Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (2022) - Movie Review

With how many films I actively seek out regardless of it sparking any initial interest for me personally, especially at this time of the year, trailers don’t really register with me these days. I don’t pay much attention to them outside of the context of the cinema, and even then, I usually just end up seeing the same two or three on repeat for a good few weeks’ worth of sessions.

The trailer for this film, though, is a major exception to that. As much as I'm starting to realise that getting me to cry over a piece of media isn’t that difficult to do, being the big softy I am, I can’t recall another instance where I got to that stage just from the trailer. Because of that, this is one of those situations where, even if I weren’t going out to see every movie I can, this would still be a priority to check out as soon as possible. And when I finally did… I… I get the feeling I’ll be processing this one for a while.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020) - Movie Review

As much as the whole in-character interviewing shtick has grown somewhat stale in recent years, I’d be remiss if I didn’t reaffirm that Sacha Baron-Cohen might be one of the only comedians alive today who can pull that shtick off. Indeed, his feature-length depiction of Kazakh reporter Borat Sagdiyev remains one of the greatest mockumentaries of all time, as graphic as it is bitingly hilarious. And in an odd showing of how heroes show up just in the nick of time to save the day, Baron-Cohen has delivered a follow-up to that classic in what can reasonably be called the best time possible.

Use Me (2020) - Movie Review

We’re stepping into the Aussie indie files once again, and you know that things are gonna get surreal when I see the guy who gave me the screener for this film within the first five minutes. A mockumentary-style thriller set within the underbelly of online humiliation fetishism, the film follows director Julian Shaw in his efforts to make a documentary about Ceara Lynch, a professional ‘humiliatrix’, and the finer details of her line of work. However, as he finds himself deeper and deeper in her world, what begins as an expose on fetishes turns into a much darker voyage into the unknown.

Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story By Martin Scorsese (2019) - Movie Review

After looking at the Beyonce concert documentary, and thinking on and off this month about The Irishman, I feel like I need to give Martin Scorsese another look-over. With how much he’s dominated the larger conversation about where the cinema industry is going, and how vindicated his statements have grown in such a short time (the artistic quality of the MCU is still arguable, but its effect on the industry isn't), I don’t want my last thoughts about the man this decade to be filled with disappointment and a want to highlight what has made the man so enduringly fascinating as a storyteller. So let’s look at the other movie he made this year, a documentary about Bob Dylan’s legendary Rolling Thunder Revue.

Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019) - Movie Review

Y’know, after how the last review turned out… I need something light. Something simple. Something to pick me up from this unexpected haze of self-loathing I’ve found myself in. So how about a film version of a popular Funny Or Die web series?

The Other Side Of The Wind (2018) - Movie Review

 

Part of what I do here with these reviews is trying to put singular films into a greater context. The wheres and whys that surround each production can often help make sense of the product itself, for better or for worse. And in the realms of American cinema, few directors can lay claim to being such utter fonts of cinematic context as Orson Welles.

Film as any of us know it simply doesn’t make sense without considering his contribution to the art, something that can easily be taken for granted when looking at his seminal classics in today’s light. From the revolutionary visuals of Citizen Kane to the ground-breaking editing of F For Fake to the character wizardry of Chimes At Midnight, his work has influenced so much of what would come afterwards that it's frankly staggering. He is one of the few filmmakers I can recall where it feels necessary to separate entertainment value from the legacy of the art itself. This film, a posthumous completion of one of the many productions Welles never lived to see completed, is no exception.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) - Movie Review

In the realms of modern comedy, there really only seem to be two groups that are holding the charge in terms of white guys doing funny but still well composed comedic hip hop: Epic Rap Battles Of History and The Lonely Island. One of the few properly consistent acts to spawn from the current era of Saturday Night Live, Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone have entered the realms of meme legend on numerous occasions with hits like Jizz In My Pants, I Just Had Sex and their Yuletide slow jam Dick In A Box. Their music, while not exactly the most consistent on an album basis, combined a keen eye for poking fun at pop music trends with an actual ear for beats and music to create some seriously funny songs.

Naturally, when news hit that they would be bringing a full-length cinematic production this year, you better believe that I was anxious for it… until, for some reason, it was pulled from Australian cinemas. Luckily, this did get a DVD release so I could include it in this year’s list of films, but how is the film itself? Is it a gem that our screwed-up priorities just let slip through the cracks, or should we be thankful that this didn’t get a wide release?

The Big Short (2016) - Movie Review

With the right approach and wording, it is technically possible to make a comedy about pretty much anything. As much as I’ve gone on about how there are some things that should always be treated seriously, even those rather taboo subjects can be made funny in the right hands. And then you have today’s film, a comedic drama about the global financial crisis, as directed by Will Ferrell’s right-hand man Adam McKay. Trust me, whatever initial ideas you may have about this kind of feature as made by the guy who made Anchorman, you’re on the wrong track. So, time to look into some Dennis Miller brand esoterica that, apparently, the Academy has gotten behind… yeah, I’ll let you know when that statement actually means something around here.