There is a romanticised allure of the big city; the national metropolises in your home nation can provide the highest highs, but also the darkest depths of living. With high concentrations of people in the concrete jungle, this is certainly to be expected. In 1988, … Continue reading Bright Lights, Big City (1988)
The seductive lure of excess, combined with the naivety of youth is a dangerous, yet captivating mix. In 1985, a book of these themes brought commercial and critical success for author Bret Easton Ellis. Although somewhat overshadowed culturally by the following triumph of American Psycho, … Continue reading Less Than Zero (1987)
The mid-90s gave the subsequent years a plethora of things that are still reeking with freshness, like the Super Nintendo or R. L. Stein. As some things rise, others fall, and although entertaining countless viewers for decades, the animated antics of the Looney Tunes were … Continue reading Space Jam (1996)
Reputation can go a long way in the world of art, success can snowball, echo into greatness. Other times it can be a curse, swallowing works into depths of darkness that they can never return from. In 1987, a cinematic epic infamously dubbed the worst … Continue reading Ishtar (1987)
The idea of extra-terrestrial life has been the domain of imagination for almost a century. Whether these unknown (or non-existent) entities are friendly, or not, their stories remain interesting despite the overlapping similarities. In 2017, a sci-fi film depicting a relatively grounded look at a … Continue reading Life (2017)
When you create an earth-shattering film, iterating on that concept can be daunting. So much so, in the days before multipart mega franchises, it was hardly done. In 1996, Roland Emmerich brought the human stories to a continent-spanning epic of alien apocalyptic adventure. Called Independence … Continue reading Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
While it seemed hard to top the initial success that was the first Austin Powers, trying to one-up The Spy Who Shagged Me is going to be even more daunting. As the swinging sixties move further away and the disco-tinged 70s taking up the same … Continue reading Groove is in the heart, baby! Part 2: Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
Austin Powers captured hearts by bringing those swinging 60s spy tropes to the end of the century, a fine place to end things. But with an audience clamouring for sequels, how can you possibly top where the film left off? In 1999, Austin proved that … Continue reading Groove is in the heart, baby! Part 1: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
Dog competitions are understandably the highlight of the dog breeding world, but onlookers may baulk at the absurdity of the events, the levels of grooming, along with rigorous training required. Talking animals have always been a crowd-pleaser; throw in a police caper, and you have … Continue reading Show Dogs (2018)
Crime capers, murder mysteries, and whodunits have been a captivating form of artistic expression for centuries. These creative conundrums have been set in exciting locales and feature a wide variety of professions, regardless of if it made sense or not. As such, it is a … Continue reading Basic (2003)
