Matt Adcock

1 week ago | darkmatt.blogspot.com | Matt Adcock

Fréwaka (2024) Dir. Aislinn Clarke Reviewed by Matt (@Cleric20) AdcockStarring: Clare Monnelly, Bríd Ní NeachtainGenre: Irish-language Folk Horror "Folklore and trauma collide…” Something wicked stirs in the shadows of Ireland’s mist-shrouded folklore. Fréwaka, the bold and deeply unsettling second feature from Aislinn Clarke (The Devil’s Doorway), is an Irish-language horror that grips like a cold hand from beyond the veil.

2 weeks ago | letterboxd.com | Matt Adcock |Gareth Evans

From The Raid director Gareth Evans comes Havoc, a brutal, chaotic juggernaut of a film that crashes through your senses like a wrecking ball. Sure, the plot is barely there to support the outrageous carnage. But oh boy, does Evans deliver on the visceral thrills. At the rotten, blood-pumping heart of Havoc is one of the most insane nightclub fights/shootouts ever committed to screen. A prolonged, jaw-dropping symphony of shattered glass, bone-crunching hits, and ballistic fury.

3 weeks ago | letterboxd.com | Matt Adcock |Ryan Coogler

“It couldn’t be more ‘go’ time!”Seen in jaw dropping 70mm IMAX!!A righteous, action-laced, Southern Gothic banger that swings holy hell against both the undead and the living devils of systemic racism. Set in a sweltering, segregated 1930s Mississippi, Sinners follows twin Black war veterans Elijah “Smoke” and Elias “Stack” Moore (both Michael B. Jordan at his absolute peak) who just want to open a juke joint and live free.

3 weeks ago | letterboxd.com | Matt Adcock |Tony Scott

“I feel the need… the need for speed.”Some films fly. Top Gun doesn’t just fly, it mach loops through the cinematic stratosphere with a smug grin, a bomber jacket, and the most homoerotic beach volleyball scene ever put to celluloid. Directed by Tony Scott (peace be upon him, king of kinetic cinema), Top Gun is a testosterone-fuelled missile of 1980s bravado. It’s got fighter jets, aviators, adrenaline, sweaty sax solos, and a plot so thin you could use it as a HUD overlay.

3 weeks ago | letterboxd.com | Matt Adcock |James Hawes

There’s something deliciously retro about The Amateur, a slickly made espionage thriller that dares to be personal, mildly brutal, and refreshingly grounded. Rami Malek is a CIA codebreaker whose life is shattered when his wife is killed in a terrorist attack. The film spins a moody revenge tale dipped in Cold War tones and served with modern dread. Malek dials down the twitchy genius and dials up the inner demons, playing Heller with a kind of barely-contained intensity that feels earned.