Film Review: Slender Man

"For Those Who Hear The Three Bell, Accept His Invitation..."

Based upon the infamous fictional, supernatural figure which began life as an internet meme created by Eric Knudsen back in 2009, Slender Man, directed by French filmmaker, Sylvain White, brings the character to life upon the big screen after time well spent within both the video game format and inspired-by low-budget movies including Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story in 2015 in which Doug Jones of Pan's Labyrinth fame portrayed a character with familiar lanky body features. With a focus on attempting to mould the titular character into a somewhat cranky and generic storytelling facade with a staggeringly obvious point of reference being strangely aimed at Ringu and the subsequent American remake, The Ring, Slender Man is a complete and utter failure of horror cinema, a movie which seems to not bother at all in adding believable characters and instead uses the film's youthful cast as cardboard cut-outs in order for the action to instead focus more so on baffling imagery and ridiculously over-cooked jump scares which all take place upon a colour palette which was so unbelievably dark that I had to check whether there was enough room in the film's budget for the lighting department. As you may be able to tell, Slender Man is utter pants. 

After a group of young friends decide to summon the mythical man himself, a character designed in the film as a somewhat CGI hybrid of The Silence from Doctor Who and a wooden artist manikin, it comes at no surprise whatsoever that the quartet of buzz-induced younglings begin to experience strange, nightmarish visions of the suit-wearing being of whom they attempted to contact in the first place. Cue meaningless cattle-prod scares, awful dialogue and wacky dream sequences, White's movie tries to blend the youthful sensibility of a film such as It with a much darker, ice-cold tone, but with a complete absence of empathy for the leading cast who conform unsurprisingly to the a-typical horror movie cannon fodder, the audience spends ninety minutes anticipating the arrival of the titular villain but quickly become bored to death due to a complete lack of threat and belief in anything which happens on screen. With a concluding act which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, the film ends leaving an awfully scented taste in the mouth regarding what might have been for the film in the hands of better filmmakers, and even with the use of Funkadelic's brilliant "Maggot Brain" on the soundtrack, Slender Man is the worst type of horror movie possible, a generic, wasteful, and utterly bland sludge-fest with very little redeeming features worthy of anyone's time. 

Overall Score: 3/10

TV Review: Castle Rock - Series One Episode Seven "The Queen"

"God Helps Those Who Help Themselves..."

Continuing on from the double dose of cliffhangers which concluded last week's return to form, Castle Rock utilises an hour length episode this week to expand and develop Sissy Spacek's Ruth Deaver, a character whose shadowy spectrum within the background of events so far comes full circle as we come to understand the true nature of her mental infliction which the likes of Alan and Henry have come to deduce as a simply case of Alzheimer's, but one which instead lends itself more into the paranormal and surreal, with particular previous character behaviours within the series all becoming increasingly clear. With "The Queen" undoubtedly the most impressive episode of the series so far in terms of its' beautiful storytelling, sharp pacing and heartbreaking twists and turns, this week's episode was also the most King-esque to be offered up so far, an hours worth of paranormal imagery overshadowed by a haunting, creeping tone and a brooding, ominous soundtrack which clearly echoed a wide range of previous King related projects in which the series has taken heed from. 

With Ruth's ability to travel through the vortex of time itself made abundantly clear, resulting in last week's strangely odd conversation regarding the importance of the missing chess pieces within her house now making total sense, the hour we spend watching Ruth as she traverses the echoes of her past memories is truly beautiful to behold, with the chance to add a deeper layer of characterisation to the likes of Deaver's over-bearing and unstable religious father figure brilliantly orchestrated whilst in the present, the true nature of The Kid seems to unravel itself with a heartbreaking resolution as Ruth attempts to rid herself of her reincarnated demons. With nods to The Shining in which we see Ruth battle through a very Gold Room-esque party full to the rafters with echoes of the dead and an absolutely stunning use of Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight" as seen in the likes of the equally beautiful Arrival previously, "The Queen" was a powerfully emotive and undenaibly creepy addition into a series which continues to impress the more it goes on, an episode which bears similarities to "Kiksuya" from Westworld by showing that even when taking the time to focus strictly on one character, such storytelling can be a real beautiful thing to behold. 

