ORWAV’s Top 20 Films of 2019: #2 – Knives Out Phil W. Bayles December 31, 2019 Analysis, Features, Top 10 Rian Johnson is a man who loves breaking rules. He broke just about every rule in the book when he was given the reins to Star Wars, and some of the most unpleasant people on the internet are still giving him...
Team Talk – Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker David Brake December 24, 2019 Reviews We've finally reached the end of the latest Star Wars saga. It's a bit of a relief, really. The back-and-forth debates over the pros and cons of The Force Awakens vs. The Last Jedi will never be settled but...
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Review David Brake December 20, 2019 Reviews There’s a famous restaurant in New York called Peter Luger Steak House. It was established in 1887, and boasts brass chandeliers, exposed wooden beams and aromas to excite your ancestors. The hiss of...
ORWAV’s Top 100 Films of the 2010s: #60-41 Calum Baker December 14, 2019 Analysis, Features, One Off, Top 10 Our countdown of the Top 100 Films of the Decade continues apace as we start reaching the titles with some very high aggregate scores. Debate continues to rage over the relative merits of (usually heavy)...
Top 10 Space Movies Jack Blackwell September 17, 2019 Analysis, Features, Top 10 As the most inhospitable, difficult to reach, and mysterious place that humans have ever explored, the depths of space have long held a great fascination for filmmakers. Whether it’s in the fantasy context...
John Wick vs. The World: The Action Film’s Evolution Chris Edwards May 17, 2019 Analysis, Close-Up, Features Action movies aren't what they used to be. With the incredible advancement of CGI allowing for ever-increasing financial success, modern action has become all about sequels, remakes and adaptations. This...
Second Chance: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace James Andrews May 16, 2019 Features, Nostalgia, Second Chance Two decades on, The Phantom Menace remains the most infamously maligned entry in the ever-expanding Star Wars series. Following the beloved saga's hyped return in 1999 with a monumental and highly marketed...
Oscar Isaac: A Most Vibrant Five Years James Andrews September 13, 2018 Analysis, Features, Spotlight "You've come a very long way in a very short time." So says another character to Oscar Isaac's Abel Morales in A Most Violent Year. The same could well be said about the actor himself. As recently as 2012 you...
There’s More to Star Wars Than Boba Fett & Ben Kenobi Phil W. Bayles May 29, 2018 Analysis, Features, Opinion This weekend saw the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story, an origin story which stars Alden Ehrenreich as the eponymous smuggler and answers some of the burning questions that Star Wars fans have asked for...
Scene Stealers: Donald Glover in The Martian James Andrews May 24, 2018 Analysis, Features, Scene Stealers It’s a phrase bandied about quite a lot in the entertainment world, but Donald Glover is quite genuinely a man of many talents. When he’s not preparing to join a galaxy far, far away as a young Lando...
A Love Letter To…Attack The Block Stephanie Watts March 20, 2018 Features, Love Letter, Nostalgia A concrete estate in London, a gang of teenagers roaming the streets, and…aliens from outer space? Yes, it’s the surprising sci-fi comedy Attack The Block, in which a group of inner city kids must defend...
The Last Jedi and the Real Resistance Kambole Campbell January 9, 2018 Analysis, Close-Up, Features One of the best moments in Star Wars: The Last Jedi comes early on. During one of many desperate, skin-of-their teeth escapes, victory or death for the Resistance (the new moniker for the Rebel Alliance) ...
All the Money in the World: Replacing and Recreating Actors Carmen Paddock January 3, 2018 Analysis, Features, Opinion Christopher Plummer is doing very well this year, mainly in the sense that he is a well-regarded man in Hollywood who is not in the midst of a sexual harassment or assault scandal. Furthermore, his turn as J....
Top 20 Films of 2017: #3 – Star Wars: The Last Jedi Matt Whittle December 29, 2017 Analysis, Features, Top 10 *Spoilers within this article* Star Wars has reinvigorated the event blockbuster. In a time of cinematic universes and sequels scrambling for space on a crowded schedule, audiences are spoilt for choice; no...
“Darkness Rises, and Light to Meet It”: How The Last Jedi Found the Balance in the Force David Brake December 22, 2017 Analysis, Features, One Off Warning: this article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This is not going to go the way you think! —Luke Skywalker, The Last Jedi Ambiguity (noun). The quality of being open to more than one...