Thursday 1 December 2022

TRAILER: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - Starring Harrison Ford

 


Harrison Ford returns as the legendary hero archaeologist in the highly anticipated fifth installment of the iconic “Indiana Jones” franchise, which is directed by James Mangold (“Ford v Ferrari,” “Logan”). 

Starring along with Ford are Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”), Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”), John Rhys-Davies (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”), Shaunette Renee Wilson (“Black Panther”), Thomas Kretschmann (“Das Boot”), Toby Jones (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”), Boyd Holbrook (“Logan”), Oliver Richters (“Black Widow”), Ethann Isidore (“Mortel”) and Mads Mikkelsen (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”). 

Directed by James Mangold, the film is produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Simon Emanuel, with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas serving as executive producers. John Williams, who has scored each Indy adventure since the original "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 1981, is once again composing the score.


TRAILER: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts - Directed by Steven Caple Jr. and starring Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback

Returning to the action and spectacle that have captured moviegoers around the world, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a ‘90s globetrotting adventure with the Autobots and introduce a whole new breed of Transformer – the Maximals – to the existing battle on earth between Autobots and Decepticons.

Directed by Steven Caple Jr. and starring Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback, the film arrives in cinemas June 2023

Wednesday 30 November 2022

REVIEW: Smile (2022) - Starring Sosie Bacon and Jessie T. Usher

Review by Jon Donnis
I have been wanting to watch Smile for a while, but just not gotten round to it until tonight. It has been a massive hit, grossing $215 million worldwide against a $17 million budget. So, with everyone and their mother seemingly enjoying it, I thought it was time I watched.

Smile is a psychological horror film written and directed by Parker Finn and based on his 2020 short film Laura Hasn't Slept, which you can watch in full below.


Sosie Bacon is stressed and overworked psychiatrist Dr. Rose Cotter, she is giving a therapy session to a PhD student Laura Weaver (Played by Caitlin Stasey, who was also in the 2020 short). Laura tells Dr Cotter how a few days prior she had witnessed the suicide of her art history professor. She tells Rose that an entity taking the form of smiling people is stalking her, and telling her she is going to die. Suddenly Laura begins screaming hysterically, and starts having a seizure. Rose quickly grabs the telephone to call for help, but when she turns around, Laura is stood there behind her, with a huge grin on her face, holding a piece of a broken plant pot, Laura then uses the shard to cut her own throat, smiling throughout, and even smiling after she has hit the floor and starts bleeding out. (really freaky moment that sets the stage for the whole film)


Later on, Rose sees another of her patients, Carl Renken (Jack Sochet) smiling at her, and he starts shouting at her and saying she (Rose) is going to die. Rose calls for the nurses to restrain him, but when she turns around, Carl was seemingly asleep the whole time!

Rose's supervisor Dr. Morgan Desai (Kal Penn) concerned for her mental health after everything she has seen and been through, decides to give Rose a week off to rest.

As time goes on Rose starts to hallucinate more, and her behaviour seems more erratic to those around her. She is invited to her Nephews birthday party, she gives him a present,. but when he opens it, it is Rose's dead cat. Rose has another mental breakdown, and hallucinates once again, seeing one of the guests grinning at her menacingly. Rose then falls onto a glass table, cutting herself in the process. I think the child's birthday was ruined at this point!


The film then revolves around Rose trying to understand what is happening to her, investigating other similar occurrences and deaths, and ultimately trying to fight against whatever or whoever it is doing this.

Sosie Bacon really is the star of this film; her performance is excellent and totally convincing. Is everything she is experiencing real, or is she just having a mental breakdown like those she has cared for?

As horror films go, this has its moments, there are quite a few jump scares, and some freaky events that will get in your head. A run time of 1 hour 50 minutes is a tad long, and they could have easily shaved off 20 minutes to get to the magic 90 minutes, but with that said the film never drags, and will keep you interested.

The visual effects are decent, nothing looks silly or over the top.


The Good
Very good performance by Sosie Bacon. A nice story, with plenty of classic horror style moments, designed to catch you off guard, and raise your heart beat. And the ending is very satisfying.

The Bad
A little too long, and Kal Penn was disappointing, considering he was the biggest name in the film. He came across as wooden and lacking character.

Overall
A high-quality psychological horror film, that ticks most of the boxes.

I score Smile a solid 8.5/10

In UK Cinemas now! And you can pre-order on Amazon Prime at https://amzn.to/3XPFCE6

SMILE is available on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™, and DVD December 26. https://amzn.to/3VVOQgq


Tuesday 29 November 2022

TRAILER: Babylon - Starring Brad Pitt & Margot Robbie


From Damien Chazelle, BABYLON is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.

Starring

Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, P.J. Byrne, Lukas Haas, Olivia Hamilton, Tobey Maguire, Max Minghella, Rory Scovel, Katherine Waterston, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Eric Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde 

BABYLON IS ONLY IN CINEMAS JANUARY 20, 2023

Monday 28 November 2022

TRAILER: Christmas in the Caribbean - Starring Elizabeth Hurley

 


Get ready for a festive escape this December with Christmas in the Caribbean, the new feature from Philippe Martinez. The inimitable Elizabeth Hurley stars as unlucky-in-love theatre critic Rachel Webb – a hopeless romantic, who thinks she’s met the one – but he turns out to be the wrong one.


Left at the altar, just before Christmas… Rachel holes up at home ready to curl up and give up… but her Mum (Stephanie Beacham), has other ideas and persuades her to round up her besties to turn what should have been her honeymoon, into the holiday of a lifetime. Landing on a dream island in the Caribbean, Rachel and her two best friends Amanda (Caroline Quentin) and Rebecca (played by Nathalie Cox who also co-wrote the film) get ready to enjoy the delights the island has to offer. The tenacious trio are determined to make this a trip to remember.

Elizabeth Hurley stars as an unlucky-in-love woman whose fortunes could be about to change in this fabulously fun-packed festive feature When they end up at the fabulous local restaurant, Rachel clicks with owner Alessandro (Edoardo Costa)… could this finally be it? But the course of love never did run smooth, particularly with Alessandro’s daughter Monica around… she has other ideas. Will Rachel finally find love with the man of her dreams?

For a festive, fun-filled British romcom take Christmas in the Caribbean it’s gonna be hot hot hot!

Released on digital 5 December - https://apple.co/3Fa3ATa