RhysehT

 (A version of this article originally appeared on kernelnow.com / mynewslike.com) “The most talked about film of the year is one nobody’s seen.. yet.” So says the trailer for The Hunt , a film originally scheduled for release in September of last year before America’s mass shooting problem caused its delay until this past month. The intrigue over its postponement turned out to be something of a gift, creating an unusual marketing strategy that played on its delay as a reason the film has to be seen. Don’t be fooled – it may protest some innocence, but this film laps up the controversies of the real world both within and outside of its bloody plot. What no-one involved saw coming was that, like so many others , its release would succumb to the relentless and cruel pandemic that has invaded all corners of the world. In the face of this strange and hopefully short-term threat, Universal have seen fit to release this and other movies to isolated audiences early; as o...

 (A version of this article originally appeared on kernelnow.com / mynewslike.com) Looking back, it’s impossible to overstate just how much of a global phenomenon Pokémon was. For reasons that no one has been able to fully explain, the quest to catch all 151 original Pocket Monsters via video game, trading card and television was one that consumed children the world over for a few glorious, if sudden, years.  Nintendo’s franchise arguably reached its peak in 1999, when the adequately titled Pokémon: The First Movie roared into cinemas around the world. Now, over two decades later (stop me if you suddenly feel as old as I just made myself feel) comes a full CGI remake of the film. This is the twenty-fourth Pokémon movie and alongside last year’s live action Detective Pikachu , may well be the movie that has stirred the most audience interest in years. That’s largely down to its being a reboot, and whilst it’s difficult to believe you’re reading this review...

 (A version of this article originally appeared on kernelnow.com / mynewslike.com) Jack London’s The Call of the Wild , referred to as a “ legendary novel ” in the promotion for this film, has proved an inspiration to film-makers since the earliest days of cinema. The first adaptation came as a silent film in 1923 and since then at least six more have followed on-screen, starring silver screen legends such as Clark Gable , Charlton Heston and Rutger Hauer . This latest realization brings with it a very cinematic coincidence: the first film to adapt the book whilst featuring sound came in 1935, and was the last film to be released under the Twentieth Century Pictures banner before that studio merged with Fox to become Twentieth Century Fox. Some 85 years later, this new film comes as the first release under the Twentieth Century Studios name after Disney’s mega-purchase of Fox last year. It’s also a first for director Chris Sanders ( Lilo & Stitch , How to Train Y...