From Sky Box Office: Stake Land Review

Though it cribs most of its best ideas from the cream of the post-apocalyptic genre, it does so in a way that is both compelling and exciting, creating a great apocalyptic atmosphere and bringing new life to a genre that is mostly ruled by the increasingly overplayed Zombie.

The Post-apocalyptic subgenre has seen rather a lot of attention in the recent decade, normally with a focus upon our undead friend. Even me, who loves everything Zombie, has grown to be slightly tired of what is now a tried and tested formula. Therefore when I heard of stake land, which attempted to switch out Mr Z. with a Vampire apocalypse, I was excited, though sceptical. Though my mind quickly jumped to visions of I am Legend (the novel), I quickly remembered I am Legend (the film), and lowered my expectations. What I was expecting wasn’t actually what I got, which was a nice surprise. What I was expecting was a pedal-to-the-metal throwaway apocalypse flick with lots of action, but little consequence. Rather what I got was a nicely balanced and well realised apocalyptic world with a personal touch which reminded me more of The Road, than say, Dawn of the Dead.

From the DVD Shelf: Hobo With a Shotgun Review

The ultimate homage to the low-budget exploitation thriller, Hobo with a Shotgun is a cacophony of blood, gore, and violence...though little else.

Hobo with a Shotgun is one of those films you take interest in purely because of its name. With a name like that, you pretty much know precisely what it’s going to be, and in that respect, it doesn’t disappoint. There are no minced words here, there’s a hobo, he has a shotgun, he uses said shotgun. Overall, I was rather excited to crack this badboy open and see the ridiculousness within. I was greeted with what I expected, joyfully low-budget violence with the tongue placed firmly within the cheek; by the end I felt that my stupidity quota had been filled for the day. That said, I came away not as totally satisfied as I would have hoped.

Johnny English: Reborn Review

Johnny English has returned! The question you got to ask yourself is, why?

When I heard that Johnny English was making his triumphant return to our cinemas, I didn’t really know how to feel. To me it always felt like one of those franchises that never got off the ground, a film that has some good points but had by this point been generally written off as simply ‘mediocre’, despite its genuinely good cast. I didn’t really think that anyone thought back on it that fondly, or felt as if a sequel was warranted, nor that it made enough money to require one of those awful ‘just for the cash’ sequels that we all love so much. So what is Johnny English Reborn? A Reboot? Kicking an already Dead Horse? Or was did Rowen just feel like giving it another go? Well who knows, and in the end it doesn’t matter all that much. Despite the time gap, we have another film which is essentially of the same mould, with many of the same laughs (or similar types of laughs at least) and another story which in the end is just a vehicle for Rowen’s funny Mr Bean-like antics. It’s as if the last eight years never happened!

Trailers: The Avengers

I think my face just melted. I would attempt to try and decipher the ins and outs of the film from this trailer alone, but instead I advise you to just head over to here and read a proper analysis from people who know what they are talking about (at least more than me): Link