Author: Simon Andrews

Fans of the ‘Claustrophobic Horror’ genre have been somewhat spoiled of late. Audiences have been treated to a whole slew of horror movies which have seen the protagonists trapped in relatively mundane yet inescapable situations, stalked by threatening forces of varying levels of the supernatural. Last year was dominated by the brilliant Aussie offering ‘The Babadook’, and this year’s leading contender would appear to be the innovative ‘Lights Out’, which started out its life as a 5 minute YouTube short. So as this niche section of the genre continues to expand, is there still room for more new entries? This…

Have you ever stopped what you were doing, and taken the time to wonder what a Russian comic-book movie might look like? Well, thankfully, you won’t have to wonder much longer, because next year finally sees the release of the first Soviet Superhero film, ‘Guardians’. It’s entirely possible you might have already seen the movie’s teaser footage, which has been bouncing around the internet since last Summer, (we posted about it before most sites) and with production recently having wrapped following some re-shoots in both Moscow and the Crimea, a full international trailer has now been released. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIc0NqjOPgc Looking very…

Remember the 1990’s? Remember those halcyon days of non-stop disposable action movies? Hell, you couldn’t throw a shitty stick without it ricocheting off a high-kicking cinematic release from messrs Van-Damme, Seagal or Snipes. Sure, they were offerings that might be low on tact and subtlety, but what they lacked in depth they more than made up for with deaths and damage to property. But, alas, those carefree days are now long since gone, and cinemagoers today ask for just so much more from their action heroes. Step forward actors like Jason Statham. Not merely a model and an accomplished martial…

Ever since Marvel and Netflix announced they would be green-lighting a solo ‘Punisher’ series way back in March, fans have been desperately awaiting any further detail on the project. It was all just too much to take in. Not only was there the surprise that Netflix had suddenly deviated from their seemingly rigid ‘Defenders’ plans, but Jon Bernthal had just turned up and thrown down a career-defining performance for a character which has been so badly maligned in its previous incarnations. Emotions were high. And then… Well… Not a lot happened really. Other than an initial announcement that ‘Frank Castle…

It’s turning into quite the week to be a Deadpool fan. First came the news that Kyle Chandler (Super 8, Bloodline) is now rumored to be a sure thing to play Cable, the time-hopping mutant sidekick to Ryan Reynolds’s ‘Merc With The Mouth’. This came as quite a surprise, given the high profile of some of the veteran actors who have already vocally thrown their names into the ring to try and bag the role. And hot on the heels of that delicious gossipy tidbit came an equally tantalizing suggestion that 20th Century Fox may have also quickly identified the…

Marvel went to great lengths at last month’s SDCC to generate as much hype as they could around the upcoming ‘Doctor Strange’ movie, and also next year’s Spider-Man: Homecoming’, but one project they didn’t have much to say about was ‘Thor: Ragnarok’. The third installment in the Son of Odin’s solo series is currently halfway through filming, and most of the information that we do know about it has been drawn from the limited casting announcements, and the Twitter feeds of those currently larking about on set. Marvel producers have revealed that the movie will be drawing heavily from the…

So unless you’ve spent the last 48 hours hiding under a rock, you’ll be aware that the press embargo on Suicide Squad has now been lifted, and the first reviews have sent the Internet into total meltdown. Within the first hour of the embargo elapsing, reviews were landing online giving the film anything between 1-5 stars, with some reviewers calling the film a ‘Game Changer’, but others branding it a ‘Complete Tonal Mess’. In response, DC fans have largely shrugged this off, and Box Office estimates still have the film tracking to beat Marvel’s ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ in terms…

It’s fair to say that 2016 has been a pretty SWEET time for comic-book fans. We’re only halfway through this fine year, and we’ve already been bludgeoned to a state of near-death with a record number of sci-fi and fantasy movies, and there’s still ‘Suicide Squad’ and ‘Dr Strange’ waiting in the wings to assault our senses. It’s hard to see how humanity could improve on what has already been a stellar couple of months. But you know what? As Jeff Goldblum famously once said in ‘Jurassic Park’, “nature always finds a way…” So. ‘Civil War’ was pretty goddamn amazing,…

It’s rare that you see Marvel Studios put a step wrong. I mean, these guys are the game-changers. The movie-makers that lead by example. The benchmark. The ones to beat. Having emerged from their pre-MCU mistakes, and learned from what happens when their characters are tinkered with by other companies, everything that comes out of the House of Marvel is now smoothed, polished, and triple-checked for quality control. After all, these are the people who can successfully persuade us to buy into Chris Pratt sharing screen time with a robotically-enhanced raccoon and a talking tree. So far, other than some…

I’m sat there, minding my own business when the boss-man drops me a line and asks me to look into making a list of the top comic book villains that audiences are yet to see in a live-action format. Seems an easy enough prospect, right? Everybody’s got that favorite bad guy that they either read about, or watched on early morning kids TV. Someone they’ve been secretly itching to see crop up amongst the current wave of comic book projects. Well trust me, it isn’t necessarily that easy. Whilst we’re a mere three phases into Marvel’s plans for world domination,…