Screen Noir

  The Year is 2019. The Avengers have won. DC is almost nowhere to be seen and the Dark Universal Monsters Universe has hopefully been lost somewhere in the black sea. Wait... What is that? Is that a monster movie?? Is that Japans great lizard/Americanised cousin? Yes. Yes it is and he's here to show the world what he's made of! While first reading this you'll most likely be saying 'Wait. stop. Isn't that the Godzilla movie which critics are panning and hasn't scraped the box office??? Well on a technical level you'd be right, but sit right there and let me riff a little here; Godzilla: King of the monsters takes a giant radioactive step from the world of 2014's first outing for the new Godzilla and actually shows more than 8 minutes (No really go back and see just how much he's in the film...) of the big green not referring to Mark Ruffalo but japan's own green wrecking machine. Godzilla is king. Especially in terms of monster brawls and I can...

Faster than a speeding locomotive, than a speeding bullet and yes, fastly becoming a refreshingly fun forward step into the light for the DC universe. Thanks a good deal to Zachary Levi and his whimsical childlike wonder approach to being thrust into the world of heroism, and a large part also to the younger cast helping him flourish. Shazam! Brings while nothing greatly new to the landscape, something almost bizarrely new to the DCEU... humour, wonder and a sheer entertainment focused driven roll through another side of the usually bleak universe! While yes some lore plods along at the start, the momentum moves quickly as Billy Batson, split from his mother at a young age is desperate to find the family he lost. Along the path he finds himself passed from foster home to foster home, dealing with the usual troubles of coming of age(which is very much the overall tone of the film) one such incident leads him to a dashing escape and somehow lands him in the dark and mysterious cave of th...

Christopher Nolan is back. Cinematography's dark knight feels well at home with the gritty and grim setting that is the beaches of Dunkirk. Historically tuned to tell us the story of an army in despair abandoning the continent already aflame to war as the German army pushes both the English and the french towards the sea. This film isn't about one central character but the character of the soldier who still fights when winning is no longer an option but survival is very much the morale and more crucial victory. From the films opening moments of unsettling silence on a french street to the windswept harsh cold of a dull beached out collection of sullen faced men the tone is deafening of defeat, and yet a film so full of despair it's clear the message of the film is very much hope. From the valiant efforts of a three man RAF patrol running low on fuel who'll do whatever it takes to stand where they still can, a group of civilian requisitioned boats sent to the jaws of wa...

Baz Luhrmann is back and proving yet again that there is no one else like him for pushing the stars of modern cinema to the forefront of blinding lights, musical extravaganzas and glamorous set pieces. Nick Carraway begins our journey as he reflects on the lavish story of Jay Gatsby a man who pulls Nick into a world he'd never imagined he'd ever see. While the ridiculously expensive parties and foaming champagne hide Gatsby away, Nick finds himself slowly accommodating to his new quaint home next to the mysterious billionaire but his life begins to follow en suite when he realizes that everyone in this world is lavish and over the top. From his cousin Daisy, to her polo-famous husband Tom Buchanan and his Mistress to the seductive Jordan Baker, it seems everyone in the world he's adsorbed into is beyond the board and hides the truth behind layers and layers of secrets. The king of secrets arrives however when an invitation arrives from a Jay Gatsby to one of his grand scale...

Cruise is back doing what comes naturally. No, not impossible missions, this time round Cruise is back on Sci-fi but instead of running from crimes he already commit in the future(How long has it been now since minority report?) he finds himself the maintenance man of a post-apocalyptic earth in 2077. Jack Harper is technician #49 of a group specifically tasked with keeping Earth's remaining defences up and running, alongside partner Victoria he awaits the coming full transportation to the new human colony on Titan. Being one of the last to leave Earth, both are anxious about the final few days of maintenance before they can finally leave the blue planet behind them, though for different reasons. While Victoria is increasingly eager to start a new life, something digs at Jack who still relates some connection to the planet no matter how void of life. It's only after a crashed pod brings an echo of human life back to earth that Jack ...

