His and Hers Movie Reviews

With 2019 now upon us, we take a chance to look back at the great, and not so great, movies and TV shows that we have reviewed through the past year. This is a discussion of our personal favourites, and a little rant on the films that disappointed us the most. We discuss Guillermo del Toro, Masaaki Yuasa, Matt Groening, sequels, horrors and superheroes.  We have also decided that this will be our last podcast episode, and last blog entry, as His and Hers Movie Reviews. We are excited to go forward into new projects, and we would just like to thank everyone that has taken the time out to listen to our reviews and read our articles. It has been fun! You can find Ross Bell's website Man on the Post here, and Leigh Spence's blog Dancing with the Gatekeepers here.  

With the BBC's upcoming CGI version coming to television at Christmas, we decided to take a look back at the notorious 1978 animated version of Richard Adam's Watership Down. Directed by Martin Rosen, this gorgeously watercoloured version sees the trials of a group of rabbit's try and find a new home away from the dangers of their current warren, but doesn't shy away from the constant peril that marks Hazel, Fiver and Big Wig's journey. We discuss what makes this version so great - and yes, the violence does make it great - and our fears for the tempered down BBC version. Featuring the voice talents of John Hurt, Richard Briars, Zero Mostel and Lyn Farleigh. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.

Boots Riley knocks it out the park with his debut feature, the absurdist dark comedy Sorry to Bother You. Starring Lakeith Stanfield as Cassius, we see our protagonist navigate a perilous work place within a increasingly nihilistic America and wonder if he can achieve well in his shady job or stick up for his friends trying to unionise. Co-starring Tessa Thompson, Steven Yeun, Armie Hammer and Omari Hardwick, Sorry to Bother You is a surreal sci-fi comedy that is so down to earth as to be truly terrifying. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.

This review contains some spoilers.   Directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston, the sequel to 2012's Wreck-It Ralph sees the computer game characters venture into the vast metropolis of the world wide web. Ralph Breaks the Internet sees bad-guy-but-not-bad-guy Ralph and saccharine racer Vanellope venture into WIFI to bid for the replacement steering wheel for Vanellope's game. However, their friendship is put to the test when the tiny racer falls in love with violent online game Slaughter Race, leading Ralph to venture into the seedy world of the dark web. While visually impressive in parts, Ralph Breaks the Internet middles around with memes and unfunny references and is full of fan service when the princesses turn up. Starring John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, and Gal Gadot. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.

David Mackenzie's biography on the rebellion of Robert the Bruce from English king Edward I, Outlaw King, has made it's way to Netflix. Starring Chris Pine as the Scots King, we see how Robert rallied up support in the wake of William Wallace to take on the southern invaders, complete with the beautiful Scottish countryside and big muddy battles. Unfortunately, abrupt editing leaves this film feeling like it's just going through the motions to his climax, and poor characterisation of Robert leaves him feeling like a bland hero. Co-starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Florence Pugh, Billy Howle and Stephen Dillane. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.    

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs review starts at 21:22 We visit the outings of both the cinema and Netflix in this weeks episode. First up we have Luca Guadagnino's remake of Dario Argento's 1977 horror classic Suspiria, which sees a young dancer (Dakota Johnson) join a prestigious East Berlin dance school, only to learn that it is run by a coven of witches. Gruesome, mesmerising, and tension filled, this supernatural horror and lures it's audience in with it's unnerving tale. Co-starring Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, and Chloë Grace Moretz. Next, we head to Netflix where the Coen Brothers present to us an anthology of fable-esque short stories all based in the American frontier in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. With stories ranging from the charming outlaw to the lowly paraplegic performer, we are shown stories that dip from the fun to the depressing, but always with that Coen Brothers sense of cynicism and dark humour. Starring Tim Blake Nelson, James Franco, Liam Neeson and Zoe Kazan. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.

