PODCAST: The Suicide Squad & Jungle Cruise [Movie RobCast]

Episode 122 of The Movie Robcast casts an eye over James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and the Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt starring Jungle Cruise.

Rob D’s eye is a little grumpier than the kind-hearted Rob W, so you’ll have to listen and see which team you’re on.…

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).

REVIEWS: Widows (London Film Festival 2018 – Day 1)

A bedroom embrace is wrenched away and instantly replaced with the rear compartment of a getaway van, one door wrenched off its hinge and sparking on the asphalt, as a lover’s playful snarl becomes the shriek of a bullet, ricocheting around the exposed interior.…

Fences: a sturdily constructed acting masterclass

Denzel Washington is not a man who chooses his projects lightly.

Even a consistent run of by-the-numbers actioners – 2 GunsThe EqualizerThe Magnificent Seven – have, in recent years, served as vehicles for his charm and gravitas; only helping to ensure his elder statesman status.…

Suicide Squad is a toxic mess, but at least it’s more palatable than the last DC outing

Let me get the obvious comparison out of the way (at least for the first time): Suicide Squad, the latest addition to the DC Cinematic Universe, is a mess; choppy and lurid counterpart where Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice — God help us — was muggy and self-serious.

Blackhat might bowl you over with disappointment

 

If you’re a fan of Heat, you’d be forgiven for thinking that a Michael Mann techno thriller sounds like just the ticket.

Mann’s first foray into film since 2009’s Public Enemies, Blackhat promised the glossy neon visuals of Miami Vice, the race-against-the-clock forensics of Manhunter – in short, a combination of all the traits (with the exception, perhaps, of Last of the Mohicans) that had made his earlier work so stimulating.…