Renfield (2023) - Movie Review

I reckon we’re in somewhat safe hands here because, no matter how this turns out, there’s little chance of this being the worst Dracula fanfic I’ve reviewed on here. We also have director Chris McKay, who has a healthy pedigree for legitimising the fanfic mentality in mainstream storytelling, from his ambitious work on Robot Chicken to the IP free-for-all of The LEGO Batman Movie (before Warner Bros. went way the hell too far with that idea for films like Space Jam: A New Legacy), and of course, Nic Cage as Dracula. Honestly, I could have just left it at “Nic Cage as Dracula” and that would’ve been enough to sell why this deserves to be watched… but that would still be leaving out a lot of the surprising delights of this feature.

The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent (2022) - Movie Review

Time for another preview screening, this time courtesy of StudioCanal… and man, after how much he crushed it last year, I leapt at the chance to check out the next Nicolas Cage flick. When you’ve spent so many years (decades, even) being such a singular talent that you’re just as animated as any one of the roles you’ve taken up, then yeah, why not star in a movie where you’re performing as yourself? Sure, there’s films like The Weather Man, Joe, and the previously-reviewed Pig, which showed certain facets of his real-life persona, but this is as direct as it gets. And the end result, while consciously made up of a lot of familiar parts, is quite mesmerising in that way that only Cage-starring films can manage.

Pig (2021) - Movie Review

Back when I listed The Humanity Bureau as one of the worst films of 2018, my reasoning for doing so was that the other films he had worked on that same year gave me reason to believe that he had gotten past the point where he needed to be in direct-to-video schlock to get work. And this year, it feels like that premonition is starting to show itself, because 2021 has been one of the most consistent years in Cage's entire career. Willy’s Wonderland was good fun, Prisoners Of The Ghostland was pretty cool, and I’ve been hearing great things about this film in particular for a lot of this year. I kinda brushed it off, since its plot didn’t really seem like all that much to invested in on the surface. But if there’s one thing Nic Cage has always been throughout his career, it is unpredictable. And I definitely could not have predicted that he was capable of something this great.

Prisoners Of The Ghostland (2021) - Movie Review

Yep, we’re still on the crazy train, and what’s more, we’re picking back up with the regular conductor of said train with another Nic Cage starring role. And I am once again in awe of him being able to find productions that fit perfectly into his extremely idiosyncratic wheelhouse. This film is the English-language debut of Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono and, far as I can ascertain, this is the first time Cage has worked on a mainly-Japanese production. But much like the film they have built around themselves, their act of cultural exchange makes perfect sense. After all, crazy surpasses any and all language barriers.

Willy's Wonderland (2021) - Movie Review

... Well, that’s a horrifying tagline.

Anyway, as soon as news first hit about this movie, with Nicholas Cage beating the holy hell out of animatronics in a former party restaurant for kids, the Internet was ablaze with comparisons between the premise of the film and the premise of the long-running video game series Five Nights At Freddy’s. To the point where that comparison seems to be the only thing anyone can talk about when it comes to the film itself. Now, I’m not exactly known for the hottest of takes in these reviews, and I admittedly did decide to check it out because a FNAF-esque movie experience is right up my alley, but do I really want to sit here and write out the same shit every other critic has repeated ad nauseum? Well... sort of.

Colour Out Of Space (2020) - Movie Review

I want to try a little experiment before getting into the review proper. I want you to read the words in front of you. Not out loud. Just in your head. Read every. Single. Word.

As your eyes dart across this page, the words unravel inside your mind, turning ciphers on the screen into phrases and sentences that (hopefully) you are able to understand.

Now pay attention to the words as you’re reading them.

Listen to the voice inside your head that is reading them out.

Listen closely to it.

Is it your own voice? Perhaps.

Or maybe it isn’t.

Maybe it’s someone else’s.

Maybe it’s mine.

How does it feel to have my voice in your head?

How does it feel to know that I can reach out and plant myself inside your mind from halfway across the world?

Or maybe I’m not so far away after all.

Is that voice really inside your head?

Or can you hear it over your shoulder?

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018) - Movie Review

 

This doesn’t look like any other Spider-Man film. Hell, this doesn’t look like any other comic book movie. The reason why, though, is kind of strange: It actually looks like a comic book. Bent around the frame of Sony Animation at its high-energy, thought bubbles, onomatopoeic sound effects, even half-tone dots that show in a lot of older comic strips populate the landscape, giving this a tangible connection to the medium that birthed it.

