Neon Camera Reviews

Cruella By Emily Hubbard A pleasant surprise in the form of Disney's latest live-action reboot 3.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥.5 Directed by: Craig Gillespie Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, and Mark Strong  Where to find it: Disney + No Copyright Infringement Intended When it comes to live-action Disney remakes (or in this case spin-offs) the level of anticipation surrounding them is always clouded in uncertainty, as previous releases have vastly differed in quality, leaving many fans unsure of whether or not they’re worth their hard-earned cash. The Hollywood giants’ previous outing, 2020’s Mulan, was an uninspired remake that lacked all the flair that made its 1998 counterpart so iconic. But, if we look a few years into the past, with 2014’s Angelina Jolie helmed, box office smash Maleficent and into the present with 2021’s Cruella, it’s clear to see that Disney hit the jackpot in its decision to focus on the iconic villains that children of all ages grew up with. Directed by Craig G...

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) By Emily Hubbard Cathy Yan paves the way for the future of the DCEU 4/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥 Directed by: Cathy Yan Starring: Margot Robbie, Jurnee Smollett, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Rosie Perez Where to find it: Sky Cinema/ Now TV No Copyright Infringement Intended  The DCEU (DC Extended Universe) is a mess. It’s a fact that there’s no point in questioning, with the quality of its films fluctuating more than the bumps on a rollercoaster at your favourite theme park. There’s the good; with films such as Shazam and Wonder Woman, there’s the bad; Justice League and Batman vs Superman spring to mind, and there’s the mediocre sprinkled in between. This universe may be many things, but consistent it is not. More recently, however, the DCEU seems to have found its path to glory with James Gunn’s R-Rated take on The Suicide Squad (check out my 5-star review, also on this blog) leaning more into the whacky side of the com...

Lake Mungo By Calum Whitfield A mockumentary telling a tragic tale of grief in the guise of a classic ghost story 4.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥.5 Written/directed by Joel Anderson Starring: Rosie Traynor, David Pledger, Martin Sharpe, et al. Where to find it: Shudder No Copyright Infringement Intended  Australian film isn’t a scene people probably think about too much, but they make some really good horror movies. Lake Mungo is a tiny budget ghost story that made almost no impact when it came out but over the years has picked up a bit of a cult following: is this deserved? The film follows the family and friends of Alice Palmer, a 16-year-old girl who drowns while out near a dam with her parents and brother. Following her sudden death, strange occurrences start happening and her family begins to question whether she’s really gone. It plays out as a classic talking-heads-style documentary similar to all the true crime documentaries you can see on Netflix today with the participants talking...

What If...? Episode 2: What If...T'Challa Became a Star Lord By Emily Hubbard   The MCU’s first animated outing takes a step in the right direction             4/5 Cameras🎥🎥🎥🎥       Directed by: Bryan Andrews           Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan            Where to find it: Disney +                          No Copyright Infringement Intended Another week, another episode of a Marvel Disney + show to watch. This week’s offering comes in the form of the second episode of the MCU’s first animated outing, ‘What If…?’ and it’s a vast improvement on its predecessor. The episode starts in the same way that we’re slowly becoming used to, with our intergalactic narrator The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) asking us to consider another scenario, ‘What If… T’Challa Became a Star Lord?’ The first ma...

Whiplash By Emily Hubbard Damien Chazelle doing what he does best: creating modern classics centering around jazz. 5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥 Directed by: Damien Chazelle Starring: Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons Where to find it: Sky Cinema/Now TV   No Copyright Infringement Intended  Whiplash. Defined as ‘to jolt suddenly, typically to cause injury’, it’s a feeling you’re left with after viewing this breath-taking piece of cinema, directed by Damien Chazelle. The film starts and ends in the same way, with our protagonist playing the drums, however, the events that take place between these scenes create some of the most exhilarating 107 minutes in modern-day cinema. Let’s get things straight, although classed as a drama, Whiplash is almost certainly more of a thriller, and a truly terrific one at that, with its final 15 minutes being arguably more anxiety-inducing than many greats of the genre. It’s safe to say that Chazelle has done the seemingly impossible by creating a fi...

The Tomorrow War By Calum Whitfield Cool-looking aliens and Chris Pratt can’t make up for generic action and a weak plot in this weak Sci-Fi actioner. 2/5 Cameras 🎥🎥 Directed by: Chris McKay Starring: Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons, and Sam Richards Where to find it: Amazon Prime Video   No Copyright Infringement Intended A time-travel action sci-fi film where mankind must fight off an enemy seemingly well beyond our capabilities. No, I’m not talking about The Terminator franchise. Or the latest Avengers movie. Or Edge of Tomorrow. Or indeed any of the many other films that fit this or a similar description. But is this one any good? The film follows Chris Pratt as Dan, a science teacher and former soldier living a cushy suburban life with his wife and daughter who wants to do something different with his life. Fortunately for him, during the World Cup soldiers from the future arrive desperate for help as by 2051 mankind is close to extinction due to a...

