Tetris (2023) - Movie Review

I have pretty much given up trying to anticipate anything that Jon S. Baird does. With each new release, he not only creates something that stands out wholly from anything else that’s released next to it, but even from the previous production Baird worked on. He's gone from the psychological dark comedy of Filth to the vaudeville tragedy of Stan & Ollie… to a Cold War-era political thriller wearing the skin of a corporate biopic in Tetris.

The Hater (2020) - Movie Review

Having already managed a stellar feature recently with Corpus Christi, director Jan Komasa and writer Mateusz Pacewicz have another one that has made it to Aussie screens in 2020. Only this one deals with subject matter that is even more confronting than notions of religious belief: The Internet. Specifically, its use as a mass misinformation tool and how online hatred can (and often does) spill over into the other side of the screen. And to be perfectly honest, this feature is so fucking great, it makes the admittedly-impressive Corpus Christi look like these guys were just warming up.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020) - Movie Review

As much as the whole in-character interviewing shtick has grown somewhat stale in recent years, I’d be remiss if I didn’t reaffirm that Sacha Baron-Cohen might be one of the only comedians alive today who can pull that shtick off. Indeed, his feature-length depiction of Kazakh reporter Borat Sagdiyev remains one of the greatest mockumentaries of all time, as graphic as it is bitingly hilarious. And in an odd showing of how heroes show up just in the nick of time to save the day, Baron-Cohen has delivered a follow-up to that classic in what can reasonably be called the best time possible.

Irresistible (2020) - Movie Review

2020 has not been a good year for political satire, at least when it comes to feature-length efforts. Admittedly, this genre has a higher degree of difficulty than most, and COVID fucking up the release schedule is likely delaying most of the good stuff while the disposable shit rises to the top, but there’s also the collective mood to account for as well. It has been a highly turbulent four years, and alongside the rising hostility across party lines, there has also been a rise in the need to vent about such things. A lot of the political cinema this year has had a heavy air of needing to get something off the filmmakers’ chests, but without the clarity needed to make it resonate when describing it to someone else. It is in this mode that Jon Stewart returns to the director’s chair with… well, I hesitate to call it the worst so far, but it is definitely the tamest, which in its own way is even worse.

Citizen K (2020) - Movie Review

Alex Gibney is one of the strongest documentarians working today. He’s basically the embodiment of the more investigative, journalistic side of the art form, diving head-long into incredibly intricate and invariably depressing subjects, managing to unearth gold more times than not. We last caught up with him with the 2015 Scientology documentary Going Clear, a film so effective that I still can’t listen to Bohemian Rhapsody without feeling slightly ill. And with his latest, he’s getting into a topic that might be even dicier than going through David Miscavige’s dirty laundry: Putin’s Russia.

Seberg (2020) - Movie Review

I don’t think there’s a single actress working today who could take this role other than Kristen Stewart. As much as the white liberal populace could quite easily take a shine to stories like that of the real-life philanthropist and actress Jean Seberg, the narrative of a white woman implanting herself into the protests and struggles of the Black Panther Party isn’t something just anyone could pull off. With how high-profile Stewart has grown of late, and how endearingly riot grrl her public persona has become, her status as one of the mainstream's favourite social subversives makes her ripe for this kind of story. And thankfully, through thick and thin, she manages to pull it off.

The Report (2019) - Movie Review

Much like how Steven Soderbergh couldn’t restrain himself to a single film this year, his frequent collaborator Scott Z. Burns appears to be in the same mode as, along with writing Soderbergh’s The Laundromat, he has stepped back into the director’s chair to do some even more scouring of conspiratorial secrets, this time involving the United States government and their involvement in torturing suspected terrorists in the wake of 9/11. Strap yourself in for some pretty ugly ruminations because, much like the film itself, I’m not going to be holding anything back.

Hail Satan? (2019) - Movie Review

In my time perusing social media and the many places where the unseen masses congregate to share their views, I have realised a fairly simple equation: The more that a person points the finger at someone for being a Satanist, the less they actually know about what Satanism actually is. Anyone in the mood for a good laugh (and still has the strength of will to use Twitter) should go and check the Church of Satan’s Twitter account, where there are daily iterations of people taking the time to lash out at the Church, while not using a fraction of that time to do some basic Q&A reading so that they know what they’re angry against.

It’s one of those aspects of the modern understanding of religion that always tickles me, and it’s what immediately drew me to checking this documentary out. A chronicle of the Satanic Temple, the more politically-minded side of Satanist doctrine that is more interested in activism than metaphysics, the depiction we are given is one that takes into account the common misconceptions about the movement and, with a devilishly cheeky grin, dispels a lot of the more frequent myths surrounding it.

Long Shot (2019) - Movie Review

One of the oldest tropes in romantic comedy is the idea of mismatching someone conventionally attractive with someone unconventionally attractive. If you’ve seen any movie or any sitcom in the last handful of decades, you’ve seen this in action. It usually takes the form of a schlubby guy who is either going out with or is married to a beautiful woman, with the internal joke being the audience questioning how he got her.

Today’s film, the latest from my favourite film studio working right now Point Grey Pictures, is another in this grand tradition, and after narrowly dodging a bullet with their last film, I was honestly worried that this was going to be the point where the bottom fell out of this studio’s fantastic track record. I should really stop underestimating these guys because, while this is indeed a rom-com, its real ambitions are bigger. A lot bigger. Like, this is the kind of shit we need in circulation right now.

