Filmrecensies van Eric Hillis

The buddy cop movie is a winning formula. It's drama at its simplest. You shouldn't be able to get this wrong, yet the folks behind Ride Along somehow have. Twice. Recensie

Technically, this is an awful movie, but damn if I didn't have a blast with it. Hopefully we get a '6th Wave', as we need a bonkers movie like this every now and then, especially in the midst of 'awards season'. Recensie

Our Brand is Crisis is the sort of film that sells us a loveable rogue and asks us to embrace and revel in their corrupt ways before spanking our bottoms with a climactic lecture on morality. Be they Bolivian voters or cinemagoers, the people deserve better. Recensie

Watching The Assassin is like taking a childhood trip to your grandparents; you don't understand much of their speech and you're unsure of their rules, but the alien and archaic sensual delights are intoxicating. Recensie

For all its insight and thoughtfulness, Creed ultimately has us on our feet rooting for its hero in a thrilling action climax, and when that famous theme finally kicks in at a crucial moment, no movie lover - from the 'one trip to the cinema a year' casual viewer to the snobbiest of critics - will be left unmoved. Recensie

Bettany dedicates his film to "the couple that lived outside my building". The fact that he's unable to name said couple provides more insight into the plight of the homeless than anything in his film. Recensie

This is the sort of film that believes it's an extra tragedy that someone with great hair ends up losing it due to cancer, just as Still Alice suggested Alzheimer's was being particularly cruel in latching onto a professional linguist. Of course, a balding plumber wouldn't be bothered by such afflictions. Not at all. Recensie

Much has been made of DiCaprio's performance here, and he'll probably receive an Oscar for eating raw fish, as that's how awards seem to work these days, but the far more impressive turns come from Tom Hardy as the gruff narcissist who leaves him behind, and Will Poulter as the well-meaning young trapper manipulated by Hardy into going along with his plan. Recensie

Equal parts good, bad and downright ugly, this is Tarantino's blood soaked love letter to classic network TV and the down and dirty horror flicks of the '70s and '80s, more Sam Raimi than Sam Peckinpah. Recensie

Partisan never really gets under the grubby nails of its subject, and plays as a superficial genre exercise from the Nicolas Winding Refn colouring book. Recensie

While it initially intrigues, At Any Price ultimately frustrates. Its third act feels all too rushed, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot more of this film on the cutting room floor. Recensie

Like Trainwreck, Sleeping With Other People is a comedy that fools you into thinking you're in for a modern, enlightened look at sexual mores only to ultimately pander to the most conservative of views on the topic. Recensie

A War comes close at times, but we still await the great Afghanistan conflict movie. Perhaps we'll have to wait for an end to the war so filmmakers can assess it in hindsight, in which case it seems we'll be waiting quite a while. Recensie

Lucas's original films are still relevant because they were and are about something. Their themes are universal and timeless. Abrams' film is about nothing but Star Wars itself. Lucas's films told us everything about his philosophy of life. Abrams' film only tells us he's a geek. Recensie

Working with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle - one of the first DoP's to adopt digital technology - Howard seems to be aping the style of Michael Mann, with lots of extreme close-ups and in your face action, but it's a poor imitation, more pathetic than kinetic. Recensie

For a while it appears as if Daddy's Home may have more to offer than you might imagine. Soon however it unspools in rote fashion like a well-promoted version of a straight to video comedy Chevy Chase might have headlined 20 years ago. Recensie

Room plays like a worthwhile character study from which all the most interesting moments - those occurring before and after its protagonists speak - have been edited out to accommodate an audience raised on talky TV dramas. Recensie

Without its two leads (and some great supporting performers, most notably Greta Lee, whose comic timing makes a lot of her gags funnier than they should be) Sisters would be an absolute dud. As it is, it's a misfire barely saved by the endearing company of two genuine stars. Recensie

Remember how back in the day, music videos would sometimes have movies built around them (Michael Jackson's Thriller the most famous of them all)? Well, By the Sea feels like someone had the same idea for a perfume commercial, but this fragrance stinks! Recensie

Krampus won't go on to be a seasonal classic, and it's undoubtedly a disappointment given its fascinating subject, but if you're after a light dose of Christmas carnage, you could find worse gifts under your tree. Recensie

A 1930s critic might call Sunset Song a handsomely mounted woman's picture, and it's certainly hard to find fault with the movie on a technical level. There's just not a whole to sink your teeth into here. In 1932 Gibbon's novel may have seemed fresh, but in 2015 Davies' film is all too lacking in originality and substance. Recensie

You know this story!" Those prophetic words open Victor Frankenstein, immediately alerting us to its lack of imagination. Save for a pointless origin story for Frankenstein's assistant, Igor (Radcliffe), Victor Frankenstein adds nothing to Mary Shelley's tale. Recensie

For a movie made by a 77 year old, 11 Minutes moves with an energy you might expect from some prodigious future auteur, and its Altman-on-uppers approach makes it one of the year's most fascinating watches. Recensie

Stories like this and Lincoln are an uncomfortable fit for Spielberg, a touchy-feely director making thinky-talky movies. That said, there's enough in Bridge of Spies to keep most viewers interested, but ultimately it's a waste of an entertainer. And in these troubled times, we could really use some of that old Spielberg magic. Recensie