Manhunter (1986)
Apr 3, 2000Hannibal Lecter Film
The very first Hannibal Lecter film. Under Michael Mann, this comes with a stylistic flourish very different to what the films became when Anthony Hopkins took the role
Stephen Lang
Tall Tale (1995)
Sep 23, 2007Characters from Wild West Legends
This has the promising idea of bringing together various mythic figures from the West like Pecos Bill and John Bunyan but then mishandles them in an oddly mundane depiction
A Town Has Turned to Dust (1998)
Oct 9, 2003Post-Holocaust Racism
Adaptation of an old Rod Serling script about racial prejudice and lynch mobs. The original was a non-genre work that took place in a Western setting but this has transplanted the milieu to an alien planet.
The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)
Nov 14, 2009US Army's Psychic Warfare Division Comedy
Film based on the supposed Psychic Warfare Division of the US Army. Based on a non-fiction book, this is played by director Grant Heslov as a broad farce and sits on an uncertain line as to whether the powers are real
Avatar (2009)
Dec 20, 2009War Between Human Colonists and Aliens
James Cameron’s film was a smash phenomenon. Cameron has relocated the plot of Dances With Wolves on another planet and uses motion capture to create one of the most dazzlingly realised alien worlds on film
Conan the Barbarian (2011)
Sep 9, 2011Sword and Sorcery
This revival of Conan the Barbarian is a dismal effort that gets little of what made the character work, while Jason Momoa gives little impression he is taking proceedings seriously
The Nut Job (2014)
Jan 17, 2014Animation/Talking Animal Heist Film
I went into this with zero expectations, expecting no more than a work of formula family entertainment and came out gently surprised. Essentially a talking cartoon animals variant on a heist plot, it does the formula likeably and with none of the relentless smart-ass cynicism of too many contemporaries
A Good Marriage (2014)
Feb 26, 2019Wife Discovers Her Husband is a Serial Killer/Stephen King Adaptation
Stephen King writes a screen adaptation of his own story about a wife who discovers that her husband is a serial killer. A strong premise that oddly misses most of the opportunities.
Backmask (2015)
Sep 12, 2015Abandoned Asylum/Possession
Marcus Nispel is a director most associated with remakes of other films. In original material here, he is still rehashing moves from other films – an abandoned asylum and every shock effect in the possession/exorcism playbook
Don’t Breathe (2016)
Sep 3, 2016House Breakers Stalked by a Blind Man
This, which is sort of The People Under the Stairs by way of Wait Until Dark, was greeted with terms like ‘an instant classic'. It is a well-oiled machine that produces some undeniable jumps but little remains in memory after it is over
Mortal Engines (2018)
Feb 23, 2019Post-Holocaust World of Mobile Cities
Peter Jackson written-produced film that creates a fascinatingly original world. As always with a Jackson film, all the fun is in the massively scaled effects sequences and the design of the world. Alas, Jackson is not as well attuned in the story department, which often drags up corny cliched scenes
VFW (2019)
Apr 29, 2024Barroom Under Siege from Crazed Drug Addicts
An ultra-violent homage to John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 with a group of veterans in a bar at siege against a horde of crazed drug addicts outside
Don’t Breathe 2 (2021)
Sep 17, 2021Home Invasion Thriller
Don’t Breathe was a surprise hit with its story of kids invading a home only to be hunted by blind man Stephen Lang. This is a sequel that bafflingly reverses all the sympathies
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Apr 8, 2023War Between Human Colonists and Aliens
James Cameron finally delivers his sequel to Avatar. Nothing could quite repeat the same phenomenon a second time but this does well with Cameron taking the opportunity to show more depth to his alien world
Old Man (2022)
Feb 5, 2023Tensions Between Two Men in a Cabin in the Woods
Lucky McKee, director of May and The Woman, makes a film about two men meeting at a cabin in the woods where secrets emerge amid psychological tensions between the two
Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025)
Apr 4, 2026War Between Human Colonists and Aliens
James Cameron makes a third venture into the world of Pandora. The question is whether he finds any new territory to explore. What you cannot deny is that he creates a pretty and absorbing picture out of it all