Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

With an array of cinematic tricks on display, Dolan displays an unashamed love of cinema, finding the magical in moments of mundanity. Review

With Penn co-scripting this adaptation of Jean-Patrick Manchette's novel The Prone Gunman, it's no surprise to find a political undercurrent running throughout the film, but the commentary on western intervention in Africa takes a back seat to a series of contrived, clichéd and predictable conspiracy thriller scenarios. The Gunman is a thinking man's thriller, but one without a thought in its head. Review

It should be impossible to make a dull chase movie but trust Collett-Serra to suck any potential energy out of his movie with his insistence on flashy visuals and over-editing of action scenes. Review

With little to really get your teeth into, While We're Young won't linger long in the memory, but if you want some rib tickling fun it certainly delivers on laughs. Review

After the fact, some of the plot twists may seem a tad contrived, but Bier keeps things moving at a brisk pace, denying us time to pick apart the mechanics of the plot. Review

Despite the best efforts of Williams and Schoenarts, the film never quite sells their relationship, but the broader story at play here is intriguing enough to cover those cracks. It may be marketed as a polite wartime romance, but Suite Francaise is a much grittier beast, a story seething with the coiled rage of an emasculated people. Review

Araki's film has a listless feel, thanks mainly to its conceit of purposely keeping its main plot thread in the background, but its never dull. Review

For all its style and Ferdinando's enthusiastic embracing of his character, Hyena ultimately offers little new to the cops 'n mobsters milieu and ultimately serves as an extended showreel for its director and star, both of whom have done enough to hint at a potentially great future. Review

Much like Yolandi's squeaky voice but foul mouthed rapping style, the movie is confused about its target audience; far too dumb for adults, but too graphic for kids. Review

In Kill the Messenger Renner delivers a career best performance, one that, with its '70s stylings, suggests he may unfortunately be an actor better suited to a previous movie era, one which valued an expressive face over a conventionally attractive one. Review

Most of the film looks like it was shot by a toddler on a Fisher Price camera, with images randomly presented through various filters in a case of 'What does this button do?' filmmaking at its worst. When viewed in 3D, this visual noise is grating in the extreme. Review

Appropriate Behavior plays like an extended TV pilot, and I'd happily tune into a resulting series, but there's just not quite enough here to justify a cinema trip. Review

With an over-written script that rarely allows for nuance, ambiguity or visual storytelling, Difret is a plodding African cousin to Spielberg's Lincoln; a shame, as in Meron Getnet and Tizita Hagere it features two engaging stars who deserve a much better international platform for their talents. Review

Remove Moore's performance however and you're left with little more than a slightly more nuanced 'disease of the week' movie... Review

The crazy scenario doesn't always hold together. Like last year's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, its human characters aren't half as interesting as their animal counterparts, but for having the courage to run with its singular vision, and the exceptionally nuanced performance of its slobbering star, White God is a rare doggy treat. Review

The Boy Next Door is the sort of B-thriller that once filled the bottom shelves of video stores, but thanks to the presence of Jennifer Lopez, it's instead playing on cinema screens across the world. Review

Remove these two elements and you're left with a movie that treats its audience in particularly patronising fashion, saved from turkey status by the presence of one of the few genuine movie stars Hollywood can boast today. Review

Catch Me Daddy is essentially a chase movie, and it's a particularly tense one. As a piece of social realism, it's not quite so successful. Review

Blackhat is more a case of a filmmaker paying homage to his own past, with Mann practically rewriting scenes from earlier works (a speech delivered by Hemsworth about surviving prison time is straight out of Thief). Review

If Project Almanac has one saving grace, then it has to be its charismatic young cast. Review

Without straying into the realms of cheap cynicism, The Duke of Burgundy is bluntly honest about the strains of keeping a relationship fresh, and particularly nails the unique demands placed upon those involved in May to December romances. Review

Despite our awareness of her suffering, it's difficult to care about Claire, and the movie's more likeable supporting characters are given such short shrift that you wonder why they were written into the film in the first place. Review

Kikuchi is heart-breaking in the lead role, but the film itself is several rungs below her on the ladder of melancholy she ascends throughout, and the film's ending isn't quite as depressing and impactful as it really should be. Ultimately Kumiko is a character in search of both treasure and a movie that will do justice to her plight. I'm not sure she belongs in this one. Review

Vincent Lannoo's movie has a very promising setup. A beleaguered elegy writer seems the perfect foil for some blackly comic existential angst, and the idea of a believed deceased husband throwing a spanner in the works of a new relationship should be a comedic goldmine. But Paper Souls frosts over at the point it should really be heating up. Review