Hamish Calvert, Writer at Cultured Vultures https://culturedvultures.com/author/hamish-calvert/ Wed, 23 Aug 2023 10:31:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://culturedvultures.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/cropped-Cultured-Vultures-Homepage-250-32x32.png Hamish Calvert, Writer at Cultured Vultures https://culturedvultures.com/author/hamish-calvert/ 32 32 The Dive REVIEW – Barely Treading Water https://culturedvultures.com/the-dive-2023-review/ https://culturedvultures.com/the-dive-2023-review/#disqus_thread Wed, 23 Aug 2023 10:31:07 +0000 https://culturedvultures.com/?p=202026 The Dive movie

Following sisters and adrenaline junkies, Drew and May, The Dive sees these thrill-seeking siblings embark on one of their annual aquatic adventures. However, while diving in a remote, cliff-side location, they are suddenly caught amidst a deadly rockslide. With a large rock trapping May on the ocean floor, it’s up to Drew to try and free her. But with limited oxygen supplies and no-one around to help, there’s only so much she can do. While its characters are quickly running […]

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Strays REVIEW – All Bark and No Bite https://culturedvultures.com/strays-2023-review/ https://culturedvultures.com/strays-2023-review/#disqus_thread Fri, 18 Aug 2023 14:42:39 +0000 https://culturedvultures.com/?p=201872 Strays

Dog movies are known for being sweet, schmaltzy and sometimes even emotionally manipulative. However, director Josh Greenbaum’s new canine comedy, Strays, is none of these things. Subverting genre clichés, Strays instead opts for gross-out comedy to entertain its audience, earning itself an R-rating in the process. This combination certainly makes for a curious cinematic crossbreed, yet its funny bones are nowhere to be found. The film’s plot follows Reggie (Will Ferrell), a young Border Terrier who is abandoned by his […]

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Gran Turismo REVIEW – On the Right Track https://culturedvultures.com/gran-turismo-2023-review/ https://culturedvultures.com/gran-turismo-2023-review/#disqus_thread Thu, 10 Aug 2023 13:00:05 +0000 https://culturedvultures.com/?p=201553 Gran Turismo movie

Following both the Uncharted film and The Last of Us TV series, Kazunori Yamauchi’s racing simulation Gran Turismo is PlayStation Productions’ latest video game adaptation, but it arrives with a bit of a twist. Directed by Neill Blomkamp, Gran Turismo isn’t quite the straightforward adaptation you might be expecting. Instead, it tells the true story of Jann Mardenborough, a talented young gamer who was selected to compete at the Nissan GT Academy for a chance to become a real-life professional […]

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Meg 2: The Trench REVIEW – A Toothless Sequel https://culturedvultures.com/meg-2-the-trench-review/ https://culturedvultures.com/meg-2-the-trench-review/#disqus_thread Mon, 07 Aug 2023 13:00:44 +0000 https://culturedvultures.com/?p=201441 Meg 2

If good shark movies are considered an endangered cinematic species, then good shark movie sequels are all but extinct. The genre’s many B-movies offerings (Sharknado, 2-Headed Shark Attack etc.) are notorious for churning out silly amounts of sequels, and even the more mainstream titles (Jaws, Deep Blue Sea etc.) often indulge in extra instalments of their own too. However, in both instances, they’re rarely any good. The latest film hoping to swim against the stream of subpar shark sequels is […]

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem REVIEW – A Solid Reboot https://culturedvultures.com/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem-review/ https://culturedvultures.com/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem-review/#disqus_thread Wed, 02 Aug 2023 11:38:30 +0000 https://culturedvultures.com/?p=201318 Mutant Mayhem

Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael: four famous Italian Renaissance artists to some, sure. But to the really cultured among us, they’re of course better known as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They’re also the latest characters to get an animated makeover for the big screen. Emulating the highly-stylized animation enjoyed in the likes of The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and both of the Spider-Verse films, director Jeff Rowe breathes new life into these classic […]

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Talk to Me REVIEW – We Are Listening https://culturedvultures.com/talk-to-me-2023-review/ https://culturedvultures.com/talk-to-me-2023-review/#disqus_thread Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:23:51 +0000 https://culturedvultures.com/?p=201131 Talk to Me review

In recent years, the horror genre has felt just like a Jamie Lee Curtis press tour: nothing but trauma. Of course there are exceptions, but increasingly so, horror films – such as The Babadook, Hereditary and Smile – have become obsessed with weaving themes of mental health throughout their narratives. However, not all attempts have been received just as well, and the subsequent oversaturation within the genre has left some exhausted by this now common pairing. The trend doesn’t seem […]

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Unwelcome REVIEW – Ireland’s Answer to Gremlins https://culturedvultures.com/unwelcome-2023-review/ https://culturedvultures.com/unwelcome-2023-review/#disqus_thread Fri, 27 Jan 2023 12:30:52 +0000 https://culturedvultures.com/?p=192767 Unwelcome

