Film Review: Doctor Strange

Directed by Scott Derrickson, Doctor Strange is the fourteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It follows a brilliant but arrogant surgeon named Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) who, after his career is destroyed, goes on a journey of physical and spiritual healing. Under the tutelage of a mystic known as the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), Doctor Strange is drawn into the world of the mystic arts, as he trains to become a powerful sorcerer. Taught to defend the world against evil, he soon finds himself facing one of the Ancient One’s former students, Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen).

New Trailer for TIFF15’s ‘Every Thing Will Be Fine’

(Written for Filmoria)

Set to make its North American premiere at TIFF 2015 in a few weeks time, the first trailer for Wim Wenders’ drama Every Thing Will Be Fine has been released this week.

The trailer and the plot synopsis for this are both pretty spoiler-filled since the events of the film are centred around quite a pivotal moment, so if you’d like to know as little as possible, then I’ll just tell you that the film will screen at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival this September, and it certainly looks worth the watch when it finally hits our cinema screens.

TV Review: True Detective (Sky Atlantic) – Season Two

We’ve all been anticipating the new series of True Detective for two very different reasons – 1) because the first ended on such a fantastic high, unexpectedly blowing our minds episode after episode, and 2) because we wanted to see if the new casting would work.

True Detective may be ‘back’, but everything is brand new; the characters, the story, and even the city.

Taking a new setting in the brightly lit landscape of Chicago, in a fictional town called Vinci, we are introduced to the separate (yet slowly intertwining lives) of three cops – Colin Farrell’s compromised Detective Ray Velcoro, Taylor Kitsch‘s highway patrolman and ex-serviceman Paul Woodrugh, and Rachel McAdams‘ sex, booze, and gambling-loving Ani Bezzerides – and a mobster who is trying to move into legitimate enterprise after the murder of a business partner – Vince Vaughn‘s Frank Semyon.

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‘True Detective’ Season 2 Episode 8 Review – ‘Omega Station’

(Written for Filmoria)

The second series of HBO’s True Detective has been incredibly hit and miss; it took it’s time to pick up the pace and get us interested in the new characters, but there were enough big moments of action and intriguing drama to keep us coming back. But it all came down to this finale.

‘True Detective’ Season 2 Episode 7 – TV Review

(Written for Filmoria)

As we reach the penultimate episode of True Detective, the series finally shows us what it was capable of all along. With only one week left, everything takes a step up with ‘Black Maps and Motel Rooms’, from the writing to the performances, to a killing-off that will leave you feeling more engaged with the series than you have felt in all of the other episodes combined.

‘True Detective’ Season 2 Episode 6 – TV Review

(Written for Filmoria)

When an episode starts with every warning going, you know that it’s going to be good. ‘Church in Ruins’ takes its time, but the final 20 minutes are some of the most haunting yet suspense-filled moments of TV that you will have seen since… well, the last series of True Detective.

‘True Detective’ Season 2 Episode 5 – TV Review

(Written for Filmoria)

After an uneven start to the new series of True Detective, ‘Other Lives’ is probably the most satisfying episode yet.

We knew that after last week’s suspense-filled ending that the leading trio wouldn’t be left in a good place, but did you expect it to move forward quite this sudden and dramatically?

True Detective: Season 2 Episode 4 – TV Review

(Writen for Filmoria)

This week’s explosive episode, ‘Down Will Come‘, gets the pace of second series of True Detective back up to speed, as we’re left with a heap of dead bodies and only three detectives left standing. Nothing is going to be the same after this, that’s for sure, as the three leads in the series find themselves in a situation that isn’t going to be easy to get out of.

True Detective: Season 2 Episode 3 – TV Review

(Written for Filmoria)

After last week’s unexpected cliffhanger, this week’s episode of True Detective had a lot to answer for. But, as we all predicted, everything wasn’t as it originally seemed and, fortunately, there haven’t been any character cut-off’s just yet.

True Detective: Season 2 Episode 1 – TV Review

(Written for Filmoria)

We’ve all been anticipating the new series of True Detective for two very different reasons – 1) because the first ended on such a fantastic high, unexpectedly blowing our minds episode after episode, and 2) because we wanted to see if the new casting would work.

Top 5 Most Romantic Nicholas Sparks Moments

(Written for Filmoria)

In anticipation for the upcoming adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, we’ve decided to take a look at five of the most romantic moments in the film versions of his work so far.

Directed by George Tillman Jr., with screenplay by Craig Bolotin, The Longest Ride is an adaptation of Sparks’ 17th romance novel of the same name, which was originally published in 2013. The film, set to be released on 19th June, stars Britt Robertson and Scott Eastwood in the leads, and follows a young couple who witness a car crash involving an older man, whose lives intertwine as he reflects back on a past love.

3 New Images of Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace in ‘Passion’

(Written for HeyUGuys)

Rachel McAdams (The Vow) and Noomi Rapace (Prometheus) feature in the five new images for Brian De Palma’s erotic thriller, Passion, which have been released this week on Toronto International Film Festival’s official website as the film was added to their Galas and Special Presentations line-up.

Film Review: Sherlock Holmes – A Game of Shadows

(Published on BritScene and in Issue 5 of my publication In Retrospect)

Directed by Guy Ritchie, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is the sequel to the 2009 film based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective character.

Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law reprise their roles as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson as they begin investigating a series of seemingly unrelated terrorist attacks. Shortly after Watson’s wedding with Mary (Kelly Reilly), Sherlock realises that the bombings around Europe are part of a plan to foment war between France and Germany. With the help of Sherlock’s brother Mycroft (Stephen Fry) as well, the duo team up with gypsy woman Madame Simza (Noomi Rapace) to bring down the evil Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), who, to make matters even more tense, has poisoned Sherlock’s ex-wife Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams).

9 New Clips for ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’

(Written for BritScene)

Earlier this week we gave you a first look at Stephen Fry’s character in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Well now you can see him in action, along with eight other clips for Guy Ritchie‘s detective sequel.

Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law reunite as the world’s most famous detective Sherlock Holmes and side-kick Dr Watson in their latest action-packed adventure.

Film Review: Midnight In Paris

(Read this in my publication In Retrospect – Issue 3 and in my student newspaper, Flex.)

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Midnight In Paris premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and has since been a global box office success. Written and directed by Woody Allen, the romantic comedy-fantasy explores the theme of nostalgia, reflecting back on the Golden era of the 1920s which leads one man to question whether these illusions of the past are better than the present one he is facing.

Gil (Owen Wilson), a writer struggling to finish his first novel, travels to Paris for a break away from his Hollywood life with his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents, John (Kurt Fuller) and Helen (Mimi Kennedy). After arguing with his fiancée one night, Gil begins to roam the streets of Paris when an old-fashioned car pulls up and the passengers inside ask him to join them. Gil finds himself at what seems to be a 1920’s themed party, but he soon begins to recognise that the company around him consists of his literary and artistic idols, including that of F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston), Zelda Fitzgerald (Alison Pill), Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll) and Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates). Gil has been transported to the 1920s, an era which he admires and decides to return to at midnight every night in order to find inspiration for his novel, and maybe something a little more from the stunning Adriana (Marion Cotillard).