The Fabelmans (2022) - Movie Review

It has basically become a running joke in film geek circles about how much of Steven Spielberg’s filmography involves him fixating on his own parents. Filtered through the kind of industry-defining vision that would make him one of the medium’s most important figures, his films irrespective of genre have involved a lot of father/son conflicts, mourning the loss of connection with family, and just a general sense of unrest concerning authority figures. For decades, Spielberg has been using his complicated feelings about his parents’ divorce to define and later redefine what is now known as the ‘blockbuster’.

And now, it seems that he is ready to stop dancing around the subject, and just make a film about that event in his life... albeit with still a thin layer of fictionalisation, although still the thinnest that he’s applied yet. What comes out of it is not only Spielberg’s best work in years, but something that feels like it had to make.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) - Movie Review

I did not like the first Venom film. And as much as me even bringing that up again is just adding more fuel to the underlying “critics hate movies that audiences actually like” conversation… fucking hell, that entire line of thinking, predicated on insisting that film critics might as well be a completely different species than every other kind of filmgoer, is one of the most annoying parts of the larger conversation regarding cinema. I mean, it’s a superhero film made by one of the biggest studios working today; it doesn’t need to be defended like it’s this groundbreaking indie underdog. At any rate, we now have a sequel, and what is being presented here is not only a lot more likeable than what came before, it’s honestly a comic book idea that hasn’t really been done before on the big screen.

Venom (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Investigative reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) suspects that something is going on at Life Foundation, run by the ostensibly altruistic Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed). However, after an attempt to sneak into the Foundation goes awry, Eddie makes his way home... only to find that something has come with him. Now bonded to an alien organism that calls itself Venom, he sets out to get to the bottom of Drake's plans before the entire city, and the entire world, are put in jeopardy.

I Feel Pretty (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Cosmetics worker Renee (Amy Schumer) has a lot of self-image issues and wishes that she was prettier. But after an accident at the gym results in a knock to the head, she suddenly not only sees herself as pretty but gains a sense of confidence that she never had before. As she sets out to show off her "new" looks and climb up the corporate ladder, her friends and co-workers start to wonder what exactly has happened to this woman.

All The Money In The World (2018) - Movie Review

 

The plot: John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer), grandson of billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer), has been kidnapped. His captors are demanding a ransom of $17 million, a price that J. Paul Getty isn’t willing to pay. He sends former CIA operative and now deal broker Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg) to assist Getty III’s mother Gail (Michelle Williams) in the situation. However, as tensions grow between the parties involved, it seems that it will take more than money to pay this price.