Overall Episode Score: 9/10

Film Review: BlacKkKlansman

"We Think You Might Be The Man To Open Up Things Around Here..."

With a staggeringly eclectic back catalogue which ranges back a whopping thirty five years, director Spike Lee knows a thing or two about film-making, and whilst recent projects from the influential American haven't exactly been front and centre of the cinematic spotlight, the release of BlacKkKlansman opens to a wide audience bearing high expectations after reported critical acclaim and the prestigious honour of winning the Grand Prix at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Based upon former police officer and detective Ron Stallworth's 2014 novel "Black Klansman", a written account of Stallworth's infiltration into the Ku Klux Klan during the late 1970's, Lee's movie undoubtedly lives up to expectations, a staggeringly powerful and entertaining multi-layered drama which sees John David Washington, son of Denzel Washington, as the cocky, undenaibly likeable, Afro-wearing Stallworth who persuades his superiors within the Colorado Springs Police Department to be placed undercover alongside Adam Driver's (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) Detective Flip Zimmerman in order to gain access into the secretive local Klan led by Topher Grace's (Interstellar) unbelievably racist and anti-Semitic, Grand Wizard, David Duke.

Mixing comedy with police procedural drama alongside an overarching political cornerstone which not only emphasises the race-relations issues of the 1970's period setting but the state of the United States political spectrum today, BlacKkKlansman combines the harsh, dangerous perils of undercover policing seen in the likes of The Departed and Eastern Promises with a constant stream of rib-tickling satirical gags as it moves deftly through its' two hour plus runtime with considerable ease and a gloriously well-mannered pace. With Lee relishing the chance to emphasise the racial undertones to alarming degrees, the movie's obscenely vile character's are as hateful as the heroes of the piece are joyful to be around, with Washington, Driver and Laura Harrier (Spider-Man: Homecoming) as Patrice all on the top of their game in their attempts to create three dimensional, believable personalities, each with their own personal sufferings and crusades. With Lee's skilful eye orchestrating a number of superb set pieces, including a heartbreaking juxtaposition between an old man's tale of murder and the KKK applauding to a screening of D. W. Griffith's 1915 controversial picture, The Birth of a Nation, BlacKkKlansman is undoubtedly Lee's best movie for over a decade, a stunning work of blended drama which barely puts a foot wrong. 

Overall Score: 8/10

Film Review: Journeyman

"When I Come Back Through That Door I'm Still Gonna Be Champion Of The World..."

With boxing continuing to be the most visceral and cinematic sport to be successfully transferred onto the big screen in favour of others who have valiantly tried and failed, sometimes rather woefully in fact, that's right Goal!, I'm looking at you, Paddy Considine's second swing at directing after the critically acclaimed Tyrannosaur in 2011 in the form of Journeyman takes a rather well-worn format within the tradition of boxing movies whilst attempting to add a sense of genuine realism to proceedings which can be somewhat absent from the bigger, flashier Hollywood examples that audiences have been treated to in the past. Mixing together the cruel, life-changing risk of the sport seen in the likes of Bleed For This and Million Dollar Baby with an independent, Ken Loach-esque sensibility, Journeyman works best when the film pulls on the heartstrings in a way which fails to feel either saccharin sweet or cheap, and whilst the pacing and drawn-out nature of the movie does ultimately weaken the film as a whole even with a ninety minute runtime, Considine's second feature is a solid example of character acting at its' most dedicated. 

With Considine himself taking the lead role of Matty Burton, the recently titled middleweight champion of the world, a victory secured via default after his opponent was forced to back out of the fight, a chance for redemption and a true shot at retaining the title comes in the form of Anthony Welsh's (Black Mirror) youthful yet arrogant Andre Bryte. With the first twenty or so minutes wonderfully low-key and engaging as we our embraced in the film's attempt to juggle the relationship between Burton's relationship with his job and the personal life he has with the brilliant Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who) as wife Emma and their newborn baby, the horrifying result of Burton's fight with Bryte sets up the remaining hour in which we see Burton's transformation from joyous, caring husband and father to the unrecognisable shell which has been put in his place. With outbursts of violence, mental incapacity and a terrifying "hide and seek" game within its' brightest points, Journeyman does include the raw, realistic sensibility you'd expect from a British independent film, but with not enough push and a lack of real development come the crucial change half way through, Considine's movie is a likeable but flawed second feature. 

