Magic Mike's Last Dance (2023) - Movie Review

Y’know, it'd be easy (and embarrassingly predictable) to undercut any attempts to pontificate about this movie in my usual way since… I mean, it’s about male strippers, there’s not a lot of wriggle room in terms of its appeal as a movie. But credit to Steven Soderbergh, as I’ve been making a habit of giving in these reviews, for making this a now-trilogy of films that are worth watching for more than just the surface-level titillation. The first Magic Mike was as much a character-driven examination of the effects of the Global Financial Crisis as it was an inside-out look at the world of male stripping. Hell, it swung so far in the former’s direction, making Mike’s decision to be a stripper into something he ‘had to do’ due to economic concerns, that its sequel in XXL almost feels like an apology for that.

Indeed, while I still don’t think it's as strong as the original, the emphasis XXL puts on a pleasure-positive message in regard to this kind of entertainment, highlighting both the man on-stage and the woman watching as equally valid-as-fuck, is quite commendable. And yeah, I’ll admit it, I’m more than certain that these two films had a fair bit to do with me coming to terms with my own Queerness, although I’m going to try not to emphasise that aspect too much. Mainly, because this continues along the same line as both the first film and XXL, and yet feels like an entirely different animal altogether.

Cuties (Mignonnes) (2020) - Movie Review

I find it immensely aggravating that I can be in a position where the decision to review this (meaning that I actually sat down and watched it for myself, like literally every review on here) means that I could be facing harassment in the near-future, regardless of what I actually say about it. This might be the first time that the outrage surrounding a film is the main reason that I finally decided to review it, as the whole controversy surrounding this film kind of pisses me off.

Climax (2018) - Movie Review

 

Even considering his knack for exposing the truly terrifying parts of the human psyche, Gaspar Noé’s latest effort starts off deceptively normal. A group of hip-hop dancers are rehearsing for an international tour, with all kinds of glorious 90’s hip-house blaring in the background, going through their paces in a dizzying display of physicality. Noé’s long-time collaborator Benoît Debie captures the initial dance sequence brilliantly, balancing cinematic framing with theatrical space to create an engine of raw kinetic energy.

From there, things wind down with the after-party, with the dancers being catty about each other like this escaped a kitschy reality show set, and they’re all enjoying themselves… until they discover that someone spiked their sangria with LSD.

Finding Your Feet (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: The hopeful married life of Lady Sandra Abbott (Imelda Staunton) takes a very sudden turn when she discovers her husband (John Sessions) having an affair. Betrayed and wanting for a place to go next, she goes to her estranged sister Bif (Celia Imrie), who agrees to share her home while Sandra gets things in order. As the two reconnect and Bif gets Sandra to open up a bit through her dance group meetups, Sandra begins the long process of readjusting to the world in light of her romantic fallout.

Dance Academy (2017) - Movie Review

Since I’m in the middle of my traditional Autumn/Winter rut and I’m starting to fall ridiculously behind with my review output, I don’t think anyone will mind if I skip the pleasantries and just get into the film already.

Ballerina (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: In 19^th century France, orphan girl Félicie (Elle Fanning) hopes to escape the orphanage and go to Paris to become a ballerina. With the help of her best friend and hopeful inventor Victor (Dane DeHaan), they makes their way to Paris. As they chase their respective dreams, with Félicie accepting help from Odette (Carly Rae Jepson), a caretaker at the Paris Opera Ballet school, she finds herself fighting against rival dancer Camille (Maddie Ziegler) and her mother Regine (Julie Khaner) to keep her dream alive.

Magic Mike XXL (2015) - Movie Review

Every so often, a film comes along that makes me go “Please, for the love of all that is good in this world, do not screw this up.” And it seems that it’s about that time again. I have been seriously looking forward to this film and, no, it isn’t for the obvious sweaty reasons: I love Steven Soderbergh. To me, he is just about the most versatile filmmaker out there, being able to weave in and out of genres with surprising ease. Not only that, he is able to take very awkward premises and scripts and turn them into films capable of besting whatever else is out at that time.

Probably the best example of these traits would be 2012’s Magic Mike, a film about male strippers that had a lot of heart and intelligence behind it. Yeah, I may have been like everyone else at the time and left it alone because… well, beefcake wasn’t exactly my thing at the time, but after seeing Soderbergh turn the very unsettling story of Liberace and his relationships into the disarmingly warm Behind The Candelabra, I gave it a chance and found a lot to like about it. So, when I heard that there was going to be a sequel made of it, I was all for it. Then the news hit that Soderbergh was going to take a sabbatical from feature filmmaking, meaning that he wouldn’t be directing this one. Then the trailers and extremely cheesy poster came out for the film. I want a film about interesting characters and smart dialogue that just happens to centre on male strippers, and all I’m seeing so far is nothing but more grinding than a skateboarding MMO. Time to see if I get proven wrong, in one of a growing list of situations where I would gladly accept being so.