The film treats its audience like morons - dialogue constantly explains who the characters are and what is going on. The main character doesn't give a ****, much like the audience, especially if the people she is killing are working schmos on security detail. But if people have powers, apparently they count. Is this a critique on America or is it just ugly and stupid?
Ignore the US bias. This is rich and colourful animation with dimensional characters engaged in an interesting, and at times moving story. Looking forward to an English dub of part 2.
An excellent screenplay (Donald Westlake adapting Jim Thompson!) that is let down by the direction. Frears is not a good fit for this material. Angelica Huston breathes weary life into her character, but Cusack and Benning just deliver what's on the page without nuance or irony. Benning's happy-go-lucky slut/scam artist is particularly one note - she comes across like a naughty little girl. The sound design is awful and does nothing to build atmosphere - there is no music to it.
People wear masks and true character is revealed under stress. This is the mantra of screenwriting guru Robert Mckee and 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre' is a fine example of the principle in action. Sublime cinema at the peak of the form. The story flows from, and builds on character. Camera and editing in service of the narrative. Insight not spectacle. Engaging and entertaining from beginning to end.
Robert Wise does well breathing life into a weak script where very little happens and what does is telegraphed in advance. There is a nice science fiction vibe, mostly through set design. The underground complex is well realized, and the characters are ok, but the theme of the ignorant military/bureaucracy standing in the way of science is overstated and feels contrived. Style over substance.
A low budget star vehicle that delivers on its premise and genre expectations. There's some good film making under the hood of this generic potboiler which elevates it above the pack.
The mundanity of life spiced with the magic realism of the inner world - an experience we all share but rarely see presented onscreen in this age of digital delirium. Good for Daisy Ridley who steps out of the Disney cage into adult cinema, giving a fine performance here.
Disappointing follow up to the excellent first part. The narrative lacks focus, endlessly hammering home that Stilgar thinks Paul is a Messiah - "It's a sign!" and Chani doesn't - it gets tired. The Freman culture remains largely unexplored and the dialogue this time is fairly weak. Episodic spectacle and video game violence that is too long and has an unsatisfying end. Nice design and effects as before.
Rich characters, brilliantly realized with an intriguing plot that unfortunately is a little slight and doesn't develop significantly. Like a good short story that doesn't have the legs to be a novel. Is the falling out of Irish friends supposed to be an allegory for the 'troubles' carried out across the way?
Clumsy camera work and editing aside, this is an effective jump scare film that sent a few chills through me. The ending could have lent the film more depth and tragedy if the protagonist's ex had also been damaged by trauma, and was the crux of their attraction and break-up.
Cult classic black comedy that eviscerates the teen politics of popularity. A satire with teeth which is superior to the derivative but enjoyable 'Mean Girls'. Peak 80s pop that stood out in that era's wasteland of culture, and wouldn't get past the gatekeepers of political correctness in today's puerile market.
I came to this after watching director John Flynn's 70s classics 'Rolling Thunder' and 'The Outfit'. What a disappointment! It's an empty Stallone vehicle, devoid of the characterization and detail that elevated Flynn's early work. Banal and stupid.
Well crafted but amoral action film that is difficult to engage with as the protagonists are so blank and there are no consequences for their actions. There's a largely irrelevant subplot about some despicable characters that serves only to make the 'heroes' look appealing by contrast. See 'Bonnie and Clyde' for a film about bank robbers that has sympathetic characters without glossing over their actions. Bizarre soundtrack that plays like a tv-cop show. Moves at a brisk clip but goes nowhere.
A group of Vietnam vets are released from a Viet Cong prison camp and return home to a hero's welcome. America has changed however, and so have they. Written by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver) it's a slow burner that simmers then explodes into brutality. Good performances and a thoughtful script elevate this revenge flick.
Slow burn incendiary takedown of middle class family life. The thin walls around the castle creak and crumble, then come crashing down in the finale. Beyond the façade of security and 2nd hand values, the barbarians are at the gate! Intelligent, well crafted and not for the faint hearted - you have been warned.
Low budget cult classic starring a demonic car that stalks a small mid-western US town. The car looks great and has genuine menace - it's out for blood, honking its horn as it gleefully mows down its victims. Endearing characters with a police force reminiscent of the Twin Peaks gang (which came later). Mileage may vary according to taste - for me what borders on the ridiculous works here, with some creepy and surprising moments amidst the cheese.
Limp satire of Generation Z that has its moments albeit few and far between. The characters are vapid and toxic and live on their cellphones (yawn). More (or better) humour could have made this work - see 'Search Party'. As it is, nobody cares what happens to this dull group of half-baked narcissists, and that's a problem - are we supposed to applaud when they're knocked off? A conventional setup with a good ending and competent execution that cries out for a wittier script.
A fun and colourful romp with wall to wall action. It's David Leitch so of course the fights are well choreographed and shot, but this time it's more looney tunes than bone crunching brutality. A host of characters and cameos that weave together in a satisfying way, in a well structured and clever script that muses on fate (the train is like, a metaphor). Funny and entertaining.
