETROSPECTIVE: Double Indemnity, or an Ode to Keyes

I’ve found as I get older that my relationship to film changes – or at least my circumstance and ability to relate to it.

While they may be fixed indelibly onto celluloid or locked in digital, the person behind the eyes we see them through isn’t the same from one viewing to the next.…

PODCAST: Incredibles 2, Hereditary, Sicario: Soldado, Oceans 8, & Leave No Trace [Electric Shadows]

Episode 46 of The Electric Shadows Podcast focuses on Incredibles 2, but also finds time for Hereditary (one Rob is warmer to it than the other), Sicario: Soldado (the other Rob is warmer to it than the other), Oceans 8 (only one Rob has seen it) and Leave No Trace (only the other other Rob has seen it).…

REVIEW: Leave No Trace

Named for the first law of conservation, the title of Debra Granik’s latest perfectly evokes the film’s mood of quiet sublimation.

Father and daughter Will (Ben Foster) and Tom (Thomasin McKenzie) subsist illegally out in the primeval wilds of Forest Park near Portland, Oregon in a makeshift camp perfectly concealed behind the mossy bulk of a fallen tree.…