‘Phil’s Quick Capsule Review’ (a nod to legendary comedian Bill Hicks who coined the phrase when he reviewed ‘Piece Of Shit’ movie Basic Instinct)… where a perfect 10 is rarer than a rain free British summer!
Written by Phil Hobden – UK based podcaster, writer and former filmmaker. Part of the All Things Film network…
Phil’s Quick Capsule Review: I get why people didn’t like the latest version of Robin Hood. It’s a bit full of itself, it substitutes style for substance and mashes about 500 years of technology into one. I also still don’t buy Taron Egerton as an action hero. This all said I actually quite enjoyed Robin Hood, despite its faults. The action is interesting, the CGI not too interactive and the mash up of technology quite fun. And if nothing else at least it takes a different approach to a very well worn story. Peaky Blinder’s Paul Anderson is especially fun as Guy of Gisborne and Ben Mendelsohn does this best attempt to out Rickman Alan Rickman as the Sherif (he doesn’t get close but he’s still fun). It’s flawed. It’s silly. But its fun. Worth a watch.
Best Bit: The riot/raid/assault
Buy, Stream, Avoid: Stream
If You Liked this Try: Assassins Creed, Tomb Raider, Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves
Phil Hobden is the former Film Editor & Writer for renowned martial arts focused COMBAT MAGAZINE in the UK. He is also a filmmaker in his own right, having produced two cult Independent action films in LEFT FOR DEAD and TEN DEAD MEN. He was the host for the award nominated Filmsploitation podcast for 4 years, currently co-hosts Ross And Phil Talk Movies and is a writer/editor for his own blog Phil’s Quick Capsule Review…
So 2018 is almost over and it’s that time a year again where everyone reflects back on their best and worst films of the year. So we’ve covered our best and our worst films of 2018, so before we look at the films coming up in 2018 here’s my ‘Alternative’ End of Year Awards for 2018…
The Most Entertainingly Bad Film Of The Year Award…
The Gerard Butler Award For Consistently Making Entertainingly Terrible Films … Will return in 2019 when Butler stars in Den of Thieves 2, Naya Legend of the Golden Dolphin, Angel Has Fallen, Afterburn and many more…
Surprise of The Year Award… Mandy. If enough monkeys with typewriters can write Shakespeare then enough filmmakers can eventually make a good Nicolas Cage film again…
Performance Of The Year Award… Blumhouse for making enjoyable film after enjoyable film this year…
Just Fuck Off and Die Award… Netflix ‘Original’ Sci-Fi Movies… Annihilation, Cloverfield Paradox, Mute, Tau and MANY others!
Yup, I’m over them Award…
Jennifer Lawrence
I may have just slept through that Award… A Wrinkle in Time
Oh that came out THIS year? Award…
Tomb Raider
Come In Your time is Up Award… Comic Book Films. 2018 was good but not great year for comic book films. Avengers, AntMan and Black Panther were good enough and Deadpool 2 was Deadpool 2. But even I’m feeling a wee big fatigued now…
Trailer Of The Year Award… Mandy
Let Down of The Year Award… Solo. It didn’t suck. But it was also the worst Star Wars Film since Attack of The Clones. Which meant it was a huge let down…
Emperors new clothes Award… The Shape Of Water
Runner Up: A Star Is Born
How did they screw this up Award? Mile 22 – Peter Berg and Marky Mark
The not actually that popular popular award to… The Oscars for the on off Popular Oscar award
Cameo of The Year Award… Drag race alumni Alaska in The Last Sharknado (as well as Drag race alumni Shangela in A Star Is Born)
You should have left Spacey in it… All the Money In The World
The Oscars only like REALLY famous dead people award for missing out other stars who died Award… Tobe Hooper & Adam West
The Poof That Award Shows DONT Suck Award… Roger Deakins FINALLY wins an Academy Award
The Proof That Award Shows Suck Award…
Roger Deakins FINALLY wins an Academy Award but really it took THIS long.
WHY GOD WHY? Award… Overboard, Superfly, Death Wish remakes
Less Is, Er, Less Award… Ocean’s 8
The Year Of ‘Yeah that was okay’ Sequels Award… 2018 for The Predator, Sicario 2, Equalizer 2, Escape Plan 2, Pacific Rim 2
Films That SHOULD have been on my 2017 List’s but I Hadn’t Seen… Mayhem, Icarus, The Greatest Showman, Better Watch Out
Next time: Phil’s Look at 2019 and a look back at my 2018 predictions…
Phil Hobden is the former Film Editor & Writer for renowned martial arts focused COMBAT MAGAZINE in the UK. He is also a filmmaker in his own right, having produced two cult Independent action films in LEFT FOR DEAD and TEN DEAD MEN. He was the host for the award nominated Filmsploitation podcast for 4 years, currently co-hosts Ross And Phil Talk Movies and is a writer/editor for his own blog Phil’s Quick Capsule Review…
This episode Ross & Phil Talk Brandon Lee. 25 years after he was tragically killed on the set of The Crow, we reflect back on his films, his impact and his death. We also look at where he could have been all these years on. And as it’s us we talk about lots of other films as well. Naturally.
