Slumberland (2022) - Movie Review

I’ve really come to appreciate the films of director Francis Lawrence. Sure, his work on the Hunger Games sequels represents the best of the 3^rd wave of YA adaptations (not to mention what might be my favourite scene in any movie with the Hanging Tree sequence in Mockingjay Part 1), but there’s also I Am Legend and Constantine as well. Legend has an understanding of the effect of social isolation that has properly stuck with me since watching it, and while Constantine is one of the best examples of the Vertigo comics aesthetic on film, even if it’s not necessarily the best example of Hellblazer specifically. And now, he appears to be aiming for something more family-friendly than he’s used to, with a reimagining of Little Nemo In Slumberland. And I gotta say, it’s pretty good.

The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) - Movie Review

 

A lot of things have come to define the Cloverfield franchise: Ingeniously vague marketing, a tenuous connection to each other and including individual films that stand out so strongly on their own that it’s enough to make said tenuous connections feel like a total non-issue. It’s a loose-knit anthology series that, even with only two prior entries under its belt, has helped cemented producer J.J. Abrams as a cinematic figurehead. And then this film happened. Well, that winning streak had to break eventually.

Molly's Game (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain), former Olympic-level skier turned over and shaker in the world of underground poker, has been indicted for suspected involvement with the Russian mafia. While she and her lawyer Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba) navigate the indictment for a means to keep Molly out of prison, she recollects what led her to this point. Her athletic aspirations in her youth, her reluctant introduction into the world of off-the-books gambling, and her determined goal of proving her own worth in that world are all laid bare as she comes to terms with where she went wrong.

Loving Vincent (2017) - Movie Review

I’ve discussed before how the notion of there being no new ideas in the realm of cinema really doesn’t bother me that much. I’m far more concerned about stories being told well than whether or not I’ve already seen something like it before. However, just because I’m apathetic towards the possibility of fresh ideas doesn’t mean that I’m immediately turned off by that same possibility. I say all this because today’s film, in no uncertain terms, is a unique specimen. A production funded by the Polish Film Institute, with some of its funding being crowdsourced through Kickstarter, that marks the world’s first animated film made entirely of oil paintings. No line drawings, no CGI, no instances of one trying to masquerade as the other; just real-ass paintings.

 

Given the subject matter of today’s film, that being the life and death of famed painter Vincent Van Gogh, this decision definitely fits but what is the end result? This kind of high-concept filmmaking, rather than high-concept narrative, very easily could devolve into being just a gimmick meant to hold up an otherwise unremarkable film; think a more high-brow version of the latest 3D movie. Ugh… enough with this empty cynicism and let’s get into this truly incredible film already.

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (2016) - Movie Review

Sometimes, a film comes out where the filmmaker(s) and subject matter match each other that well that you start to question why it’s only now that such a connection was made. On one hand, you have director Tim Burton, a man whom has made a career out of telling stories of pale-skinned outsiders and giving them their rightful place in the world. On the other, we have the modern YA adaptation sub-genre, which has latched onto the public consciousness through teenaged empowerment fantasies of going against the system that wronged them. Add to this screenwriter Jane Goldman, whose work with Matthew Vaughn embodies that same air of acknowledging and celebrating the abnormal, and you have probably the most ideal combination of any film this year… in theory, at least. After all, as much I like Burton, Goldman and some of the higher-profile YA adaptations (I maintain that The Hunger Games is still an amazing film series), none of the above are immune from being rubbish. Last year’s me may argue this point, but I hadn’t yet seen Mars Attacks at that point; this year’s me knows that this guy is capable of making crap. So, even with all the right pieces in place behind the scenes, how does the final product look?