• Movies The Problems with the Oscars
    The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, is arguably the most famous out of all the award shows for film and television. Some of this year’s contenders are the people involved with Oppenheimer, Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon, Poor Things and many other movies that had a massive impact on the industry. Last […]
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  • Books Best Book Series: The Hunger Games
    Katniss Everdeen lives in a post-apocalyptic version of the USA, where inhabitants’ movements are restricted to the districts in which they were born. Condemned to a life of hard work, Katniss works hard to feed her family. However, when her name is pulled from a hat, she is chosen as a participant in the Hunger […]
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  • Editorials Five Must-Watch Netflix Originals
    Netflix Originals have proved to be some of the best televised experiences of recent times. Here, we name the top five of Netflix’s original series and films to watch. 5. Extraction In what comes across as Netflix’s answer to the growing popularity of John Wick, Extraction is a fast-paced action movie with exceptional combat scenes throughout. Though […]
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  • Movies Top Five Female Villains in Film
    Not to be outdone, the great female villains of film never cease to impress. And today, we will dissect the top five of them right here. Female antagonists offer a different breed of monster to their male counterparts, and these five effortlessly excel at their tasks of terrifying the audience. 5. Luv – Blade Runner […]
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  • Editorials China’s influence on modern filmmaking
    China, which makes up 25% of the global box office, really is a crucial factor when it comes to the success of a film. With the government only allowing 38 international films to be screened in Chinese cinemas per year, studios must go all-out to ensure that their products can make it past their censors. […]
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  • Movies Can cinemas recover from Covid?
    Cinemas were experiencing a steady revenue decline even before the pandemic. The restrictions ended up causing an almost total collapse. Tentpole franchise films ended up moving to streaming services. Blockbusters like No Time To Die, Dune and Black Widow were delayed more times than you count. Now we ask: can cinemas recover? Recommended Reading: Film […]
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  • Movies What’s Coming to Cinemas?
    Cinemas are back in full swing and it is summer season. There is a slate of upcoming blockbusters that are sure to spark interest among many who have been away from the big screen for a long time now. Let’s have a look over what is set to come out in the next few weeks. […]
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  • Editorials Netflix cracking down on password sharing
    Netflix has begun to test a feature that asks viewers whether or not they live in the same household as a Netflix account holder. This feature is intended to crack down on those who share passwords between family and friends. It is reported that some users of the streaming service have encountered a message asking […]
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  • Movies Film Review: Joker
    No, you aren’t going to get shot going to watch this film. Joker is directed by the guy who made The Hangover trilogy and uses that basis to claim comedy is dead. We know Todd. We saw them too. It stars Joaquin Phoenix (a name I will spell once and only once) as Arthur Fleck. […]
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  • Movies Film Review: IT Chapter 2 (feat. James L)
    Well, that’ll teach me to get my hopes up. IT: Chapter 2 is the sequel to the 2017 horror about a child-eating clown. A film that is excellent when it’s being a charming kid-drama and annoying when it’s being a dull jump-scare fest. All in all, it was good enough to get me to read […]
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  • Editorials What Really Makes a Good Film?
    Aspiring film journalist and student from Newcastle Sarah Storer explains how to make a good film As a frequent cinema-goer and film critic, I’ve watched a lot of films over the years. I find that I tend to enjoy films of a similar style and genre and I will branch to them rather than seeing […]
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  • Movies Film reviews: Aladdin, Rocketman & Brightburn
    It’s been a busy week for me. I’ve seen four movies, only one of which I feel I can actually talk about for any length of article. So I thought, I’d save myself the stretching and do some quick-fire reviews for the first three. Aladdin Aladdin is the latest live-action remake of a classic Disney […]
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  • Games Film review: Pokémon Detective Pikachu
    Well, at least now I know what all the non-Marvel fans felt like walking out of Endgame. Pokémon Detective Pikachu is a noir/comedy detective story based on the universe of the eponymous games. It stars Justice Smith as disappointingly blandly named Tim Goodman, a disaffected youth with a troubled relationship with his father. It also […]
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  • Editorials What Annoyed the Internet Last Week?
