In the 2002 edition of his book The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, author and film historian David Thomson spelled out his opinion of director Michael Bay in plain terms; he makes garbage, noisy garbage.  That was twelve years ago.  Having now seen the fourth in this ever-lasting series of metal crunching, ear-splitting, coma-inducing adventures, […]

In 2010 filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington made a startling documentary of a besieged squadron in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley called Restrepo, named after a fallen comrade, PFC Juan Restrepo.  It plunged the viewer head first into the valley along with those men of the Second Platoon and gave a fresh and at times an […]

Jersey Boys the film may be adapted from Jersey Boys the hit Broadway show but it never feels as though you’re watching a fully fledged musical.  On stage, everything revolved around the songs.  In the film, it’s the rise and fall of The Four Seasons told from the perspective of each band member – the […]

The new Australian futuristic crime drama from director David Michod is telling us nothing.  There are hints of what has happened in the world – the setting tells us that this is Australia, ten years after the collapse – but exactly what that collapse was all about is never made clear.  We have to assume […]