See How They Run (2022) - Movie Review

Okay, okay, for real this time, we’re done with the trauma shit. We’re still dealing with the macabre, but things are going to be a lot lighter this time around with a silly little whodunit mystery. And man, the cast for this thing is incredible. Putting Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan together as the leads is already beautiful all on its own, but adding in Adrien Brody, rising star Harris Dickinson, David Oyelowo making up for the double helping of bad from last year, and Reece motherloving Shearsmith? I could watch these people paint fences and still be fine with paying for the privilege.

The Bad Guys (2022) - Movie Review

Time for another unorthodox heist film, so soon after the anti-heist of The Duke, and I was quite torn initially going into this. On one hand, it’s the latest DreamWorks animated release, and if nothing else, they also manage to provide interesting material to dig into, even if it doesn’t always hold up alongside its competition. But on the other hand, we have writer Etan Cohen, whose rather inconsistent track record reached a serious nadir a few years back with his work on the unbearably smug Holmes & Watson. As much as I love heist films, this really could go either way and… well, it kinda goes for both of them?

Richard Jewell (2020) - Movie Review

I find myself in a bit of an awkward position with this one. This is another one of those situations where, while watching the film and as I left the cinema, I found myself quite liking what I just saw, even if I could definitely see some flaws with it. But in-between that point and sitting down to write this review, that opinion has… changed. It has soured. It has gotten to the stage where I feel like I have some fire in my belly about this film, who made it, and what purpose it ultimately serves. Not gonna lie, I’m going for the throat with this one because I am not happy.

Jojo Rabbit (2019) - Movie Review

In June of 2017, in-between being named New Zealander Of The Year and making Thor: Ragnarok, filmmaker Taika Waititi made this video in collaboration with the New Zealand Human Rights Commission.

It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Waititi making something like this. A video so bursting with ironic social cringe, made by a creative who has built an entire career out of weaponising it, that its discomfort can make it difficult to watch. Being able to sell the message that even the smallest act of racism adds to the larger picture (basically the concept of micro-aggressions in a nutshell) is what immediately won me over that this is the guy who should make a fascist satire in a “you couldn’t make a Mel Brooks movie today” cultural climate. And thankfully, the man does not disappoint.

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.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: When the police fail to find the person responsible for the death of her daughter, Mildred (Frances McDormand) decides to take matters into her own hands. To draw attention back to the case, she rents three billboards just outside of town with a direct message for local sheriff Willoughby (Woody Harrelson). As the police start to feel the pressure, and the townsfolk give their own reactions to a member of the community being called out in this fashion, the town of Ebbing, Missouri is about to get turned upside-down.

Poltergeist (2015) - Movie Review

Thanks to filmmakers like Michael Bay and Rob Zombie, the words ‘classic horror film’ and ‘remake’ are nowadays associated with the burning down of cinemas in fits of anger. Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes production company is responsible for a large number of remakes that do little more than castrate the icons attached to them, and Rob Zombie’s take on the Halloween series makes my bitching about Lou from Hot Tub Time Machine 2 look minute in comparison. Sam Raimi, the man responsible for some of the greatest cult classics ever created with the Evil Dead trilogy, is admittedly far less guilty of milquetoast horror than others. However, when your producer credits also include the Boogeyman trilogy, The Possession as well as the widely unnecessary Evil Dead remake, forgive my scepticism at this working out too well. So, how does this film hold up to the Tobe Hooper/Steven Spielberg original?