Chris O’Dowd

It may not have the first movies ambition or the second’s intensity but The Cloverfield Paradox is actually a shit load of crazy ass fun – firstly if your a fan of 2008’s Cloverfield and it’s sequel of sorts 2016’s wonderful 10 Cloverfield Lane then I’m pretty confident you will find something in Paradox that will appeal to your movie loving heart and although the films coupled to the others in the franchise it most certainly has it’s own identity, very dark at times with a side order of light hearted Evil Dead humor – like most low budget scifi Paradox unashamedly takes from other classics in the genre and why the hell not, one minute you will be reminded of Alien the next Aliens and Event Horizon and with a genius cast that includes David Oyelowo & Gugu Mbatha-Raw, some pretty neat effects and an atmospheric score by Battlestar’s Bear McCreary it’s a movie that really does warrent enjoyment (in a popcorn style movie kind of way) and secondly it’s on Netflix so it’s free (well sort of) ★★★½

The Double (2014) – Movie Review ★★★

Director: Richard Ayoade – Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn, Noah Taylor, Sally Hawkins, Chris O’Dowd & Paddy Considine – Synopsis: Simon James (Eisenberg) is a very shy, un-confident and somewhat lonely type of guy who works as a clerk in some government agency – one day whilst at work he finds his life turned upside down with the arrival of James Simon (Eisenberg) a new employee that is not only Simon’s exact physical double (WTF) but also his complete opposite, James is confident, charismatic and outgoing all the attributes that Simon only wishes he had – Verdict: Ayoade’s The Double is a film of the weirdest, highest order! it’s full of dimly lit scenes, dark almost excruciating humor, oddball characters and an intriguing somewhat haunting soundtrack – the film’s style is very reminiscent of Gilliam’s Brazil and although I applaud Ayoade’s originality The Double failed to keep me hooked long enough to garner any interest for it’s many unlikeable characters and it’s cold and pretty bleak setting – I felt the film was void of explanation and in my opinion tried too hard to be weird and confusing – Overall: Ayoade will no doubt get praise from some quarters for his style and originality but for me The Double was a missed opportunity let down by a weak script and criminally not giving it’s two talented leads enough to work with….