Hosted by Award winning Filmmaker Ross Boyask and blogger/writer/failed filmamker Phil Hobden.
Films Discussed: The Crow, Rapid Fire, Showdown In Little Tokyo, Daddy’s Home 2, Tomb Raider, You Were Never Really Here, Game Night, Pacific Rim, The Lost City Of Z,m Game Over Man, Ready Player One, Bullet To The Head, Tango & Cash, The Matrix
Principal Cast: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins
Plot Summary
Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander) goes in search of her father Lord Richard Croft(Dominic West) who has been missing, presumed dead in his lifelong quest to find the missing tomb of Japanese Queen Himiko, who was said to possess a mythical power that enabled to her to command life and death.
Nutshell Review
The Good: Overall the film is never boring and competently made plus both Dominic West and the ever reliable Walton Goggins put in very good performances.
The bad: The entire film is way too serious, the script is very poor, nearly all the action scenes are flat and unexciting, the plot is by the numbers and wholly predictable and Vikander simply isnt good enough as Lara – yes she can act, certainly tries hard, may well grow into the role in any subsequent sequels but overall i found her rather bland and po faced.
Review Summary: Not the worst film ever made, and Goggins certainly makes for a really good villain but dear Lord, why did the whole thing have to be so horribly standard?
There have been so many seriously poor to staggeringly average game to film adaptations that one would have thought that the powers that be at Warner’s and MGM would have learnt by the myriad mistakes of all those movies and come up with something way better than this.
Best Scene: I cant really think of one
Worth Paying to see at the cinema?: Yes if you are a 12 year old boy – all others avoid
Worth buying on Blu Ray/DVD?: No
See this if you liked: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Lara Croft:The Cradle Of Life
Phil’s Quick Capsule Review: Tomb Raider isn’t the best video game adaptation ever made but it’s also far from the worst. The films biggest issues is that because it quite faithfully recreates the story from teh 2013 game reboot it often feels a little too faithful, hitting the games key beats just without the fun of you controlling the outcome. That said the cast is fun, Alicia Vikander makes a damn good Lara Croft and the action is good for the most part. It’s just a shame the script wasn’t better. So not a miss. But only just.
Best Bit: China boat foot chase.
Cinema, Stream, Avoid: Stream
If You Liked this Try: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade, Mortal Kombat
Want to know what the critics think of the latest hot releases but don’t want to have to search for them? Well look no further as we round up the reviews from 5 of the most influential sources for the latest BIG RELEASE movie.
This time out: Tomb Raider (2018)
Overall Critics Say
“It’s a shame to see the trend of poor game-to-movie adaptations continue with a character as great as Lara Croft. “- 5.5
“Vikander packs a punch but this Tomb Raider is a long way off the Holy Grail of the first three Indy movies.” – 3/5
“It’s a different kind of Tomb Raider, certainly. But for an adventure film, it’s disconcertingly dull. ” – 2/5
“A reboot of the high-flying action-adventure series is built — surprisingly well — around the soulfully serious intensity of its star, Alicia Vikander”
” Predictably, there are hints everywhere that Lara Croft will be back for a sequel if this one does the required business; it’s to Tomb Raider’s credit that a second film doesn’t feel like such a bad proposition.” -3/5
Full credit to original sources. Links to websites provided.
This episode Ross & Phil Talk… 2018 Movies! Month by month we cover off the best (and a few of the worst) upcoming releases for 2018. Hear our thoughts on Avengers Infinity War, Rampage, The Meg, Venom, Halloween, Aquaman, Tomb Raider, Bohemian Rhapsody, Mission: Impossible 6, Black Panther and MANY more!
Hosted by Award winning Filmmaker Ross Boyask and blogger/writer/failed filmamker Phil Hobden. For more subscribed on iTunes or check out www.philhobden.co.uk
For more on Phil Hobden check out www.philhobden.co.uk For more on Ross Boyask search @RossBoyask on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook
Phil’s Quick look at what’s wetting his whistle for the upcoming year in films…
Well 2017 saw Marvel driver big and DC retain it’s patchy record. Horror stood out overall as most of the big Blockbusters fell short. 2018 has the promise to be even more mixed… so here’s the films I’m most looking forward to in 2017. And a few that I’d be happy to miss.