Jon Wright’s new folk horror Unwelcome is arguably a stranger beast than the ones to be found within it. The film’s opening moments are aggressive, violent and harrowing. They establish an unexpectedly mean-spirited and cruel tone, which seems contradictory to the film’s marketing, which sold it as a supernatural goblin-led creature feature. However, the film has no intention of sticking to this. Refusing to be just one type of film, it instead traverses its way through a collection of creepy, […]

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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery REVIEW – A Murder Mystery Masterpiece https://culturedvultures.com/glass-onion-a-knives-out-mystery-2022-review/ https://culturedvultures.com/glass-onion-a-knives-out-mystery-2022-review/#disqus_thread Thu, 24 Nov 2022 11:00:43 +0000 https://culturedvultures.com/?p=190149 Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Sequels are notoriously hard to master. Repeating the magic of a much-loved original film, in this instance, Knives Out, is no small task. However, with Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, returning writer-director Rian Johnson does have somewhat of an advantage. Considering the nature of whodunit films, instead of having to progress an already established narrative from the previous film, Johnson gets to employ a total reset on the story, setting and cast. Although, strictly speaking that’s not entirely accurate. […]

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7 Best James Bond Pre-Title Sequences https://culturedvultures.com/best-james-bond-pre-title-sequences/ https://culturedvultures.com/best-james-bond-pre-title-sequences/#disqus_thread Wed, 05 Oct 2022 10:00:34 +0000 https://culturedvultures.com/?p=186910 James Bond pre-title sequences

James Bond films have many defining traits: terrible puns, over-dramatic theme songs and camp villains stroking cats. These are only a few of the many attributes to be found in any given Bond film. However, arguably one the franchise’s most unique features are its pre-title sequences. With the exception of a few films, the pre-titles sequences take place after the iconic gun barrel introduction and before the theme song. These cold openings often consist of Bond on a mission, or […]

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10 Best Movies Set On Trains You Should Buy A Ticket For https://culturedvultures.com/best-movies-set-on-trains/ https://culturedvultures.com/best-movies-set-on-trains/#disqus_thread Thu, 11 Aug 2022 11:00:13 +0000 https://culturedvultures.com/?p=183770 Source Code

A film’s setting can be one of the most crucial factors in enticing audiences. A range of exotic locations can appeal to viewers, a tactic used in many James Bond adventures. The magic of the movies can also see stories take place in fictional settings, transporting audiences to fantasy worlds or planets beyond our reach, seen in both The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. However, instead of going big, sometimes films go small, opting for a single location […]

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10 Best Chris Hemsworth Movies That Aren’t Thor https://culturedvultures.com/10-best-chris-hemsworth-movies-thor/ https://culturedvultures.com/10-best-chris-hemsworth-movies-thor/#disqus_thread Thu, 07 Jul 2022 11:00:36 +0000 https://culturedvultures.com/?p=182199 Thor 2011

One of the many results of film franchises is certain actors becoming synonymous with the characters they play. You can’t think of Daniel Craig without being reminded of James Bond, the same can be said for Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, and there are countless other examples too. More recently, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has been responsible for creating a whole host of similarly unavoidable actor-character associations, with one of its most notable being Chris Hemsworth and his role […]

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10 Best Barry Keoghan Movies https://culturedvultures.com/best-barry-keoghan-movies/ https://culturedvultures.com/best-barry-keoghan-movies/#disqus_thread Tue, 26 Apr 2022 12:00:24 +0000 https://culturedvultures.com/?p=178016 Barry Keoghan

Irish actor Barry Keoghan is one of the most exciting talents working in the industry today. Throughout his career, he’s made consistently interesting choices when selecting his film roles. Subsequently, in just over a decade he’s successfully risen through the ranks of Hollywood, having worked with acclaimed directors such as Christopher Nolan and Chloé Zhao. He joined the hugely popular comic book worlds of both Marvel and DC, but conversely has also explored roles in arthouse and independent films. Most […]

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7 Best Shark Movies Since Jaws https://culturedvultures.com/best-shark-movies-since-jaws/ https://culturedvultures.com/best-shark-movies-since-jaws/#disqus_thread Fri, 18 Mar 2022 16:00:43 +0000 https://culturedvultures.com/?p=176150 The Shallows

It’s no secret that Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic Jaws is the all-time greatest shark film, but what other titles from the horror subgenre are there? At a glance you could be forgiven for thinking that it’s a collection of films not particularly worth diving into at all. In recent years, low-budget and straight-to-video titles including the likes of the Sharknado franchise have somewhat cheapened creature features of the selachimorpha nature. While admittedly there’s some fun to be had with the […]

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