Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

After Love never manipulates us into rooting for its couple to get back together. Quite the opposite in fact; the more time we spend in the company of this mutually miserable pair the more we long for them to get as far away from each other as possible. Review

Nocturnal Animals is gloriously trashy, but also one of the most aesthetically pleasing movies of the year. It seems fashioned specifically to feature on future double bills with Nicholas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon. Review

The first Reacher movie just about turned a profit, so it came as a surprise to most of us when a second was announced. On the evidence of the resulting sequel, Cruise should have taken the advice of its prophetic title. Review

With director Mike Flanagan at the helm, hopes will be quite high among horror fans for this sequel, but there's little of the skill he displayed in this year's straight to Netflix thriller Hush evidenced here. Review

For roughly its first half, I, Daniel Blake succeeds as a well-observed look at the trials of an unwanted underclass, but as the film progresses it becomes apparent that while Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty have a clear message, they haven't got much of a story. Review

As the film is told wholly from the perspective of Francisca, rather than any of her victims, there are few opportunities to generate suspense. Much of Pesce's cold and clinical film causes us to recoil in disgust, but little of it makes us shiver in terror. Review

By all means lay down your cash and go see Inferno, but the experience could be easily duplicated by flicking on the Discovery Channel and blasting the Bourne Identity soundtrack over the images. This is an abyss of entertainment. Review

We're living in something of a golden age for sci-fi dramas whose protagonists are scientists and intellectuals determined to think rather than blast their way through obstacles, and Amy Adams' linguist is perhaps the most human of them all. Review

Mainstream western movies set in Africa rarely tell positive stories. Queen of Katwe is a refreshing break from this unhelpful narrative, a story of Africans achieving greatness unaided. The only white knights you'll find here are on the chess board. Review

War on Everyone purports to be a comedy, but it's not laughing at its evil protagonists so much as with them, and its idea of edgy humour is to simply remark on the race, religion, gender politics or body image of every character it introduces. Review

The dialogue sounds like it was written in Spanish and translated to English through a Google Chrome extension, and the actors spend most of their time wandering around with a bemused look on their faces, as though they've gotten lost while trying to find their way back to the set from the catering truck. Review

The Light Between Oceans is unashamedly old-fashioned, a lengthy widescreen drama that seems custom made for viewing on a lazy Sunday afternoon. By no means the epic of human drama it believes itself to be, it's nonetheless a solid attempt to replicate the great melodramas of the past. Review

With Emily Blunt's portrayal of Rachel, we always feel like we're watching a drunk pretending to be sober, rather than a sober actor playing drunk. She's thoroughly convincing as an alcoholic. Unfortunately, so are the film's director, screenwriter and editor. Review

Drake Doremus' film is arguably more of a remake than many of the acknowledged remakes we've seen recently. Equals may owe more than a debt to and pay homage to some classic sci-fi movies, but it's by no means their equal. Review

But as a story of familial redemption in rugged action clothing, it's a surprisingly touching and endearing drama. Review

Star's journey from shy, awkward teen to an earth mother who seems to exert a supernatural power over nature (Sasha Lane's interaction with a bear will likely be the standout image of 2016) unspools like an adaptation of some forgotten ancient myth. Go see American Honey, and hear her roar. Review

Shin Godzilla is very Japanese in paying tribute to science and ingenuity. Think The Martian, but with the core problem of saving a stranded botanist replaced with the mammoth task of destroying a giant lizard impervious to conventional weapons. Review

Tim Burton poured his heart and soul into his 20th century work. In the 21st century he's morphed into one of the most soulless filmmakers working in mainstream cinema, and each successive movie adds fuel to the notion that his early successes thrived in spite of Burton's involvement, not because of it. Review

Far from ruining your Dad's childhood, this Magnificent Seven is a respectful tribute to the western genre, shot on an old fashioned outdoor set constructed by carpenters rather than computers. Review

Were it not for Sennia Nanua's precocious talents, The Girl with All the Gifts would be simply another shambling corpse in the crowded herd of the zombie genre. Review

A cheap, yet all too common storytelling trope is to equate affluence with villainy, and it's one Sachs and co-writer Mauricio Zacharias commendably bin here. There are no villains in this story; both parties are simply trying to do right by their families. Review

Remember that scene near the end of David Fincher's Zodiac where Jake Gyllenhaal finds himself in what may be the basement of the killer he's been hunting? Creepy is like that scene extended for 90 minutes. Unfortunately the movie's running time is 130 minutes. Review

A little more time examining the bread and butter world of white supremacists would have been appreciated - how does an undercover agent do his grocery shopping when he's sporting a shaved head and a swastika tattoo? - but as a thriller, Imperium is a largely engrossing watch. Review

There's an interesting dynamic between the well acted central trio, one which may have prospered in a more traditional form of storytelling, but writer-director Martin Radich's decision to deliver an obtuse drama ultimately extinguishes any spark of interest you might find in this odd little film. Review