Mute (2018) - Movie Review

 

The only thing worse than a bad idea is a good idea used badly. And in the realms of science fiction, the inherent freedom of the genre allows for a wealth of possibilities for stories to tell. However, as I have unfortunately gotten into before like with Self/Less and Downsizing, there’s a difference between having possibilities and actually making them pay off. With writer/director Duncan Jones’ latest, we see one of the more bewildering examples of this in action.

Bad Times At The El Royale (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: A priest (Jeff Bridges), a singer (Cynthia Erivo), a salesman (Jon Hamm) and a hippie (Dakota Johnson) all show up at the El Royale, a hotel that rests on the middle of the state border between California and Nevada. As they make themselves at home, under the attentive eye of concierge Miles (Lewis Pullman), the secrets and lies that brought them to this establishment begin to surface, and despite outward appearances, it seems like no one's hands are clean.

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - Movie Review

Blade Runner isn’t just a good film or even a great film; it is one of the few genuinely important science fiction films. Setting in stone the cyberpunk/neo-noir aesthetic that would give franchises like The Terminator their most iconic moments, its approach to both world-building and thematic context is one of the first real instances of the wider mainstream audience seeing that maybe there’s something to ‘genre’ films beyond just visceral nonsense. It took me a couple of viewings for it to really sink in, and I wouldn’t call it one of my all-time favourites or anything, but it’s a film that I have an entire truckload of respect for. This is one of those situations where making a sequel could turn out disastrously badly, much like most other attempts to make a follow-up to a decades-old film. 

However, after seeing director Denis Villeneuve make a triumphant step into the realms of SF with Arrival, which is still one of the single best films of the last several years, I have enough faith in him to pull this one off. Probably helps that not only is writer Hampton Francher returning from the original but he’s also aided by co-writer Michael Green, who helped give us Logan, a film that I am slowly starting to develop an even greater understanding of and appreciation for. Maybe this will turn out okay; it’s already being heralded as one of the greatest sequels of all time. Will I agree or will I have to be the bearer of bad news? Get out your torches and pitchforks, because I can already tell this is going to get ugly.

John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) - Movie Review

2014’s John Wick, one of the first films I covered on this blog, is one that I didn’t give nearly enough credit to the first time around. Largely due to my own inexperience in the art of critique and not knowing how to properly articulate what I think makes for good action beats (neither of which may or may not have improved all that much since), I didn’t end up giving that film its fair due in how stone-cold brilliant it is.

 

From the sharp-as-a-razor writing that I still struggle to believe isn’t directly based on a pre-existing work, to the excellent fight choreography, the finesse behind the camera, the acting, even the lighting; it is a bona-fide classic film and it finally gave main star Keanu Reeves mainstream recognition that has been long overdue. Needless to say, I was eagerly anticipating this although I honestly don’t know how it could improve on the first attempt. Well, they found a way.

Lost River (2015) - Movie Review

Remember Ryan Gosling? That guy who became the toast of the town back in 2011 thanks to the unexpected success of Drive, then just seemed to largely disappear from the public spotlight? Unless you’re among the confounding number of The Notebook fans, that is? That’s not to say he just isn’t working anymore, as he was in the surprisingly decent Gangster Squad as well as the upcoming Adam McKay flick The Big Short; just that it seems like he didn’t make the best use of his rejuvenated exposure. Probably the two big contributors to why this is is as a result of two films he made after Drive: One of them was Only God Forgives, a film by the same director that wasn’t nearly as well received by the general public nor by critics. The other was his debut as writer/director that… got probably the most perplexing response in recent years. As in, it got both a standing ovation and an audible collection of booing when it premiered at Cannes. Well, no matter happens in the following review, I am guaranteed to disappoint someone. Fine by me.