I'm Thinking Of Ending Things (2020) - Movie Review

Charlie Kaufman: The hopeless romantic. Emphasis on hopeless. In the midst of his invariably abstract looks at memory, self-loathing, and the capacity of media itself, his depiction of love always feels like it’s being viewed through a neurotic screen. Romantic leads who can’t allow themselves to experience love, and when they do, it only serves to rip the guts out of that feeling being real in the first place. His latest feature finds him well and truly in this mode of storytelling, going even further down the abstract path to deliver one of the single most pessimistic depictions of love I've ever sat through.

Game Night (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Every weekend, Max (Jason Bateman), Annie (Rachel McAdams), Ryan (Billy Magnussen), Kevin (Lamorne Morris) and Michelle (Kylie Bunbury) get together for a game night. But when Max's brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) rolls into town, he wants to try something a bit different: A role-playing mystery night. The group goes along with the theatrics initially, but before too long, it seems that they might be in the middle of a real mystery as Brooks is kidnapped. In order to survive the night, they not only have to follow the clues but also figure out how much of what is happening is part of the game and how much of it is part of something more dangerous.

The Post (2018) - Movie Review

 

The plot: While the New York Times publish an article detailing Pentagon papers that show a mass cover-up concerning the U.S.’s involvement in the Vietnam War, the Washington Post is stuck reporting on Nixon’s daughter’s wedding. However, when the government tries to censor the Times from posting any more of their findings, Post publisher Kay Graham (Meryl Streep) and editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) get to work on publishing the findings themselves. However, between the social, ethical and political hurdles involved, it seems that the truth comes with a price.

The Discovery (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: Thomas Harbor (Robert Redford) has made a world-changing discovery: He has found scientific proof that there is life after death. In the midst of an increased suicide rate in reaction to this news, he has begun further tests to see if he can see this afterlife for himself. Meanwhile, his son Will (Jason Segel) and his new friend Isla (Rooney Mara) have been brought into the facility where Thomas is doing his experiments, and it seems that Thomas is on the brink of a whole new discovery.

American Made (2017) - Movie Review

If you’ve been following my reviews for any length of time, you’ll know that I have a rather specific approach to most of the films I cover. I try and give some breathing room for the acting and production values of each film, but more times than not, I end up talking about the general vibe of a film more than anything else; the supposed “message” behind all of it and end up judging films with that largely in mind. Well, as much as I tend to focus on the main sentiment of a given production, there are certain ideas and notions that I find myself repelled by; things like the general attitude of most ‘chick flicks’ or rather distasteful ideas concerning issues of mental health tend to set me off and make me a bit myopic in my overall critique, as if a film’s overall theme overrides anything and everything else it may have to offer.

 

I bring this up not to start an effort to avoid such things in the future, but to once again bring whatever biases I have going into films to the forefront. And unfortunately, we have another instance of that today with a film that involves a form of commentary that I will likely never be able to take seriously. But I’m getting ahead of myself; let’s get started with today’s film already.

The Program (2015) - Movie Review

 

Earlier in the year, by sheer luck, I happened to be in the same room as my uncle while he was watching a documentary on Netflix. That doco was Bigger, Stronger, Faster*, a film that looked at the issue of steroid use in professional wrestling and dare to ask if maybe, just maybe, the world was overreacting to performance enhancement just a bit. Since sitting through that, I have been rather dubious about today’s film concerning the infamous Lance Armstrong drug scandal. The reason for that being that, unlike the rest of the world, I don’t see how demonizing his character helps anyone. As such, I am seriously worried about this film devolving into a lot of beating down on an easy target and acting like a slightly more sophisticated Mr. Mackey about how drugs are bad, mkay? Well, there’s only one way to find out if my rather pessimistic expectations are met, and bear in mind that these are even greater than usual.