Overall Score: 6/10

Film Review: The Spy Who Dumped Me

"Some Bad People Are After Me And Now They're After You..."

Mixing together the comedic talents of Kate McKinnon (Ghostbusters) and Mila Kunis (Bad Moms), an actress whose sensual, dramatic performance in Black Swan feels strangely historic considering her own personal penchant for the genre of American comedy since, The Spy Who Dumped Me, directed by Susanna Fogel, a returning filmmaker with her first release since 2014's Life Partners, sees the duo as best friend partnership, Audrey and Morgan, who become embroiled in a murderous terrorist plot after being "dumped" by Justin Theroux's (Mulholland Drive) suave super spy, Drew Thayer. With McKinnon unfortunately being the type of actress who so far in her career seems to have been handed a selection of raw deals when it comes to getting the best out of her natural flair for comedy, with Ghostbusters and Office Christmas Party being no more than solid examples of the genre, the same annoyingly can be said for The Spy Who Dumped Me, a surprisingly violent and tonally manic action comedy which falls much too heavy on a reliance for gunshots and action over genuine laughs within a screenplay which makes Rampage look like the most intelligent film of the year by an elongated mile. 

With ineffective time jumps utilised at various points of the movie as an attempt to establish some form of characterisation, albeit in its' most restricted format, the movie takes no time in establishing the layout of the narrative, using awfully constructed moments of naff dialogue to exercise the inevitable exposition before resorting back to endless action set pieces which begin in enjoyable fashion but then end up becoming tedious after the cycle of the movie becomes increasingly obvious come the sixty minute mark. With the film's two hour running time overstretched by at least forty five minutes, the saving grace of the movie is ultimately its' leading female stars, with McKinnon and Kunis working expertly well as a kooky double act caught in the cross-hairs of government conspiracy and double crossing international secret agents, and with the added involvement of the always magnanimous Gillian Anderson (The X-Files), girl power at least stops the movie from falling into the black hole of awfulness it may have gone without them. With a few chuckles but no full laughs, The Spy Who Dumped Me is full-on flash without any residue of substance or memorability, but with committed performances and likeable leading stars, the end result is messy but not exactly intolerable. 

Overall Score: 5/10

TV Review: Castle Rock - Series One Episode Six "Filter"

"I Was There, In The Woods The Night You Disappeared..."

With the major news this week regarding Castle Rock being that the overwhelming success from critics and audiences alike have resulted in a second season being rightly ordered by Hulu, the jury remains out on how exactly all of the many as of yet, unsolved mysteries within the series so far will play out to a conclusion this year or will instead seep into the next batch of episodes set to come in twelve months time. Thankfully, "Filter", the sixth chapter of the series, goes a long way in attempting to break down particular narrative arcs with a bit more push in comparison to last week's slow-burning episode, with a flashier pace and a stand-out musical accompaniment resulting in one of the better episodes of the series so far, one boosted by yet another great central performance from André Holland as his character begins to understand the oddity of his ambiguous past and the origin of the strange, ringing sensation which was picked up on out of the blue during last week's episode, whilst attempting to rekindle his distant relationship with son, Wendell Deaver, as portrayed by Chosen Jacobs, a young actor famous of course for his portrayal of Mike Hanlon in last year's It. 

With most of the action focusing heavily on Deaver's own discovery into his murky and absent memories of youth, particularly in regards to his wanderings into the forest with his adopted father, the discovery of two previous associates of Deaver Sr. results in a surrealist, dream-like epiphany in an attempt to understand the "voice of God" which has supposedly manifested itself within the ringing sensation Henry has been plagued with since a child. With the twirling mix of forestry and incidental piano-based musical cues which wouldn't be astray upon the musical desk of Angelo Badalamenti, Castle Rock does seem to bear more than a fleeting resemblance to Twin Peaks the more it goes on, particularly when Sissy Spacek's Ruth is essentially a contemporary incarnation of Grace Zabriskie's mourning Sarah Palmer, and with the added straight-faced horror elements including the recurring masked spectres haunting Molly's subconscious and The Kid's continual presence within the Deaver household, the show is best when it mixes the supernatural with the sublime. Concluding with arguably the biggest cliffhanger yet, "Filter" offered a vast improvement on last week's chapter with thrilling developments, better pacing and a sudden switch into surrealism which put the series back on track. 

