Little Women (2020) - Movie Review

Time to continue with the reheated leftovers of the previous year, consisting mainly of what wasn’t good enough to be released in 2019 (hello, Dolittle) and the remainder of the Oscar nominations that didn’t fit the schedule, and we’re dealing with a legacy remake. I get the feeling that, if not reading the original classic source material, I should have at least glanced at the book’s previous adaptations. However, since there’s six pre-existing films based on this work, one of which done by PureFlix, I don’t particularly feel the need to overplay the story for myself under the pretence of doing research for the new one. I want to give this its fair chance, and after Greta Gerwig’s last success with Lady Bird, I’m more than comfortable with letting this stand on its own. Tl;dr Don’t expect any adaptation comparisons; this is strictly about this version on its own.

The Circle (2017) - Movie Review

Technology is an amazing thing. With a single click and a few keyboard taps, you can communicate with people on the other side of the world. Decades ago, we made jokes about how everyone thought virtual reality was the big new thing; now, I can just walk into my local game shop and pick up a headset for myself. Medicine, computing and just human invention in general have taken massive leaps and bounds and it’s only getting bigger with time.

 

However, technology is also a very scary and potentially lethal thing. With enough know-how, that same person on the other side of the world can bring a SWAT team to your house just because you did better than them in Team Deathmatch. Decades ago, we made jokes about how the government is trying to monitor every little action we do; now, thanks to social media, we’re all pretty much giving up our every movement for public consumption willingly. Medical advancements continue to be challenged, destroying a person’s life is as simple as having the right computer program, and human ingenuity continues to reflect how flawed humans still are. With all this in mind, how does today’s techno-thriller do at discussing such issues?

Beauty And The Beast (2017) - Movie Review

The 1991 version of Beauty And The Beast, to put it simply, is fucking perfect. Yet another classic film that took a modern reimagining for me to check out in the first place, I can scarcely recall a supposed ‘classic’ that made me fall head-over-heels in love as quickly as that film did. The animation, the music, the sharp characterisation, the voice acting, the morals; it’s rare that I’ll ever define a film as being beyond improvement but, quite frankly, that’s how hard I fell in love with this thing. Yeah, I’m late to the party but I’m sure as hell not leaving in a hurry.

 

Now, I would ordinarily get a bit anxious in the face of this because, well, remaking this film seems like a bad idea on the surface. However, given the quality standards of the recent string of Disney live-action remakes, I have at least some faith that this film will at least be entertaining. I’ve been making it a habit of talking about how most if not all of my expectations for this year’s releases have been proven categorically wrong… and now, it’s time to see the absolute nadir of that effect.