Filmrecensies van Eric Hillis

Vincent Lannoo's movie has a very promising setup. A beleaguered elegy writer seems the perfect foil for some blackly comic existential angst, and the idea of a believed deceased husband throwing a spanner in the works of a new relationship should be a comedic goldmine. But Paper Souls frosts over at the point it should really be heating up. Recensie

As with most South American movies, the acting here is top-notch. Recensie

If you can ignore the film's undeveloped mystical subplot and its misjudged romance, The Water Diviner makes for a perfectly fine watch for those who pine for the lost days of the Sunday afternoon epic. Recensie

While It Follows nods to its lineage, the movie never winks at the audience. Mitchell clearly knows he's making a horror movie, but his protagonists don't know they're taking part in one - Kevin Williamson he ain't! Recensie

It's clear how much Anderson wanted to bring Pynchon's novel to the screen, but perhaps he should follow Altman's lead and adopt a Robert Benton / Alan Rudolph type protege that he could have farmed this out to while working on something more befitting his talents. Inherent Vice is more Late Show than Long Goodbye. Recensie

It takes balls of steel to title your movie Trash, and in this case it's an all too apt description of the film's content. Recensie

Kingsman seems designed to appeal to that faction of society that lies a few layers beneath the lowest common denominator. Recensie

Ultimately there are a few too many predictable double-crosses and more false endings than a Peter Jackson trilogy, but Avery's confident and ballsy direction will surely mean his future lies in making Hollywood movies as opposed to imitating them. Recensie

Though the film ultimately falls short, there are undoubtedly signs of progress from McMahon. Recensie

Cooper delivers a career best performance in the role of Kyle, beautifully under-playing the part and effectively capturing the frustration of balancing a sense of duty with a belief that no end game is in sight. Recensie

The film's early ambiguity is delicious and allows us to step into Strayed's hiking boots, but the more answers Wild gives us, the further we drift behind Strayed, until ultimately she's a distant speck on the California landscape. Recensie

Writer/director Chazelle was previously best known for some unremarkable genre screenplays but his own background in music means we're in safe and confident hands here as he immerses us in the backstabbing milieu of the conservatory, where being told you're not good enough hurts like few other truths, a blow to both your planned career and your greatest love. Recensie

Valdivia's film is clearly a comment on his country's political situation, but where most state of the nation movies are overblown and grand-standing, he keeps things confined to one house, one family, one mother, his drama quietly bubbling like an unattended pot of chili. Recensie

This is one remake I can't recommend, but we're all the masters of our own fates. If you're considering seeing The Gambler, maybe a coin toss should decide yours. Recensie

If you were a teenager between the mid '90s and mid '00s, Beyond Clueless will provide a mildly entertaining trip down memory lane, but for most it's a celebration of a cinematic movement that left us with very little worth celebrating. Recensie

Combining modern technological concerns with a retro '70s sci-fi aesthetic gives Ex Machina a timeless quality that means it should be viewable a decade from now without losing any of its appeal. Playing out like an adaptation of some newly discovered Isaac Asimov novel, Garland's film is intelligent without being heady, and should satisfy hardcore sci-fi buffs and casual viewers alike. Recensie

The first Taken worked because it was a bunch of French filmmakers having fun with the xenophobia inherent in so much American action cinema. In that movie, and its awful first sequel, Neeson was a nasty old man running riot through Europe fists first on a relentless quest to save his daughter from dodgy accented baddies. Recensie

Whether you ultimately decipher the film's chaos or not, you'll find Enemy one of the most atmospheric thrillers of recent years. Recensie

Typically restless, Chandor is already working on his next movie, a drama set against the backdrop of the 2010 BP oil spill. At this point in their careers, most directors would still be finding their feet, but three films in, Chandor has already established himself as one of American cinema's most interesting voices. Commendably, it's a voice he never feels the need to raise. Recensie

Keaton is fantastic, as is the rest of the cast, with Norton pocketing every scene he appears in as a hyper-real version of his own notoriously pompous persona, but the material they're given to work with is tired and stale. Recensie

It's this ambiguity, this politically correct attempt to ground a story of epic fantasy, that really irked this reviewer. Recensie

With some liberal trimming, Into the Woods could have been an entertaining piece of seasonal entertainment, but ultimately its narrative, like its protagonists, becomes lost in the woods. Recensie

There's a potentially great film to be made from this story - one that explores the meaning of art, the contrast between the taste of critics and the general public, and the explicit sexism that pervaded American society for most of the 20th century - but this isn't it. Recensie

As a director, Angelina Jolie displays an eye for a set-piece, with an opening aerial battle that makes you wonder if the Force Awakens producers should have hired her instead of JJ Abrams, but her flair for the dramatic is at times counter-productive to her story-telling. Recensie