TheRetroCritic

Pay attention, 007. Your new mission finally has a name: Also, a teaser poster: Your new villain, by the way, will be played by the ever-wonderful Christoph Waltz. Agent 2015 better get here soon...

Peter Ustinov makes his first cinematic appearance as Agatha Christie's iconic Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in Death On The Nile , another all-star-packed outing for the sleuth, taking over from Albert Finney for many, many years to come. This time, the setting is much more exotic than it was in Murder On The Orient Express as Poirot and a bunch of dodgy suspects board a fancy cruise along the Nile. Of course, a murder takes place on said steamer and the renowned detective soon begins his investigation. Well... I say soon but don't expect any murder to occur within at least the first hour as this one certainly takes its time when it comes to moving towards the central crime. After that, luckily, we get all the awkward interrogations and suspicious developments you'd expect from that particular type of whodunit, ending of course with a gathering of all the remaining suspects and the big reveal. The plot follows a love triangle involving wealthy heiress Linnet Rid

Back when Steve Carell was still mostly known for being that odd news guy in both Bruce Almighty and Anchorman , he finally got his first lead comedy role in The 40-Year-Old Virgin , a film which, on paper, may not have sounded all that exciting but, in Judd Apatow's reliable hands, did very well indeed. The film's premise is exactly what the title suggests as Carell plays Andy, a 40-year-old virgin we first meet one morning as he absently parades his morning boner while he gets ready for work. This sets most of the tone for the rest of the movie. We soon meet Andy's co-workers, incidentally an all-star cast packed with Apatow regulars from Seth Rogen to Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann. Even Jonah Hill gets a cameo appearance. When Andy's "friends" figure out his big secret, this kick-starts their imaginations as they each decide to get him laid and impart their silly wisdom about sex upon him. Whether they're doing all this just to see Andy make a fool o

After trying to keep a troubled Hugh Jackman in check in last year's Prisoners , Jake Gyllenhaal is back with yet another dark, strange and, incidentally, really strong flick: Nightcrawler . Think Drive crossed with something a bit sleazier like David Cronenberg's Crash with some newsroom-themed satire thrown in. A super-skinny, crazy-eyed Gyllenhaal plays a small-time thief with big, if achievable, aspirations who discovers a new business opportunity through filming real crime or accident scenes and selling the footage to a news channel: the more graphic the footage, the better. Rene Russo is the TV producer buying what the dodgy freelance journalist has to offer, encouraging him the entire time to keep up the good work and deliver juicier and juicier footage. But even she did not realize the full extent of Louis Bloom's (Gyllenhaal) lack of morality and sociopathy. Director Dan Gilroy has created a truly fascinating, complex character in the vein of Robert De Niro&

New York gets a bad rep. So much so that back in 1981 John Carpenter pictured a Manhattan so run down and chaotic that it was set in the dystopian future of *dramatic sting* 1997 when the U.S. decided to turn the whole island into a prison complete with big walls surrounding it, armed guards everywhere, mined bridges and friendly cabbies. Unfortunately, when rebels send Air Force One crashing into the city and steal the president (who managed to land in an adorable red pod), Lee Van Cleef's intense police chief is forced to hire the help of a tough renegade called Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell in a career-defining role) who walks like a badass and speaks like Batman in order to find the president and bring him back safely for an important summit. Although Cleef doesn't so much "hire" him as he does inject him with a deadly serum and literally land him in one tricky situation to say the least with some fancy electronic bracelet and a walkie-talkie. There, he encou

Gothamized  is a completely unofficial guide to new series  Gotham  and a debate arena for all things Batman. CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE EPISODE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE In this 12th episode, we discuss the eighth episode of  Gotham , Black Mask, Judge Dredd, holes and we take a bat-test. (for my written review of the Gotham Pilot,  click here! ) Hope you enjoy it! You can also find us on podcast  The Big Rewind  (available on iTunes) and send us emails with your Bat-questions, Six Degrees challenges and riddles here:  gothamized@gmail.com (for the pilot episode  CLICK HERE )

Gothamized  is a completely unofficial guide to new series  Gotham  and a debate arena for all things Batman. CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE EPISODE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE In this 11th episode, we discuss the seventh episode of  Gotham , Legos, umbrellas, Victor Zsasz, Captain Boomerang and wood. (for my written review of the Gotham Pilot,  click here! ) Hope you enjoy it! You can also find us on podcast  The Big Rewind  (available on iTunes) and send us emails with your Bat-questions, Six Degrees challenges and riddles here:  gothamized@gmail.com (for the pilot episode  CLICK HERE )

The film that cemented for many of us the awesomeness that is Karate, the film that made Ralph Macchio into an eternal teen movie star, the film that gave true meaning to fence-painting and car-waxing, the film that turned showers into a legitimate Halloween costume, the film that made children befriending strange old men totally ok... I'm talking, of course, about The Karate Kid . Here's a perfect example of what makes a great sports movie: a film which glorifies the sport at hand to the point where it really makes you feel like it's super-important and actually quite deep without really being about the sport itself and focusing on the characters and their story arcs. The philosophy at the heart of Karate is the key component which drives the film and gives this troubled Daniel-san focus. It's also the reason why good old Mr Miyagi (Pat Morita) is as iconically loveable as he is in these movies, always dispensing abstract yet ever-valid wisdom and effortlessly k

Werner Herzog famously cast then non-actor Bruno S. in this bizarre little film about a man who grew up being kept locked up in a dark basement who suddenly finds himself released in a small town. The townspeople don't really know what to make of him, treating him like a prisoner, an animal and a child at various points until a well-off man takes him under his wing and teaches him the ways of the world, even ultimately going as far as attempting to introduce him to high society. The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser begins almost like a silent film as we get a glimpse of Hauser's day-to-day life pre-freedom. It's sinister, odd and remains a bit of a mystery for the rest of the film as a man dressed in black releases him randomly then occasionally pops back into his life, following him like some kind of lingering shadow of doom. While not a documentary, Herzog doesn't over-stylise the film making it's Plato's cave-style plot more palatable and Kaspar Hauser's c

In this 45th episode, Adam (aka The RetroCritic) and fellow film buff Jamie discuss movie news, review  Interstellar  and talk retro stuff. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE Email us here if you have any questions, requests or contributions:  bigrewindpodcast@gmail.com Or simply comment below :) Oh and you can also find us on  iTunes  where you can subscribe to the podcast and download every episode thusfar! @TheRetroCritic #TheBigRewind retrocriticblog.blogspot.com thebigrewind.blogspot.com youtube.com/TheRetroCritic youtube.com/Cablogula