TheRetroCritic

Nicolas Cage faces off against John Cusack in The Frozen Ground , a dark Alaska-set thriller in the vein of Insomnia in which a cop tries desperately to arrest a serial killer but struggles due to the people around him being unhelpful douchebags. The main focus of the story (which is based on real events) is Vanessa Hudgens' prostitute Cindy who manages to escape Robert Hansen (a chilling John Cusack), claiming he kidnapped her, raped her and tried to kill her. Though she is being truthful, the police refuse to buy her story because of her background, which leaves Nicolas Cage's good cop in a tricky position seeing as he believes her, literally all the evidence points to the same suspect and there's a loose psychopathic killer lurking around, ready to strike again at any moment. This is one of those tense, serious movies that relies heavily on atmosphere and strong performances rather than action and artifice so if you're looking for balls-to-the-wall gun fights,

Along with Shaolin Soccer , cartoonish martial arts movie homage Kung Fu Hustle introduced western audiences to Stephen Chow's films and his uniquely wacky style of humour, leaving people in Europe and the US wondering if all Chinese comedies were THIS insane when, really, this movie was pretty out there even by Chow's standards. Man was it fun, though. The film sees the shady and very dangerous Axe Gang threaten a small village. As it turns out, kung-fu masters secretly live in the village so, when this is revealed, the gang is forced to find new ways to take the place and its inhabitants down. The whole thing escalates and the fate of the village soon rests on whoever "the chosen one" is. As ever, Chow mixes silly, often pretty gross characters with cartoony action sequences and brutal moments. To give you an idea, the film opens with the Axe Gang slicing off someone's leg and shooting some woman in the back with a shotgun. Much like in Chow's Journe

The best Michel Gondry films are tough acts to follow, which is why for every brilliant Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind there's a lukewarm Be Kind Rewind . Luckily, even at his worst, Gondry's work is creative and inventive enough to keep you intrigued throughout. Sadly, his new effort Mood Indigo (aka L'Écume Des Jours) is yet another not bad but not great flick with tons and tons of charm and mind-bending DIY effects but unfortunately nowhere near the level of intricate dark, surreal wit you'd find in a Charlie Kaufman script. The French film, based on a novel by Boris Vian, sees Romain Duris fall in love with Audrey Tautou's character and get married before she becomes sick and their relationship slowly but surely starts crumbling. The cast also includes Omar Sy as Duris' verbose friend/butler, Gad Elmaleh as his troubled pal and Gondry himself as Tautou's doctor. Also look out for a fun cameo appearance by Alain Chabat as a TV cook. From t

Based on a novella (and a novel) by sci-fi maestro Isaac Asimov, Bicentennial Man had one wacky premise to work with and it sure rolled with it: a robot butler living for 200 years and, in that time, becoming a living, breathing human being. Robin Williams stars as Andrew, the candid android bought by Sam Neill's family and, for a good portion of the film, he is in full robot attire looking like an old-fashioned automaton you'd see in a comic strip from the 50's. And, as odd as that sounds, seeing as the film is set in the not-so-distant future of 2005, that adds some retro charm to the film. Since Bicentennial Man, of course, spans a heck of a lot of years, the movie approaches Andrew's story a little like Forrest Gump as we skip through the years, occasionally checking in on what the android is up to. The character is pretty naive throughout, even if he does grow gradually and, by the end of the movie you do feel like he's been through a lot. That said, the

Gothamized  is a completely unofficial guide to new series  Gotham  and a debate arena for all things Batman. CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE EPISODE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE In this fourth episode, we discuss Pierce Brosnan, ice bucket challenges, Ghostbusters, Mystery Of The Batwoman, The Red Hood and we end with a riddle. Hope you enjoy it! You can also find us on podcast  The Big Rewind  (available on iTunes) and send us emails with your Bat-questions, Six Degrees challenges and riddles here:  gothamized@gmail.com (for the pilot episode  CLICK HERE )

Where to start, where to start... So The Island Of Dr. Moreau was a movie and it happened. Actually, it was several movies and, originally, an H. G. Wells novel but we're looking at the 1996 Marlon Brando/Val Kilmer effort for now, a film only half as entertaining as what happened behind the scenes during the making of it but wildly insane and therefore totally worth seeing nonetheless. As you probably already know, the film sees some guy find his way onto an island where a mad scientist called Dr. Moreau (Marlon Brando) has conducted a whole bunch of morally despicable experiments thereby making an entire community of half-man half-animal people. David Thewlis is Edward Douglas, the unlucky fellow Val Kilmer's dodgy geezer Montgomery introduces to the island. What follows is basically The Wicker Man except with animal/man hybrids and... whatever Brando's doing. Actually, you couldn't have cast the role of Moreau better. I mean, who else but an ageing, portly,

Taking a break in between Kevin Smith movies, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting , the film which not only earned them an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay but put them on the map as actors to look out for. Of course, they would both go on to star in "Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season" (see Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back ) and one of them is now Batman but that's another story. The film sees a brainy yet volatile janitor solve a complicated equation on an MIT chalkboard before a professor notices his impressive capabilities and encourages him to become his protégé. Unfortunately, young Will Hunting (Matt Damon) has just been arrested for assault and he's showing no improvements in his personality. Therefore, Stellan Skarsgård's professor makes him see a therapist in order to stay out of jail and perhaps live up to his full potential eventually. After going through a bunch of ineffectual doctors, Hunting meets Dr. Sean Mag

The very definition of a classic family flick, Mrs Doubtfire is one of those rare movies you watch and enjoy loads as a kid but then re-appreciate as an adult. And, following the heartbreaking loss of comic genius Robin Williams, this is the perfect movie to watch as a tribute to the late actor as, chances are, you first saw this one when quite young so you'll get to revisit why you and everyone fell in love with the guy and this film all these years ago. Mrs Doubtfire's premise is, at heart, a rather sad one: a father is told he can only see his kids once a week after his wife demands a divorce (on her kid's birthday, no less) and, out of desperation, passes himself off as an aged female British nanny just so he can spend time with the kids he loves. As you do. Ok, so it's not exactly plausible but it's a comedy so you kinda have to buy it even if it's highly unlikely that a family would get fooled this easily in real life. Williams plays a Mel Blan

In this 41st episode, Adam (aka The RetroCritic) and fellow film buff Jamie discuss movie news, review Guardians Of The Galaxy and pay tribute to Robin Williams. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE Email us here if you have any questions, requests or contributions:  bigrewindpodcast@gmail.com Or simply comment below :) Oh and you can also find us on  iTunes  where you can subscribe to the podcast and download every episode thusfar! @TheRetroCritic #TheBigRewind retrocriticblog.blogspot.com thebigrewind.blogspot.com youtube.com/TheRetroCritic youtube.com/Cablogula