Overall Episode Score: 8/10

Film Review: The Festival

"I Just Want To Go Home, Have A Proper Shower And A Poo..."

Whilst the huge success of The Inbetweeners television series brought national fame in abundance to the show's leading four stars and is undoubtedly still a show which can be watched time and time again without wearing out, the transition from small screen to the cinema in the two feature length movies which followed ultimately failed to adhere to the same level of consistency which was evident in the series. Returning to similar roots once again, director Iain Morris, one of the co-creators of The Inbetweeners, re-unites with Joe Thomas in The Festival, a similarly crude, coming-of-age and undeniably British comedy which utilises the backdrop of the UK's muddy festival scene for rampart teenage mischievousness and absurd cringe-laden set pieces, and whilst Morris' latest does indeed suffer at times from a similar effect to The Inbetweeners movies by being a feature length film which stretches its' central idea a little too far and may have benefited more by remaining on the small screen, is still a thoroughly charming and exceedingly funny one hundred minutes spent in the company of talented actors who know how to present the trials and tribulations of youth in the best way possible. 

With Thomas essentially playing a lesser gelled incarnation of his character from The Inbetweeners in the form of Nick, a recently dumped, awkward graduate whose path to redemption comes in the form of a trip to an un-named festival alongside best friend, Hammed Animashaun's (Black Mirror) in an attempt to cure him of his newly found romantic blues, the opening exchanges of the movie play in a very familiar fashion, evidenced with the added inclusion of Hannah Tointon (The Inbetweeners) as Nick's love interest, with rather inappropriate sexual and bodily fluid gags all resulting in the sense of embarrassment audiences felt watching similar events on The Inbetweeners the first time around. As soon as the action begins to unfold in the titular wasteland of illegal drugs, annoying kooky campers and bass-drive music however, the scenario slightly changes for the better, adding in familiar feelings of bohemian peril for those privy to the ways and means of like-minded festivals which result in a wide range of laugh-out loud situations which are boosted by the natural chemistry between the fictional friendship between Thomas and Animashaun. When the movie does eventually begin to falter around the hour mark, resulting in a concluding forty minutes which lessen on the hit-rate of jokes and focus instead on more of a redemptive arc for the leading duo, the narrative weaknesses do unfortunately rear their heads, but thanks to the willingness of the film's leading stars to show their private parts and be thrown in mud when asked on cue, The Festival is the ideal partner to kick off the annual summer delights of warm cider and sweaty teenagers. 

Overall Score: 6/10

Film Review: The Equalizer 2

"There Are Two Kinds Of Pain In This World. The Pain That Hurts, The Pain That Alters..."

With The Equalizer 2 being the first sequel in which Denzel Washington has starred in throughout his luxurious cinematic career so far, it goes to show the trust which has been established between actor and director Antoine Fuqua, a filmmaker who reunites with Washington for the fourth time after the likes of the excellent, Oscar winning Training Day and of course 2014's The Equalizer, a film based on the 1980's American television series of the same name in which Washington's Robert McCall beats down on the evil of the world in an attempt to save the helpless and aid the innocent in the most violent ways possible. Jump forward four years later and McCall returns once again in a sequel which attempts to blend an It's A Wonderful Life style story arc with gritty, hard-edge violence, culminating in a bit-part character study riddled with rather cliched twists and a strange lifeless tone which pushes the movie forward at almost walking pace, and even with flashes of brilliance at times and Washington at his mercurial best, The Equalizer 2 is still a forgettable sequel which fails to expand upon its' predecessor in a way which warrants its' reason for existence. 

