My 15 Best Films of 2017 (& 5 of the Worst)

Well, it’s that time of the year again, namely the end; a time for rundowns and summations, a time for best ofs and worst ofs, when the generally indifferent just slips away.

2017 has, on the whole, been an exceptional year for film or at least the type of films I tend to enjoy; which is to say, ones about with sensitive characters experiencing lots of little feelings.…

CINEMATIC GRAB-BAG: The Great Wall & Trespass Against Us

The Great Wall

To misquote the film’s tagline, “Three years, $150 million to make, what were they hoping to prove?”.

Zhang Yimou’s The Great Wall is at best a misguided curiosity – people kept trooping in and out of my screening like it was a visitor’s ward.…

2017 Movie Kickstart (Electric Shadows podcast)

Mr. Rob Daniel & myself look through films that have kicked off 2017: T2: Trainspotting, Assassin’s Creed, Jackie, Moonlight, Hacksaw Ridge, and Silence. And Rogue One (review pending)! And there’s some La La Land talk.

Assassin’s Creed: bored game

It’s clear that Justin Kurtzel, director of Assassin’s Creed, didn’t want to make just any old video-game movie. In fact, it seems clear that he didn’t really want to make a video-game adaptation at all.

Indeed, that’s just about the only thing that is clear in this adaptation of the long-running Ubisoft franchise, which manages to drain all the fun from the premise.…