The Son (2023) - Movie Review

Following on from their last collaboration The Father, a film so good that it nearly topped my Best Of 2021 list, writer/director Florian Zeller and co-writer Christopher Hampton have now continued their dramatising of the effects of mental illness with a new film, also based on one of Zeller’s stageplays. This one, however, hasn’t been getting the same glowing rapport; in fact, opinions on this film have been middling at best. Now, as I’ll get into, I can definitely see where the negativity is coming from and even agree with some of it… but man, when this film hits its stride, it reminds me of just how hard The Father hit on first watching it.

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.

Marriage Story (2019) - Movie Review

Noah Baumbach’s work over the 2010’s has been populated by looks at artistic families and the frictions within. Knowing his own relationship with rising star Greta Gerwig, who has grown from some fruitful collaborations with Noah to breaking out on her own with Lady Bird and the upcoming Little Women, you’d think some or even all of this material is him plumbing his own life for emotional truth.

Downsizing (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: As a means to combat overpopulation, a group of Norwegian scientists have come up with a ground-breaking solution: Literally shrinking the population down to a height of only five inches. Suburban couple Paul (Matt Damon) and Audrey (Kristen Wiig), unsatisfied with their current living conditions, decide to take part in the procedure… only for Audrey to back out at the last minute. Now shrunken and alone, Dave takes part in this brand new miniature society, only to discover that even this scenario has its drawbacks.

The Founder (2016) - Movie Review

It’s a pretty safe bet to say that McDonald’s is very popular. In fact, it may be one of the single most powerful brands in the history of commerce. Were it not that advertising and marketing is as ubiquitous as it is, I reckon that McDonald’s the world over could completely stop advertising on screen and print and still be in business; name a single fast food chain with a logo as recognisable as the golden arches. Making a film about how the company went from a single location to a global powerhouse is pretty much a no-brainer by this point... but given how wide the company’s influence is, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some "corporate oversight" when it comes to how the characters are shown here. Conspiracy theories for the win.