Not the first trip back to Oz but the most well announced arrival of the wizard who happens to look best in green. Oz the great and powerful is the film which tells the story of a petty conman travelling as a small time magician, who finds himself transported to the world Oz via a tornado collision. After a crash landing, the conman finds himself face to face with Theodora herself a witch, who believes the man in front of her is none over than the prophesied wizard who will save them from the wicked and dark forces lurking in the shadows. Promised all the gold in the fabled Emerald City, Oz sets about on a journey up the yellow brick road, though when it comes to sitting the throne Thedora's sister Evenora informs the would be wizard that if he really wants the throne, he'll have to defeat the wicked witch. With greed in abundance, Oz sets out to earn his gold but along the way both the companions he makes and the trials he faces shape him into something that resembl...

As the border of Mexico becomes the target of the unsavy bunch of new comers to town up to a suspicious deal of whispers and murdering, all the way in Las Vegas an FBI operation to transport drug cartel boss Gabriel Cortez goes horribly wrong and sees him speeding his way into the sunset at the helm of a supped up Chevrolet Corvette. Meanwhile,  Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Sheriff Ray Owens the man at the centre of the small rural town of Sommerton, though he hasn't always been the quaint local sheriff. With a past in the high octane life of an LAPD officer, Sheriff Owens finds some of his former type of customers speeding his way towards Sommerton and organising a welcoming party in the way only Arnie could, a large hail storm of bullets and a side dish of ceremonious explosions followed promptly by some back breaking physical strikes. Sheriff Owens rallies his deputies, makes a stand and awaits the speeding bullet and you can be sure the Sheriff is out...

Based on real life events though largely shaded with some wistful imagination, Zero Dark Thirty recounts the events after September 11th and the man hunt for America's most wanted terrorist, Osama Bin Laden. As an agent of the CIA, a woman named Maya has spent her time in the agency looking into Intel about the infamous terrorist leader, however she finally starts to make an impact when her inquisitive mind is shipped to Pakistan. After discovering the existence of a private courier who personally delivers messages to and from Bin Laden, Maya finds herself at the front of America's biggest man hunt and the only one with any real solid information. Maya has to push both the CIA and her supervisors for what she believes is the golden opportunity to finally track down and bring him in, the only question remaining is can the CIA move fast enough before that opportunity disappears. Jessica Chastain is the life and soul of the film with central character Maya, a woman who is ...

Django Unchained sees the return of film maestro, Quentin Tarantino, this time he turns his camera to the genre of Spaghetti westerns alongside the trials and tribulations of slavery. Doctor King Schultz (Cristoph Waltz), a bounty hunting German by trade finds himself searching the wild west for a group of run away villains and overssers, the Brittle brothers though with no real leads he finds himself someone who might know where they are.  Coming across the group of slavers, our hero's journey begins as Schultz frees Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave sold only recently after trying to flee with his wife. Understanding Django to know the brothers by sight, he offers his terms as such if Django aims him in finding the Brittle brothers he'll allow Django to walk away as a free man. With Little choice Django agrees to help though as the pair find themselves bonding and the Brittle brothers bounty lies safely in their belonging, Schultz sees the potential of young Django and makes an...

Adapted from Victor Hugo's well known epic and the hit stage musical which over the years has made a huge impact. Les Miserables follows Jean Valjean a prisoner condemned for stealing a loaf of bread in an attempt to help his sisters starving family, has spent nineteen slaving away under the watchful eye of Inspector Javert. When his time as a free man finally comes forth Javert reminds Valjean that despite what he thinks is freedom, he'll where the crimes of his conviction until the day he dies, true enough Valjean finds a harsh world waiting for an ex-convict. At his lowest Valjean attempts to return to the very method of survival which condemned him, by stealing from an elderly priest and the only one who tries to help Valjean. Caught with the priests silver he is thrown down to his mercy, yet the priest looks at Valjean with only kindness instead increasing the bundle which Valjean already has possession of. Years pass and now known as Monsieur Madeline, Javert has built ...