With the opening thirty minutes re-treading old ground by once again establishing McCall's "hero for hire" type to an audience who potentially may have completely missed the first movie, Richard Wenk's screenplay seems more interested in showing how McCall fits into the everyday lives of random residents of Massachusetts instead of actually delivering the promise of the film's action-packed trailer, and whilst the next thirty minutes attempt to elbow in a murder mystery subplot featuring the return of Melissa Leo's (The Fighter) Susan Plummer, Fuqua's movie never really gets going until the final act when the film remembers it is meant to be shelved within the genre of action rather than dour, dramatic nonsense. With Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones) providing the most obvious character deception seen in cinema this year, the real fireworks within the movie undoubtedly resides between Washington and Ashton Sanders (Moonlight), with McCall's patriarchal relationship to Sanders' Miles providing the best scenes of the movie, particularly one set piece in which McCall rescues Miles from a criminal-infested high-rise and emotionally spells out the tight balance between life and death. Whilst there is something within the DNA of the character of McCall which makes him undeniably watchable and interesting, The Equalizer 2 unfortunately does not carry the same sense of intrigue, resulting in Fuqua's latest being a rather stale sequel which starves both action audiences and Washington fans alike for any real sense of engagement or emotional involvement. 

Overall Score: 5/10

Film Review: Unfriended: Dark Web

"We Have To Do Something And We Have To Do It Now..."

With the release of Unfriended back in 2015 one of which here at Black Ribbon was welcomed with warm, open arms and a sense of pride that the long-standing genre of horror found-footage was beginning to explore wilder and more contemporary avenues of storytelling, a sequel was something of which that did seem rather unwarranted and strange considering the undeniable one-trick pony effect of seeing a particular gimmick once may actually be more than enough the first time around. That aside, as per the conventions of modern cinema, monetary issues undeniably talk and here we have this week, Unfriended: Dark Web, a continuation of the found footage format which sees a group of unsuspecting youths being pawns in a murderous game of technological blackmail within a sequel which this time decides to drop the supernatural element of the its' predecessor and instead focus more so on the seedier side of the web and social media with a more realistic approach, and whilst Dark Web may not be as fresh or as creepy as the body of work the movie follows on from, the latest Blumhouse Productions release is still an interesting and engaging hard-edged thriller. 

With the release of the highly entertaining Searching this month bringing the cinematic format utilised by the original Unfriended to a wider audience, it seems strange to find two releases within a short time-span to focus on stories told predominantly upon the technological screens of our leading heroes, and whilst Searching was a paranoid ridden thriller which edged towards a sense of cheesiness as it reached its' conclusion, the film's sense of danger and threat perils in comparison to Dark Web, with its' unrelenting bleakness and cold-hearted treatment of its' characters particularly cruel, harbouring a violent and dark sensibility which echoed the likes of The Belko Experiment. With a screenplay which includes a wide range of technological jargon and geeky terminology, it is to the film's credit that you never become lost or left behind as the film moves forward through plot twists and inevitable deaths, and whilst at times particular narrative resolutions aren't entirely convincing, director Stephen Susco does utilise the talents of the film's young cast to provide some solid performances which paper over the cracks which often appear, and whilst Dark Web strangely seems to leave the common jump-scare tactic of horror movies behind, its' focus on the seedy and the uncanny result in the movie being a sequel which attempts something fresh and just happens to succeed. 

Overall Score: 6/10

Film Review: The Meg

"That Thing's Out There. We Need To Find It And Kill It..."

Rushing onto the big screen and breaking the rules of conventional cinematic rules by managing to swerve away from straight-to-video bargain bucket where it undeniably belongs, everyone's favourite bald-headed Brit, Jason Statham (The Fate of the Furious) leads the cast of The Meg, a horrendously dire, B-Movie nightmare which sees Statham as Jonas Taylor, a seemingly invincible and overly irresistible rescue diver who is tasked alongside a team of awfully inane scientists to defeat the titular Megalodon, a seventy foot long murderous shark thought extinct which is released upon the world to chew upon the cannon fodder of citizens which lay in its' wake. Based upon the 1997 book "Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror" by American science fiction author, Steve Alten, The Meg fails on a comprehensive level of failing to be the type of movie which can be typecast as "so bad its' good", with the film's dire script, awful dialogue and shambolic acting performances all managing to co-exist together in a finished product which ranks up there with the worst cinema has offered up this year so far, a turgid release which makes you yearn for the sheer absurdity of Sharknado.

