Spy ****
Spy is an espionage hoot with lots of action, silliness and Bond-style antics. It’s easy on the brain, consumable comedy with strong female leads that’s always a breath of fresh air in Hollywood – something Feig is instrumental in pursuing.
Tag: Rose Byrne
Annie ***
Beasts of the Southern Wild child star Quvenzhané Wallis drags the character of Annie kicking and screaming into the 21st Century in the 2014 remake. For starters, she often reminds us she’s “not an orphan” but a “foster kid” – a term more commonly recognised these days with unconventional families the norm. She’s still singing …
Insidious: Chapter 2 ***
Meant to pick up where 2010’s Insidious left off, writer-director James Wan and co-writer Leigh Whannell place us in the company of the unfortunate Lamberts again, only this time at grandma Lorraine’s (Barbara Hershey) residence. The first thing that springs to mind is just why Renai Lambert (Rose Byrne) hasn’t run for the hills with …
Bridesmaids *****
The biggest mistake you can make is to dismiss Paul Feig’s Bridesmaids as yet another pre-wedding ‘chick flick’, along the lines of 27 Dresses. An even bigger one is writing it off as simply a ‘female Hangover’ – even though contrary to critic sentiment, the lads in Bangkok are riding high at No.2 slot in …
X-Men: First Class ****
This year we’re in danger of being swamped by comic-book adaptations, and if you’re not a dedicated Marvel fanboy/girl, they all seem to offer much the same thing. In fact, for the latter group, X-Men is defined by Wolverine and Storm, of which only one makes a fleeting appearance in this, X-Men: First Class. So …
Insidious ****
Effective horror films these days are harder and harder to come by. But it all depends on what you want from the genre? In Insidious, Saw creators Wan and Whannell appear to have collected together all their favourite horror elements from scary classics – namely Poltergeist, The Amityville Horror and The Shining – but not …