    I’m going to propose the addition of a new verb to the Oxford dictionary: Pottermourning: Definition: The feeling of sadness when an author creates a much loved and profitable franchise and then single-handedly spoils it for everyone years later. Those of you who are active on Twitter will already know exactly what I mean. Despite coming out with a play, theme parks and a spin-off movie series, […]
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  • Movies Film review: Captain Marvel
    Let’s be honest, if I was going to turn on Marvel at any point, it wasn’t going to be this movie. Captain Marvel is the newest and most easily branded movie for Marvel Studios. It stars Brie Larson as the titular space soldier/superman surrogate. In it, she must prevent 1990s Earth from an invasion by […]
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  • Movies Every Oscar movie reviewed in a sentence
    The Oscars ceremony takes place this Sunday – click here for my predictions – and thankfully I’ve finished my homework in record time. Rather than boring everyone with a rapidly produced series of lukewarm 300-word reviews, I found this alternative. So you’re welcome. I’ve tried to pack as much detail as I could into these […]
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  • News 2019 Oscar Predictions
    It’s crunch time. Time for me to put my meagre reputation on the line and make a half-informed series of guesses at a number of the Academy Award nominations. Last year I got five right out of the eight I guessed but that was a year with a much more predictable climate. The BAFTAS and […]
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  • Movies Response to Abducted in Plain Sight
    After watching Abducted in Plain Sight, it seems that a normal review will not reflect how this one-part documentary has affected all those who’ve seen it. In an attempt to do it justice, we have reviewed not only the film itself but people’s response to this truly unforgettable story. Bizarre, disturbing and downright sick Just […]
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  • Movies Film review: Bumblebee
    We finally did it, folks. We finally collectively stopped supporting the Transformers franchise with our money. Shame we did it with the first good one. Bumblebee is a spin-off/prequel/potential reboot of the Transformers movies. I say potential because this film ignores and actively contradicts the events of those films, however so does each successive entry […]
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  • Movies Film review: Aquaman
    Hey did anyone else see Black Panther? Because DC did. Aquaman is the latest effort from Warner Bros to cash in on their DC characters. James Wan of Fast and Furious fame directs and Jason Momoa stars as the titular king. In this film, Aquaman must unite the seven sea kingdoms by finding a magical […]
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  • Editorials Time to go ‘Limitless’
    At the time of writing, we are two days into 2019 and I’ve already seen two new releases at my local cinema. That’s a 100% attendance record so far! For the previous twelve months, I recorded a measly one visit to watch a film, yet the beginning of a new year has instilled me a […]
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  • Movies Film review- Sicario 2: Soldado
    It’s at this point I realise Josh Brolin stars in three of my top ten films this year so far. Sicario 2: Soldado is the sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s teeth-gritting tour-de-force from 2015. It stars Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro as two terrible people in a terrible world where terrible things happen. These two […]
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  • Movies 4 films to talk about on your first day in prison
    We’ve all been there. It’s day one, we’ve got our orange onesie and our toothbrush. We step out into the yard but we don’t fancy punching the biggest guy there because we’re a coward. How should we break the ice to ensure a pleasant stay in the big house? The answer: appeal to the artistic […]
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  • Movies 4 movies to talk about at a job interview
    They say that at a job interview, you should talk about what you know. Avoiding areas where your knowledge is sketchy. For me though, that’s difficult. When 60% of your brain space is taken up by film opinions, trivia and upcoming release dates, it’s hard to appear employable. The other 40% is ABBA lyrics, by […]
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  • Movies 3 Podcasts you should listen to (besides ours)
    The first Beep podcast was released last week and I was honoured to be chosen as the host. The show is the audible adaptation of my regular A Week in Mild Amusement column. Unlike that column though, it features THREE people desperately trying to be funny instead of just me. With this occasion, I felt […]
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  • Movies Film Review: Isle of Dogs
    I actually felt thirsty after watching this it was that dry. Isle of Dogs is the latest film from, in my opinion, the most visually distinctive director in film history. And it does absolutely nothing to contradict that view. This is the most Wes Anderson movie that ever Wes Anderson-ed. It focuses on the story […]
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  • Movies Film Review: A Quiet Place
    If there’s any film that supports my idea of abolishing food in the cinema, it’s this one. A Quiet Place is the latest joint from US Office alumni John Krasinski. It’s a horror film where the premise is that the majority of the film is completely silent. Krasinski and Emily Blunt play the parents of […]
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  • Games Why video game movies don’t work
    With so many video game movies planned for the coming year, the statistical chance of the game movie curse being broken has never been higher. Despite the constant failure, studios seem determined to keep grasping for this slippery rope of potential. And I can see why. In principle, it appears so easy. A built-in fan-base […]
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