Whilst Jason Statham is the sort of actor whose presence is always welcome in any type of movie, his particular individual performance within The Meg is Oscar worthy in comparison to the carnival of awful side-notes which encompass the supporting cast, with the likes of Rainn Wilson (The Office), Ruby Rose (John Wick: Chapter Two) and the horrendously accented Li Bingbing (Transformers: Age of Extinction) all being handed woefully two-dimensional characters whose chemistry and comedic timing comes across utterly cringe-worthy at a range of different points during the action. With a screenplay which includes the type of dialogue where each character takes it in turn to shout obvious warnings and entirely lazy portions of tiresome exposition, The Meg seems to know the genre basis it attempts to sink its' teeth into quite clearly, but thanks to the staggeringly inadequate direction of Jon Turteltaub, a filmmaker renowned for the likes of The Sorcerers Apprentice and erm, Cool Runnings, the finished product is downright stale and unworthy of viewership, and whilst it's easy to poke fun at movies which try to be just good old fun instead of attempting to come across as the new Citizen Kane, The Meg just doesn't work at any level at all, and for a movie which happens to include the brooding baldness of Jason Statham, that's quite a startling feat in itself. 

Overall Score: 3/10

Film Review: Teen Titans Go! To The Movies

"Titans, You Guys Are Never Actually Doing Anything Heroic..."

With the success of The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie proving that poking fun at the biggest franchises in the world can be best achieved within the format of animation, DC Comics' turn at rivalling Marvel once again comes in the form of Teen Titans Go! To The Movies, a feature long adaptation of the U.S show, Teen Titans Go!, which sees the titular squad of lesser-known superheroes attempt to prove their worth in a universe surrounded by the likes of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman and lose their image of being too immature to be taken seriously as heroes. Featuring a voice cast which mixes the regulars of the television show with guest stars such as Nicholas Cage, Jimmy Kimmel and Kristen Bell, Teen Titans is an energetic mixed bag, one which does manage to successfully orchestrate a huge number of brilliant in-house gags with eye-wateringly hilarious results, but a movie which also suffers from a headache inducing sense of not entirely warranting its' cinematic status, with issues regarding the movie's screenplay, direction and tone resulting in a movie which certainly lacks the aplomb its' predecessing familiars managed to get ever so right. 

With the best animated movies satisfying both younger and adult audiences alike, Teen Titans Go! does at least attempt primarily to aim at older viewers in regards to a high percentage of the satirical gags, with comments on the shared universes from Marvel and DC alike, the awfulness of Batman Vs. Superman, and the universally accepted hatred of Shia Labeouth all managing to work to impressive comedic means, but with an over-reliance on more times than not to default back to over-zealous screaming, shouting and an awful, bubblegum pop soundtrack, Teen Titans Go! unfortunately fails to balance its' tonal control, resulting in you more likely to leave the auditorium with an excruciatingly painful headache than a gleeful rush of wishing to see the film again as quickly as possible.  With a screenplay which weaves in and out of a central story, the narrative path of the film does quickly become overly tedious and dull, resulting in watch checking a common theme as the loudness of the movie forces you to stay awake, and with an overriding sense that Teen Titans Go! should have indeed offered a lot more, the ride from screen to cinema is undoubtedly one of crippling disappointment. 

Overall Score: 5/10

TV Review: Castle Rock - Series One Episode Five "Harvest"

"I Guess Everyone Thinks They Grow Up In The Worst Place On Earth..."

With the concluding act of last week's episode of Castle Rock undoubtedly the best part of the series so far, a startling five minutes or so which expertly blended the dulcet, lucid tones of Roy Orbison with a genuinely unsettling murder spree conducted by Shawshank prison guard, Boyd, a character whose early demise seems to begun a sequence of events which flows into the mid-way mark of the series this week in an episode which puts Skarsgård's "The Kid" slap-bang in the centre of ominous in-comings after he is released into the wilderness of the titular town. Whilst "Harvest" is undoubtedly the weakest episode of the series so far, with its' slower pacing and lack of real plot movement dragging the quality of the storytelling down a couple of notches in comparison to the first four hours of the show, the halfway mark of the series is also strangely the most important, a forty five minutes which seems to continue balancing historic exposition with contemporary action without ever becoming too convoluted in a sub-Westworld sensibility and one which continues the noble art of finishing on a conclusion which leaves you gripped and ready for more. 