The Front Runner (2019) - Movie Review

2019 is an election year here in Australia. Knowing the intense makeover that has taken place over the last couple of years in regards to political discourse, largely due to what can charitably be called an unexpected result in the U.S. 2016 election, it seems that the public are more aware than ever of the chicanery that goes down on the party front lines. As such, features like this which delve into the political past are typically done as a means of making some sense of what is happening in the now. The Post managed it, Vice ultimately didn't, and today’s outing? Well, it does technically speak to the current political climate... in the worst way possible.

Vice (2018) - Movie Review

Propaganda is not a dirty word. 99 times out of 100, whenever someone something for being propaganda, it’s because it doesn’t align with their own views. Cut deep enough into any piece of media and it always ends up being an endorsement for some brand of political thought, whether it’s immediately obvious or otherwise. I myself honestly hold no qualms in my own writings being viewed in the same way, as I’m not exactly shy about my worldview and what I perceive as matters worth discussing.

 

However, while keeping all of this in mind, there is still such a thing as bad propaganda, where the intended message at the forefront is either fundamentally incorrect or it’s presented in a way that doesn’t make it easy to get the desired effect from the audience. I’ve covered plenty of the former on here before, and even looked at some of the latter, but honestly, it’s the latter that ends up hurting more. It’s also why this film hurts as much as it does.

Illang: The Wolf Brigade (2018) - Movie Review

 

Transferring media born from one culture to the tastes of another requires more than simple copy-and-pasting. In order to make it convincing that there is a reason why a particular story is being reframed and reshipped to different territories, sometimes changes need to be made. It can involve relatively minor changes, like replacing some of the aspects of Watchmen, or it can be a lot more thorough, like the complete political shifts in V For Vendetta. This film, closing out today’s triumvirate of live-action anime adaptations, is a South Korean take on a piece of Japanese animated cinema. The results are… mixed.

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.

Beirut (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Former U.S. diplomat Mason (Jon Hamm) has succumbed to alcoholism after the death of his wife ten years earlier. He is contacted by his old colleagues to mediate a negotiation in Mason's former station Beirut, where a terrorist organisation has taken Mason's old friend Cal (Mark Pellegrino) hostage. As he re-enters the political hot spot and tries to navigate the numerous factions vying for power, he could get a chance to not only save his friend but also find the person who took his family from him.

A Quiet Place (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Humanity is on the brink of extinction. An alien species has landed that will attack at the slightest sound, forcing the survivors like Lee (John Krasinski), his wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and their children Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe) and Beau (Cade Woodward) to be live a literal quiet existence or else they will be killed. As they try to lead as normal a life as one can have in this situation and prepare for the arrival of their next child, the creatures lay in wait for them to make even the smallest of mistakes... and snatch their prey.

Darkest Hour (2018) - Movie Review

 

The plot: After the resignation of the then-current British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup), Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) is chosen to take his place. As he settles into his higher position, and tries to deal with his own parliament's apprehension about his policies, it seems that he will have to deal with more than just the approaching Nazi forces if he wants to see Great Britain survive this war.

Miss Sloane (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: Lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain) has been brought before a congressional hearing under suspicion of violating U.S. Senate ethics law. She recalls the events of the last three months, specifically her involvement in getting a gun control bill passed into congress and the efforts of her and her team to secure the votes. However, in the process of trying to win the battle, her determination has led her to increasingly dubious choices that may show her to be the bigger threat than the people she’s fighting against.

Where To Invade Next (2016) - Movie Review

Bowling For Columbine was one of the first films I can remember watching and it was on heavy rotation in my DVD player when I was growing up. It is also the only Michael Moore film to date that I have seen in full. When dealing with any politically-charged filmmaker, especially one as divisive as Michael Moore, experience is probably helpful. Then again, experience is something in pretty short supply around these parts, so why start now? However, seeing as how it is election season both here in Australia and over in the U.S. and we’re being bombarded by vox pops and spin doctors every other minute of the day, I feel a certain need to soap box that would probably do me good to let out. As a result, I am now breaking my usual rule of abstaining from politics as best as I can on this blog and willingly walking into the hellfire by looking at a very politically-charged film. At least I can get it out of my system and go back to not knowing thing one about my country’s politicians; we’re all screwed regardless of who wins anyway.

London Has Fallen (2016) - Movie Review

In 2013, a strange occurrence took place in that we got not one but two films involving a siege on the White House by terrorists going after the President. I’ll leave whatever political connotations can be read into that, considering how this came about not that long after Obama was re-elected, and instead look at them both in context to each other. Now, White House Down is a film I haven’t gotten around to yet because, quite frankly, less Roland Emmerich in my life can only be a good thing. However, going just on the casting of Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx and the image from the trailer of Foxx as the President wielding a rocket launcher, I can only assume that the film didn’t take itself too seriously.

Olympus Has Fallen by Antoine Fuqua, on the other hand, plays things so seriously that the frequent action/siege/borrowed from Die Hard clichés that crop up regularly instilled laughter in the audience. For the record though, as a film I actually have seen, OHF was a decent watch. The acting was good, with a surprisingly awesome turn from Melissa Leo, the action shows Fuqua’s knack for brutal and low-flash fight scenes and the pacing was excellent, even if the story got topsy-turvy in spots. Given how I watched this film for the first time recently, I can only hope that this follow-up isn't just going to be a repeat of the exact same story.