Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

Teller and Hill are playing thinly veiled Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci substitutes, albeit without the violent tendencies, but War Dogs isn't just a bloodless Goodfellas, it's also a soulless imitation. Review

Marty Langford's doc gathers most of The Fantastic Four's key players (including Roger Corman, holding his cards close to his chest throughout) in an attempt to get to the truth of why the movie was shelved. Review

Don't Breathe may lack the willingness to wade in murky moral waters that might elevate it to the level of grindhouse classics like Last House on the Left or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but it's not far off. See it in your sleaziest local fleapit. Review

For those expecting and craving the director's trademark theatrics, Almodovar's latest may prove a test of patience, but fans of classic Hollywood 'women's films' will find substance in Julieta's serenity. Review

This is clearly the work of a director obsessed with cinema, yet it's so idiosyncratic it could equally be the product of someone who never set foot in a movie theatre. America may have just found its next great filmmaker. Review

Sure, it mines comedy from its scenario, but there's an anger running through Captain Fantastic as unbroken as the white lines of its New Mexico highways. Review

If Lights Out finds itself bogged down at times by an exposition heavy script, Sandberg's skills in the scares department help us overlook such matters, and with its antagonist's backstory now dispensed with, there's potential for this to develop into a franchise horror fans can enthusiastically embrace. Review

They say the best comedy comes from the underdog, and if The Office felt like the work of a struggling comic pouring his heart out, David Brent: Life on the Road suggests Gervais' fame has resulted in his losing touch with the common man. Review

In Her Own Words isn't going to surprise anyone with a prior knowledge of the Scandinavian star, proving if you wish to learn about a subject, approaching the source may not always be the best option. Bergman remains an enigma. Perhaps that's how it should be? Review

What Suicide Squad fails to understand about 'guys on a mission' movies is that's it's the guys that matter, not the mission. Review

Sweet Bean isn't quite up there with the best of recent Asian drama, but it's not far off, and like all good drama, it leaves us longing to spend more time in the company of its characters. It's a confection as sweet as its titular treat. Review

Nerve is an instantly forgettable experience, save for its stunning visuals. Where monochrome and Gershwin represented a romanticised view of New York 40 years ago, for Joost and Schulman it's pulsing neon and throbbing dance music. Review

Jason Bourne is a little dumber and a little sillier than its predecessors. It's also nowhere near as engaging, but there's enough to keep fans of the series amused, and it's easily the best major release Hollywood has offered us in this otherwise awful summer. Review

Valley of Love is very much a faith-based movie. Its Christ references are hammered home, but it's a film that doesn't require its audience to share its beliefs, nor does it seek to alienate non-believers or those of other faiths. American Christian cinema could learn a lot from it. Review

The Commune is a gripping piece of drama and social critique, boasting immaculate period detail that never proves distracting. Following The Hunt and his adaptation of Far from the Madding Crowd, Vinterberg finds himself enjoying the most confident phase of his career since those dogme days of the '90s. Review

While the title suggests this is another documentary aimed at a hardcore cinephile audience, this is first and foremost a tribute to a man, rather than an Assistant Director. The Man Who Saved Ben Hur is a reminder that, just like Assistant Directors, the elderly often don't get the attention they deserve. Review

All you should need to make a good movie is a girl and a shark, but Serra fails to deliver the basics, instead fashioning a movie that too often resembles a female oriented riff on an '80s Old Spice commercial. The Shallows is a damp squib. Review

For the most part, Star Trek Beyond is a character drama. This should be a good thing, but the characters here simply aren't engaging. If Shatner, Nimoy et al were the weathered marionettes you found at the bottom of a wardrobe in your grandparents' house, Pine, Quinto and co. are action figures fresh off the shelf and still in their packaging. Review

The BFG is a missed opportunity, a drab, lifeless affair, as fun as listening to your Dad read you a chapter from the Barney storybook when you've got a copy of Tales From the Crypt hidden under your pillow. Review

Given the sorry state of the comedy genre in Hollywood, Ghostbusters is about as good as can be expected, but while this is a movie I will never revisit, I'd happily kill another 90 minutes in the company of these characters should a sequel arrive. Review

Sadly, given the names involved, Men & Chicken, a Farrelly Brothers comedy for the arthouse set, has to rank as one of 2016's major disappointments. Review

French cinema has offered us plenty of drab dramas in which pragmatic men fall for hot but crazy women. Summertime may change the gender dynamic, but it's no more interesting. Review

The script is hackneyed, Willis is awful, and the action scenes are on the level of a Walker, Texas Ranger episode, but there's an undeniable innocent charm about this little underdog that makes it far more palatable than the majority of its bigger budgeted action cousins. Review

Darkest Africa has rarely been so dark, and summer blockbuster season has rarely been so dour. Review