Thriller

2 Guns

Incredibly convoluted but surprisingly entertaining buddy action comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington as undercover agents from rival agencies, both out to crack a drug cartel who are initially… Read More
Moonraker

More prep work for an appearance on the Auteur Cast show meant revisiting one of the most ridiculous of all the Bond films. Roger Moore teams up with Lois Chiles’… Read More
Riddick

I never bothered to see 2004’s The Chronicles of Riddick, but Vin Diesel’s blind convict originated in 2000’s Pitch Black, a fun if slightly throwaway Alien knock-off that saw a… Read More
Revenge

Kevin Costner was on the cusp of becoming a huge A-list star when he took the lead in this rather grim but intriguing thriller from Tony Scott. On leaving the… Read More
Tenebrae

I had always harboured fond memories of Dario Argento’s 1982 slasher flick, as it was the very first of his films I ever saw. I had not rewatched it until… Read More
Live And Let Die

You never need an excuse to rewatch a James Bond film, even a middling entry like Guy Hamilton’s Live And Let Die, but this time I was attentively revisiting the… Read More
Seconds

Rock Hudson stars as Tony Wilson, the newly rejuvenated version of tired businessman Arthur Hamilton, who enlisted the services of a secret organisation to give him a “second chance” at… Read More
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

Fritz Lang’s excellent sequel to his silent epic Dr. Mabuse The Gambler (which I’ve not yet seen) sees the eponymous master criminal incarcerated in a mental asylum, where he perpetually… Read More
Olympus Has Fallen

Some grumbled about Antoine Fuqua’s straight-faced approach to this “Die Hard in The White House” wannabe, but I mostly enjoyed the way it got back to basics, without the need… Read More
Only God Forgives

It seems to have taken me a very long time to see Nicolas Winding Refn’s latest effort, and researching a lengthy interview I had with the man, I was forced… Read More
Sparrow

While a somewhat minor entry in Johnnie To’s prolific canon of work, there is no denying this lighthearted tale of pickpockets has become something of a fan favourite. The cast… Read More
REVIEW: Captain Phillips

Tom Hanks leads a convincing charge for his third Best Actor Oscar as real-life merchant seaman Capt. Richard Phillips, whose container ship is overpowered by Somali pirates in Paul Greengrass’… Read More
Spring Breakers

Still very enjoyable on second viewing, with James Franco in particular continuing to impress as the ridiculously charicatured drug dealer, Alien, who bails out a group of college girls looking… Read More
Runaway Train

Settling in for a solid slice of 80s Cannon Film fare, nothing could have prepared me for the quality, intensity or profundity of Andrei Konchalovsky’s Runaway Train. Jon Voight, in… Read More
The Wolverine

Hugh Jackman reprises his signature role yet again, this time employing James Mangold to take Logan to Japan and embrace one of the character’s best-loved comic book story arcs. While… Read More
The Terror Live

The closing film at PiFan this year was this modest, yet mostly effective thriller starring Ha Jung-woo as a shamed TV anchor, now radio DJ, who is forced back on… Read More
Hello, My Dolly Girlfriend

After losing his job, a lowly office lad attempts to drown his sorrows, only to be thrown out of a girly bar. He manages to anger a gang of yakuza… Read More
Something In The Way

Excellent low budget Indonesian thriller about a young, pornography-addicted taxi driver who becomes obsessed with the prostitute next door. With echoes of Drive and Taxi Driver, this is nevertheless an… Read More