A Haunting In Venice (2023) - Movie Review

After the release limbo and subsequent inundation of cast controversies that wound up plaguing Death On The Nile, it is somewhat relieving that Kenneth Branagh’s latest dive into the works of Agatha Christie hasn’t run into any such unpleasantness just on the surface. And yet, right from its horror-tinged trailer, I admit to being sceptical about how much I would like this one. Honestly, my first impression was that this was going to be yet another attempt to cross-promote with the Conjuring supernatural aesthetic, which has been steadily shrinking in my favour over the course of 2023. But hey, this wouldn’t exactly be the first time I went into a film with weird and arguably unfair expectations, much as I try to avoid such things. And it’s ultimately a moot point anyway since, again like Death On The Nile, I quite enjoyed this.

Belfast (2022) - Movie Review

After how well our last look at the work of Kenneth Branagh turned out with All Is True, and considering how self-reflective that film was, I was quite looking forward to this new feature. Where All Is True showed Branagh contemplating his future and his place as an older thespian that was becoming more known for gun-for-hire work than his more theatrical fare, Belfast is primarily about his past. It’s a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story about young Buddy (Jude Hill) growing up in the midst of The Troubles, although it’s not as overtly dramatic as that may make it sound.

Wild Mountain Thyme (2021) - Movie Review

Much like with The Woman In The Window, the latest from writer/director John Patrick Shanley feels like a film that wants to immediately let the audience know how much of a shambles they’re in for right from the start. Here, that takes the form of opening narration from Christopher Walken as an Irish farmer talking about how he’s already dead, but will stick around because he died in the middle of telling a story. This is the first piece of dialogue we get at about two minutes into this hour-and-a-half feature, and it’s an apt introduction for a film where I am struggling to figure out how anyone even reached this point, let alone thought it was a good idea.

Synchronic (2021) - Movie Review

Normally, when picking a movie to review, it usually involves some light Googling and finding names that I either recognise directly or recognise any of the work associated with them. This is why I tend to pick out specific members of the cast and crew whenever I do these write-ups. However, this film is a bit different to that as, aside from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s names being attached to last year’s excellent She Dies Tomorrow, I have no real experience with their own bodies of work. Nor was I all that aware of this film was even about, doing my best to let the initial trailer and as few plot details as possible in the process of finding somewhere to watch it stand on their own. I don’t normally allow myself the opportunity to go into a film blind, but I have to admit, this is one hell of a film to go into knowing as little as possible.

Endings, Beginnings (2020) - Movie Review

This is gonna be a case of ‘careful what I wish for’ for me as… to be honest, on the day I’m writing this review, I’m not exactly in the best of moods. I know that my general worries about lockdown and COVID and all that fun stuff have been seeping more and more into my writings (both here and in my write-ups for FilmInk), but between that and some personal shit that just happened to occur earlier today for me… I need something light. Something simple. Something I can turn on for some basic comfort. And in fairness, that is what I got. Unfortunately, that’s all that I got.

Robin Hood (2018) - Movie Review

Why do stories get retold? In the world of cinema, the answer is obvious: The almighty dollar, something that’s easier to pinch from the audience’s pockets when a story they recognise is dangled in front of them. However, the purpose behind this particular retelling appears to be a might less cynical than all that. I mean, King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword is what ultimately got this production off the ground, and that film tanked, so this being a plain cash grab isn't the most logical conclusion to draw. But still, if not money, then why are we getting this again? Well, from the looks of things, it’s because this is a story that keeps being retold because these events continue to exist in our world.

Dear Fifty Shades (Fifty Shades Freed Review)

 

Dear Fifty Shades,

It is with a heavy heart and a reluctant hand that I pen this letter to you. With all the creations I have courted over the years, part of me wishes I would handle this the same way I have the others. But you are not any other creation. You and I have history together, and with everything I have put into this relationship, I couldn’t just leave you without explaining my side of the story. You may hate reading this as much as I hate writing it, but these words must be said. In the four years we have known each other, I haven’t exactly been quiet about what I perceive as your flaws. I once did this out of a sense of respect and wanting you to better yourself but… you just never stopped giving me things to notice.

Fifty Shades Darker (2017) - Movie Review

Well, the heavily-publicised holiday(?) of Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and hopefully you spent it better than I did. Back in 2015, I forewent the usual nothing I was planning on doing for this special day, put on my best suit and tie (that is to say my only suit) and went out to see Fifty Shades Of Grey on the big screen. I didn’t like it; here’s over 2000 words explaining why. Last year, things turned out a lot better with the release of Deadpool, and even considering my own misgivings with the film overall, it was still a fun night out. This year, it’s back to what I guess can be called business as usual with the follow-up to that film I am so utterly apathetic towards. So, I dusted off the same suit and (somehow) got someone else to tag along with me this time around, and sat down to prepare myself for what will be coming my way next year with the finale. Time to dig into this bewildering follow-up and see how exactly this managed to be even worse than the original.

Fifty Shades Of Grey (2015) - Movie Review

It seems like there’s a lot of need in the world of internet criticism to find the next Twilight; a romantic film or series of films that can capture the cynical zeitgeist and bring us so many reiterations of “This is so bad, it’s hilarious” that we inevitably grow tired of it in record time. We’ve had a couple of flashes in the pan in recent years, like The Host and a myriad of other YA adaptations, but nothing has really latched on with audiences yet or at least in the same way Twilight did. Well, when news that the most successful Twilight fanfiction of all time (no, seriously, that’s what it started out as) was getting a film adaptation, there was much frothing at the mouth that this might be just what the doctor ordered. But how does it actually turn out?