Reviews

The Dark Tower has received almost universal panning from critics, primarily for producing an adaptation that condenses 6 books worth of material into a feature-length summary. King's books are layered and complex, and deserve more room to breathe than was allowed in this case. Cramming 44.7 pages of writing into every minute of running time isn't conducive to a good viewing experience. The makers of Mr Mercedes have done the opposite, eking a single book out over ten 60-minute episodes.

Predictably, the finished products are worlds apart.

I hungrily devoured the Bill Hodges trilogy, finishing each one in turn and counting the days before the subsequent release. I had no idea there was a TV adaptation in the works, and so finding out that there was came as a very welcome surprise, but not without some trepidation.

I watched the pilot without having looked at who had been cast in the main roles, and in hindsight I honestly can't think of a better choice than Brendan Gleeson (thankfully sans any attempt at an American accent) as the retired detective taunted back into action by 'the one that got away', played with just the right amount of nuanced psychopathy by Harry Treadaway.

The addition of a sexually liberated neighbour character initially had me worried, but acts as an offbeat comic makeweight to the otherwise considerably bleak subject matter, and adds some extra heart to the dynamic.

I can only hope that the series continues in the same vein, with the wonderfully cantankerous Hodges raging against the dying of the light in his own inimitable style in the hope of getting that one last clearance that has tormentingly eluded him for so long.

Also, and I know this is a lot to ask, could Finders Keepers and End of Watch get their own adaptations in due course? Pretty please?

From the moment I heard that Jim Jarmusch was working on a vampire film I was intrigued and was desperate to see what the result would be. It did not disappoint for a second.

Enchantingly atmospheric, it centres around Adam and Eve, two age-old vampires whose marriage has endured centuries of humanity's slap-dash efforts at building worthwhile civilisations.

It strikes a very unusual tone for a film in this genre, although fans of Jarmusch will be used to a certain amount of genre-straddling and refusal to make easily pigeon-holed films. Don't come into this expecting a plot driven film, or especially not a CGI gore-fest akin to a lot of the lazily produced horror/fantasy material that seems so abundant at the moment. The focus is much more on creating an authentic feel and intriguing characters. Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton are virtually infallible in convincingly playing world-weary characters who have lived through plagues, inquisitions and the development of a flawed modern society.

Mia Wasikowska's arrival as Eve's volatile sister Ava is foreseen with a palpable sense of foreboding, providing an uneasy counterpart to Adam and Eve's relative level-headedness, and steps up the stakes for the final act.

John Hurt also deserves a mention for his typically assured and accomplished performance, albeit in a relatively small part.

Overall, an extremely adept piece of filmmaking, which has revitalised a genre which I, for one, was about ready to call time on.

Stylish but astoundingly insubstantial, this film is visually stunning throughout, but was completely doomed by Refn's decision to eliminate all but around nine or ten lines of dialogue to allow more time for lingering shots of Gosling staring blankly into the middle-distance.

The torture scenes are more painful for the audience than the recipients of said torture, but they do nothing to elicit an emotional response from the audience - or even build any momentum or tension.

By the time the final act of a film arrives, the viewer must have made some kind of emotional investment in AT LEAST ONE of the characters to be interested in how things turn out. However in this case, there wasn't a single character whom I actually cared about, they were all entirely superficial and obnoxious.

I know some people feel as strongly positive about Only God Forgives as I do negative - some films are designed to be divisive. For me though, this is way below par by Refn's (normally very high) standards.