Most Excited: Avengers: Infinity War
Like it or not this is the biggest film of the year and whilst I have reservations (Age Of Ultron wasn’t great and the trailer did little for this latest instalment did little for me) BUT Marvel have been building to this for over 10 years and with the talent involved both on screen and off this could be a once in a life time film. Or Justice League Mark 2. Time will tell.
2. Deadpool 2 The original Deadpool was brilliant and by all accounts if the trailer is anything to go by this could be as good if not better. Enter Cable to the X-Men universe and with all the returning faces from part one Deadpool could be the last great 18 rated film Fox makes if the merger with Disney goes ahead.
3. Black Panther
Marvel bring a more unconventional Superhero tale to the screen, and with an excellent trailer and Marvel’s near flawless 2017 record this has the ability to be something quiet special indeed.
4. Bohemian Rhapsody Yes it’s had production issues and yes Singer isn’t a nice guy but with Dexter Fletcher taking over and with Queens backing this could be the film about the great Freddie Mercury that we have ALL been wait for.
5. The Incredibles 2 The Incredibles was, er, Incredible and this belated sequel looks like it could be another smash hit for Pixar. Lets just hope its more Toy Story 2 than Cars 2.
Bubbling Under: Tomb Raider (Good Trailer, great cast), Ant Man & The Wasp (Ant Man was great fun), The Predator (Shane Black + Predator = Hell Yes!), Mission Impossible 6 (These films tend to always be fun), The Happytime Murders (Brian Henson + Muppets = Heaven), The Purge: Island (LOVE the Purge Films), The Irishman (Scorsese teams with DeNiro & Pacino), Halloween (New sequel that ignores previous. With Carpenter’s blessing AND music)
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Stinker Of The Year: Fifty Shades Freed Yes I’ve watched BOTH Fifty Shades movies. And yes BOTH have previously taken the WORST FILM of the year titles. Look this franchise has nothing. Poor acting, poor direction and poor writing topped off with S&M so softcore you could see harder on Babestation. Thankfully this will bring this torrid series to an end and hopefully the careers of all involved.
Also Dreading: Solo – A Star Wars Story (fired directors, Ron Howard, total reshoots – this could be the first Disney Star Wars flop), Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Boring trailer and a sense of having done this before), Day of The Dead: Bloodline (please no), Ready Player One (Spielberg hasn’t made a truly interesting film for a while), X-Men: Dark Phoenix (X-Men films just don’t grab me anymore), Oceans 8 (Just WHY!), Scarface (Urban Scarface remake….a film NOBODY asked for), Pacific Rim: Uprising (God no)
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So how did I do last year?
This is the time of the year when I look back at my picks of the good, the bad and the ugly from 2017 and see how close I was (or as it often is the case, how far!)…
For best: I tipped Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Star Wars The Last Jedi, War For The Planet Of The Apes, T2: Trainspotting and John Wick Chapter 2 as my most anticipated of 2017. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was good but eclipsed by both Spiderman Homecoming and Thor Ragnorok.War For The Planet Of The Apes was good but fell a bit short of the rave reviews it was given. T2: Trainspotting was one of my top 5 films of the year (and film of the year for almost half of 2017) whilst John Wick 2 was a bit shit. Star Wars The last Jedi meanwhile. As for the rest? Silence, Spiderman: Homecoming, Alien: Covenant and Baywatch were all either great or enjoyable.
As for the Stinkers? Transformers: The Last Knight was picked as the stinker of the year but eventually was pipped by Fifty Shades Darker. Both were appalling. Wonder Woman was actually mostly excellent, Blade Runner 2049 ended up as one of teh years best and Logan knocked it out the park. XXX: Return Of Xander Cage was dumb funbut The Mummy, Power Rangers and Cars 3 all were in the worst of the year.
Phil’s Quick Capsule Review: Assassins Creed is dull. It’s everything you have seen before in better films. It’s cast is wasted, the story predictable and… you know what? Why not just go play the game instead. It’s much more fun…
Best Bit: Urm….
Buy, Stream, Avoid: Avoid
If You Liked this Try: Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Warcraft
Phil’s Quick Capsule Review: Ugh. Okay so it started okay with some nice genetic (if badly edited) action but man does this film get incomprehensible pretty quick. Convoluted plot, poor action scenes, far too much CGI and dialogue wrapped straight out of a 1st year media students script book of cliches. Even the leads looked bored of the most part. That said it’s far from dull and at times the balletic gun-fu is kinda fun to watch BUT by the end of it you’ll wonder with such a rich history of games behind it why they can’t find a decent film across two attempts. One to avoid.
