Dull

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeWhen the esteemed film critic Roger Ebert first saw Road House, Rowdy Herrington’s now cult classic of 1989, he declared that it existed “right on the edge between the ‘good-bad movie’ and the merely bad”. There was Patrick Swayze as James Dalton, a bouncer of semi-mythic status rocking up to a shady roadside bar in Missouri. With the soul of a poet as well as a reputed ability to rip…

A lot of anticipation came with Good Grief, the feature-length directorial debut from Schitt's Creek actor and showrunner Dan Levy. Unfortunately it is pretty uninspired and all over the place: filled with teary-eyed earnestness that rubs on you for a little too long. Earnest in its approach to study the impact of loss and mourning, of moving on to accept new things that life has to offer us, Good Grief loses depth early on and never catches hold again. (Also read: Golden Globes 2024: Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett,…

During a year that has seen much conversation about film running times, I have found myself frequently reflecting on a quote from Roger Ebert: “No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough.” The logic of the sentiment is not difficult to decipher; well-made cinema will keep your attention regardless of length, and it’s always a relief when the end credits of a terrible feature start to roll. It’s been a handy reference to have in my back pocket this fall when explaining that I love all 206 minutes of Martin…

Apple shares on Friday pared losses that were driven by its forecast for a subdued holiday quarter after a US jobs report bolstered hopes of a pause in interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.The stock was down 1.5 percent in early trading, having fallen more than 3 percent before the bell. The world's most valuable firm was on course to lose $40 billion (nearly Rs. 3,32,630 crore) in market value, if the losses hold.The iPhone maker on Thursday forecast sales for the holiday quarter, usually its biggest, below Wall…

Meta released its hotly anticipated Twitter copycat, Threads, yesterday, moving the app’s release up from Thursday morning to early evening on Wednesday night. According to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, 10 million users flocked to the app in its first few hours. Things on Threads were, to be frank, pretty boring. Ironically, that could be the secret to Threads’ success. On a chaotic internet fueled by outrage, dull may be what users and advertisers want.Twitter Verification is a Hot MessUsers arrived on Threads to find their…

On 19 January 2019, David Cornwell, AKA John le Carré, wrote to his son, Tim, or Timo as he always called him: “My love for you is undivided and strangely, or not so strangely, I feel close to you and the pains you have endured. I love your courage, & your moral decency, & your questing brain & your uncompromising soul, and your lovely wit. I feel – arrogantly – like a companion in your solitude.”This very personal, and much longer, handwritten letter from a father to his son lay by Tim’s bedside for the rest…

Image via 20th Century Fox Since the turn of the millennium, superhero films have gone from strength to strength, and seeing as we’re really spoiled for choice nowadays, it’s easy to forget one of the genre’s earliest successes. We’re talking about X-Men, of course. Way back in time, before the MCU, and before Tobey Maguire donned the iconic red spandex of Spider-Man, the comic film landscape was completely different to what it is today. The genre was pretty much viewed as something for children, really. The…

Did Redfall add any value for you? On any given month when there’s a massive first-party value offer for a service like Xbox Game Pass, you can bet on the rest of the month quaking in fear of the might of the publisher that holds all the power. But in the case of Redfall (particularly when it comes to public perception), this might have been a not-great month to flex. The offerings for May 2023 (so far) are fairly slim, outside of the fantastic Chicory: A Colorful Tale, which won our overall Game of the Year award…

via Universal We’ve all been through the traumatizing experience of watching a movie that kicks off with a such a spectacular bang, hopes for a top-quality time at the theater or at home are instantly and exponentially raised. It’s one of the worst feelings in the world when things fall off a cliff immediately afterwards, something that blighted 1996’s disaster epic Daylight. To be fair, anything after 1993 wasn’t exactly the high point of Sylvester Stallone’s career at the time, so maybe being quietly excited…

Film: Asterix And Obelix: The Middle Kingdom(Original title: Astérix & Obélix: L`Empire du Milieu)Cast: Guillaume Canet, Gilles Lellouche, Vincent Cassel, Jonathan Cohen, Marion Cotillard, Julien Chen and Leanna Chea.Director: Guillaume CanetRating: 2/5 Among the world`s most popular international comic characters, Asterix and Obelix have always been eagerly devoured by fans. The comic book series has always been a winner wherever it has been reproduced, but the same cannot be said about the filmed…