What If…? Episode 1: What if…Captain Carter Were The First Avenger By Emily Hubbard -           A strong start for the MCU’s first venture into animation            3.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥 .5            Directed by: Bryan Andrews          Starring: Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Jeffery Wright       Where to find it: Disney+ No Copyright Infringement Intended It should come as no surprise that 2020 saw Marvel Studios release no new content, besides a few trailers. This year, however, couldn’t have been more different, with ‘What If…?’ being the entertainment giants fourth Disney + and fifth overall release of the year (with at least 3 more to come).   Hardcore fans will remember 2019’s San Diego Comic-Con where Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige stood in front of a packed Hall H and announced an onslaught of projects that would see th...

Divergent Review By Emily Hubbard A film with many similarities to its YA siblings, but without their sparkle. -           2.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥.5 -          -  Directed by: Neil Burger -          -  Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, and Kate Winslet -           - Where to find it: Netflix No Copyright Infringement Intended A young girl fighting against an oppressive government in a post-apocalyptic world, where society is split into varying factions. Sound familiar? Remind you of a certain arrow-shooting, Jennifer Lawrence-looking brunette? That’s because this film is essentially The Hunger Games, just without the gripping fight to the death or the dresses that turn into fire. Starring Shailene Woodley as Beatrice Prior (or Tris) and based on the 2011 bestselling novel of the same name by Veronica Roth, the film centres around the idea that everyo...

The Suicide Squad Review By Emily Hubbard Is this the best superhero movie ever made? James Gunn finds the perfect balance between humour, heart, and gore 5/5 cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥 - Directed by: James Gunn - Starring: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, Viola Davis (and SO many more) - Where to find it: In Cinema Now No Copyright Infringement Intended   You could be forgiven for thinking that the movie market has been oversaturated with superhero content in 2021, what with the amount of Marvel Disney+ shows, films, and even Amazon Prime’s more adult-targeted superhero content. With even more yet to be released before the year is out. But every so often a film comes along that remoulds a genre and gives it a new lease of life. The Blair Witch Project (1999) did it with the ‘found footage’ genre of horror films, and Jaws (1975) did it for monster blockbusters. With the superhero, or rather super-villain, genre in this case, that film is THE Suicide Squad   James Gunn’s take o...

  Slither Review By Calum Whitfield Kooky mid-2000s horror-comedy staring Nathan Filion and Elizabeth Banks plays out as a homage to horror through the ages, but is this B-movie throwback an A-class picture? 4/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥 -Directed By: James Gunn -Starring: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, and Gregg Henry -Where to find it: Amazon Prime Copyright Infringement Not Intended James Gunn is an interesting filmmaker. Best known these days for big-budget superhero blockbusters like the Guardians of the Galaxy movies as well as the recent Suicide Squad. But before his mainstream breakthrough James Gunn started his directorial career with an interesting little film called Slither. Slither flopped on arrival but is a film that deserves to be looked at again as it is, in my opinion a treasure. Slither follows the residents of a small town in South Carolina. When a meteorite crash-lands nearby a sentient alien parasite is released and begins to take over the community b...

Jolt Review  By Emily Hubbard  A fun, crazy and ludicrous action flick starring Kate Beckinsale that could easily act as a sister to Crank 3/5 cameras 🎥🎥🎥 -Directed by: Tanya Wexler -Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Stanley Tucci and Jai Courtney - Where to find it: Amazon Prime No Copyright Infringement Intended  I must admit, I’ve not seen too many Amazon Prime original movies in my time, normally I stick to Netflix, but there was something about the plot of this movie that drew me in, or maybe it was just the cool poster I saw. Kate Beckinsale stars as Lindy, a British ex bouncer with, to put it lightly, an anger management problem, out for revenge after her recent hook up is murdered. However, Lindy’s outbursts of rage are so violent and easily triggered that she must wear a vest which electrocutes her whenever she presses a button, to stop her from attacking people. Straight out of the gate it’s hard not to compare this film to Crank: High Voltage (2009 sequel to, you g...

Welcome to our film and TV review blog: Neon Camera Reviews! If you're reading this then you're probably into films and think you can make a career out of writing reviews like we're hoping to do, or just want to read some stupid takes on films.  I'm Emily, and the other person who's going to be writing reviews (and probably some other random articles at some point) is Calum! We've known each other for 11 years (I think) and have been saying we want to start a blog like this for about half of that time, and since we annoy our friends all the time talking about this kinda stuff, we thought we'd go ahead and finally do it! Here's some info about the two of us so you can put some faces to names: Name: Calum Age: 22 Favourite Film: Cloud Atlas Least Favourite Film: Platoon Favourite Director: David Argento or Christopher Nolan  Fun Fact: The first film I ever saw in the cinema was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, followed by Lord of the Rings: Return ...