PODCAST: IT Chapter Two [Electric Shadows]

The Electric Shadows Podcast reaches Bill and Ted’s favourite number. In episode 69 Robs Daniel and Wallis stare into the deadlights of IT Chapter Two, the follow-up to the 2017 smash hit IT.

Rob Daniel is none too impressed at how much has been chopped out of Stephen King’s novel, despite the 171 minutes running time.…

REVIEW: Glass

After nearly two decades, M. Night Shyamalan has finally made a return to the superhero movie – and with an ambitious crossover event no less.

His first foray into the genre, Unbreakable, long before the birth of the comic-book franchise, was a subtle deconstruction that made a character study of comic-book archetypes.…

REVIEW DOUBLE BILL: Atomic Blonde & Shin Godzilla

Atomic Blonde

James Blonde. Joan Wick. Taken with a pinch of Salt.

It may sound derivative, but it’s a formula that can reap bountiful rewards. You take a frosty cool female lead, drop them into a previously male-dominated genre, and unleash their ass-kicking potential.…

PODCAST: Atomic Blonde & Shin Godzilla [Electric Shadows]

In Episode 29 of The Electric Shadows Podcast, myself & Rob Daniel explain why Atomic Blonde ultimately fails to detonate and why you should check out the monstrously fun Shin Godzilla.

I also outline again to Rob D. why he really doesn’t need to bother seeing Valerian and we both discuss why a gay love scene in the next James Bond might justify Daniel Craig staying in the role.…

CINEMATIC GRAB-BAG: T2: Trainspotting, Split, & xXx3

Trainspotting
It’s no fun growing hold. Hair migrates, weight accrues, and you find yourself stuck in bad habits.

Unlike its predecessor, T2: Trainspotting is less concerned with one particular bad habit – heroin – and more with the myriad other ways in which an older, supposedly more mature human being can self-destruct.…

X-Men: Apocalypse blows through quickly and entertainingly enough

 

In the hinterland between the extreme competency of Marvel and the trainwreck-clusterfuck that is the DC Cinematic Universe there lies the X-Men.

With its respectable (but by no means perfect) batting average and increasingly dysfunctional relationship with continuity, the franchise is a fairly unique position with regards to superhero movies.…

Filth is a raunchy, foul-mouthed bit of soul searching for a maniacal James McAvoy

 

The medical standard for Irvine Welsh adaptations is undoubtedly still Trainspotting, made back in the midst of the Britpop era (1996).

Since there have been two further attempts to bring his works to the bring screen – The Acid House and the explicitly titled Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy – but, as with Chuck Palahuik and Fight Club, no one’s been able to recapture the magic.