Not so much a film about Marilyn Monroe, rather a dark AF exploration of the female experience using Norma Jean's life as a template. And as with Dominik's previous masterpiece 'Killing Them Softly' an excoriation of the American Dream. To embody the dreams of others can be a waking nightmare. Ana de Armas dazzles in an emotionally devastating performance. Too long? Maybe. It's exhausting. But this isn't Top Gun (thank Jeebus). What a sad cultural moment when critics and audiences turn their back on real cinema in favour of jingoistic **** and juvenile fantasies. In a way we are collectively caught in puerile dream just like Marilyn in the 50s. Wake the f*ck up.
Funny Pages mines the vein of counter culture indie comics - more the radical outrageous/offensive work of the 80s/90s than today's market, when artists were hammering home that their work was not for kids/the mainstream (dominated by juvenile material in the US). The characters in the film might have stepped out of Robert Crumb's Weirdo anthology or Dan Clowes' Eightball. Viewers unfamiliar with this 'scene' may struggle with the level of quirk here. It is what it is, and it does it well.
A love story about stories. Behind the sumptuous visuals and the spellbinding language, the magical storytelling dives deep, resulting in a subtle but stirring emotional finale. I was moved without feeling manipulated. Bravo.
Not an anti-male film, rather one man's perception of the modern narrative surrounding women's perception of men, and what's wrong with that? Art isn't politics - it's personal. A single point of view, not a statement of how we all should or do view a subject. This is Art horror, it builds on the feels, it doesn't explain things. Effective, creepy, and engaging.
'Crossed' lite. The director acknowledges the influence but favours the sadism and perversion over the social commentary which made Garth Ennis' comic such an enduring and disturbing classic. A passable exploitation film nonetheless.
The Batman is an empty, dreary slog. Pattison's performance is one note as both Bats and Wayne. Batman (in his 2nd year) has to be schooled by the Riddler that crime exists outside of street level thugs - when he follows the clues the corrupt are so obvious - some detective. Superficial attempts at realism fall flat - the more you try to take 2-dimensional characters seriously, the sillier they seem. Standard modern representation (white lead, supporting characters of colour) yet in a 3 hour runtime it fails to pass the Bechdel test. Contrived, tedious, dumb.
Jessica Chastain does a good job, but the central character lacks depth and realism. Obviously these are trademarks of Tammy Faye, but the production fails to confront the character with the consequences of her worldview and lifestyle. She is portrayed as a victim of her family, husband, and ultimately her own naivety and stupidity. Greed and ego don't come into it.
Engaging dialogue and disappointing action defy expectations built on the previous films. The set up is audacious and the film works best as a satire of contemporary pop culture. When it eventually goes down the expected rabbit-hole it is diminished by familiarity.
Contrived fan service that lacks adult dimension but should entertain its target market of young children. He changes spider suits every scene, so many characters, so many toys, Disney by design. Further criticism would be like assessing the literary merit of 'Run Spot Run'. It is what it is.
Bleak Neo Noir featuring rich dimensional characters on a collision course with fate. As with Zahler's other films there is violence which hits hard and brutal, played for impact not entertainment value (this is no MI/FF ****), but the film really sings in the dialogue. It's a long film that doesn't drag at all, taking its time building its threads before weaving them together. Diverse and refreshingly free of hackneyed identity politics, more like this please Hollywood.
Consistently amusing and engaging comedy which maintains the tension of its genre elements (horror, whodunnit). Great cast none of whom look like models but are appealing regardless (fancy that?). One of the best werewolf moves since the heyday of the 80s and by way of focusing on the characters instead of the situation, perhaps the best film made from a videogame.
Lower tier Marvel film. Interesting opening quickly devolves into a string of clichéd action scenes connected by badly edited exposition with terrible dialogue. Production line film making for Marvel zombies only. Stephen Dorff was right.
Cinematic comfort food that delivers. Fun creature designs, well animated. A witty script hanging on a conventional but well constructed plot that doesn't care about making sense and connects the dots between setup and payoff. A pleasant diversion with heart and style.
A meditation on the lives of pigs, chickens and cows. Beautiful black and white photography renders the life experience of farm animals into a dreamlike reality. Without the filter of narration, editorial judgement is reserved for the viewer. A singular cinematic experience. Immersive, empathic, heartbreaking.
Fantasy needs its own internal logic which is lacking in this colourful but underwhelming franchise extender. Events and character choices don't connect or make sense. Wonder Woman (who barely appears - it's Diana 1984 really) is the least interesting character in the film which is a problem. Gadot has a winning smile but reads her lines rather than acts and does the godawful 'head shake' to express emotion. There's a degree of forced diversity (in supporting characters) and 'Men are bad, m'kay?' which is at odds with this potboiler's largely ignored stab at a theme (truth before all else) expressed by the excellent Robin Wright who, as in the first film, is the best thing in this outing.
Beautiful, bittersweet animated tale with rare emotional depth. A range of modern techniques are seamlessly integrated with painterly, often abstract imagery always in service of the narrative thread. No mere sentimental crowd pleaser, this is cinema verite of the heart which doesn't flinch from life's hardship and the inevitability of loss (and death).
