old king clancy

Review – Star Wars : The Last Jedi (2017)

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by Old King Clancy

At the time of writing it’s been a day since I walked out of The Last Jedi and the on-line reaction to it has been surprisingly diverse with a lot of people either disappointed in the film or downright hating it. Which made no sense to me because I downright loved the film, and classed it as the best the franchise has been since Empire. Having had the time to think things through and read the negative reviews I think I understand to a certain degree, after The Force Awakens was criticized for basically being A Newer Hope, The Last Jedi does all it can to take some of the boldest steps ever taken in a Star Wars film and actively doesn’t try to please everyone. It is completely unexpected from a company like Disney, but they just might have made one of the bravest Star Wars films to date, and I’m definitely on board with it all.

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Review – Thor : Ragnarok (2017)

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by Old King Clancy

Since the reviews for Thor: Ragnarok came out and was praised for its humor, it’s been hard not to see people’s complaints about Marvel being too light-hearted and trying to be too funny. I haven’t felt the superhero fatigue that others have yet, but it’s not hard to see why people feel that way. I bring this up because there was talks of Thor: Ragnorok being a reinvention of the MCU leading into Infinity War, and it’s really not in fact. If you’re not on board with the Marvel Model this won’t win you over. What it is in fact, is a funny, colorful, and entertaining movie that has Led Zeppelin on the soundtrack.  Honestly, what more could you want or need?

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Review- The Death of Stalin (2017)

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by Old King Clancy

With The Thick Of It and it’s cinematic partner, In The Loop, covering UK politics, and Veep covering the US, it can be argued that nobody has a better, or funnier, grasp on the ineptitude of politicians than Armando Iannucci. Now with his latest film, The Death Of Stalin, Iannucci tackles historical Russian politics to show that no matter where or when, politicians were and are idiots!

Loosely based on the true story of the Russian governments reaction to the death of Joseph Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin), the film finds the Russian cabinet – Deputy General Secretary Georgy Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor), First Secretary Nikita Kruschev (Steve Buschemi), head of secret police Lavrentiy Beria (Simon Russell Beale) and Deputy Premier Vyacheslav Molotov (Michael Palin) – coming together to help guide the country through a period of mourning. Nikita sees the opportunity to ease up on Stalin’s torturous rule and induct a more liberal approach to the Russian Government, however, Beria starts mobilizing his Police Force to manipulate Malenkov into giving him more power, and seizing the chair for himself.

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Review – Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

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by Old King Clancy

Trying to talk about Blade Runner 2049 without giving away any of the reveals is going to be difficult because somehow the marketing for this film has managed to keep a lot under wraps. To the point where I’m honestly surprised with how little they were able to show in the promotional material. I’ll try my best to keep things spoiler free, but at this point you already know if you want to see this or not. Either you’re a fan of the first film and are looking to see if this expands upon the world Ridley Scott built 35 years earlier, which it does. Or you’re not a fan of the first film, but want to see if a modern update can improve upon the legacy Scott left behind, which it arguably does.

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Review – Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

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by Old King Clancy

When the first Kingsman movie came out, I got a free ticket to an early screening and enjoyed it so much that I went to see it again with some friends. I did that so I could give money to the filmmakers, hoping to see more of this brand of insanity. Well two years later has passed and we have Kingsman: The Golden Circle, a film with high expectations… that just doesn’t live up to its predecessor.

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Review – Mother (2017)

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by Old King Clancy

This is going be a difficult film to talk about without spoilers, so if I let anything slip, I apologize in advance. Truthfully though you should have already seen Mother! before reading this review because it’s a film worth knowing as little about it as possible before going in. That way you can hate it on your own terms because trust me, this will piss a LOT of people off! But if you’re into weird, creepy stuff like me, you might love it.

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Review – Wind River (2017)

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by Old King Clancy

Taylor Sheridan has made a big name for himself as a screenwriter with only Sicario and Hell Or High Water under his belt. Now with his directorial debut, Wind River, Sheridan has proven himself as one of the more interesting voices of modern cinema and someone unafraid to touch upon darker subject of America.

Set in and around the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, Wildlife hunter Cary Lambert (Jeremy Renner) is called by his ex-wife’s father-in-law to deal with a lion that’s been killing his livestock when he comes across the body of Natalie Hanson (Kelsey Chow), an 18 year old resident on the reservation the best friend of Lambert’s deceased daughter Emily. With signs of sexual assault on the body, the police call the FBI however the only person available is rookie agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olson) in Las Vegas who is unfamiliar with the location or the cold.

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Review – Detroit (2017)

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kathryn bigelow

by Old King Clancy

I wasn’t initially going to review Detroit for many reasons that I’ll get into in a moment, but I’ve been thinking about it all day, and I found myself getting angrier while wondering why no-one else has picked up on the stupidity in this film. Maybe it is just me, maybe I am focusing too much on such a minor part of the film, but it’s a minor part that sets off the entire second act. And the fact that the film refuses to even acknowledge it is why it pisses me off.

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Review – War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

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by Old King Clancy

There should have never been a Planet Of The Apes reboot, a prequel series chronicling the events that led to the destruction of humanity and the rise of the apes. It was a ridiculous concept that should’ve never made it passed the conception, but it did make it. Through this whole trilogy, from Rise to Dawn to War, this franchise has proven itself one of the greatest sci-fi trilogies of the modern age. With War For The Planet Of The Apes, they end this series in the perfect way to create one of the most personal and morally complex blockbusters out there today.

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Review – Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

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by Old King Clancy

WARNING – Spoilers and swearing are plentiful

I had no immediate plans to see The Last Knight, I knew I would because I just can’t turn away from this franchise now that I’m five films into it (I finished the Texas Chainsaw series so I can tackle this one). But if I hadn’t lost an Oscar bet, I wouldn’t have taken the theatrical viewing because I haven’t seen a Transformers movie in the cinema, since I was dragged to Revenge of The Fallen while I paid a tenner to have Michael Bay shove his f**king robo-balls in my face. But I did lose and I did go to see The Last Knight and to my surprise the film had the exact same problems as the last film. Hell it has the exact same problem that every Transformers film has and yet somehow this one turns out worse than nearly all of them. This is one step above Fallen as worst in the series.

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