ETCinema: Movie Reviews by E T Griffiths

Ghosts of War (2020) Review Dir. Eric Bress   Horror / War Hybird simultaneously has too much of its cake and doesn ’ t eat enough of it.     A cast of familiar faces are plagued by supernatural scares in Nazi Occupied France in this Netflix Horror movie. The set up is odd but it ’ s ambitions are amicable and for the first hour or so it certainly succeeds in blending them together in a tasteful and watchable fashion.    I came into the film with an open mind, wanting it to succeed at its rather big intentions. Overlord in 2018 had previously mixed WW2 with horror, but had focused more on the zombie horror angle which has always been an easy combination. WW2 and ghosts on the other hand is a hard mix to get right.   The cast are good, talented actors. Many of whom recognisable faces from TV series like Titans and Smallville. The characters they are playing here however, don ’ t merit such talent. Mostly archetypes; there ’ s very little done to distinguish this band of soldiers from an

Franchise Friday: Spider-Man Movies    The news and rumours keep on coming regarding the upcoming third Tom Holland Spider-Man movie. It ’ s shaping up to be a multiverse crossover full of some of the favourites from all three screen iterations of the wall crawling hero.  As the chance to see all three Spidey's share the screen draws ever closer, I ’ m looking back at all the Spider-Man movies and seeing what sticks.  8) The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)    I ’ d like to start by saying I don ’ t think there ’ s such thing as an unwatchable Spider-Man movie. Even the so called bad ones have a special place in my heart and were a spectacle to watch on the big screen. It ’ s just that sometimes, spectacle can ’ t always be paired with substance. Amazing Spider-Man 2 , like the first, is carried by the chemistry and charm of Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield. They have the most convincing and interesting romance in any Spider-man movie. Unfortunately, the film around them is a complete mes

Franchise Friday: DC Extended Universe This week's franchise Friday is the ever turbulent DCEU. In the news this week with Zack Snyder releasing more details about his upcoming Justice League re-edit, now a mini series coming to HBO Max. Also, Wonder Woman 84 has been given a Christmas release on both cinema and VOD, a very unique release method, and perhaps the first of many big releases to get this treatment.  Starring with Man of Steel in 2013, DC have struggled a lot over the last decade to try and establish a cinematic universe to rival the lightning in a bottle success of the MCU. Changing approaches, getting impatient and eventually saying screw it, we'll just start making movies again.  As the DCEU begins to branch out into continuity and sequels, and alternative timelines, I look back on the 8 releases so far and rank them worst to first.  8) Suicide Squad (2016)  Let’s get one thing straight; this movie made a lot of money. It had a cult-like storm around it, being on

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020) Review  Dir. David E. Talbert  Netflix Christmas Musical is a Magical Surprise From the songwriter behind the recent hit The Greatest Showman, Jingle Jangle is a brand new Christmas film and musical coming to Netflix in 2020. Starring big names like Forest Whittaker and Keegan-Michael Key, Jingle Jangle exceeds expectations and ends up being a heartwarming and very welcome addition to the Christmas movie hall of fame.  Set in a magical Victorian fantasy town, Jingle Jangle follows a sullen and world-weary former inventor, Jeronicus Jangle, as he is forced to rediscover his magic by his young granddaughter. Full of foot-stomping modern theatre tunes and adventure galore, Jingle Jangle is a pleasant surprise for anyone who expected a cheap, seasonal cash grab from Netflix.  The first thing that stands out is the music. It took very little time for me to realise the connections to Greatest Showman. The mix of modern up-tempo ballads and a Victoria

Franchise Friday: Star Wars Films Ranked This week, inspired by the valiant return of Disney Plus' The Mandalorian, I’m ranking all of the theatrically released (Sorry Ewoks) Star Wars movies. I might as well get the most divisive franchise out of the way first afterall. It’s impossible to please everybody and this list is obviously based on my personal preferences as both a fan of cinema, and a fan of the Galaxy far, far away. So here we go, from bottom to top, Star Wars.  12) Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) The Clone Wars TV show has given us some of the best Star Wars story and lore in recent years. This film, released in cinemas to market the brand new show back in 2008, is not so memorable. The first couple seasons of the popular cartoon were a very different show to how The Clone Wars ended up, and this is a perfect example of the slightly directionless feeling of early Clone Wars. The premise is cute enough, Anakin and Ashoka must rescue and escort the baby son of Jabba the