Tag: Sally Hawkins

Bring Her Back (2025) | REVIEW

Sally Hawkins in BRING HER BACK — PHOTO: A24 (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Danny and Michael Philippou — Screenplay by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman.

In Bring Her Back, we follow Australian step-siblings Andy (played by Billy Barratt), a 17-year-old young man still struggling with previously undisclosed trauma, and Piper (played by Sora Wong), his visually-impaired younger sister, after they find their father dead in the shower. Now, with Andy not being quite old enough yet to be Piper’s legal guardian, they risk being split up by the system, but the siblings put their foot down and eventually get a foster parent to agree to house them. But while this foster parent, Laura (played by Sally Hawkins) hopes to adopt Piper, the siblings still have hope that they can eventually go out on their own. However, Laura, a grief-stricken former counselor who has recently lost her own visually-impaired daughter, has ulterior motives and, it appears, she may have already experimented with occult rituals on another child in her care.

Continue reading “Bring Her Back (2025) | REVIEW” →

REVIEW: Godzilla II: King of the Monsters (2019)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. Pictures

The following is a review of Godzilla II: King of the Monsters — Directed by Michael Dougherty.

I can’t say that I’m a big Godzilla expert. I’m what you would call a casual fan of the kaiju films. And when it’ll come to King Kong versus Godzilla in a few years, I’ll probably be on the side of the iconic ape. But that’s neither here nor there. I remember watching Emmerich’s Godzilla from 1998 when I was a kid (I don’t think I’ve seen it since), and I remember watching Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla from 2014 in the theater with my mother and my sister. I have no problem admitting that I was one of those people who was frustrated greatly by Edwards’ film which did, admittedly, give us these amazing visuals, but which suffered from the eponymous monster’s disappointing screen-time. With King of the Monsters, the kaiju-titan focused ‘monster-verse’ is course-correcting their approach to Godzilla, but, in doing so, they’ve unfortunately saddled a spectacular monster movie with thinly written characters and poor dialogue. Continue reading “REVIEW: Godzilla II: King of the Monsters (2019)” →

REVIEW: The Shape of Water (2017)

US Theatrical Release Poster – Fox Searchlight Pictures

The following is a review of The Shape of Water — Directed by Guillermo Del Toro.

There was a story that Mexican film auteur Guillermo Del Toro kept on mentioning as he was doing the rounds talking about his newest film – a true passion project – this last year that really stuck with me. Del Toro – perhaps the greatest champion of the creature feature subgenre these days – saw 1954’s Creature from the Black Lagoon when he was only six-years-old, and he was so taken by the image of the Gill-man swimming underneath actress Julia Adams that he found himself hoping that they would end up together. A strange idea, perhaps, but not to him. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Shape of Water (2017)” →

Early Best Actress Predictions – Special Features #5

Same procedure as last week, folks! This week, I am taking a look at the Best Actress category at the forthcoming Oscars. Are Emma Stone, Kate Winslet, or the legend that is Meryl Streep getting another golden statue, or will someone new get to finally give a speech with an Oscar in-hand? Continue reading “Early Best Actress Predictions – Special Features #5” →