With the release of "The Kid" the real talking point of the episode, his psychiatric evaluation and sudden care change into the hands of Molly is paralleled with the ever-growing and literal oncoming storm of wildfire, a supposedly natural phenomenon set to embrace the town of Castle Rock after already taking lives elsewhere, one which seems to ominously foreshadow events yet to come. With the orange glow of the fire raging in the distance as the episode unfolds, kudos indeed goes to cinematographer's Richard Rutkowski and Jeff Greeley, particularly with a brilliantly executed shot in which "The Kid" overlooks Castle Rock as the screams of its' residents intersect with the sombre, Blade Runner 2049-esque backdrop which unfolds in the distance. With Easter Egg of the week undoubtedly handed to Jackie Torrance during her discussion regarding a familial connection to one axe-wielding lunatic, it's a shame therefore that "Harvest" is an episode which just didn't seem to flow as freely as the rest of the series has done so far, but with the second act of the series on its' way, Castle Rock now has to show whether it is a series which ultimately lives up to expectation or indeed falls under the heavy weight of eager King fans who already have their steely knives sharpened. 

Overall Episode Score: 6/10

Film Review: Searching

"I Didn't Know Her. I Didn't Know My Own Daughter..."

With 2015's Unfriended offering a subversive and original spin on the found footage genre of horror with great success, the same cinematic platform used within that movie returns once again in Searching, a Hitchcockian cyber-space psychological thriller which takes place completely upon the wide range of technological platforms belonging to leading star John Cho's (Star Trek Beyond) David Kim, a single father still mourning the death of his wife who attempts to solve the mystery of his daughter's recent disappearance via any means possible. Whilst many audiences may feel alienated by the claustrophobic nature of viewing events of a movie from a screen most people now continuously glare at on a daily basis, myself included, debut writer and director, Aneesh Chaganty, successfully manages to build the tension and unravel the central mystery at the heart of the drama with great aplomb, utilising well-known technological formats which not only conveys the hunt for Michelle La's Margot Kim, but also finds the time to joyfully poke fun at and satirically comment on the emptiness and shallowness of social media, and whilst Chaganty's debut does suffer slightly from a strangely artificial sensibility and a couple of hokey performances, Searching is an interesting and fun slice of cinematic guess-who. 

Beginning with historical exposition which explores the heartbreak of the Kim family and their sudden matriarchal loss brilliantly set to the backdrop of the evolution of computer systems over the past few years, Searching takes no time whatsoever in getting to the crux of the drama, with John Cho's large, selfie-style head looking continuously distraught as his daughter's disappearance brings to light hidden secrets regarding her infidelity and uneven social life in the real world when on the virtual side, everything previously seemed fine. Whilst the central mystery of Searching does contain some effective and clever narrative twists, the best parts of the movie is undoubtedly the social commentary it makes in reference to social media culture, with one scene in which a previous uncaring acquaintance of Kim's suddenly breaks down in tears in front of the media after her prolonged absence in an attempt to gain a few minutes airtime both comedic and downright depressing, a telling image of contemporary society in which physical interaction is slowly being replaced with emoji's and gifs, and whilst the movie does ultimately end in the a-typical Hollywood cheese-fest audience's have come to expect, the journey before the film's conclusion was an impressive debut from a director we should be seeing much more of in the future.

Overall Score: 7/10

Film Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp

"You Can Do It. You Can Do Anything. You're The World's Greatest Grandma..."

Tasked with being the first Marvel release to follow on from the universally accepted awesomeness of Avengers: Infinity War, Peyton Reed's second instalment of Scott Lang/Ant-Man's own MCU journey hits cinemas this week, reuniting audiences with a large proportion of characters from 2015's excellent origin story as it delves deeper into the notion of the quantum realm and the hopeful return of Michelle Pfeiffer's (mother!) Janet van Dyne, the original embodiment of The Wasp who was lost many years ago in order to save the world from nuclear disaster. With a zippy pace and a childish playfulness which parallels completely with the two preceding Marvel releases within 2018, Ant-Man and the Wasp undoubtedly falls into the MCU category of "great fun but not particularly necessary" alongside previous examples such as Thor: Ragnarok and Spider-Man: Homecoming, and whilst come the closing credits Reed's movie falls down under the weight of much better entries within the ever-expanding Marvel Universe, the razor-sharp comedy and fundamentally likeable characters at the heart of the drama all succeed in making Ant-Man and the Wasp a thoroughly enjoyable throwaway superhero ride. 

