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Cas Harlow
Cas Harlow works as the movie review coordinator for AVForums and is responsible for all the cinema, streaming, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray content. He also organises the movie coverage, PR screenings, PR discs and competitions, and produces reviews and articles for the site, as well as participating in the podcasts.
Cas has been reviewing movie content and discs for over 20 years, is an avid film buff and is our resident movies expert, having reviewed several thousand titles both on the Big and Small Screen, across DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray and now Ultra HD Blu-ray.
Cas is also a non-practising Barrister and practicing Solicitor and has a degree in Electronic Engineering and a Postgrad in Law.
A flawed, frequently tense, fitfully fervent, overly ambitious but mostly modestly satisfying and atmospheric effort from Michael Mann, Blackhat still remains an odd choice for his next 4K release, a Limited Edition bells-and-whistles set from Arrow - UPDATED FOR DIRECTOR'S CUT REVIEW
Thirty-five years, and five sequels and spin-offs later, and finally we have a clever, original, and truly worthy Predator follow-up, seeing this non-core Disney title land on 4K disc too.
Harrison Ford's 1993 classic remains a propulsive, defining chase thriller, landing a native 4K release with stunning video and... wait, is that ATMOS?
Adam Sandler curiously nudges his recent Netflix average into more hit than miss with this charming and surprisingly insightful look at both teaching and parenting through the eyes of... a lizard.
Noah "Legion" Hawley's FX anthology series, Fargo, returns for its fifth 'instalment', introducing us to another disparate set of colourful characters and a more thoroughly classic Fargo scenario to sink your teeth into.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 4K Blu-ray Review
by Cas Harlow
The Mitchells vs. The Machines' Jeff Rowe gives TMNT the Spider-Verse makeover, crafting a superbly scripted teen action-comedy with unsurprisingly innovative sound and visuals that all come together for a must-have 4K release.
Ironically, for such a culture-centric production, DC's now 'non-canon' Blue Beetle is a pretty blandly paint-by-numbers Superhero Origins 101 outing that lands with an unsurprisingly shiny new 4K release.
Nicol Paone's sophomore outing is a jet black comedy with Uma Thurman commendably but also at-times awkwardly navigating a satirical clash between the art world and the underworld.
The Crown Season 6 - The Final Season (Netflix) Premiere TV Show Review
by Cas Harlow
Netflix's lavish Royal drama hits the first leg of its final run, focusing on the doomed plight of Diana, with Elizabeth Debicki burning twice as bright, as her superstar outcast soars.
A Murder at the End of the World (Disney+) Premiere TV Show Review
by Cas Harlow
Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, regrouping after the cancellation of The OA, bring their brand of left field mystery to what would otherwise be just another tech-flavoured Agatha Christie romp.
7
Movies & TV Shows
Desperation Road Movie Review
by Cas Harlow
Defying its DTV gun-toting marketing, Desperation Road is a small-scale Southern noir that deserves credit for aspiring to be something like Scott Cooper's Out of the Furnace.
For All Mankind Season 4 (Apple TV+) Premiere TV Show Review
by Cas Harlow
Apple's finest flagship show lands with another deep impact opener, affording a glimpse at what will undoubtedly be another memorable season of this tremendous alternate sci-fi series.
Too early to get into the Christmas spirit? Studiocanal don't think so, with their new 4K restoration of the both quaintly beloved and more often derided 1985 box office disaster Santa Claus: The Movie.
Takeshi Miike directs this samurai demon-slaying show based on the Capcom videogame universe, bringing the greatest samurai actor who ever lived back to life for one last epic battle.
Absolutely one of the finest Netflix productions ever put together, created by the co-writer of Blade Runner 2049 and Logan, Blue Eye Samurai is visually stunning, brutally bloody, kinetically action-packed and fabulously unravelled over an epic 8 episodes and 6 hours.
Lawmen: Bass Reeves (Paramount+) Premiere TV Show Review
by Cas Harlow
Ditching its Taylor Sheridan/Yellowstone Universe ties somewhat, and clearly designed to pioneer a whole new "Lawmen:" Universe, Bass Reeves is a well-drawn Western show, with Silo's Sheriff, David Oyelowo, clearly finding his calling as the eponymous lawman.
7
Movies & TV Shows
Butcher's Crossing (Amazon) Movie Review
by Cas Harlow
Continuing to make interesting movie decisions, Cage returns to the Wild West for the second western of his career and it's a much more interesting and unusual effort which just hasn't got the means behind it to make for a compelling whole.