Mandy (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Logger Red (Nicolas Cage) and artist Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) live a quiet life in a cabin in the woods. However, that life is shattered when they come across a hippie cult run by Jeremiah (Linus Roache), who takes Mandy as his own... and then kills her. Red sets out on a bloody and drug-addled path of vengeance to destroy the cult.

Teen Titans Go! To The Movies (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: While every superhero under the sun has their own movie, Robin (Scott Menville) feels like he's missing out. His teammates try to console him over it, but he remains determined: He will have his own movie. All he needs is an arch-nemesis, and with the arrival of Slade (Will Arnett), it looks like he's about to get his wish... but at what cost?

The Humanity Bureau (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: In the not-too-distant future, as a result of severe climate change, economic collapse and civil war, the United States has become a near-barren wasteland. Noah (Nicolas Cage), an agent of the productivity-evaluating Humanity Bureau, is sent to inform farmer Rachel (Sarah Lind) and her son Lucas (Jakob Davies) that they are to be relocated to the New Eden colony. However, Noah soon finds out that the organisation he works for isn't all that it seems.

Snowden (2016) - Movie Review

As a whole, 2016 has been a primarily emotional year for cinema, more so than any of the last few. From the heavy fan reactions to Ghostbusters and the DC cinematic canon, to the emphasis on pathos in some of the higher-profile releases of the year, filmmakers have been aiming mostly at the heart all year. Hell, just look at my current list of the year’s films that I’ve seen: The top is populated with films that focus intently on traits associated with the best of humanity like family, courage and community (albeit rather sexual community), while the bottom is populated by trash that exhibits the worst of humanity like sexism, racism and ableism. It is this need for more emotionally potent, yet relevant, cinema that is pretty much my only rationalisation for why this film exists at this point in time.

After last year’s as-close-as-we’ll-ever-get-to-the-subject documentary Citizenfour, I thought that details concerning the most infamous whistle-blower in recent memory would have been tapped out already. Then again, we’re in Oscar season and these sorts of stories are prime material for that brand of filmmaking, so it isn’t all too surprising that this exists, especially considering who made it. So, on top of delivering as a film in its own right, this biopic now has to prove its right to exist alongside a fairly in-depth feature that’s not even two years old.

Outcast (2014) - Movie Review

After you spend long enough time on film sets, the thought of becoming a director yourself seems like the next logical step. Actors, writers, cinematographers; people originally from these fields have taken up the big chair with varying success. However, especially in recent years, we’ve started seeing a new group join those ranks: Stunt choreographers. And I’m not talking about co-directing films like The Transporter because their role is so crucial to the overall production; I mean going it alone. We’ve had Scott Waugh direct and edit that stupid Need For Speed movie, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch gave us the surprisingly awesome John Wick and Vic Armstrong brought the Left Behind remake upon us. Well, time for a stuntman-cum-director and Nicolas Cage to team up once again as we look at today’s subject.

Cooties (2015) - Movie Review

This is most certainly a team-up that, even in my weirdest pot dreams, I wouldn’t have been able to foresee. On one hand, you have Leigh Whannell, best known for his collaborations with James Wan on the Saw and Insidious series. On the other, you have Ian Brennan, best known for being the brainchild of the thankfully recently-concluded TV migraine Glee. Except for a possible connection involving people screaming in terror, I can’t even think of a comparative duo to explain just how strange this is. The fact that this is yet another zombie film seems like an afterthought by comparison. Well, in the spirit of goodwill and the fact that I really hope Whannell is at least capable of keeping up with his cinematic brother’s success, it’s time to delve into today’s rather strange production that just happens to feature a lot of dead children. Yeah.

Left Behind (2015) - Movie Review

Time to return to that always endearing topic of Christian propaganda films. Yay. It’s not like the last time I did that was extremely painful or anything(!) The original Left Behind, released in 2000, is the poster child for the Rapture movie; in that, it is the most popular example and it is also a good indicator for just how bad the rest of them can get. Morally questionable actions made by both sides, rampant use of stock footage, an inability to show the complete story in a single film; everything that makes the Rapture sub-genre what it is is in there. Then there’s the inclusion of Kirk Cameron, one of the most insane human beings alive today that is somehow getting mass media attention. Who else in the world would say that you should of lit-up crosses whenever they see trees in a Christmas movie? Yeah, I eagerly await when Saving Christmas gets an Australian release, because that kind of naïve madness is perfect for this blog. Until then, I have the remake of Left Behind to deal with. Yes, seriously; even the realms of Christian cinema have gotten the re-hash bug.