A roaring black comedy from the same man behind In Bruges, Martin McDonagh and the same camera stealing jaw of Colin Farrell in the front. Struggling screenwriter Marty talks to his friend Billy about the perils of making a successful script which includes stepping into the mind of the psychopaths of the world. While Marty sets about ideas of Vietnamese priests seeking revenge, Billy who's own profession is kidnapping dogs and picking up a fetching reward for their recovery has a more plausible suggestion to get his pal back on track, well as much on the right track as a script about psychopaths can be. Putting an add in a local paper including Marty's address and subtitled 'Psychopaths wanted' things get complicated, though at the same time the new Shitzu puppy Billy snatched turns out to be the beloved dog of local insane mobster Charlie. Marty, Billy and another lovable rouge in the shape of Hans and his necktie collection find t...

When one particular uneventful morning in Hobbiton, or more importantly within the green hills of the Shire and at the oval door of a quite unlikely hobbit, a rather unexpected Journey began. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys his second breakfast as much as the next hobbit and likes nothing more than his own company and a book beside the fire place in Bag End, so when Gandalf the Grey an infamous and mischievous wizard appears on his porch offering an adventure of a life time Bilbo flat out refuses and offers the wizard the best and a good morning. Though as tea time comes around, Mr Baggins finds himself welcoming a host of quite uninvited and bizarre group of Dwarves, 13 to be precise all arriving on the whim of Gandalf, believing that our dear Mr Baggins is actually a burglar and again urging him into the ensuing dangerous journey. While he persists that a Baggins of Bag End has no want for adventure when the final calling comes Bilbo finds himself signing a contract and runnin...

Beat cops, Brian Taylor and Mike Zavala are considered the heroes of the LAPD with their ongoing actions and the amount of heroics they can occasionally bring to the department, while at the same time both prove that they have more to offer than the red and blue calling in life, love and family. Though as Superior Hauser is always reminding the thrill seeking partners that hubris can be a dangerous thing after rescuing infants from a burning house, coming face to face with the big man of crime and surviving minor shoot outs Taylor and Zavala appear to think they're invincible. It's when the two hot headed heroes find a small weapons cache after a little digging, the pair have little heed for the danger that lies ahead. When the gangs start to realize the potential threat they pose, the days of dishing out parking tickets and neighborly disputes seem like a godsend as what seems like the whole of Los Angeles seedy underbelly is out for their blood. Undoubt...

An emotionally eye opening film as well as visually, Life of Pi embraces both a strong narrative and superb style of filming to make it one of the stand out points in a year full of already memorable films. The film follows the book by Yann Martel closely in which a young man by the name of Piscine Molitor Patel, named after a swimming pool in France though he later comes to abbreviate it to 'Pi', growing up peacefully in India, Pi finds himself searching for the meaning of life by taking up not one but three different religions. In all he finds a piece of tangible meaning and helps further his view of the deepening of the meaning of life, continuing a relatively normal life for a young boy named Piscine whose family owns a Zoo, Pi deals with issues of love, religion and family. It's when his family are forced into a financial corner and find themselves having to move the entire Zoo full of animals that Pi ends up on a journey of both spiritual and physical challenge whe...

Ben Affleck proves again he's as good a scribe off camera as he is in front of it, from his success with The Town Affleck decides to take on story loosely based on real life events. When a U.S Embassy in Tehran is ambushed and taken over, a small group of would be captives escape and hide out with a Canadian ambassador still within Iran. Meanwhile back in America, the CIA struggle with several vauge and crazed ideas (one including sending in bicycles) to try and get the six escapee Americans out of Iran in one piece. In steps CIA specialist Toby Mendez brought in to help consult the ideas on show, while he points out all routes so far explored are too far flawed he admits he himself sees no effective substitute. Answering all his prayers Mendez catches Battle of the Planet of the Apes on television late one night and instantly hatches a miraculous yet outrageous plan. Rallying a team of a Hollywood make up artist and a producer to put together a p...

