Tag: Eddie Marsan

Clayface (2026) | REVIEW

Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen in CLAYFACE -- PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).
Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen in CLAYFACE — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by James Watkins — Screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini.

Clayface isn’t the first film based on, and about, a comic book villain, and I very much doubt it is the last. These villain-centric origin story narratives have arguably been more common with Sony’s Spider-Man spin-off universe of films, like Venom or Morbius, inspired by the aforementioned Marvel Comics hero’s rogues’ gallery. But it is a spin-off or standalone film about a DC Comics villain that has made the biggest cultural footprint, in the form of Todd Phillips’ Joker. Unlike Joker — which exists entirely in its very own version of Gotham City removed from the interconnected stories that modern superhero films are often all about — Clayface, another origin story for a DC Comics villain, very much is set up to be a part of the James Gunn-shepherded DC cinematic universe, even though it looks and feels more like a story spun off from Matt Reeves’ The Batman (both it and Clayface were filmed in Liverpool, England), which, notably, is not a part of the shared universe. While its place in the interconnected universes of DC Comics cinematic storytelling is perhaps still somewhat unclear, the film itself isn’t a headscratcher. Clayface is a thoroughly entertaining body-horror thriller that I liked quite a bit, even though certain characters are particularly thinly drawn.

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REVIEW: Choose Or Die (2022)

Iola Evans and Asa Butterfield in Toby Meakins’ CHOOSE OR DIE – Photo: Netflix.

Directed by Toby Meakins – Screenplay by Simon Allen.

This is the kind of film that, not too long ago, would’ve been the kind of horror picture that could be released in theaters and earned quite a bit of money, like Jeff Wadlow’s Truth or Dare, which this film reminded me of at times. Who knows, maybe it could’ve even done that right now in a post-lockdown America. We will never know because instead of being released theatrically this nostalgic tech-focused horror film was released without much fanfare on Netflix on April 15th. If you like those kinds of gimmicky horror films, then this might be the kind of film that you’d like to put on. But, with that having been said, I cannot recommend this fairly disposable horror feature, in spite of its relatively short 84-minute runtime.

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REVIEW: The Gentlemen (2020)

Theatrical Release Poster — STX Films

The following is a review of The Gentlemen — Directed by Guy Ritchie.

If you look at Guy Ritchie’s films from the 2010s, you will see a mixed bag of sequels, spin-offs, remakes, and potential franchise-starters that were made with either Warner Bros. or Disney. His 2011 Sherlock Holmes sequel, A Game of Shadows, received mixed-to-positive reviews and was a financial success. Though I actually really enjoyed it, his film adaptation of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was described by industry experts as a box office flop, and his woeful fantasy epic King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was even more of disappointment as it was critically panned and reportedly lost its studios more than $150 million. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Gentlemen (2020)” →