Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) - Movie Review

 

After spending pretty much an entire day talking about Orson Welles and F For Fake not long ago, I feel like I’m beating a dead horse here… but let’s talk about ‘fake art’. Forgery on its own is already a pretty dicey prospect, but applying that to the creative arts like painting, filmmaking or writing opens up whole new dilemmas to the equation. And indeed, much like Elmyr de Hory, sometimes deliberate artistic imitation can be called out and still considered to be as worthy as the genuine article. Rather than just rehash the F For Fake argument, let’s instead see how that mindset of 'fake art' applies to this film, a based-on-actual-events of a writer who forged letters from famous writers and actors.

The Happytime Murders (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Private investigator Phil Phillips (Bill Barretta), a former member of the Los Angeles police department, has to deal with a lot of prejudice from the humans in the neighbourhood. However, he will need to put that aside and team up with his former partner Det. Connie (Melissa McCarthy) to track down a murderer who appears to be targeting the retired cast of 90's puppet sitcom 'The Happytime Gang'.

Life Of The Party (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: After being told that her husband (Matt Walsh) is leaving her for another woman, Deanna (Melissa McCarthy) decides to take her life back into her own hands and do the one thing that she always wanted to do: Get her archeology degree. She enrols herself at the same college her daughter Maddie (Molly Gordon) is attending, and as she adjusts to college life as an older student, she discovers just how much she missed out on the first time round.

Ghostbusters (2016) - Movie Review

Well, time to get into what is undoubtedly the most hotly contested release of the year, and we’re off to a good start as it seems that no matter what side you fall on, there’s backlash. You’re either a misogynistic Neanderthal because you see the gender-swapped cast list and sense something is wrong, or a PC agenda-pushing feminazi because you’re agreeing with the gender-swapped cast on principle and for no other reason. So nice to see the entire Gamergate debacle encapsulated into a single film reaction, where everyone looks like a complete idiot. Now, this is all generalisation that usually fuels such arguments concerning gender roles in media, so I don’t give any points to either side. How fitting that, in a year where we had a film called Civil War, we have a fandom civil war brewing over this little piece of cinema. And to make matters worse, when dealing with a film this divisive, the worst place to be is on the fence.

The Boss (2016) - Movie Review

I have grown weirdly out-of-sync with the rest of the world when it comes to cinema, specifically when it comes to Melissa McCarthy. It took a long while for me to get into her style of comedy and by the time I did, it was with Tammy, the film where people began to stop liking her. It’s some strange anti-hipster effect where I liked it only after it was cool. Whatever; if I liked all the films I’m supposed to like, not only would things get really boring but my annual list of critical disagreements wouldn’t even exist. Sure, Spy came around shortly after and we’re suddenly on the same page again, but it still feels like I’m stuck in the late phase of her career… yeah, we grow bored of people rather quickly in the Internet age. So, as part of some cosmic attempt to confuse me even further, her latest film has come out and it has somehow gotten an even worse overall reception than Tammy. Am I going to stick to my guns and find something to like about it, or will I join the pack and admit that Melissa McCarthy isn’t funny? Only one way to find out.

Spy (2015) - Movie Review

One of the first reviews I wrote for this blog was on 2014’s Tammy. Now, while I can kind of get why other critics didn’t like it (maybe not to the extent that they do, but to a certain degree), I will always give it credit because it was the film that did what The Heat was unable to: It made me like Melissa McCarthy. It got me to better appreciate her sewer-rat mouth sense of humour as contrasted with her meek and rather downplayed side, and also because it didn’t involve nearly as much over-the-top shouting as The Heat did. So, when trailers for this film hit, I… was mostly into it because it featured king of British badassery Jason Statham, but McCarthy’s limp-dicked unicorn line caught my interest as well. So, with this year’s increasingly strong pedigree of action films, will she continue the trend or be the one to break it? This is Spy… and immediate points deducted for quite possibly the most generic film name I’ve ever seen.

Tammy (2014) - Movie Review

Okay, I swear I didn't plan for this. It just happens that this is the third review in a row where I talk about a lead actor who is best known for playing one character in most of their movies. At least I get to shake things up a bit by talking about an actress this time around: Melissa McCarthy, best known for being the loud obnoxious woman whose weight is the butt of most of the jokes. Well, here's the official notice: I am going to refrain from just constantly making light of her weight, unlike some other reviews out there, because quite frankly it's well-trodden ground and if there's one thing internet critics are well known for, it's originality… wait…