For those of you who have been following me for a while you’ll already know that I am a big fan of mystery screenings, they are a great opportunity to watch films that might otherwise slip under the radar and whilst not every mystery screening delivers the goods, I have been able to discover some…
Tag: Drama
The Whale (2022) Film Review
I do love the post-Christmas flurry of award nominated films that come to the cinemas here in the UK, they help to pass those cold wintry days, but it is frustrating to hear all the buzz and excitement about certain films and then have to wait several weeks after the likes of the US before…
The Rig (2023) Series Review
Based on a Norwegian TV series, The Rig takes places on the Kinloch Bravo, an oil rig off the Scottish coast deep in the waters of the North Sea. At the end of their rotation, the rig’s crew are eagerly anticipating the helicopter that will return them to the mainland but when their communication systems…
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Film Review
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these ‘Modern Classic’ posts and I figured why not start the new year by finally crossing off The Shawshank Redemption from my must watch list. I know, I know… how can I write a movie blog or call myself a film fan when I haven’t seen…
Operation Mincemeat (2021) Film Review
If you’ve been following Love Popcorn for a while then you might already know that biographical pictures are my most favourite genre of them all, learning about stories that might otherwise go unknown and unappreciated. Couple that with the calibre of war films that us Brits deliver – The Imitation Game, 1917 and The Reader…
The King’s Man (2021) Film Review
Despite the hubby being a fan of the graphic novels that are the source material for Matthew Vaughn’s surprising 2014 smash hit, there was something about Kingsman that really didn’t appeal to me and it took several years before I finally got round to checking it out, instantly falling in love with the self-deprecating humour…
Don’t Look Up (2021)
Although Adam McKay’s previous offering, Vice, managed to rack up an impressive eight Oscar nominations, including one win, it didn’t exactly go down as much of a fan favourite – unlike his earlier films, including Anchorman and Step Brothers, that have developed quite a cult following – although personally I really enjoyed it, it even…
Clickbait (2021) Series Review
A few weeks before the Korean series Squid Game exploded onto our screens and dominated the Netflix top ten, Clickbait was enjoying it’s fifteen minutes of fame. The eight-part limited series, created by Tony Ayres, is a clever suspenseful thriller that is kicked off in quite spectacular fashion after a video appears on the web…
Bombshell (2019) Film Review
Bombshell Definition (noun) An unexpected and surprising event, especially an unpleasant one. A very attractive woman The irony of the double meaning of the word ‘bombshell’ is not lost on the cast and crew of the 2019 biographical drama from director Jay Roach. A little over a year before the Harvey Weinstein scandal rocked Hollywood…
Army Of Thieves (2021) Film Review
If you’ve read my review of Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead then you may remember that I wasn’t exactly a huge fan of the big budget zombie/heist movie amalgamation that was far too much style and not enough substance, and I was more than a little dubious of an entire ‘Army’ cinematic universe but,…
Midsommar (2019) Film Review
Considering Ari Aster’s feature length debut, Hereditary, won the not-so-coveted top spot on my worst films of 2018 list, I can’t say I was particularly enthusiastic heading into his Scandinavian follow up, Midsommar, especially considering the reviews were as similarly divided this time around. Not one to judge a book by its cover, or a…
The Guilty (2021)
Jake Gyllenhaal is one of Hollywood’s most consistent, and consistently under appreciated, actors working today – and I’ll admit I am guilty of it myself (pun not intended) – but he, once again, delivers the goods in Antoine Fuqua’s remake of the 2018 Danish film The Guilty. Joe Baylor (Gyllenhaal) is a disgraced police officer…
The Dry (2020) Film Review
Adapted from Jane Harper’s 2016 international bestseller, our latest randomly selected watch, The Dry, is a solid Australian slow burner of a crime drama starring Eric Bana. With Eric Bana in the lead, The Dry tells the story of Federal Agent Aaron Falk (Bana) as he reluctantly returns to his drought-stricken hometown in rural Australia…
Help (2021) Film Review
Whenever there is a massive news worthy event, there’s always a question in the back of my mind – “How long before it is turned into a movie?” – but with the Covid-19 pandemic we were still in national and global lockdowns when the films started to churn out of the mill. Some, like Adam…
Modern Classic: 500 Days Of Summer (2009) Film Review
Hey everyone!! It’s been a little while but I think it is high time for another ‘Modern Classic’. For those of you who are new to the blog, or just need a little reminder, I am trying to work my way through those (retro and modern) classic films that I, rather shamefully, haven’t got around…
Beckett (2021) Film Review
As someone who writes about film and TV you would think that I would try and keep on top of all the upcoming films but I really don’t. Part of the reason is because I want to try and go into a movie with no prior expectations or pre-conceptions, the other (somewhat larger) part is…
Ford Vs Ferrari (2019) Film Review
No matter how many films I see, there always seems to be a few big blockbusters that I just don’t seem to catch on the big screen. Ford Vs Ferrari was one such film, and despite it taking the top spot on a lot of people’s favourite films of 2019 it still took a couple…
Run (2020) Film Review
