Ticket To Paradise (2022) - Movie Review

Well, after spending the last several reviews neck-deep in the weirder sides of genre cinema, I figure it’s about time to wind things down a bit. Time to get into something a little simpler, a little more straight-forward and, truth be told, a little less intensive when it comes to writing about it. I mean, while I have all the respect for filmmakers that care enough about their audiences to try and challenge them, there is still a place in the world for breezy and cheery rom-coms like this.

Ol Parker, after managing a quite surprising hit with the Mamma Mia sequel, wanted to keep going with bringing back the more fluffy rom-coms of the 2000s which… yeah, I’ve ragged on the formulas that came from those quite a bit on here, but considering how miserable the world has been the last several years, wanting to go back to more pleasant times isn’t that bad an idea. I mean, even with the lamer comedies out there, there’s something to be said about that communal sense of fun that comes out of having a nice giggle together in a crowded cinema. It helps to have a film worth giggling over, of course, which is why I’m very thankful that Ol Parker has delivered another modest winner.

Ben Is Back (2019) - Movie Review

Addiction is not an easy thing to get right, either on the big screen or in the real world. There are few things more disheartening than seeing someone in the midst of a chemical dependency, and one of them is having to go through such a thing for yourself. Portraying that kind of heartbreak, that desperation, that body-flooding pain is a difficult tightrope to walk from a narrative standpoint. 

Going too far in either direction could result in a disaffected wake-up call that only reminds audiences of how good they have it, or a glorified Very Special Episode that treats the matter far too simply to really connect. In the hands of writer/director Peter Hedges, whose last work was the aggressively forgettable Odd Life Of Timothy Green, we get a surprisingly effective walk straight down that tightrope with nary a wobble in sight.

Wonder (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: August “Auggie” Pullman (Jacob Tremblay), after being homeschooled by his parents (Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson) up until that point, starts to go to a mainstream school. As he tries to deal with people’s reaction to his rare facial deformity, his interactions with the students and teachers inspire those around him to start thinking differently about the things that they see.

Money Monster (2016) - Movie Review

I have admitted in the past being very much on the left side of the political spectrum, when I’m even bothered to get involved in such matters in the first place, and I have been rather favourable to films that align with those views. However, in my furthering subconscious attempt to bring a bit more objectivity to these reviews, I am not about to let that paint my impression of every political-tinged piece of cinema that I will look at from here on out. Pundits from all areas of political thought have this idea that we only stick to those who voice or at least mirror their own perspectives and aren’t willing to hear anyone else’s take. Well, while that might be true for some, it is still possible to disagree with those in your own supposed camp. Hopefully by the end of this review, I will have explained why that is.

Mother's Day (2016) - Movie Review

I haven’t seen much of Garry Marshall’s work, and remember that I’m mostly familiar with more recent cinema so I have a lot of older films to get to including a few of his, but what I have seen in no way sets my hopes high for consumable product this time around. His brand of heavy pandering under the guise of empowerment with The Princess Diaries (BOTH of them) and the plain-old twisted sense of festivity of the last two holiday-centric releases makes him the kind of filmmaker who is quite poisonous to people like me. This should come as no surprise for those of you who have read my earlier gripes on chick flicks, but yeah; I really friggin’ hate these kinds of movies almost on principle by this point. Not that that is reason enough for me to hate anything though, just that it makes what I am sure is going to be pure bile come up a lot more smoothly. So, let’s get this gastric excavation of a film over and done with already. This is Mother’s Day.

Secret In Their Eyes (2015) - Movie Review

  

The big contributor to how and why a lot of actors get typecast into certain roles is that, for better or for worse, said actors work really damn well in those particular roles. Martin Freeman will always be seen as the English everyman who gets thrown into extraordinary circumstances because he has built a healthy pedigree on those roles thanks to The Office and The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, among others; Patrick Stewart is the elderly mentor figure for a rag-tag team in a sci-fi setting that is meant to save worlds on numerous occasions; Jai Courtney can’t be anything more than a red flag that the film you’re about to sit through isn’t going to work, etc. That last one may seem unfair, and yeah I have made fun of him a lot more than I probably should, but the fact remains that even real-life events can affect how a person can become typecast. And no, I don’t just mean John McEnroe being irate in every TV and film appearance he’s had. I’m talking more about how Julia Roberts has developed a reputation for more than a little egotistical and kind of crazed, and then the trailer for today’s film shows her as a psychotic breakdown waiting to happen. Sometimes, casting perfectly aligns on certain productions. This is Secrets In Their Eyes.