Author: robertmwallis

Graduate of Royal Holloway and the London Film School. Formerly Film & TV Editor of The Metropolist, Official Sidekick at A Place to Hang Your Cape, and co-host of The Movie RobCast podcast. Current member of the Online Film Critics Society.

PODCAST: Greenland & News of the World [Movie RobCast]

It’s been a minute since our last episode so #110 is a bumper wrap-up of what the Robs have been watching.

First, the shocking revelation that Gerard Butler has made a good movie with end-of-days disaster movie Greenland, currently available on Amazon Prime.…

REVIEW: Willy’s Wonderland

For most actors, the switch to straight-to-VOD still feels like a step down. Even now, there’s something about the big screen that seems to promise a sort of immortality not guaranteed by the vagaries of streaming service algorithms.

Not so with Nicolas Cage, for whom acting seems to be an endearing mix of day-job professionalism and performative insanity.…

PODCAST: WandaVision & Stardust [Movie RobCast]

In episode 109, Robs Daniel & Wallis review the opening two instalments of WandaVision, the first Marvel series to hit Disney+.

Happily, they find plenty to talk about. Not that our intrepid casters in pod are ever stuck for words.…

PODCAST: Episode 16 – Sparkling Murder Dolphin [Let’s Jaws for a Minute]

And now for something completely different…

Sarah Buddery and MJ Smith were kind enough to have me on their podcast, Let’s Jaws For a Minute; a minute-by-minute breakdown of Steven Spielberg’s classic blockbuster.

Topics of discussion include the Brody family dynamics, house geography, familiar outfits, what constitutes “a jaws”, and just how all of Roy Scheider’s characters are connected to one another. …

PODCAST: Wonder Woman 1984 [Movie RobCast]

In episode 108 the Robs review the much-delayed Wonder Woman 1984.

As this ep was recorded on the 23rd December 2020, there are some Christmas references and, despite plenty of Trump and America talk, no mention of January 6th’s insurrection in the Capitol Building.…

REVIEW: Shadow in the Cloud

For a year that was itself pretty out-here, 2020 was strangely devoid of cinematic oddities.

As such, I was forced to award my “Mad As Arseholes” award to a film that wasn’t technically released till New Year’s Day.

Shadow in the Cloud is a glossy, unabashed genre mashup, which repositions that old Twilight Zone standard “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” as WW2 aviation thriller, creature feature, and feminist parable.…

REVIEW: Rams

Based on Grímur Hákonarson’s Hrutar, Rams transplants that film’s woolly, fraternal premise from the rugged slopes of Iceland to Australia.

Bucolic, taciturn Colin (Sam Neill) approaches farming with wistful humour and affection. His brother Les (Michael Caton) is an ornery, cantankerous drunk who makes a habit of passing out in fields.…

PODCAST: A Look Back at 2020 [Movie Robcast]

For most, 2020 was the worst year in memory.

Light in the darkness however came not from movie projectors, but the glow of TV screens as we were all forced inside for most of the year.

While many major films were shunted back to 2021, 2020 was still a quality year for the movies.…

FEATURE: My 2020 in Cinema

PSA: Unlike with this year’s roundup on the Movie Robcast, I’ve decided not to include any films that were eligible for the previous Oscars; even if they were only released in the UK in 2020.

That means no Parasite for Best Picture, or Céline Sciamma for Best Director (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), no Scarlett Johansson for Best Supporting Actress (Jojo Rabbit), or Roger Deakins for Best Cinematography (1917).…