After enduring the harrowing and traumatic birth of her tiny premature baby, Diane Sherman (Sarah Paulson) can be forgiven for being a little over protective but seventeen years later she seems ready for her daughter Chloe (Kiera Allen) to leave the proverbial nest and go off to college. Chloe has a sharp engineering mind many…
Whiplash (2014) Film Review
Even though Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash was one of those ‘Best Picture’ films that I felt like I should watch just because it was nominated for a best picture Oscar, I never really had much inclination to do so and so it stayed on the outer edges of my, mentally kept, watchlist. When I recently found…
Cruella (2021) Film Review
The origins of the deliciously devilish, dog-napping fashionista, Cruella De Vil, was never really something that had crossed my mind but with the announcement of Emma Stone (one of my favourite actresses) taking on the role and those incredibly edgy early images of her in full costume, I think it’s safe to say that I…
Spiral: From The Book Of Saw (2021) Film Review
It’s good to be back! On the 17th May, UK cinemas reopened their doors in the country’s next big step towards normality and after fourteen long months Mark and I finally settled in our seats to watch something on the big screen. In a rather dramatic change of pace from our last outing which was…
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020) Film Review
Although the last twelve months felt as though they dragged something chronic, the awards season appears to have come and gone in the blink of an eye with most of the big Oscar contenders still sitting unwatched in my watchlist. So Mark and I decided to make the most of some recent time off work…
Promising Young Woman (2020) Film Review
Each year there always seems to be one particular film that everyone, and I mean everyone, is either talking about or hearing about. Last time it was Bong Joon Ho’s history making Parasite, this time it’s Emerald Fennell’s #metoo era black-comedy thriller Promising Young Woman that was making all the waves. Now I’ve been wanting…
Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal (2021) Film Review
I am one of those unsocial butterflies who likes nothing more than to stay in my little bubble hanging out with the hubby and our two kitties, and largely ignoring the wider world around me. I very rarely pay much attention to the goings on in the news which means that a lot of the…
Escape From Pretoria (2020) Film Review
Prison escape movies are not exactly few and far between but, as far as I am aware (and I am probably wrong lol), not many of them are inspired by real events. If they are, then I think the prison system as a whole might have a serious security problem. Our latest randomly selected watch,…
Modern Classic: Moulin Rouge (2001)
I know my original plan for my ‘Modern Classics‘ feature was to celebrate my first time viewings of recent classics but with Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge available on the new Disney+ Star channel, I couldn’t resist. Director: Baz Luhrmann Starring: Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman, Jim Broadbent, Richard Roxburgh, John Leguizamo Awards: Oscar Winner – Best…
Moneyball (2011) Film Review
With reviews of his films Molly’s Game and The Trial of the Chicago 7, February had turned into a bit of an Aaron Sorkin appreciation month so for my last review of the month we decided to check out the 2011 film Moneyball, which Sorkin co-wrote the script for. Based on real events, Moneyball tells…
Songbird (2020) Film Review
I have to say I am loving the whole lucky dip idea for movie nights, it really takes the pressure off of having to pick a film and you have the added benefit of not knowing what to expect. The latest film to be drawn was the 2020 Amazon exclusive film, Songbird. In the not…
Below Zero (2021) Film Review
To take the stress out of deciding what movie to watch, and save a certain someone from getting the blame if the film turns out to be sh*t, I decided to create a lucky dip and the first test of our new system was the new Spanish drama film Bajocero aka Below Zero. Set over…
Film Review: The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
Hot on the heels of my review of Molly’s Game, we decided to check out Aaron Sorkin’s second venture in the director’s chair with his Netflix film, The Trial of the Chicago 7, which tells the true story of seven people on trial for conspiracy to incite a riot whilst protesting the Vietnam War. The…
Series Review: The Queen’s Gambit (2020)
In a year that started with the bizarre true story of an eccentric redneck with a penchant for big cats, country music and assassination plots, ending 2020 with a drama series about chess seems like a dramatic and foolish change of pace but, yet again, Netflix managed to pull it out of the bag with…
Film Review: Enola Holmes (2020)
I don’t really buy into the whole ‘New Year, New Me’ mentality but as January rolled around it seemed as though my desire to watch new content came back, along with my motivation for writing. Now, Sherlock Holmes is a name that everybody knows but the world famous detective is taking a bit of a…
Hidden Gem: Coach Carter (2005)
I’m not sure whether Coach Carter counts as a ‘hidden’ gem but in my opinion it is definitely underrated which is justification enough to make it the next instalment in my Hidden Gem feature. In the late nineties, Ken Carter accepts the job as the basketball coach for his old high school in a poor…
Series Review: The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)
In this crazy year that has both dragged and flown by, there has been very little that I have been looking forward to entertainment wise but one exception to that is the release of the next instalment of Netflix’ horror anthology series – The Haunting of Bly Manor. As a group of guests gather the…