 This year marks the 50 th anniversary of the Bond franchise and to celebrate hitting our screens as James Bond is Daniel Craig In Skyfall. Splitting off from the arc which crossed Casino Royale to Quantum of Solace, Skyfall sees Bond far from his best and coming to terms with a changing world where enemies aren't nations at war but shadows in the dark. Bond's relationship with M is put to the test and as a new threat makes a personal attack on MI6, both look inward with M looking back on her past in Military Intelligence and past decisions. Both Bond and M are on the edge of being pushed aside, though neither are prepared to sizzle out and fade away, Bond aims to earn back his licence to kill and M's respect by searching in the shadows for the sinister Silva, a journey which takes him from Istanbul to shanghai and even deep into the London Underground. Daniel Craig takes on a third mission as Bond after taking the helm from Pierce Brosnan in 2006, his brutal yet p...

So Liam Neeson is back and doing what he apparently does best searching and destroying. Bryan Mills is off on a bodyguard detail in Istanbul for a stint while his ex family sits safe and sound in the USA. Of course, going through some difficult times with the new husband, ex Mrs Mills, Lenore and daughter Kim decide to surprise Bryan before he heads home.  Though with Bryan Mills a quick brush of sun can't happen without a gun being pointed at him or his daughter, this time round a lavish dinner turns into kidnapping with both himself and Lenore the targets. Realizing his nemesis this time round is grieving father of his previous punching bags, he's in for a tricky one in getting out of the deep end. Speaking of deep ends, daughter Kim's rejuvenation by the pool is cut short when the father must make a disciple of his child if he is to escape and save his wife's life. Together Bryan and Kim must set about to crashing across Istanbul before time runs out wit...

As far as video game movies go, Resident Evil has never really been at the top of that list. We start off where Afterlife ended, with Alice and co under attack from a newly replenished force of Umbrella Corporation goons and what tries to be a stylish use of filming techniques coupled with a tedious ten minute flashback of the previous films. Captured by umbrella, Alice awakens in yet another science lab full of nasties but this time she finds replicas of time square, the Kremlin and segments of suburbia which have been used to test the virus on live subjects welcoming her on her escape. Led by the mysterious Ada Wong and a now friendly Wesker, Alice has to make her way through the submerged Umbrella base, fight fields of zombies, horrific Lickers and even face of against her brainwashed bestie in order to make it out alive. Elsewhere in the facility another group also led by Wesker attempts to find and rescue Alice, will any of them survive another dance with the evil, newly resurrect...

Life is a loop. For Loopers when the loop finally closes, it's a cause for celebration but for their future selves 30 years away it means game over. A Looper kills whoever appears in front of them and eventually that means themselves, sent back through time by mobsters as in 2074 bodies are to hard to get rid of its an easy buck for an average kind of killer. Joe a Looper from 2044 finds his faith in the job wavering when his friend Seth let's his loop run(letting his older self escape) and he hands him in to keep his stash of silver. Though when a spree of loops start closing in quick succession Joe finds himself face to face with himself, overpowered by his future self his loop runs. Present Joe sets out to close his loop and save his life while future Joe wants to stop the villainous future Rainmaker who causes a world wide spread of chaos. Present Joe soon realizes he'll do anything to keep his life while his other self has the same revelation selfshness and desperation...

For a film so quiet in procedure the presentation is pretty damn loud giving us an American crime thriller the likes that hasn't been done so low key yet intensely gripping in a long while. When a high-stakes poker game is robbed by two armed gunmen, Jackie Cogan is sent to clean up the mess and find out who's responsible. While the thieves Frankie and Russell are celebrating their achievements unaware of Cogan's presence and the holder of the game, Markie Trattman's who previously robbed one of his own games violent encounter. Soon Frankie realizes the situation he's gotten himself into, the serious rate of return those he robbed want and aware that time is running short for him and everyone else involved. What seems like at first a dream way out of a poor and shady life changes into a tragic demise as Cogan himself sets out to even the score. With thieves, killers and contacted hit-men all out to in full force, the key thing for all of them is the fact that it...