Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

It's strongest in its first half as we grow accustomed to Herbert's fascinating setting and political dynamics. When the big action scene does arrive it gets in and out without a fuss, unlike say the Marvel movies, which drag their dull set-pieces out to an interminable length. Review

Carpenter has always been (unfairly) dismissive of his script for 1981's Halloween 2, claiming he wrote it while drunk on beer. What's Green's excuse? Review

But for all its genre interrogation and visual style, it's the central performances of Poelvoorde and rising star Bellugi that keep us invested... Review

It feels churlish to be so down on a movie that is so lovingly crafted, but for all its visual splendour (and I can't stress enough how visually splendid this film is), The French Dispatch rarely reels you in emotionally. Review

The Beta Test doesn't always work, with the storytelling a little too chaotic and unfocussed at times. But you don’t really watch a Jim Cummings movie for its story. You watch it for his unique screen presence, which keeps you gripped throughout, hanging on his characters' every word. Review

There's much to admire from a technical filmmaking viewpoint here, and it's a reminder that we'll miss the likes of Scott when they're gone. There are also some very entertaining moments. But amid all this the central drama of a woman's violation and her husband's narcissistic reaction gets lost in the blood and mud. Review

With Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Hamaguchi gives us two great dramatic sketches and one quite satisfying one. But what's great about all three is that they leave us wondering where their protagonists will go from here. The great movie characters continue to exist once the credits roll, something that occurs not once but three times within the two hours of Hamaguchi's film. Review

No Time to Die isn't the best movie of the Craig era, but it's the first one to stir my long suppressed childhood fondness for the series. Review

Barrett has a lot of fun transplanting a very masculine genre into a world of teenage girls, and frankly, I'd rather face a pistol-packing bandit over an angry 17-year-old girl any day. Review

It's beautifully crafted and in no rush to get to the end of its journey, but it's essentially a craft beer Krull. Review

Yes, this plucky feature length debut is occasionally a bit ropey, and not quite as cute as it aspires to be, but in its sincere invocation of teen-drama you may well find a little something in your eye as this holiday comes to a close. Review

What I did notice is how inferior Fuqua's visual storytelling is compared to Möller's. While both versions of The Guilty are heavily reliant on dialogue, the Danish director still found ways to heighten the tension visually, with some nerve-wracking moments where the protagonist's finger hovers over buttons that are notably absent here. Review

Prisoners of the Ghostland plays like a movie that's been purposely assembled in the hopes of one day being declared a cult favourite. That's a misguided way to make a movie, as filmmakers can't make cult movies, only audiences can. Review

Johnny Guitar himself is the first to arrive, but within minutes we realise that if we've come for his music, we're staying for Vienna and Emma's sparring. Review

Brushed up in a swanky new restoration, Mr. Klein is primed to find a new audience. With the subject of cultural appropriation a hot button issue in recent years, it's lost none of its insight into how we relate to art and those who create it. Review

But while Malignant keeps reminding you of other genre movies, it never gets you invested in its own half-baked hijinks. Review

For all its cardboard characters and clichéd courtroom manoeuvres, The Collini Case's two hours flew by. Maybe I'm nostalgic for when Hollywood made movies with such adult themes, but I was never not invested in its narrative, even if I struggled to swallow most of its characters. Review

The young Thompson is a real find and her performance keeps the film anchored as its narrative gets increasingly messy and clouded. Her performance is so strong that it renders the film's fantasy elements superfluous as her eyes and reactions carry the story on their own. Review

As you might expect from a Danish production, Powder Keg is technically polished and exceptionally well acted. It has the feeling of a story that had to be told at some point, but in its present form it's a little too close to Paul Haggis's Crash with its crudely drawn, overlapping characters. It lacks the ticking clock energy of Paul Greengrass's depictions of similar events, or even Peter Berg's Patriots Day. Review

It's a movie that may make you think about how much time you spend in front of screens, but it's worth spending 97 minutes in front of any screen that's playing Come Play. Review

By the end, Hugo has inflicted such psychological torture on Tony and Susan that even the most bolshy of viewers will feel that Hugo has gone too far in his war against the higher classes. Review

Fans of Christensen's previous tight thrillers will be disappointed at how unfocussed the storytelling is here by comparison, and by the climax it all feels like a generic slasher that missed an opportunity for some satirical commentary on the lengths people are forced to go to make a buck in the gig economy. Review

Shorta is the sort of movie that might land its directors a Hollywood action gig. Ironically, they prove themselves far more comfortable with the nuanced character drama and distinctive Scandinavian grit of the movie's first half than with the all-action romp of the second half. Review

After...erm, hooking us in with some nice atmosphere and what initially seems like an interesting take on the Candyman lore, DaCosta's film falls apart in its final act. Review