Movie reviews of Evan Popplestone

These ordinary people feel real and complex. We spend time sharing their joy, humour and sadness but Marc Turtletaub never handles it in a forced or overdone manner.

A quintessential and highly entertaining example of how sheer in-camera ingenuity and imagination can triumph over the kind of financial constraints...

Stamps its own monochromatic imprint on the vampire movie landscape.

Another fine example of the recent horror renaissance.

One of the great Hong Kong period martial arts flicks.

It all concludes with a suspenseful, explosive climax and a hauntingly strange, poetic final image.

One of those movies which is best watched late at night, preferably after some form of intoxication.

Stanley Kramer's rather obvious (albeit well-meaning) message doesn’t overwhelm the film’s considerable entertainment value.

Another fine piece of classic-era cinema...

A film with one or two nice ideas but it comes up short in terms of execution.

An utterly gripping look at how religious dogma and populist politics can threaten to tip the scales of justice away from reason and open-minded inquiry.

Another powerful and imaginative piece of New Zealand cinema...

While On Chesil Beach amounts to a powerful tale of doomed love, it’s not without its faults.

Isn’t outright bad, it’s a rather lacklustre and uninspiring action flick which happens to be tied in with a phenomenally popular space opera franchise.

An outstanding film which has never quite been given the full credit that it is due.

A truly underrated horror classic.

A lame space comedy that’s paradoxically worth watching once for the sheer imagination on display and for Dennis Hopper’s fine performance.

A decent enough 1970s action-adventure.

It’s a true Frankenstein’s monster which doesn’t quite know how to place itself within this whole Sestero-Wiseau continuum.

Both something of a wasted opportunity and an undeniable guilty pleasure.

Ultimately offered both too much and yet, paradoxically, too little.

One of those wonderful and original movies that’s hard to pigeonhole but somehow occupies a unique place in the memory.

Well-acted, well put together and undeniably heartfelt.

Carves out a distinctive stylistic niche that’s hard to dismiss.