Articles + Quotes on Film & TV

A little context: when I was around ten, we got on video, three episodes of Batman: The animated series. This was my first introduction to the character of Harley Quinn, a little short on her marble collection (given her company, hardly a distinction) but clearly just as able to hold her own up against the other crazies in Gotham. Given this was the nineties and live DC heroines were limited to Batgirl, Harley Quinn became my new favourite. I decided to ignore the fact she was a villain. And while it seemed that every other DC character was given the live action treatment, this one was getting passed over each time. When the trailer for Suicide squad was released, my inner ten year old was whooping with joy, more so seeing the character come to life on the big screen - then bitterly disappointed with the rest of the film. Thanks to the combined efforts of director Cathy Yan director and writer Christina Hodson, we finally have a Harley Quinn movie that surpasses Suicide Squad in e...

Regardless if you enjoyed the two Sherlock Holmes films, or thought the new reimagining of Aladdin was exciting, or the King Arthur film was epic - nothing really gets you moving to the cinema quicker, than the thought of Guy Ritchie returning to make a proper gangster film. And thank whatever person was responsible for getting this idea to the big screen and for Mr Ritchie to get behind the camera (and on the proverbial typewriter - along with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies) because this was a great one. Great acting skills aside, what this film called for most, is screen presence. It's all well and good writing some menacing lines, but you have to be able to believe who's speaking them. And you definitely believe Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell, along with Eddie Marsan, Henry Golding and Michelle Dockery - are going to deliver on the violence coming. Along with  Jeremy Strong and Tom Wu (once again a George in a Guy Ritchie film) plus some of the other...

Despite the authorship of the book this is based on being by the combined powers of Neil Gaiman and the late great Terry Pratchett, this has a strong whiff of the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy - something Neil Gaiman himself commented on in an interview. Given the strong (funny, entertaining) material in the book, all that was really needed was the cut, copy and paste option for the script, and a strong cast to bring the characters to life. (Plus a few special effects, music and fancy camera work.) And Frances McDormand to narrate the whole thing, as God. Because, really, who else can master that? Enter David Tennant and Michael Sheen, who portray the demon Crowley and angel Aziraphale respectively. They clearly had a ball making this, both devour their roles with obvious glee and their scenes together are an absolute delight. (So, if someone else can team these two up for something, hurry up please!) The story, told in six episodes, centres on the end of the world, and th...

Back in 1843, almost two hundred years ago, Charles Dickens wrote and had published a book named A Christmas carol. Like his other works, it opened the eyes of its readers to the plight of the poor, the downtrodden, disenfranchised, elderly, sick and oppressed. While Victorian England was the age in which many good works were done to alleviate people's suffering, there was a lot of suffering for all those who weren't privileged to own property or vote. Selling out overnight, it forever established its story of how we view Christmas, with the snow and holly (regardless of which hemisphere we live in) and the characters of Scrooge and Tiny Tim, along with their famous phrases: 'Humbug!' and 'God bless us everyone.' It is a joyous tale, with redemption, love, family and friendship. Fast forward to 2019 and we now have a three part adaptation of the tale, created by Steven Knight, with Guy Pearce as the main character. Very much a no frills edition, this...

I saw this film last week and I am still thinking about it. A good film should keep you wondering about the subject matter and this was a great film. Taika Waititi has done this before, made the child the protagonist in his films and explored on a deep level the experiences that can make us stumble as adults and somehow make us laugh at the same time. In this film, the protagonist is a ten year old in Nazi Germany. Like others, he has become deeply committed to the third reich and his imaginary friend is Hitler himself (portrayed here too by Mr Waititi - the Hitler imagined by a ten year old is a new one) but finds himself questioning the ideals pressed on him when he discovers a young Jewish girl hiding in his attic. Mr Waititi, pulling off the ultimate double hat trick as director, writer and actor. He strikes the rare and perfect balance at finding the farce in the lunacy of the Nazi regime and the heartbreak of the realities of what war does, to the community and to people. ...

This film doesn't just surpass the previous two on quality, it stands alone as a pretty damn good film all round. First off, depth. There is a lot more going on plot wise and the characters are imperfect bad asses who all each grow and develop meaningfully over the course of the film. Second, humour. We're not relying solely on sight gags, though those come into play too and everyone has quite a few one liners up their sleeves. Plus Elizabeth Banks well and truly pulls of the great hat trick of director, writer and actor, sneaks in some fun in gags. Ella Balinska, Naomi Scott and Kristen Stewart are the main angels of the film, each of them clearly having a ball with the film, though Ms Stewart is my favourite for straight up humour and relishing the role. Someone put her in another comedy, stat. All in all, a great film that is also a lot o fun.

Ever since I heard about this series, including casting of the title character, I was pretty damn excited. While previous films have had Ruby Rose playing second fiddle to John Wick, Xander Cage and the like, this one puts her squarely in the centre and the series is all the better for it. Ms Rose has definite screen presence and the attitude to match, so her casting as Kate Kane - Batwoman, is an absolute joy. The usual suspects (brought us Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl) are behind the camera and they have clearly learned from experience what works in storytelling of a story that originated in the comics and bringing it forward to the screen. There are some well rounded supporting characters, including the villain of the hour - I've said it once and I'll say it again - when you have a properly intriguing villain with real intentions and storyline: the whole series overall is improved a hundred fold. I've watched the first three episodes thus far and they have been ...