Jessica Yu's Fox/Hulu/Disney/Star comedy, Quiz Lady, enjoys a clever pairing of Awkwafina's trademark grumpy old woman schtick with an utterly against-type, deliciously OTT Sandra Oh.
Christos Nikou's English-language directorial debut is an intriguing little sci-fi idea never quite done justice by its otherwise conventional romantic drama narrative, despite committed performances from its leads.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One 4K Blu-ray Review
by Cas Harlow
Hitting home formats after an unexpectedly disappointing Box Office run, and in the wake of news about not only production delays on Part 2, but maybe even an inexplicable title change, Dead Reckoning is still a cracking piece of escapist entertainment and a stunning 4K DV/DA disc.
Writer/director Kitty Green reunites with her star from The Assistant, Julia Garner, for another slow-burn brew of toxic masculinity steeped in palpable, simmering, dread.
All the Light We Cannot See (Netflix) Limited Series TV Show Review
by Cas Harlow
Based on Anthony Doerr's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, directed by Stranger Things' Shawn Levy and scripted by Peaky Blinders' Steven Knight, Netflix's lavish WWII adaptation paints a piteous portrait of war and greed, but is it worth 4 hours of your life?
William "The Exorcist" Friedkin's last film may feel distinctly TV-movie in style, but it's a solid courtroom drama that provides a fitting final feature to bookend an impressive career - now available in the UK!
Blunt and Evans take a fat paycheque to portray loathsome drug reps who take a fat paycheque to persuade slimy doctors to take a fat paycheque to push a drug that everyone on the pyramid knows kills people. The end.
150 year old Liam Neeson, on his fifth Never Say Never Again return to action thrillers, stays seated for this low budget Speed-in-a-car effort. Yes. Speed. In a car.
Coming full circle back to the birth of Johnny Cage in the JCVD era of the 80s, the latest Mortal Kombat Legends entry is absolutely Grand Theft Auto: Vice City come to vibrant life but it can't quite find its footing between aping both Bloodsport and Big Trouble in Little China.
Created by the guy who ruined X-Men's Dark Phoenix saga multiple times, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to find that Simon Kinberg's Invasion continues to be a show that keeps its audience perpetually waiting for something good to happen.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 4K Blu-ray Review
by Cas Harlow
Ditching everything that should have been learned from Bumblebee, Rise may not be quite as stupid as The Last Knight but boy does it try, still making for a technically impressive 4K release, but little else.
Ridley Scott's equally flawed and equally exquisite Grand Guignol sequel to The Silence of the Lambs may miss Foster, but enjoys a show-stopping Gary Oldman, and sees Hopkins turn his psychotic killer into some kind of delicious, Dracula-infused, avenging angel, hitting UK shores with a lavish 4K steelbook set.
The Magnificent Marketing Monolith that is Barbie may not have quite lived up to kids' movie expectations but, wow, does it hit as a razor-sharp satire, and, wow, does it impress in native 4K HDR with Atmos.
John Huston's stunning directorial debut was the 1941 Humphrey Bogart-starring remake of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 Sam Spade detective novel of the same name, now a part of Warner's 30-movie 100th Anniversary 4K Studio Collection.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai 4K Blu-ray Review
by Cas Harlow
Curiously one of the most accessible of Jim Jarmusch's inaccessible movies, the elegiac Ghost Dog remains a defining lead for a powerhouse Forest Whitaker, as the titular Hagakure-reading assassin, earning a respectful 4K upgrade courtesy of Studiocanal.
Denzel Washington takes the only franchise he's ever participated in to a surprisingly satisfying conclusion in this western-themed, Italian-flavoured small-town thriller, on digital now.
The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix) TV Show Review
by Cas Harlow
Edgar Allen Poe’s short story gets drawn long for another effective Mike “Netflix horror TV” Flanagan effort which slow burns its horrific shocks as it unleashes the unthinkable.
Inspired by the short film from Ballerina director Lee Chung-hyun, and starring Ballerina's lead Jeon Jong-seo, Bargain is another typically black humoured slice of South Korean Squid Game-style survival insanity.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick (Amazon) TV Show Review
by Cas Harlow
Embracing the immense world-building established already in the John Wick universe, The Continental shoots through 70s NYC in style - UPDATED FOR FULL SEASON REVIEW.