TheRetroCritic

So I watched Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and, let me tell ya... This is not the Wars you're looking for. For one thing, the title makes no sense when you're actually watching the movie. The "Force" Awakens? The Force is not mentioned once during the entire film! I distinctly remember the Force being mentioned at least four times in the original sexylogy.  Maybe five. And as for the "Awakens", the only way that makes any sense at all is by linking the main actor, whatever his name is, who looks a heck of a lot like Robin Williams, to a film starring the iconic comedian himself called Awakenings . Then again, this movie has nothing to do with that other movie so, again, we find ourselves in a pickle.  The droids are all wrong. They're too blocky and they look too much like plastic robots. Now I understand that J.J. Abrams ( Felicity ) was very keen to go "old school" and use "practical" effects

In this 53rd episode, Adam (aka The RetroCritic) and fellow film buff Jamie discuss movie news, review  The Tale Of Princess Kaguya  and talk retro stuff. 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  and now  Stitcher  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

Another Disney animated classic gets the live-action treatment as, surprisingly soon after Into The Woods , we get another interpretation of Cinderella . This time, the Mouse House is taking a more traditional approach by telling the story without updating it too much or adding too many surprises. Unlike last year's Maleficent which felt the need to turn one of the studio's most iconic and frightening villains into a misunderstood hero (urgh...), this Cinderella is basically a straight-up retelling. Minus the talking mice, though they do sort of talk throughout. While this means very little in the way of new elements to talk about, it's also somewhat refreshing to see a classic fairytale told without any forced irony or lame attempts at modernising a story as old as time itself. This is the Cinderella tale at its most earnest and, admittedly, this makes parts of it pretty darn corny and predictable. The opening 5 minutes where Ella's youth is so crazily happy all

Denzel Washington stars in this remake of The Manchurian Candidate which sees a group of soldiers come home after the war only to find that they all start having the same nightmare which makes them suspect that some kind of brainwashing happened along the way. After a bizarre encounter with Jeffrey Wright's soldier, who has pretty much lost it completely, Washington decides to try and make contact with Liev Schreiber's co-veteran, who has since moved on to working in politics. Under the supervision of his controlling mother, played by Meryl Streep, Shreiber is leading a campaign to become the new Vice President. But he slowly starts to remember the nightmares Washington mentions which paint him not as a war hero but as something else entirely. What follows is a thriller not so much focused on action as it is focused on the core mystery. The film is directed by Jonathan Demme ( Silence Of The Lambs ) and he handles the growing paranoia well despite the post-Gulf War settin

As the doors of legendary animation empire Studio Ghibli slowly close (though hopefully only for a short time), much to everyone's chagrin, here is yet another example of just how good and important these guys are to the medium. The Tale Of Princess Kaguya may sound like just another surreal folktale on paper but one look at the stunning watercolour/charcoal-style animation used here by visual maestro Isao Takahata ( Pom Poko , My Neighbors The Yamadas ) and you'll find yourself instantly mesmerised by this tale of a baby born out of a bamboo tree. While Hayao Miyazaki was and is a genius at bringing to the screen all-around great-looking, often epic stories, Takahata's forte seems to be to bring an off-beat artistry to the animation and tell predominantly emotional, melodramatic, affecting stories. Case and point: Grave Of The Fireflies . And, to a certain extent, this movie which shows us a young woman's entire life flash by her put-upon parents' eyes as the

Channing Tatum, Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo star in Foxcatcher , the Oscar-nominated film based on the shocking true story of an Olympic wrestler and his brother's destructive encounter with bizarre multimillionaire John E. Du Pont. After Tatum's wrestler Mark Schultz is called in by the wealthy entrepreneur (and avid bird watcher) to his vast estate, he is promptly hired to train for Du Pont (Carell) as part of the Foxcatcher team in the hope that another Olympic win lies ahead. Unfortunately, Du Pont's strange behaviour becomes something of a problem as it becomes quite clear that he's not quite the talented wrestling coach he painted himself out to be. Add to that a drug problem, an odd relationship with his mother (played by Vanessa Redgrave) and some altogether inappropriate behaviour and you've got yourself one awkward training environment for Schultz to say the least. Things take a turn for the worse when Du Pont hires Mark's brother David (Ruffalo

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 18th episode, we discuss the 16th and 17th episodes of  Gotham , the Red Hood gang, bears and Christian Science. (for my written review of the Gotham Pilot,  click here! ) 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 )

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

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 17th episode, we discuss the 14th and 15th episodes of  Gotham , Scarecrow, DC villains, turkeys and bronies. (for my written review of the Gotham Pilot,  click here! ) 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 )

Released back in 1947, The Lady From Shanghai was a moody film noir directed by and starring Orson Welles about how a femme fatale (played by a blonde Rita Hayworth) lures an Irish seaman into sailing with her and her wealthy husband on a yacht. Eventually, a murder is committed and Welles' protagonist is framed for it and is even made to confess to it on paper. Based on Sherwood King's novel "If I Die Before I Wake", The Lady From Shanghai was not a huge hit upon its release and pretty much mystified its producers. Since then, it has received more critical acclaim, mostly due to Orson Welles' technical creativity in full force during the film's admittedly impressive and memorable funhouse climax. The use of mirrors, elaborate sets and projection making for a brilliant, much ripped-off stand-out sequence. This is what most remember from this movie, that and Rita Hayworth, whose one song in the middle of the movie may not have been Welles' own idea but