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A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST - REVIEW

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A couple of years ago, man of a thousand voices Seth MacFarlane brought his brand of humour to Western comedy A Million Ways To Die In West , a feature he directs, co-writes and stars in (not as a bear, this time). The film didn't exactly wow critics and it basically flew by, somehow making a profit on the way despite less-than-flattering reviews. The film itself goes for an old-fashioned look but a defiantly anachronistic and modern take on the subgenre with characters speaking like people would today and the odd pop culture reference. It's not a completely new idea and it's something that works much better in a cartoon than it does in a live-action film but it can definitely work. Mel Brooks always could make that kind of thing funny. Unfortunately, here, it's like the film is trying much too hard to make that a hilarious aspect of the movie when it's, in fact, one of its weakest ideas. The concept that people in the Old West could die of pretty much anythi

STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE - REVIEW

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To say that there was a lot of anticipation for George Lucas' Star Wars prequels back before they were released would be sugar-coating what was probably one of geekdom's all-time biggest events. Seeing the rise of Darth Vader could only be awesome. ...right? Well let's just say that if ever there was a way not to start that trilogy, The Phantom Menace was it. Not that it didn't deliver anything of value but the backlash that followed the film was so huge that it made everyone very worried for the rest of the prequels. Jar Jar Binks became the single most hated Star Wars character of all time and The Phantom Menace, by extension, the most hated Star Wars movie of all time. But was that backlash an overreaction or was it somewhat deserved? While I'd love to say that The Phantom Menace was in fact a misunderstood gem, one can't deny just how inept parts of this movie are. Yes, Jar Jar Binks was a bad idea from the start: his bumbling antics unfunny f

RUN ALL NIGHT - REVIEW

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Liam Neeson is back with yet another action thriller and, so soon after Taken 3 (which was met with lukewarm reviews), although the film's poor performance at the box-office proves that Run All Night was one Neeson-being-a-badass movie too many too soon, this doesn't reflect the film's overall quality. Sure Run All Night works a bit too much like a compilation of Neeson's previous movies: he plays an alcoholic ( Non-Stop ) with a family he's aiming to protect at all costs ( Taken ) who is very good at punching faces (all of the above). Even then, this is a solid thriller which may not be quite as unique or atmospheric as the underrated A Walk Among The Tombstones , but which hits all the right notes and has a lot going for it. For one thing, the film looks beautiful: from the slick, dream-like expansive shots of the city to the dark, street-light-lit night shots, even if the film itself wasn't, the cinematography in this one is, indeed, a hit. Director Ja

A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES - REVIEW

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Liam Neeson's back and yes, once again someone's been taken. And he has a very specific set of skills. A Walk Among The Tombstones definitely, on paper, may sound like yet another Taken rip-off (*cough* Unknown *cough* Non-Stop ) but chances are you'll forget about Neeson's gimmicky yet career-redefining B-turned-A-movie quickly as you sit through this one, which is based on a series of novels. The plot sees an ex-police detective turned private detective take on a case involving a drug dealer's wife who was kidnapped for ransom money then delivered to him in little pieces. The dealer understandably wants to find those responsible in order to, at the very least, ruin their day. Neeson soon follows a trail of suspects as the killers plan their next abduction. Along the way, our troubled detective meets a young boy called T.J. (Astro) who elects himself to be his partner and although that may start giving you Cop And A Half flashbacks, this movie handles

UNKNOWN - REVIEW

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To keep Liam Neeson fans satisfied in-between Taken movies, Unknown was made and claimed to be in the same vein boasting action-packed trailers displaying another European setting and shady bad guys wearing leather jackets. The film itself does sort of develop into something resembling a Taken movie but, for the most part, this is a different genre altogether. Unknown goes for more of a Hitchcockian mystery like, say, The Man Who Knew Too Much but with a modern edge, of course. Neeson plays a man who arrives in Berlin for an event but, on the way to recovering his briefcase from the airport, soon has a car accident. When he wakes up and leaves the hospital, he finds that no-one, not even his wife recognises him and that another man has taken over his identity. The whole film is spent following Neeson's character as he tries to figure out exactly what the hell is going on, who is messing with him or whether he's somehow lost his mind. It's a fun intrigue to try and

NON-STOP - REVIEW

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Liam Neeson is back and, this time, he's taking on an entire plane! After the likes of Taken , its sequel and Unknown , we get Non-Stop another punchy B movie thriller in which Neeson tries to figure some mystery out and cracks a few bones (and noses) in the process. The "mystery" this time is, quite simply, a whodunit. Neeson is Bill Marks, an air marshall who gets on a plane to find that someone is going to kill a passenger every 20 minutes unless he transfers $150M into some account. Bill, an alcoholic with a troubled past, is pushed to his limits as he starts suspecting pretty much everyone around him, finding it near impossible to trust anyone. Eventually, a bomb is revealed to be on the plane and things take an even more destructive turn. The trailer for Non-Stop promised a lot of brainless fun and OTT plane-set action scenes and the film does provide that but it also brings some genuinely clever little twists and turns and keeps you glued to the screen an

NON-STOP - VLOG 06/03/14