Award winning director Steve McQueen returns after the masterpiece that was 12 Years a Slave with Widows, based on the early '80's TV series and the book by Lynda La Plante. Co-written by Gillian Flynn of Gone Girl, Widows sees the partners of heist gang deal with the fallout of their deaths, which includes a tightly fought political campaign in Chicago, and use the plans for the next heist to pay off the dept's their husbands and partners left them in. With delicate, engrossing character development, plot twists and excellent acting, Widows sees McQueen deliver on a smaller scale but just as subtle and smart addition to his back catalogue. Starring Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Liam Neeson, Daniel Kaluuya, Colin Farrell and Brian Tyree Henry.  www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.

Psychedelia, heavy metal and Christian cult's all mingle together in a feast for the eyes in Panos Cosmatos' Mandy. Starring Nicholas Cage and Andrea Riseborough as a couple terrorised a messed up LSD biker gang and a egotistical cult leader, leading Cage's Red to go on a revenge trip filled with gore, chainsaw's and an orcish war axe. With evocative cinematography by Benjamin Loeb and a soundtrack by the late Jóhann Jóhannsson, Mandy may be a bit arty to some, but it is a spectacle to enjoy. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.

With a troubled production, Queen biography Bohemian Rhapsody sets to become a crowd pleaser, but can it really do much better then just putting on one of the bands records? Directed by Bryan Singer (with much help from Dexter Fletcher and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel), the film tries to be a tale of the band, but is irresistibly drawn to Freddie Mercury's story. With the film being in two minds about what it wants to be, it trudges it's way through the plot and is held afloat by Rami Malek's spot on performance and, of course, the music. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.  

Our final Halloween Horror podcast of the month is John Carpenter's 1982 classic The Thing. While now a well known tale of paranoia in Antartica brought on by an ancient alien, at the time it wasn't well loved at all. We discuss the vitriol the film received on it's initial release and look at how well the film has aged, admiring it's special effects, its subtlety, and it's nihilistic tone. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.

Forty years ago John Carpenter released Halloween, introducing the world to the William Shatner masked serial killer Michael Myers. Now in 2018 we get a direct sequel (directed by David Gordon Green), after nine other sequels, which sees Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) get revenge on her old foe. This new Halloween sees Laurie suffering long after the incidents of 1978, and as Michael manages to escape due to an accident, she has to work with all her wit and skill to save her family. After all these years though, does this bogey man still have the power to shock. We discuss the pitfalls of a familiar series, how the cinematography builds tension, and whether Halloween could be seen as an "optimistic" horror. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.

Contains spoilers! For this Halloween Horror Saturday Special we look at a lesser known Wes Craven classic 1988 film The Serpent and the Rainbow, based on the book by Wade Davis. While the zombie genre may be over saturated, this film takes a different look at the idea by going back to it's Haitian voodoo roots and the horror of actually being turned into the walking dead. Starring Bill Pullman, Zakes Mokae and Cathy Tyson. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.

We have a double podcast review out today, and first up we have Drew Goddard's Bad Times at the El Royale. A hotel that straddles the boarder between California and Nevada, the El Royale has lost it's lustre and seems quite deserted. Four guests all arrive at once, and the bad times soon prevail. With excellent music, script and acting, we break down how Bad Times at the El Royale manages to keep the audience surprised. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Lewis Pullman, John Hamm and Dakota Johnson. Next up we review the Netflix exclusive Apostle, directed by The Raid's Gareth Evans. Dan Stevens plays a vagrant who is trusted to save is his sister from a reclusive religious cult, but little does he know that the cult is much darker and primal than he expected. He discuss the unanswered questions that this film raises, and talk about the terrifying torture contraptions that the island uses. Co-starring Michael Sheen, Lucy Boynton, and Mark Lewis Jones.  www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk (Apologies for the background noise in the latter half of the podcast, we hope it's not too intrusive.) Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.

Contains spoilers! Continuing on with our Halloween Horror month we look at Tobe Hooper's 1986 sequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, which takes a sharp left turn from the 1974 original. Going more down the dark comedy root, we discuss the films unique continuation of the franchise, and whether it's a good idea to be so variable with the sequels. Starring Dennis Hopper, Caroline Williams, Bill Johnson, Bill Moseley and Jim Siedow. We have a short discussion of the Human Centipede sequels in this episode. You can read Layla's review of the series here. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.

