Pete Messum

6 hours ago | criticalpopcorn.com | Pete Messum |Dan Bullock |Nick Bartlett

To celebrate the release of Brady Corbet’s masterpiece The Brutalist – now available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray™, and DVD – we’re giving three lucky readers the chance to win their very own copy!  Escaping post-war Europe, visionary architect László Toth (Adrien Brody) arrives in America to rebuild his life, his work, and his marriage to his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) after being forced apart during wartime by shifting borders and regimes.

1 day ago | criticalpopcorn.com | Pete Messum |Dan Bullock |Nick Bartlett

It’s always great to see a scary Doctor Who episode. The classic series had a reputation for sending kids hiding behind the sofa, and while the first few series of the revival concocted plenty of scary moments and monsters, it’s difficult not to feel that this has declined in recent years, despite spine-chilling episodes like Village of the Angels and Wild Blue Yonder becoming very popular amongst fans.

1 week ago | criticalpopcorn.com | Pete Messum |Dan Bullock |Nick Bartlett

“This movie is bonkers,” Blake Lively tells the audience at the Ham Yard Hotel before the screening of Another Simple Favor. It’s a fitting precursor to this film, the sequel to the equally madcap A Simple Favor, released to decent box office in 2018 before discovering cult status on Prime Video mid-pandemic.

1 week ago | criticalpopcorn.com | Dan Bullock |Pete Messum |Nick Bartlett

We’ve been having a proper look at Hammer Films’ excellent new 4K restoration boxset release of Four Sided Triangle, and it’s impressive! These fresh releases clearly indorses their new plan to bring cinematic cult classics to a dedicated Home Entertainment fanbase, so it’s great to see that John Gore Studios’ Hammer Films have not only restored the film, but it also takes the deep dive into both the creation of the film, and its heritage.

1 week ago | criticalpopcorn.com | Pete Messum |Dan Bullock |Nick Bartlett

One of the most distinctive and exciting images from the trailer for Doctor Who’s 2025 season was that of a cartoon character emerging from a cinema screen. It’s the sort of visual that could give younger viewers nightmares, while older viewers can appreciate what the new storytelling possibilities offered by the increased budget. It makes for a pretty spooky opening to Lux, an episode filled with potential that – for whatever reason – it never manages to capitalise on.