Michael Sarnoski

The Death of Robin Hood

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Robin lets loose an arrow

Can Robin Hood even be killed? Writer/director Michael Sarnoski thinks he can, and approaches the immortal figure of legend from two different directions in The Death of Robin Hood. Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe and Daffy Duck (yes, really), stand back. First up, a dark, wind-blasted and grungy cavalcade of extreme bloodletting. In Sarnoski’s telling, the hero of ballad and folk tale is demythologised and presented as an old yet vicious killer. Stow all memory of Errol Flynn in wrinkled tights of Lincoln Green, Hugh Jackman’s grizzled, white-haired Robin is already despatching a young woman in the film’s first five minutes, but not before informing her that the old stories about brave … Read more

A Quiet Place: Day One

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Eric and Samira in the dark with a torch

Hang on, A Quiet Place: Day One is the origin story, about how Earth is invaded by creatures who track humans using sound alone? Wasn’t that already covered in A Quiet Place Part II? Indeed it was, but if you are generous of spirit and reject the idea that A Quiet Place: Day One is just a reheat of old hash, you’ll be pointing out right now that A Quiet Place Part II did the whole “how the apocalypse arrived” thing in its first ten minutes, then zipped forwards in time about a year and a half to catch up with the Abbott family (Emily Blunt, John Krasinski and co) as they came … Read more

Pig

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The pig and Nicolas Cage

“John Wick with a Pig” is how Pig, starring Nicolas Cage, is often described. Fair enough, even if that only really works as a shorthand if you’ve got a big bag of “buts” handy. Admittedly, the plot is strangely similiar – loner loses favourite animal and goes on a payback jag. But though Cage and Keanu Reeves are both boomers from 1964, the similarities end there – Cage is a “big” actor embracing the extra texture that age brings, Reeves is more minimalist and doing his best to ignore it. Either way, this is a vastly entertaining odd-couple comedy served straight. And that’s another thing – this is a buddy movie, whereas the … Read more