How do you make a bad guy a good guy? You only eat the heads of other bad guys. Sony Pictures delivers us the start of another universe built around Spider-Man's enemies, just without Spidey himself, and starting it off we have Venom, directed by Ruben Fleischer. After an alien symbiote attaches itself to disgraced reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), the oily head-muncher Venom takes over Eddie's body and gives him superhuman skills, but the partnership could be over before it's even begun it corrupt billionaire scientist Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) doesn't get his symbiote back. With a wildly shifting tone and inconsistencies, Venom presents us with all the cliches of the superhero genre without any attempt to outdo them. Also starring Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.    

Halloween Horror is back and first up in this Saturday Special review in James Wan's 2004 modern day classic Saw. Starting off the torture porn trend that took over the early noughties in cinema, Saw sees unsuspecting victims punished by an elaborate non-murderer for not appreciating their lives enough, and we spend this podcast looking at what made this film so influential, as well as that notorious reasoning and the philosophical flaws of this film. Starring Cary Elwes, Tobin Bell, Leigh Whannell and Danny Glover. Next, we were asked to review Friday 13th Part III 3D parody Camp Death III in 2D! (review starts 14:44 into the podcast), directed by Matt Frame (don't worry, all our opinions are thoroughly our own). Camp, silly and with some outrageously offensive humour, Camp Death III in 2D! knows what it is, and that is a crazy love letter to the more bonkers offerings of 80s horror cinema. Starring Darren Andrichuk, Angela Galanopoulos, and Dave Peniuk.   www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.    

Based on the book by William Giraldi, Jeremy Saulnier's (Green Room) Netflix exclusive adaptation of Hold the Dark is a brooding thriller set among the unnerving wilderness of Alaska. When children start going missing in a small town, and the prime suspect in a wolf, author Russell Core is called in by a grieving mother to avenge her son and kill the wolf. However, things get a bit strange when her husband returns from war and starts a full on murderous assault on the town. While atmospheric and with the promise of intrigue, Hold the Dark trails off into meanderings and makes ups for it with gory violence. Starring Jeffery Wright, Alexander Skarsgård, and Riley Keough. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.    

Netflix return with a limited series from Cary Joji Fukunaga, director of Beasts of No Nation. Maniac sees Jonah Hill play a paranoid schizophrenic and Emma Stone a grieving, substance abusing sister who take part in a revolutionary drug trial intent on eliminating psychoanalysis. Set in a retro-futuristic world and with mind bending dream sequences, we discuss the effects of the setting and the it's psychological influences, as well as all the little quirks the show highlights. Also starring Sonoya Mizuno, Justin Theroux, Billy Magnussen, and Sally Field. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.

  Thirty-one years after the original movie, The Predator sees the return of the ugly aliens in this Shane Black directed sequel. Starring Boyd Holbrook as Quinn McKenna, an elite army sniper and the lone survivor of a Predator attack, he mails some stolen alien tech to his family and his son somehow manages to learn how to work it, leading the army and an even more deadly Predator to chase after him. While the premise may sound silly, the plot is unfortunately more laboured then that, and with tonal inconsistencies, some bad editing and an unfunny script, The Predator does not add much to a franchise that has been on a steady decline. Co-starring Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Keegan-Michael Key, and Jacob Tremblay. www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. (Massive apologies for the background noise in this episode; our neighbours wouldn't stop clambering about.) Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.

Extolled as one of the best Stephen King adaptations out there, Rob Reiner's classic 1990 interpretation of Misery is finally watched by Layla in her Virgin Viewings of the film. Starring James Caan as a successful writer who wants to branch out from the stories he has become famous for, he is saved from a blizzard by his number one fan, a certain Annie Wilkes, played excellently by Kathy Bates, who won the Oscar for this role. Filled with Hitchcockian suspense and oppressive camera work, Misery details the terror of being held hostage by someone who claims to have your best interest at hand.  www.hisandhersmoviereviews.co.uk Make sure you subscribe to us on itunes here and leave us a review, as well as following us on twitter and facebook. Intro and outro music by Leigh Spence of Dancing with the Gatekeepers and The Leigh Spence Moment.