Spiral: From The Book Of Saw (2021) - Movie Review

I’m probably going to make a habit of saying this over the next few months, now that the COVID shuffle has begun to ease up and all the big franchise pictures from last year are finally primed for release, but it’s especially true for this film in particular: I have been hyped for this for well over a year. The Saw series remains my all-time favourite movie franchise, Saw III is one of my all-time favourite films, and for as much of a remix as it was, the Spierig Brothers’ Jigsaw was a satisfying effort. I look forward to new Saw movies the same way Nintendo kids look forward to new Zelda games; I hunger for shit like this.

The Witches (2020) - Movie Review

There was always going to be some level of disappointment to this for me personally. I’ve gone on record about how Nicholas Roeg’s The Witches is one of my all-time favourite movies, and the idea of something coming along that can do that story better seems unlikely. But to give this production credit right off the bat, all the pieces are certainly in place for something that can at least stand out from the original, if not ascend it. Between Robert Zemeckis as director/co-writer, who knows how to use cinema technology to tell a gripping story, and creature feature maverick Guillermo Del Toro teaming up with creator of the -ish franchise Kenya Barris to add to the script, there’s a chance for this to take the source material into an interesting new direction. But while there’s certainly traces of that intent in here, it still can’t manage to escape the shadow of its predecessors.

The Week Of (2018) - Movie Review

 

Say what you will about Adam Sandler (and I have, at great length in past reviews), but his collaborative deal with Netflix might be one of the smartest decisions he’s ever made. After all, his films have become so egregiously not-worth-paying-cinema-ticket-prices-for that pairing them up with thousands of other, better films as part of a monthly subscription is the closest he’s gonna get to having an audience again. Okay, over 2017, he showed some definite signs of improvement, so maybe this film will benefit from that. Well, it kinda does and it kinda doesn’t.

Top Five (2015) - Movie Review

As a means to prove that comedy isn’t exactly equal across all fields, not every comedian that branches out into becoming an actor succeeds. I mean, for every Robin Williams who manages to not only succeed but succeed beyond the realm of comedic works, we get a Larry The Cable Guy who manages to make people miss their already lame stand-up with the cesspool-quality acting they bring to the big screen. Not to say that the best stand-up comedians are immune from making crap; as much as I love Robin Williams’ great films, he made his fair share of bombs back in the day. So, when news hit that Chris Rock, someone who fits nicely in my top five favourite stand-ups and who has a pretty shaky filmography himself, was releasing another film that he directed and also wrote on his own, I can be forgiven for being a bit worried. Time to see how it actually turned out.