With the Bond-esque sensibility of Black Panther and the gargantuan epic space opera of Infinity War proving to be two of the strongest entries within the MCU so far, it's fair to say that Reed's latest follows closest to that of a down-and-out comedy, one which stays well away from the R-rated expletives of Deadpool to keep within the remit of 12A rated family friendliness, but also one which feels comfortable poking fun at not only its' titular character's fundamental absurdity but the genre itself, with a bundle of well constructed gags eager to please casual and die-hard MCU fans alike. With each of the primary cast all thoroughly enjoying themselves, the dryness of Michael Douglas' aged Hank Pym mixed in with the brilliance of a Paul Rudd who seems to have been born for the leading role offers the chance for constant giggles, a feat not undone when the movie switches to a more dramatic tone in order to introduce not one, but two leading villains in the form of Hannah John-Karmen's (Ready Player One) Ghost and Walton Goggins' (The Hateful Eight) excellent arms-dealing criminal, Sonny Burch. With the action and spectacle offering a much more expansive usage of the shrinking technology utilised by the movies' heroes, a concluding car chase wraps the film up nicely, leaving the tone of the film within the up-beast positivity in which it began, and even with a post-credits sequence which ties into the mould of the universe set up within Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp is an MCU movie which is undoubtedly great fun, but one which too feels oddly irrelevant considering the dramatic turn the franchise has taken in wait for next year's concluding arc to the MCU as we know it. 

Overall Score: 7/10

TV Review: Castle Rock - Series One Episode Four "The Box"

"There Is A Lot Of History In This Town. Not All Of It Is Good"

With the previous episode of Castle Rock dedicated primarily to the development of Molly Strand and her key involvement in the death of Henry Deaver's father, it seemed wholly necessary that "The Box" would once again revert back to Deaver himself for a forty-five minute episode which included mysterious discoveries, a superb jukebox soundtrack and a concluding set piece which provided evidence for when the show is at its' best, Castle Rock can be a harrowing and powerful work of horror. Beginning with the haunting nightmares of Deaver and his flickering memories of youthful captivity being presented in a superb retro-style sensibility, the eerie wailing of the voice of Tom Waits pierces the mood of the episode to perfection as Deaver's willingness to return home begins to take a toll on Chris Coy's Boyd, the Shawshank whistle-blower regarding the discovery of "The Kid" whose psychological toll regarding the treatment of the many prisoners inside begins to showcase itself early on as we see his character begin to crack under the pressure of seemingly being the only guiding light within the metaphorical hell-house which is Castle Rock's local prison facility. 

With Bill Skarsgård finally having a bit more to do than just stare idly at the camera this time out, his characters' reaction to threats made by the Shawshank lawyer-type figure resulted in a ferociously unsettling reminder of not only Skarsgård's freakishly tall body structure but the fact that amidst the unjust incarceration and unfair treatment. there is still something undeniably evil surrounding his character, even if as of yet, the evidence hasn't surfaced to back up such a claim. With Deaver more adamant than ever to understand they grey area surrounding his disappearance, his discovery of an a-typical murder house reminded everyone that newspaper reels are still the best cinematic form of historical exposition, even if it was more fun to see if any Stephen King-laden Easter Eggs popped up in the many articles which were examined. With the episode mulling towards a sense that it fell justly into the realm of "solid, just not spectacular" with five minutes remaining, how timely it was therefore for a concluding set piece which immediately evoked the murderous rampage in Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here this year, albeit set to the brilliant backdrop of Roy Orbison's "Crying", a scene which was admired with a gaping dropped jaw and a resounding sense that now Castle Rock is halfway through its' stay, the real action begins now. 

Overall Episode Score: 8/10