All Movie Reviews, Drama, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Bright (2017) Movie Review

So get this: it’s a buddy cop movie starring Will Smith. Yeah, sure, it reminds one of Bad Boys, only Smith’s partner Jakoby (Joel Edgerton) is an Orc. And Smith’s character, Ward, is racist against Orcs like the rest of the police force. In this universe, pretty much everyone is racist against Orcs, and Elves, and Fairies. At one point, Smith swings a broom at a Fairy, trying to kill it, and says: “Fairy lives don’t matter today.”

So, you know, the film’s subtle.

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Ward and Jakoby find themselves in the middle of a war between the police, various gangs, and some assassin Elves. It is a war over a misplaced wand, which, based on what people are willing to do for it, seems to have an equivalent power to Continue reading Bright (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Downsizing (2017) Movie Review

Alexander Payne’s latest is a sci-fi comic drama about a man named Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) who decides to engage in the biggest scientific innovation since the Apollo space program: Downsizing.

Downsizing, or “going small,” is the process of shrinking one’s body down to five inches and moving to one of many small communities, a “magical” place where everything is cheaper because the quantity the consumer requires is smaller (although, economy isn’t all about quantity…if there’s a demand for small diamonds, wouldn’t the price of small diamonds go up regardless? But I digress).

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Downsizing has a sprawling plot. For a film about shrinking a person and putting them under a glass dome, there is a lot of movement. Too much, to be frank. The first act of the film is firmly planted in Continue reading Downsizing (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Like It, Short Films

My Nephew Emmett (2017) Short Film Review

My Nephew Emmett from director Kevin Wilson Jr. is one of five films nominated for the 2018 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film

My Nephew Emmett dramatizes the events leading up to the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a 14 year old African American boy who was killed by two racist men for whistling at a white woman. It does this from an intriguing perspective, that being Till’s uncle Mose (L.B. Williams).

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Framed with sumptuous cinematography from Laura Valladao, My Nephew Emmett takes its limited perspective and creates Continue reading My Nephew Emmett (2017) Short Film Review →

All Movie Reviews, Like It, Short Films

The Silent Child (2017) Short Film Review

The Silent Child from director Chris Overton is one of five films nominated for the 2018 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film

Libby (Maisie Sly) is a young deaf girl. Her family largely ignores her, as much as her mother (Rachel Fielding) keeps saying that Libby gets on well with them. When speech therapist Joanne (Rachel Shenton) enters the home, Libby begins to come out of her shell, but Libby’s parents are not as keen on the speech education that Joanne is performing.

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Chris Overton’s film is elegantly shot, particularly in outdoor or montage sequences. Much of the film, however, is Continue reading The Silent Child (2017) Short Film Review →

Lists

30 Worst Movies of 2017

I cannot claim to have seen every movie from 2017. But I sure did see (at least) 30 terrible ones. Out of the movies I have seen, these are the 30 worst movies of 2017. If you know of any that I have missed, you could let me know in the comments. Then again, I will likely not watch said movies, so it’s up to you.

Anyway, let’s get this over with, shall we!

 

 

30. The Discovery

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As intriguing as its concept is, The Discovery never Continue reading 30 Worst Movies of 2017 →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The Villainess (2017) Movie Review

The opening scene to The Villainess employs the same video game POV styling of Hardcore Henry, although here director Byung-gil Jung doesn’t mince any words.

While directed flashy, this opening scene benefits from its frenetic whip pans which hide some shoddy CG blood effects. Five minutes into the film, when the camera pulls back to reveal our protagonist for the evening—the almost mechanically ferocious Sook-hee (Ok-bin Kim)—the camera captures stunt choreography more successfully. Still, the whole scene remains overly frantic and shaky.

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Why spend so much time discussing the film’s opening scene? It is Continue reading The Villainess (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Animation, Like It

Loving Vincent (2017) Movie Review

The novelty of the animated film Loving Vincent is well-known at this point. Over a hundred artists were tasked with replicating Vincent van Gogh’s works as a backdrop for a rotoscoped story exploring van Gogh’s mental health in his final days.

The animation in the film is at first transfixing. The world that is created with the textures and brush strokes is Continue reading Loving Vincent (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Love It, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) (SPOILER) Movie Review

Note: Yep, spoilers. I’m not bothering to attempt this review without actually talking about the film.

From the first sequence of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it is clear that what you are watching is going to be a different take on the Star Wars universe. It is a dogfight in the skies of space, with the roguish Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) quipping as he leads a squadron of bombers toward the First Order fleet.

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This sequence engages with the formulaic conceit of a Star Wars dogfight, and it even replicates Continue reading Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) (SPOILER) Movie Review →

2018 Golden Globes

2018 Golden Globes Predictions – Best Picture

It is obligatory to acknowledge the continual absurdity of the Golden Globe taxonomy vis a vis what constitutes a “Drama” and what constitutes a “Musical or Comedy,” but I don’t want to dwell on the point. It is getting exhausting.

If Get Out and Lady Bird are comedies, so is Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Why bother separating the two categories at all? Yeah, it gives comedies a chance to compete, because the dramas often nudge out the comedies. But most other awards outlets have expanded beyond five nominees. Why wouldn’t the Golden Globes just go to one category of 10 films? Who knows!

Whatever. Let’s talk about movies, I guess…

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The Nominees:

Best Motion Picture – Drama

Continue reading 2018 Golden Globes Predictions – Best Picture →

2018 Golden Globes

2018 Golden Globes Predictions – Best Actor

The two Best Actor categories this year both have good narratives to them. They are arguably the most exciting, as it is difficult to see exactly who is on top.

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The Nominees:

Best Actor – Drama

Continue reading 2018 Golden Globes Predictions – Best Actor →

One man. Thousands of movies.