TheRetroCritic

Another year, another Nicolas Cage film you never knew existed but which somehow got made and was released when you weren't looking. Dog Eat Dog can now be found on Netflix, it co-stars Willem Dafoe and it is, believe it not, pretty good. The opening sequence of the film is arguably one of last year's most brutal scenes, which sets the tone for Dafoe's character, a pathetic yet psychopathic ex-con nicknamed "Mad Dog" who joins his partners in crime Troy (Nicolas Cage) and Diesel (Christopher Matthew Cook) for one last job. Directed by veteran filmmaker Paul Schrader, known for co-writing some of Martin Scorsese's very best films and for making off-beat thrillers himself, Dog Eat Dog definitely has a quirky plot that feels like something the Coen Brothers would tackle or have tackled since one of the scenes even involves Cage stealing a baby à la Raising Arizona . There is humour in the film but the several funny lines or moments you'll find are super

Gothamized  is a completely unofficial guide to new series  Gotham  and a debate arena for all things Batman. DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE HERE In this 27th episode, I discuss episodes 9, 10 and 11 of  Gotham  Season 2 and review both The Killing Joke and Batman: Return Of The Caped Crusaders . (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 Soundcloud, iTunes, Stitcher and Player FM) and send us emails with your Bat-questions, Six Degrees challenges and riddles here:  gothamized@gmail.com (for the pilot episode  CLICK HERE )

I put on my best Christmas sweater and talk Rogue One: A Star Wars Story .

In this new episode of Tastin' , I try some Pibb Xtra and move on to Pepsi's 1893. A good year? Let's see.

Jake Gyllenhaal stars in Enemy , a strange little movie from Denis Villeneuve, the director of Prisoners and Arrival , about a teacher who discovers that a small-time actor looks exactly like him for some reason and tries to figure out why. The trailers suggested a thriller but this is really more of a low-key character study with a surreal edge. Enemy keeps you guessing from start to finish and it's likely that, even after the end credits have rolled, you'll still be thinking about it, piecing it all together. After playing a wild-eyed creep in Nightcrawler , Jake Gyllenhaal is back with yet another unique, off-beat performance (or two) as both the nervous teacher and his suspicious doppelgänger. Toronto is shot beautifully through a gold filter and Villeneuve proves himself once again capable of merging gritty and strange perfectly, much like Christopher Nolan does, as this one-man-show is framed by nightmarish visions of giant spiders. As to what the film itself mea

Back in 1985, Terry Gilliam directed Brazil , a science-fiction comedy like no other about a dystopian future in which the world is run by totalitarian bureaucracy. It wasn't a big hit in the US but it did well everywhere else and over time it has become something of a cult classic. The film follows Jonathan Pryce's Sam Lowry, a meek government employee whose dreary life is turned upside down when he literally meets the woman of his dreams. The world depicted in Brazil is a gloomy, depressing one with its backwards technology, its inhuman laws, its crushingly industrial metropolis and yet Gilliam manages to find the humour in that setting by emphasising just how ridiculous this society has become with countless larger-than-life characters and awkward tech. The result is kind of a cross between 1984 , Blade Runner and Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life . The dreams Lowry has, in which he's flying, saving a damsel in distress from monsters, look beautiful and work a

Visuals look 10/10. We'll see if the film delivers.

Robin Williams stars in this surreal comedy from 1992 directed by Barry Levinson in which a toy factory is handed over to a sadistic army General who uses its resources to create war toys. A box-office flop, Toys famously did not exactly wow critics and audiences alike even if it did receive some praise for its creative visuals. Indeed, the René Magritte-inspired art direction and costumes earned the film some Oscar nominations but little else about it managed to charm anyone. The main complaint being that, while Toys is rich in fancy sets, it is weak in terms of story and character and with a running time of over two hours that's a legitimate concern. On paper, this is a simple, straight-forward story and yet in Levinson's hands it's borderline incomprehensible. Every scene aims to entertain by showing you increasingly whimsical stuff but it all falls flat due to a lifeless, unfunny script and some criminally underwritten characters. Tonally, the film is also off as

After two disastrous holidays, The Griswolds came back for yet another in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation , a 1989 sequel in which Clark (Chevy Chase) and Ellen Griswold (Beverly D'Angelo) attempt to host a Christmas dinner with the whole family. As ever, whatever Clark touches turns to catastrophe and every step of the way his plans are plagued by his own incompetence or just plain bad luck. Whether it's finding a suitable Christmas tree, checking out the attic, setting up Christmas lights or simply driving on the road, there's always a crash, a fall or an explosion around the corner. Written and produced by John Hughes, the film is right off the bat much better than its predecessor National Lampoon's European Vacation which looked cheap and was basically one stereotype after another with some cameos thrown in. Here, the premise is simple but the gags all pay off as Hughes imagines every single thing that could possibly go wrong on Christmas Eve and mak

Based on a novel by, believe it or not, John Grisham, Christmas With The Kranks is a comedy from 2004 starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis as a couple who decide to skip Christmas altogether when their daughter tells them she has to go to Peru for a Peace Corps assignment, much to the anger and disbelief of their neighbours. While the film did well at the box-office, critics were much less enthusiastic and it still holds a surprisingly low rating on Rotten Tomatoes and other sites. Maybe the corny poster and the fact it's yet another holiday-themed Tim Allen-starring family-friendly flick made it easy to dismiss as a trashy cash-in or maybe there's just something about Christmas With The Kranks that didn't sit well with people. On the surface, this is a pretty harmless film about a couple engaged in a goofy tit-for-tat battle with the neighbourhood, sort of like in the equally despised  Deck The Halls . There's nothing harsh or particularly unpredictable about