Irresistible (2020) - Movie Review

2020 has not been a good year for political satire, at least when it comes to feature-length efforts. Admittedly, this genre has a higher degree of difficulty than most, and COVID fucking up the release schedule is likely delaying most of the good stuff while the disposable shit rises to the top, but there’s also the collective mood to account for as well. It has been a highly turbulent four years, and alongside the rising hostility across party lines, there has also been a rise in the need to vent about such things. A lot of the political cinema this year has had a heavy air of needing to get something off the filmmakers’ chests, but without the clarity needed to make it resonate when describing it to someone else. It is in this mode that Jon Stewart returns to the director’s chair with… well, I hesitate to call it the worst so far, but it is definitely the tamest, which in its own way is even worse.

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (2020) - Movie Review

Much like Seberg, the main casting choice behind this feature is one that admittedly is a bit obvious, but is also what this production needed right out of the gate. When you’re dealing with a figure as nigh-on-mythical as Fred Rogers, a person that some to this day still question the authenticity of, you need someone who can sell earnestness triumphant. So with that in mind, they basically picked the closest person we have that is as unabashedly likeable as Mr. Rogers himself: Tom Hanks, someone whose sheer charm has also veered somewhat into cliché.

Knowing that a documentary about Mr. Rogers wound up becoming my favourite film of 2018, I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was at just how good Hanks is as everyone’s favourite nice guy in children’s television. The hushed tone, the endearing timbre, the gentle invitation in his voice that tells you he cares about you and wants to hear what you have to say; the moments with him on-screen genuinely come close to Would You Be My Neighbor? for sheer ugly-crying potential.

Live By Night (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: Joe Coughlin (Ben Affleck) is a gangster in Prohibition-era America. Against the wishes of his police captain father Thomas (Brendan Gleeson), he gets involved in a gang war brewing in Boston between the Irish Gang, led by Albert White (Robert Glenister), and the Italian Mafia, led by Maso Pescatore (Remo Girone). As he becomes more embroiled in criminal life, and opens himself up to doing some favours for Pescatore, he eventually gets given an opportunity in Tampa, Florida that he grabs with both hands. However, it seems that his days at the top are numbered, as a series of obstacles present themselves that may prove too difficult for the nicest gangster in town.

Cars 3 (2017) - Movie Review

For as illustrious and ground-breaking as Pixar’s legacy has been, the Cars franchise will likely always serve as the black sheep of the company paddock. Brought into existence by Pixar head honcho John Lasseter, Cars operates far more as a toy-centric marketing vehicle (heh) than as strict narrative. The first film is just okay; plenty annoying and rather plainly written compared to its contemporaries, but it’s at least serviceable for kids.

 

The sequel, however, is a bit more complicated. I say that because it is both leagues better and leagues worse than the original. Better, in that its Michael Caine-starring spy plot is visually inventive and quite engaging; worse, because it took the most annoying supporting character from the original (Tow “I will never forgive these people for this shit” Mater) and made him the lead, boosting the Southern hick annoyance levels tremendously in the process. Still, for as inconsistent as it is, I still like it just a little bit more overall.

 

So, a little over a decade since the original careened into cinemas, we have a threequel to deal with. Normally, I’d be rather worried about where this is going but, as I’ll get into, this film is in pretty safe hands.

Demolition (2016) - Movie Review