Jamie Neish
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Film Review: Ralph Breaks the Internet
★★★★☆ Where Wreck-It Ralph focused on the highs and lows of arcades games, specifically relating to the characters who inhabit them, their lives and individual crises, its sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet lurches forward, opening the world up exponentially as the arcade in which our heroes reside is plugged into the web. The plot sparks to…
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Film Review: Patrick
★★☆☆☆ The phrase “man’s best friend” is put firmly to the test in Patrick, a new British comedy from Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie director Maddie Fletcher. Sarah (Beattie Edmondson) is the odd one out of her family. Her life is messy, love life a constant disappointment and feelings of living in her sister’s shadows accentuated…
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Edinburgh 2018: Meeting Jim review
★★★☆☆ Jim Haynes is the focus of Meeting Jim, an unexpectedly captivating documentary by Ece Ger that’s been nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Film award at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival. Quite rightly too, as Jim spent a large portion of his life in the Scottish capital, attending university and running a number…
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Film Review: Incredibles 2
★★★★☆ The Marvel Cinematic Universe may have the market hold, but Incredibles 2 – which arrives some fourteen years after the original – is a superior superhero film to much of their output. It’s also a wonderfully ever-inventive film that, despite being a sequel, feels fresh and original. The film picks up where the last…
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Edinburgh 2018: Calibre review
★★★★☆ Matt Palmer’s debut feature Calibre is a tense, brutal thriller set in the rural Scottish Highlands. It boasts meaty performances from local talent Jack Lowden and Martin McCann as Vaughn and Marcus respectively, two childhood friends reunited for a weekend hunting trip. Vaughn is hesitant, now settled with a child on the way, while…
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Film Review: Fifty Shades Freed
★☆☆☆☆ The film series based on E.L. James’ ludicrously successful erotic novels draws to a close with Fifty Shades Freed. Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan return as Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, respectively, now married, as depicted in the flashy pre-titles sequence. Their subsequent honeymoon encompasses Paris, the French Riviera and all the lifestyle-porn director…
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Film Review: Coco
★★★★☆ Coco – Pixar’s first non-sequel film since 2015’s The Good Dinosaur – delivers heartwarming storytelling and eye-catching visuals, all the while honouring the power of family and music. It’s set during Dia de Los Muertos – the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead – and tells of Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), a 12-year-old boy who,…
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Film Review: The Greatest Showman
★★★☆☆ Hugh Jackman returns to the musical after Australia and Les Miserables with The Greatest Showman, an uplifting if contrived film loosely based on the life of P.T. Barnum. It marks the directorial debut of Michael Gracey from a script written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon. Jackman slots into the role of Barnum perfectly,…
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Film Review: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
★★★☆☆ The original Jumanji was released at the height of Robin Williams’ career in the 1990s and offered adventure and escapism for the whole family. The same can mostly be said for its sequel, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan. The stakes may be low and the…
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Film Review: It
★★★☆☆ Argentinian director Andres Muschietti – the man behind the functional, passable Mama – takes the reigns on this new adaptation of Stephen King’s cult novel It, a horror about a clown who terrorises the young population of a small fictional town in Maine.In the middle of a downpour, Bill (Jaeden Lieberher) let’s his brother…