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Hit Stop: Divergent

8/11/2014

by Cookie N Screen

Oh have you heard of the latest and entirely original movie? It is based on the best-selling young adult novel set in a complete dystopian world where America has dissolved into a futuristic government. For a while, the idea works but our protagonist, albeit girl or boy, soon figures out that there is something much more sinister going on. As if they were the only person to see the cracks, they soon become the face of the rebellion with their edgy personality that makes them stand out from the crowd. Oh, and they are caught in a love triangle and fall head first in love with the only male character who is supposedly 18 but looks 30.

Feels fresh, right?

Hit Stop: Super

7/31/2014

by Liam McMillen

James Gunn may be the man helming the next big hit, Guardians of the Galaxy, but before that he made another superhero film in Super, which isn't very good at all.

Frank D'Arbo (Rainn Wilson) gets left by his drug addict wife (Liv Tyler) for a douchebag drug dealer that no one would ever date (a wonderfully hammy Kevin Bacon). So for some reason, D'Arbo decides to suit up and be a superhero to get her back. But then he spends most of the movie just fighting random crime that has nothing to do with his wife. It's cool though, he ends up trying to get her in the end. James Gunn wants to focus on throwing his particular brand of outlandish, grotesque humor at the audience, like he so wonderfully did in Slither and his PG Porno internet series, but then he tries to give the film heart and emotion. This is where it completely falters and the whole thing ends up feeling like a really cheap, unevenly toned mess.

Hit Stop: Yves Saint Laurent

7/14/2014

by Cookie N Screen

Yawn. It’s another week and yet another biopic has landed in our laps as though we weren’t over saturated with them enough. If it isn’t some damaged famed musician, it’s some damaged famed actor. If it isn’t some damaged famed actor, it’s some damaged famed artist. And if it isn’t some damaged famed artist, it’s some damaged famed fashion designer. All added with an extra dose of drugs, alcoholism and infidelity. Biopics have become somewhat formulaic that if I said there was a French biopic about Yves Saint Laurent, a damaged famed fashion designer, you could tell me exactly what happens, when and why.

Hit Stop: Vampire Academy

7/14/2014

by Agnieszka Ramian

Thanks to the I’m With Geek connections, an opportunity to grab my plus one and head to a glorious cinema for a Vampire Academy screening shone down on me. Not only did I have an excuse for a date but I also discovered a cinema that I had never been to before; Showcase Cinemas which I recommend entirely. Even though I am a bookworm by profession, I must confess, I’d never read this series and was relying on the cinematic version to introduce me to the hallowed halls of the Vampire Academy. And I wasn’t the only one, with the audience filled with adults and teenagers alike ready to sink their teeth into it.

There seems to be an abundance of books to films based on vampires and it largely follows the Twilight suite (I am partially unashamed of my middling level of fandom.) Vampire Academy could be the most teen one of them all. If you thought prior vamped up romps were as tween as you can get, then prepare for the worst of them.

Hit Stop: I, Frankenstein

5/28/2014

by Jo Johnstone

What happened to the monster after Victor Frankensteins death?

According to this graphic novel adaptation he gets caught up in a war between Heavens Gargoyles and Hells Demons. In a film that aims to be the next Underworld trilogy, Aaron Eckhart plays the centuries old monster who battles to stop the secrets of his creation falling into the wrong hands. Although the film is clearly not meant to be taken seriously its a tragic example of iconic characters being spun off miserably.

Hit Stop: X-Men: Last Stand

5/22/2014

by Liam McMillen

Let me preface this review by saying that for a long time I believed both X-Men and X2 were slightly overrated. Sure, they were okay, but I always thought that it was more about Wolverine rather than the X-Men. Some of the casting was great (Stewart and McKellen are perfect), but some of the characters were treated terribly and I never quite forgave them for not putting Jubilee in the films.

Hit Stop - Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

5/4/2014

by Ben Mapp

Episode II begins ten whole years after the events of The Phantom Menace. In that time Obi-Wan has grown a beard, Padme hasn’t aged much at all somehow since helping to liberate Naboo, Anakin has regenerated into Hayden Christensen (much to everyone’s dismay), and Master Yoda has achieved a level of fully-fledged CGI.

The actual plot sees things get somewhat more political and subsequently much more entangled than ever before, with George Lucas making the viewers reach the brilliant scenes by first wading through all of the painfully boring ones.

Hit Stop - Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

5/4/2014

by Liam McMillen

It’s Star Wars Day! May the Fourth be with you, everyone! There’s the positivity, now here’s the negativity: Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Yes, the one everyone hates. Now the thing is, I hadn't seen it in a while, so I couldn't really remembered why I disliked it so much. After a recent re-watch, this is why you should hit-stop on The Phantom Menace.

Hit Stop: The Family

3/31/2014

by Cookie N Screen

There are certain films that on first glance seem to be enticingly excellent that you have to watch it. Especially with the cast list, it seems that nothing can go wrong. So when The Family first arrived with Robert De Niro and Michelle Pffiefer as head of the mafia family locating to the sleepy Riveria of Southern France failing to adjust, you’d think; yes, this is the film for me. And when they released the trailer, it looks like a tongue in the cheek, fun filled ride that’s entertaining and full of action.

Unfortunately, the final product is lacklustre at best.

Hit Stop: The Glass Menagerie

3/12/2014

by Leah Stone

Based on the play by American writer Tennesse Williams, this 1973 television film adaptation follows the home life of a small American family in the 1930’s, during the Great Depression. Amanda Wingfield, and her two grown up children, Tom and Laura, were left by their father years ago, a man who “fell in love with long distances.” They now share a small first floor apartment in St Louis. Laura suffered from an illness as a child that left her with a limp and an inferiority complex. Tom longs to escape his mothers constant reminiscing of the past and her often mean and spiteful ways. Amanda often talks about her life in “Blue Mountain” in the South, and about her gentlemen callers that she would receive. She often harps on to Laura and Tom about prospective gentlemen callers for Laura, and even persuades Tom to invite someone from the warehouse he works at for dinner.

<<Previous

Hit Stop: Divergent

Hit Stop: Super

Hit Stop: Yves Saint Laurent

Hit Stop: Vampire Academy

Hit Stop: I, Frankenstein

Hit Stop: X-Men: Last Stand

Hit Stop - Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Hit Stop - Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Hit Stop: The Family

Hit Stop: The Glass Menagerie

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