The King (2019) - Movie Review

There’s something off about this movie. The latest from Aussie director David Michôd is an adaptation of the Henriad, the classic canon of Shakespearean works focusing on King Henry IV and V… and yet, it is a remarkably loose adaptation. Written by Michôd and Joel Edgerton, you’d have to strain to hear any of the original prose in here. Even considering the lengthy history of adaptations of the Bard, including Ophelia from earlier this year, this seems like a backwards move. Why would you bother adapting a work of fiction, which itself is based on historical fact, and leave behind the writing that is the main reason why Shakespeare’s work survives to the present day? Well, thankfully, there are quite a few answers to that, and all things considered, I think these guys took the right approach.

Boy Erased (2018) - Movie Review

Gay conversion therapy is a tough thing to write about. Partly because it is an extremely harrowing subject that doesn’t lend itself to easy composition, but mainly because I don’t want this review to devolve into me just ranting about the practice. At any rate, it’s something that continues to be administered in far too much of the Western world, and it serves as the main focus of the latest from Australian cinematic titan Joel Edgerton. Adapted from the memoir of Garrard Conley, which goes into the horrifying things that take place within ex-gay therapy centres, Edgerton finds himself in prime form, delivering a story that seriously needed to be told.

Gringo (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Harold (David Oyelowo), a worker at pharmaceutical company Promethium, is tasked by his higher-ups Richard (Joel Edgerton) and Elaine (Charlize Theron) to go to their factory in Mexico to deliver an experimental form of medical marijuana. However, unbeknownst to Harold, it seems that Promethium's business dealings aren't all on the up and up, as the Mexican cartels are also involved in this deal. With few options and a growing number of people after him, Harold will have to think fast if he wants to get out of Mexico alive.

Red Sparrow (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: After an injury cuts her career as a ballerina short, Dominika (Jennifer Lawrence) is left with a terrible choice: Submit to her circumstances or work for the Russian government as a Sparrow.

As she learns the ways of the Sparrow, using seduction and psychology to intercept targets, she becomes entangled with CIA agent Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton) after accepting an assignment to find a Russian mole that Nate works with. Between the government forcing her hand, her fellow agents showing signs of distrust and the actual warmth shown by Nate, it seems Dominika will have to think fast if she wants to get out of this situation alive.

Bright (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: In an alternate present, humans have co-existed with elves, orcs and fairies since the beginning of time. Police officer Daryl Ward (Will Smith) has been paired up with rookie Orc cop Nick Jakoby (Joel Edgerton) against his wishes, and the rest of the force isn’t too happy with having Jakoby either. On a routine call, they find a magic wand, one of the most powerful artifacts in their world. With the help of elf Tikka (Lucy Fry), Ward and Jakoby set out to stop Leilah (Noomi Rapace) from using the wand to bring back The Dark Lord and return the world into a state of mystical war like it was 2000 years earlier.

It Comes At Night (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: A mysterious contagion has reduced the world to a barren wasteland. Among the only known survivors are Paul (Joel Edgerton), his wife Sarah (Carmen Ejogo) and their son Travis (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), who have set up shelter in a secluded house in the woods. They soon come across Will (Christopher Abbott), his wife Kim (Riley Keough) and their son Andrew (Griffin Robert Faulkner), who stumble across the house and are soon invited in to share it. However, suspicions start to arise between the two families, with the constant fear of one of them being infected, some drastic measures may have to be taken.

Loving (2017) - Movie Review

Racism, much like any other identity-based prejudice, has never made that much sense to me on a fundamental level. I understand man’s inherent distrust of whatever is different to themselves, but at the same time, the idea of considering someone else to be lesser than myself based purely on something about them that they were born with or are otherwise unable to change is ludicrous. Call it a side effect of living most of my life with numerous labels that immediately had me pinned as being different from everyone else, but I never saw the point in any of it. Of course, just because I don’t understand it, that doesn’t mean that I am blind to its existence in the real world; far fucking from it. As such, films like this could be released at any time of the year and it will always be timely. While you ponder how depressing that is, let’s get into today’s film.

Jane Got A Gun (2016) - Movie Review

Felony (2014) - Movie Review

After looking through the last remnants of Sarah Snook’s filmography (that fall under my purview, at least), it seems that this uncharacteristically patriotic stint hasn’t left me just yet. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at another Aussie talent who has a permanent fixing on my radar: Joel Edgerton. Since The Gift is still well and truly ingrained in my memory, and with the finale that film contained it’s unlikely to leave me at any point ever, I figure I’d go back and look into something else that had Edgerton attached behind the scenes. This also means that we’ll be checking in with another regular target in these parts, only for far less positive reasons: Jai Courtney. Between the two of them, this film could go either way, so let’s just hold off on the scepticism for once (stop laughing) and dive right in.

Top 20 Best Films Of 2015

Well, after spending the last few posts wallowing in my own misery, time to shake off that bad mojo for good as I look at the Top 20 best films that I had the pleasure to see last year. While, in comparison, it wasn’t as good as 2014 as a whole, it still produced some truly amazing works of cinema that deserve to be watched and re-watched. I know that I mentioned a disdain for honourable mentions before, but then again, I’ve used honourable mentions myself in last year’s lists so hypocrisy shouldn’t be anything new. That said, I still want to give a special shout-out to Hitman: Agent 47, the Best Worst Film of the year. This is the film that was just so awful that it actually reached entertainment from the other end, thanks to its terrible acting, writing and special effects. Now for the official, legitimately good picks of the litter.

Black Mass (2015) - Movie Review

Dollars to donuts, there isn’t a single actor working today who has the range of Johnny Depp. True, his work with Tim Burton may result in people forgetting this pretty damn easily, but seriously think about it: Edward Scissorhands, Jack Sparrow, Ed Wood, Raoul Duke, Guy LaPointe; even after seeing him in all these roles, I still find it difficult to believe that they’re all done by the same guy. Hell, even when he’s in absolute dreck like Mortdecai, he can still lose himself in a role. But, regardless of all of this, there’s still that Burton stigma to deal with: The pale, depressed and darkly-tinged loner, a role that has probably resulted in doing the both of them more harm than good of late. It’s with all this in mind that I look at today’s film, Depp’s latest foray into the world of American gangsters since Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, with cautious optimism. Do we get another character for the sizzle reel, or is it another stock (for Depp) performance that will have audiences reeling from their seats in droves?

The Gift (2015) - Movie Review

Yep, another actor deciding to take up the mantle of director… and he’s Australian to boot. I can only hope that this fares better than last time this happened. Well, okay, this doesn’t have nearly as bad a lead-up as The Water Diviner. For starters, our aspiring director Joel Edgerton is also penning the script for this film and, judging by his role from the trailer, this should be less ‘vanity project’ and more ‘passion project’; something a bit more heart put into it. It also helps that he isn’t being funded by a television station; instead, he’s being backed by Jason Blum, the most prominent hack producer working today. Not entirely sure how one becomes a producer-for-hire, but given how he’s been attached to at least 11 films this year alone, something tells me that his attachment here is nothing too special. So, do we get another Crowe or is this actually good?

Exodus: Gods And Kings (2014) - Movie Review

It seems that we are in the middle of a major influx of Christian-oriented films: Darren Aronofsky’s Noah, Son Of God, Heaven Is For Real, the Left Behind remake, the previously thrashed God’s Not Dead, as well as the recent Christmas… anomaly that is Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas. I may have a fair bit to catch up on concerning this list but I welcome the experiences faith-based films can offer. Today’s film is possibly the most mainstream yet to come out of this, with veteran director Ridley Scott at the helm.