Bokeem Woodbine
Occupation
Actor
Spider-Man: Homecoming Trailer
Peter Parker is a teenager who has a lot to deal with after being bitten by a radioactive spider. He suddenly finds himself equipped with the ability to climb buildings and spin webs - powers that he knows he wants to use for good but of which he really doesn't know where to start. He's being mentored by Tony Stark, who suggests he keep to small-time crime rather than taking on the city's supervillains, but he's ready to take on the big guys and he's certainly tired of being patronised by Iron Man who doesn't think he's ready to become an Avenger especially when he's still got high school to complete. When a new menace in the shape of the Vulture makes himself known in New York, the newly dubbed Spider-Man wants to help take him down, but how can he do that with the Avengers trying to keep him out of the loop?
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Riddick Review
By Rich Cline
Very Good
Vin Diesel and filmmaker David Twohy wrestle their iconic intergalactic character back to his leaner, meaner roots in this bluntly titled thriller. This movie harks back to what made 2000's Pitch Black such a discovery: one misunderstood man fighting idiotic reactions to real danger. Thankfully, the filmmakers have set aside the murky mythologising of the 2004 sequel The Chronicles of Riddick.
There's a brief mention of things like necromongers and the underverse before Riddick (Diesel) is abandoned on a harsh desert planet apparently populated by only two species: stripy, spiky-haired wild dingos and slimy two-legged scorpion-stinging beasts. Riddick gets to grips with both, even domesticating one of the doggies, then sends a distress signal that is answered by two teams of bounty-hunting mercenaries. First up is a motley crew led by Santana (Molla), and they're soon joined by a muscle-head team captained with military precision by the steely Johns (Nable), who has a secret personal reason for being here. But of course Riddick is ready for them.
All of the characters are beefy hotheads, challenging each other's authority with gruffly shouted taunts. Even as they play it straight, the cast members have a lot of fun with this banter. As Johns' first officer, Sackhoff is clearly in her element as the only female in sight, happily giving the men a taste of their own machismo. Even man-mountain Bautista gets into the fun as Santana's brutish thug, calmed down by Danby's true-believer nice guy. Everyone is sure they can capture Riddick easily, of course, but he picks them off one-by-one until they accept his terms. This heightened human interaction gives the movie a kick of energy that holds our attention even as things begin to feel faintly ridiculous.
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Riddick Trailer
Ex-convict Richard B. Riddick is back and more formidable than ever before. He is alone after being left for dead on a burning planet (not for the first time) but, as he is preyed upon by a new army of deadly creatures, he becomes more and more powerful making himself the biggest predator on the planet. His adversaries soon return, however, determined to finally have his head (literally) but with more than one advantage over them such as the ability to see in the dark, it becomes a brutal and deadly chase with only one likely victor. Riddick has his enemies just where he wants them in his bloody scheme to rescue his home planet Furya.
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The Host Review
By Rich Cline
Very Good
While the premise of this sci-fi thriller feels like yet another of Stephenie Meyer's two-boys-one-girl fantasies, a superior writer-director and cast make this is a stronger film than Twilight. The plot may be rather contrived, but the actors bring out some sharp intelligence in the script to make it surprisingly involving.
It's set in a future time after aliens have snatched the bodies of 90 percent of humanity, eliminating hunger, crime and the environmental crisis. But secret pockets of rebels have avoided being possessed by these white mini-jellyfish beings, and are seeking ways to fight back. So when the alien being Wanderer is implanted in the resistance leader Melanie (Ronan), the head Seeker (Kruger) hopes to infiltrate her memories and find out where they're hiding. But Melanie is stronger than anyone thinks, managing to remain conscious alongside Wanderer, winning her to the rebel cause. She heads to the human's secret desert hideout, where Uncle Jeb (Hurt) renames her Wanda and accepts her into the fold. But some humans aren't so sure, and the Seeker is hot on her trail.
It's deep in this maze of rather too-sophisticated caves that the crinkled romance develops, as Melanie is reunited with her boyfriend Jared (Irons), but doesn't want him kissing her when Wanda is in control of her body. Then Wanda falls for Ian (Abel), and their kissing makes Melanie even more furious. Yes, like Twilight, this film seems to think that kissing is the ultimate expression of human connection, giving this film a quirky four-sided love triangle at its centre. Meanwhile, the more thriller-like plotline builds as the Seeker gets ever closer. All of this is played out very seriously, with almost no offhanded humour or humanity, but the emotions are intriguingly resonant.
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Total Recall Review
By Rich Cline
OK
Audiences weren't exactly clamouring for a remake of that 1990 sci-fi hit starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone, but here we are. The filmmakers promised to return more closely to Philip K. Dick's original story, but instead they merely lift visual references from a series of much more involving movies. And with only one decently realised character on the screen, the only other thing to hold our interest is the way it looks.
That one good character is Doug, played with real depth by Farrell. After a chemical war has left just two inhabitable spots on earth (Britain and Australia), Doug is working as a robotics engineer and living a quiet life with his wife Lori (Beckinsale). But he keeps dreaming about running for his life with another woman (Biel), so he heads to a Rekall memory-implant centre to clear his mind. Of course he instead opens a can of worms, discovering that he's not who he thinks he is. But what's the truth? And who's side he really working for - the totalitarian chancellor (Cranston) or the violent rebel leader (Nighy)?
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Total Recall Trailer
It is an uneasy period in human history, with the nation states of Euromerica and New Shanghai vying for supremacy a factory worker, Douglas Quaid, begins to question this new world order. With the questions mounting in his head it seems that the only thing that can clear his head is a decent vacation and Rekall looks to be the company to help him out with this desire.
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Bokeem Woodbine Thursday 8th December 2011 out and about in Beverly Hills Los Angeles, California
It's The Rage Review
Bad
Quite a cast has been assembled for this Altman-esque tale of interlocked lives, all clamoring around the "serious social problem" of gun control. While there's no denying that the USA has over fifty million gun owners and it's a subject worthy of address and debate, this movie thuddingly hits the same numb point over and over again: guns are bad, guns can kill. That's about as resonant as It's the Rage will get.
Jeff Daniels and Joan Allen play a miserable suburban couple whose marriage is disrupted by an accidental shooting in their living room at midnight. As it turns out, the guy was Daniels' business partner. Allen moves out in disgust and, through a process of self-discovery, figures out that her happy little life was nothing more than a middle class prison. She hides away at her new workplace, in the employ of eccentric millionaire and computer guru Gary Sinise. Daniels sits at home fuming, renting pornography and playing with his gun.
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The Big Hit Review
By Blake French
Terrible
Why would any producer gamble $13 million on a trash heap like The Big Hit? There's no excuse to give such a horrendous movie the green light. I hope Ben Ramsey's script was a very good read, because that's the only explanation producers Warren Zide and Wesley Snipes have.
According to the production notes, director Che-Kirk Wong actually had considerable confidence in the project. "The script was very original," explains Wong. "I enjoy doing action sequences, but action means nothing if we don't have decent characters. They're both equally important to me." Is Wong thinking of the same movie I just endured?
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