Can there be such a thing as too much Matt Damon? No, of course not – what a crazy thing to even ask! But should you not have a million hours in the day, and short of some Doctor Who-esque jiggery-pokery with timey-wimey, it’s unlikely you do, and Continue Reading
Movies
The short and the short of it: The touching ghoulishness of Tombes & Manèges (Tombs and Rides)
With Halloween approaching, we’re reminded that the world can often be a dark and scary place. But as this charming short film, Tombes & Manèges (Tombs and Rides), made by the students of Isart Digital School in Paris, makes gloriously clear, it is also full of wonder, love and Continue Reading
Movie review: The Martian
There are many things that Hollywood loves, but chief among them surely must be an inspirational story about a brave and capable hero who takes on impossible odds and succeeds. It’s a theme that crops up again and again in a myriad of film genres, and generally garners the Continue Reading
Poster me this! The Flash (season 2), Sisters, Zootopia
I am a poster addict, a lover of visual promotion to an insanely devoted degree. There’s something so evocative about the messages conveyed by beautifully-crafted posters, and yes their sheer beauty. I could look at them all day long but of course that would defeat the purpose of the posters Continue Reading
This is not a simulation: The intense trailer for sci fi thriller 400 Days
SNAPSHOT Four astronauts sent on a simulated mission to a distant planet to test the psychological effects of deep space travel. Locked away for 400 days, the crew’s mental state begins to deteriorate when they lose all communication with the outside world. Forced to exit the ship, they discover Continue Reading
The Visit and other “accidental” horror films by Ari Mattes (curated article)
The Visit (2015), directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is one of the best of the “found footage” / mockumentary horror films that have proliferated in popular cinema in recent years (including Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, to be released October 22). Shyamalan is, regardless of the general banality of Continue Reading
Mickey Mouse battles his car in new fun-filled cartoon, “Shifting Gears”
Mickey Mouse, the pioneer and the pride of Disney’s animation powerhouse, is back in the short form cartoon business and the results are nothing less than marvellous. A pleasing mix of cutting edge animation and retro look and feel, the cartoons have been playing on The Disney Channel as 3 Continue Reading
Movie review: The Visit
On the whole, grandparents usually fare quite fare in stories. Think Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother or any one of the thousands of cosy nannas and granpas who populate Hallmark movies. They bake cookies, they beam with welcoming saint-like happiness, and they indulgently let their grandchildren do all the things Continue Reading
Happy birthday *and* Merry Christmas Charlie Brown: USPS honours Peanuts with new stamps series
One very good thing about a lifetime spent with Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the gang is that you have a treasure house of special memories stored away. Without much effort, I can recall how I used to gather up pecan nuts from across the street in my primary school Continue Reading
Darth Vader and Frodo: Star Wars vs. Lord of the Rings fan-made teaser trailer
If you think Frodo had his hands full with Sauron and his black power-obsessed minions, then ponder how busy he, Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf and assorted other Hobbits might have been if Darth Vader had decided to invade the fair lands of The Shire and its neighbours? Might have been Continue Reading