Trainwreck is a strong word. Average is another strong word. Mediocre sounds about right. Serena isn't necessarily a film that Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence should concern themselves with burying, it'll be forgotten at the bottom of the bargain bin in no time, but it's not something to be proud of either. Director Susanne Bier, whose 2010 film In A Better World won the Foreign Language Oscar, just doesn't seem to know what to do with the material and it's…
Movies like The Judge live on a different planet. You only find the dilemmas, dynamics and inner conflicts in saccharine movies like this. It stems from lazy writing, or at least, very unimaginative writing. Its concept is a very do or die one, and it falls flat on its face. It wants us to a murderer as if what he did was right. This lifetime movie views of morality. There's blasé incest thrown in for good measure. None of…
I must not forget to trust the February dumping ground. Be warned, The Monuments Men is a film to be endured, not enjoyed. I about a year ago we all thought this was a surefire frontrunner at the Oscars to head American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street. While the other two secured nominations but probably not awards, I’m glad this one didn’t make the cut. Who could blame us? George Clooney was on top of the world…
Pretty much every review has rehashed the same old crap about how this is too soon after the old trilogy and oh isn’t it ironic the name of the guy directing this movie so I’ll keep it brief because there’s not much to say about this film. I enjoyed the first two movies with Maguire (and looking back, the first one is real cheesy) but this one is far too downbeat and lacks all the charm any blockbuster could’ve had…
Ah, simpler times. One of these days I want to revisit all of the original MCU movies from Iron Man to Endgame, see how they hold up. That's a big commitment to a lot of mediocre movies though. Maybe if I catch the flu and am bedridden for a week and don't want to think.
Perhaps my favourite of the Paddington films so far as it’s a particularly personal one. I’m watching it at a time where I’m thinking about where I am and where I come from and also with the unique experience of seeing it with my mother (who is English and loves Paddington) and my mother-in-law (who is Peruvian and basically is Paddington, we’ll be visiting London tomorrow).
Paddington is such a cherished part of British culture that at the first sign of a film adaptation it was met with groans. They grew even louder when we had our first glimpse of their live-action rendition of what Paddington would look like. Given that he’s been translated from the page into stop motion animation, 2D animation and various stuffed animals, there isn’t much reason to be so protective over his image. And here in Paul King’s version paired with…
It's been a long time since we've had a good World War II film that's in the middle of combat. It seems to have been topped by the twofer of Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line 15 years ago. The thing with war films is that no matter how intentional or not the approach is, it holds an inherent social commentary on the development of how violence and conflict between two countries is portrayed. It goes for western…
If you weren’t sure by now, Marvel pretty much rule the roost of Hollywood and will most likely continue to do so for a little while longer. Their popularity is on a Spielbergian level of absurd. They’re developing movies for kids that haven’t even been born yet. Talk about a captive audience. I’m pretty mild on Marvel. While The Avengers was a jolly good (if throwaway) time, their movies aren’t always as satisfying. Outside of the first Iron Man film,…
It looks like 2014 is going to be a very full year for movies, starting it early too with a huge family movie and a star-studded caper. Only one more week until The Grand Budapest Hotel which could possibly stand to be my Best Picture throughout the whole year, who knows. However, so far, the year is starting on mild disappointments. Though perhaps I just had my hopes up a little too high. The Lego Movie is good, but it’s…