Film Review: The Devil All The Time (2020)
I’ll admit that I’ve been going through a bit of a movie slump at the moment but if there was anything to help entice me out of that slump it was the fantastic line up of Netflix’s latest film, The Devil All The Time, directed by Antonio Campos. If Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson is…
Film Review: Knives Out (2019)
As a self-proclaimed UNsocial butterfly, I was honestly looking forward to the lockdown a little bit. We may not have been able to watch any new releases at the cinema but with Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ all available at the click of a button, I thought my days would be filled with films and…
Hidden Gem: The Terminal (2004)
Although The Terminal is not a ‘hidden’ gem, per se, I do feel that it doesn’t get as much love as it deserves, especially considering the calibre of the casting. However considering both Steven Spielberg’s and Tom Hanks’ impressive body of work you can almost forgive this one for falling through the cracks. Director: Steven…
Film Review: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Quentin Tarantino is not one to shy away from controversy and his eagerly awaited ninth film (tenth by individual release) Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is no exception. From the inclusion of rising Hollywood star, Sharon Tate, who was murdered by the Manson Family to the extremely limited dialogue of the female lead; there…
Hidden Gem: Gifted (2017)
Director: Marc Webb Starring: Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Octavia Spencer, Jenny Slate, Lindsay Duncan Awards: Critics Choice Nominee (2018) – Best Young Actor/Actress Frank Adler (Chris Evans) is a single man raising a child prodigy – his spirited niece, seven year old maths whizz, Mary (Mckenna Grace). Having been home-schooled her whole life, her only…
Modern Classic: Thelma & Louise (1991)
This month’s ‘Modern Classic‘ was recommended to me by a book blogger friend of mine. If you like books as well as films then you should check out her blog, NSFordWriter.com. As this is still a relatively new feature, here’s a quick recap of my self-imposed rules Post 1990 release date Should be a first…
Parasite (2019) Film Review
One of the worst things about being a film fan in the UK is that we typically get theatrical releases some time after our American cousins. Thanks to my American blogger friends Parasite was on my must watch list long before it started making its landmark waves on the awards circuit. When it was finally…
Film Review: Parasite (2019)
One of the worst things about being a film fan in the UK is that we typically get theatrical releases some time after our American cousins. Thanks to my American blogger friends Parasite was on my must watch list long before it started making its landmark waves on the awards circuit. When it was finally…
Film Review: The Irishman (2019)
It’s fair to say that Netflix dominated this years Oscar nominations with a total of 24 nominations, beating the likes of Disney and Sony. Their biggest contender was Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman with ten nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. Unfortunately for Netflix though, they only walked away win 2 wins, none of which…
Hidden Gem: Chloe (2009)
Director: Atom Egoyan Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson Tagline: Desire Can Be Dangerous At first glance, Catherine (Julianne Moore), a gynecologist, and David Stewart (Liam Neeson), a college professor, and their musically talented teenage son (Max Thieriot) are the perfect family; happily married, wealthy and well-respected by their peers. But when David misses…
Film Review: The Invisible Man (2020)
Going into this film I thought it was a reimagining of the 2000 film, Hollow Man starring Kevin Bacon and Elisabeth Shue, and whilst I was not completely wrong, I later found out that both are actually completely different adaptations of the 1897 novel by H. G. Wells. Having loved Hollow Man and being rather…
Hidden Gem: Secretary (2002)
As previously promised, my newest feature will look to at celebrating those underrated films and hidden gems that I feel need a little more love and attention. My first ‘Hidden Gem’ is Secretary from director Steven Shainberg. Director: Steven Shainberg Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Spader, Jeremy Davies Awards: Golden Globe nominee – Best Actress in…
Film Review: Marriage Story (2019)
Despite Steven Spielberg’s attempts to limit Netflix’s success in Hollywood, they have steadily been making their stamp on the industry. In fact, if the 2020 Oscar nominations are anything to go by, they have quickly become a force to be reckoned with, having topped the nominations charts (24 nominations in total) beating the likes of…
Series Review: Sex Education (2019)
I first watched this Netflix series when it was originally released back in January of 2019 but never got around to actually writing up a review for it. With season two literally around the corner (available on Netflix from 17th Jan) I figured now was a perfect time for a full re-watch and review. Sex…
Film Review: Just Mercy (2020)
January is a time where most of us, myself included, are regretting our ‘but it’s Christmas’ binge fests and trying to make our wages last that extra week until pay day, but what keeps me going into that full-on January Blues mood is the fact that it’s this time of year that a large majority …
Film Review: Secret Obsession (2019)
One of the best things about streaming services like Netflix and Amazon is that you have so many new films and TV programmes literally at your fingertips. It is the perfect place to simply wile away an afternoon when really you should be hoovering up the cat hair and clearing the mound of washing up…