Emma (2020) - Movie Review

There is nothing worse than writing about a film’s inefficiencies, and in the process only highlighting those same inefficiencies in your own writing. Like writing about something not being funny, while you yourself aren’t making people laugh either, or describing a dull event that itself reads like the literate version of paint drying. And as I find myself trying to muster up things to write about in regards to this movie… yeah, I am honestly worried that I’m just going to bore my dear readers to tears in trying to express how much I didn’t engage with this particular work.

Part of me just wants to write the whole thing off and just… not write about it. But that would put this film in a category outside of pretty much every other film I’ve written about on here, and while it’s not nearly that bad, it’s certainly not that special either.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019) - Movie Review

After a long line of films based on video games that have made both gamers and general audiences heave into their popcorn buckets, it seems like the levy has finally broken and we have a good one out in cinemas. We’ve been leading up to this for a while now, between the genuine attempts at artistry in Assassin’s Creed, the outright fun of Rampage, even the frenzied glee of video-game-inspired Hardcore Henry, and while not everyone is raving about this particular feature, this has caught fire in a way that video game adaptations really haven’t managed to in years past. The reason why, having watched it, seems fairly obvious: Both as a continuation of an adored IP and as a film in its own right, this production does justice to both.

Their Finest (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: Screenwriter Catrin Cole (Gemma Arterton) is asked by Britain’s Ministry of Information to make a film about two twin sisters who take their father’s boat out to help in the evacuation of Dunkirk. As she works closely with writer Tom Buckley (Sam Claflin) and actor Ambrose Hilliard (Bill Nighy), they put together a film that they hope will meet the Ministry’s wishes for a production that will bring the nation together. However, as a series of uncontrollable events and mandates fall their way, up to and including being forced to include American Carl Lundbeck (Jake Lacy) into the film despite his lack of acting experience, they’ll have to work hard to make a uniting film before it tears them all apart.

 

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015) - Movie Review

Well, after our last cinematic outing, something so dull that I just had to post a review for another movie mere minutes after out of shame, to say that I was not looking forward to this is a major understatement. I’m cautious of any film’s sequel, which given the current cinematic climate means that I’m cautious about pretty much every film released these days, because of Rule of Sequels #19: The follow-up(s) is almost never as good. Sure, there are some films that break this rule like Toy Story 3, The Dark Knight, or even some that I’ve discussed before like How To Train Your Dragon 2 and the entire Hunger Games series so far. However, these don’t come around every day and these are usually a result of the original being a good movie in the first place. No such luck here, although I guess that means that there’s no chance of disappointment with this one. Yay? Anyway, this is The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel… is it just me or is it called that so that the filmmakers can admit that they know full well that this isn’t going to be as good as the first?

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012) - Movie Review

With how many films I see every month, it’s inevitable that I’ll come across films where I am not the intended demographic for various reasons. Whether it’s films aimed at very young audiences like Maya The Bee Movie or Tinker Bell And The Pirate Fairy, or films aimed primarily at the opposite gender like 50 Shades Of Grey or The Best Of Me, although I would argue that both of the latter aren't aimed at anyone except for inmates on death row just so the electric chair will feel like a pleasant reprieve. This film, and its currently-released sequel, was once aptly described to me as being for the elderly what Kingsman is for my generation; add to that that this is billed as a feel-good film, and I find myself just as hesitant to watch it as I was three years ago when it first came out. Nevertheless, I pride myself on doing the necessary research when it’s required, and this definitely applies, so before I get to the sequel I’m going to take a look at the first film.

I, Frankenstein (2014) - Movie Review

It’s a bit of a double-edged sword seeing Australian names in mainstream cinema: Sometimes you get James Wan, director of The Conjuring as well as the original Saw; and sometimes you get Baz Luhrman, director of Moulin Rouge and Australia, among other pieces of aggravating drivel. I love seeing this great (at times) country I live in being represented in Hollywood, but it doesn’t always yield the best results. With today’s film, we have Stuart Beattie as writer/director who’s had a very murky track record of late, having been a co-writer on G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra, the aforementioned Australia as well as a re-writer on Punisher: War Zone. Let's see how well he does here.