TheRetroCritic

Terry Gilliam rarely gets to go all-out creatively anymore and that's a real shame because, for a while there, it seemed as if no project was too nutty for him to handle. Oh who am I kidding? Every single one of his projects is nutty. Hence why financing them must be so daunting! The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen was a huge flop but so many masterpieces were, from  Night Of The Hunter to Blade Runner . You can't judge a film's quality based on how much money it made, you just can't. Gilliam's film is one I've always considered to be a masterpiece of the fantasy genre. Its epic scale, its surreal visuals, its playful anarchism, I just loved every minute of it as a kid, even if by the end I had no idea what the hell I had just watched. It was an adventure like no other and I was completely taken with all these larger-than-life characters and their crazy odyssey. One second you were inside a volcano speaking to Roman gods, the next you were playing card

New review from The Cinema Snob.

Growing up in France I was pretty much pre-programmed as a Tintin fanatic from the start. Owner of all the books (yes, even the infamously racist one), proud addict of the animated series and devout follower of all things Tintin, the prospect of a film based on Herge's comics directed by Steven Spielberg was a pretty exciting one to say the least. Looking forward to a full-on live action Tintin film, the announcement that the whole thing would be motion-captured was a tad disappointing. I mean, there hasn't been a good live action Tintin flick since 1961's Tintin And The Mystery Of The Golden Fleece : it felt right. But an animation? How could it ever measure up to the TV series or even the 1972 animated feature Tintin And The Lake Of Sharks ? I guess the idea was to stay true to Herge's designs (...by changing them?) but the cartoons did that pretty well so that sounded like a bit of a redundant move. Like Superman Returns being a homage to a franchise which alre

No less than 5 years after their last release, The Red Hot Chili Peppers are back this month with a new album, I’m With You , which should no doubt satisfy hungry fans.  But how does the album fare minus long-time guitarist John Frusciante, who officially left the band back in 2009? Throughout the years, The Red Hot Chili Peppers have undergone changes and reinventions aplenty whilst always keeping their own brand of funky rock perfectly intact. The biggest switch came in 1999 with the release of hit album Californication which showed the band in a darker, more melancholic light. This meant the usual anarchic fast-paced funkiness increasingly gave way to an altogether more atmospheric and melodic approach. This was clearly the beginning of a new era for the band. The next album, By The Way , really made the most of Frusciante’s creativity and excelled especially with some of the best, most nostalgic ballads the band ever attempted. The album showed real heart and maturity but it wa

Just like probably 99% of French and Belgian people out there, I'm looking forward to Steven Spielberg's take on the classic Tintin franchise. Yes a live action film would have been amazing since the only genuinely good live action Tintin film to date remains Tintin and The Mystery of the Golden Fleece which, as adorable and charming as it is, was made back in 1961. And in terms of animation we have the Tintin animated series (made in the early 90's) which, although they tended to rush through a lot of the books, were near perfect. Growing up with these cartoons, they always felt exciting, smart and grown-up (lets assume Tintin in Congo was a bad dream, yikes). Both the books and the animated series never talked down to its audience, which made it that much better to follow. Now after several unpleasant attempts at "realistic" looking CGI animations ( Polar Express anyone?) and some underrated efforts ( A Christmas Carol ) we're getting a Tintin anima