Netflix tagged posts

July 9, 2020, Posted in  Reviews Comments: No comments

Director: David Dobkin

Writer: Will Ferrell, Andrew Steele

Cast: Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens, Pierce Brosnan

Producers: Jessica Elbaum, Eitan Evan, Will Ferrell, Chris Henchy

Music: Atli Örvarsson

Cinematography: Danny Cohen

Editor: Greg Hayden

Cert: 12

Running time: 123mins

Year: 2020

What’s the story: All his life, Lars Erickssong (Ferrell) has dreamt of Eurovision Song Contest victory. Long-time friend and musical partner Sigrit Ericksdottir (McAdams) shares that dream and an unrequited longing for Lars himself. When events propel the duo from their tiny Icelandic fishing village to the big stage of Eurovision, they find themselves with a one in a (741) million shot of Europop glory.

What’s the verdict: Will...

June 27, 2020, Posted in  Podcast Comments: No comments

Episode 94 of The Movie Robcast sees Robs Daniel & Wallis in the same vicinity for the first time in three months! They decided to meet in town on a sunny Sunday morning to do a social distanced podcast. Both rocking a Bane look with their face masks (and you can hear Rob D shifting his a few times, well it kept sliding down…) they tried not to get freaked out by how randomly noisy they found the great outdoors.

Take a listen, you’ll hear what we mean. We swear it wasn’t like this before lockdown…

After some discussion of what possibly lies in store vis-à-vis filmgoing for the rest of the year, the Robs take a tour of duty discussing Spike Lee’s Netflix movie, Da 5 Bloods...

April 30, 2020, Posted in  Podcast Comments: No comments

The Movie Robcast reaches its 90th episode! And we’re marking the occasion with bang, looking at Chris Hemsworth’s explosive actioner Extraction and Gareth Evan’s brutal crime epic Gangs of London.

The Robs find a particularly familiar whiff to Extraction. But, they take the opportunity to invoke the oeuvre of straight-to-rental favourite Scott Adkins when discussing how closely Chris Hemsworth’s movie sticks to action movie beats. They also take time to ponder the business savvy of titling a film “Avengement” as Adkins did. Tune in for why it makes more sense than you’d think.

Then onto Gangs of London. Rob D binged the whole series, while Rob W only had time to watch the first episode, so the discussion is spoiler free...

March 24, 2020, Posted in  Podcast Comments: No comments

Episode 86 of The Movie Robcast sees the Robs remote recording. Abiding by social distancing measures, they’re in their respective abodes, but that doesn’t stop them from covering a wide range of movie topics and other affairs of state.

Unsurprisingly, top of the list is the Coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 took quite a turn for the dramatic since the last episode, with first cinemas and theatres closing, then pubs and restaurants, then the whole country being put into lockdown.

So, Contagion and Outbreak are part of the discussion, along with thoughts on what will happen to cinema releases if the pandemic stretches into the summer.

It’s not all doom and gloom though...

December 28, 2019, Posted in  Features Comments: No comments

2019 may have had many problems, but cinema wasn’t one. The decade closed with a banner year for movies, so much so that our 11-20 list in any other year would have been a fine Top 10. Before we move onto what films we thought were the year’s best, here is a nod to those movies that didn’t quite squeeze in (although it was, appropriately, a close run race between The Peanut Butter Falcon and Le Mans ’66).

So, also check out… Le Man ’66, Booksmart, Monos, Ready or Not, One Cut of the Dead, The Sisters Brothers, Avengers: Endgame, The Report, John Wick 3: Parabellum and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

The Electric Shadows Top 10 Films of the Year also sees a couple of firsts...

October 15, 2019, Posted in  Reviews Comments: No comments

Director: Babak Anvari

Writer: Babak Anvari

Cast: Armie Hammer, Zazie Beetz, Dakota Johnson, Brad William Henke

Producers: Babak Anvari, Christopher Kopp, Lucan Toh

Cinematography: Kit Fraser

Editor: Chris Barwell

Cert: 15 (TBC)

Running time: 94mins

Year: 2019

What’s the story: Bartender Will (Hammer) watches his world implode when he discovers horrific images on a mysterious mobile phone.

What’s the verdict: Those with a fear of cockroaches, mobile phones or millennials will embark upon an emotional rollercoaster with Wounds.

Babak Anvari’s second film continues the reality ripping supernatural shocks of his debut, Under the Shadow...

October 14, 2019, Posted in  Reviews Comments: 2 comments

Director: Martin Scorsese

Writer: Steve Zaillian (screenplay), Charles Brandt (book)

Cast: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Bobby Cannavale, Stephen Graham, Ray Romano, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin, Welker White, Sebastian Maniscalco

Producers: Troy Allen, Gerald Chamales, Robert De Niro, Randall Emmett, Gastón Pavlovich, Jane Rosenthal, Martin Scorsese, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Irwin Winkler

Music: Robbie Robertson

Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto

Editor: Thelma Schoonmaker

Cert: 15

Running time: 209mins

Year: 2019

What’s the story: Mob enforcer Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran (De Niro) recounts his life in the mafia, particularly his friendship with Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino).

What’s the verdict: With its fiv...

March 25, 2018, Posted in  Podcast Comments: No comments

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE

Or if you subscribe to Spotify…

In episode 41 of The Electric Shadows Podcast Robs Daniel & Wallis journey deep into pop culture and sci-fi when delivering their verdicts on Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One and Alex Garland’s Annihilation. In a typically all-encompassing discussion, Rob D explains why he dug the pop-culture geek-gasm of RP1, while Rob W reveals his reservations about Spielberg’s latest. Conversely, Rob W talks about why Garland’s Annihilation is a masterpiece, and Rob D is the one with the criticisms. Basically, the entire tapestry of the 21st century human experience is here.

Other topics include why releasing movies straight to streaming services could mean the end of thought-provoking mid-range c...

March 1, 2018, Posted in  Podcast Comments: One comment

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO EPISODE

Or if you subscribe to Spotify…

Episode 39 of The Electric Shadows Podcast is the agony and the ecstasy.

The agony comes from Rob Daniel, who talks (at length) about his ongoing recuperation following surgery after a particularly non-heroic “sports injury”.

The ecstasy comes Rob Wallis, who, being sound of body was able to see Black Panther – aka Contender for the Biggest Film of 2018, aka Contender for the Most Culturally Significant Film of 2018, aka The Film You Really Should Have Seen By Now. So Rob W lets Rob D know about all the good stuff he has been missing. Rob D bravely listens without sounding too despondent.

Our intrepid casters in pod then tackle a brace of disappointing Netflix sigh-fi efforts: Mute and The Cl...

February 7, 2018, Posted in  Reviews Comments: 2 comments

Director: Julius Onah

Writer: Oren Uziel (screenplay), Oren Uziel, Doug Jung (story)

Cast: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Aksel Hennie, Chris O’Dowd, David Oyelowo, Zhang Ziyi, Roger Davies

Cert: 15

Running time: 102mins

Year: 2018 

What’s the story: Astronauts aboard space station Cloverfield discover reality is lethally twisted after they successfully complete a particle accelerator experiment designed to solve a global energy crisis.

What’s the verdict: Cloverfield is about everyday life jolted by a seismic event. Fitting then that home entertainment giant Netflix surprise released this third instalment in producer J.J. Abrams’ anthology franchise.

Unsurprisingly, expectations were high...