The Flash (2023) - Movie Review

Even with how much I go to bat for the superhero genre around here, I was… kind of dreading going to see this one?

Part of that is because of Ezra Miller and what can loosely be described as their touring psycho circus over the past year and a bit (it’s been going on for much longer, but I mean in terms of mainstream coverage of it), of which I will not be getting into as it could take up this entire post all on its own… and quite frankly, I don’t feel all that comfortable commenting on it at length to begin with.

Part of it is because the entire conversation concerning the DCEU, the beginnings of its transition into the James Gunn-led DC Studios, and people still clamouring for Snyder to come back, has grown extremely tiresome, with this film being the cornerstone for that major transition.

And part of it is because I didn’t exercise due caution when it comes to new blockbusters and wound up having quite a bit of the film spoiled for me beforehand (specifically the… let’s call them ‘necromantic cameos’), and what I saw didn’t exactly raise hopes of this working out in the midst of everything else.

As I’ve gotten into in past reviews, the main reason why I do these reviews in the first place is because… well, I have fun doing this. It isn’t to present myself as some high arbiter of taste or to get involved in fandom politics; I enjoy watching and writing about films. Simple as. And watching films with this much baggage behind them, both as art and as studio product, tends to kill the mood for me. But at the very least, having now watched the film in question, I can say that I had more fun with the film than I was expecting.

The Adam Project (2022) - Movie Review

After the bizarre misfires that showed up in Free Guy, I’ll admit that I’m a bit apprehensive about seeing Shaun Levy and Ryan Reynolds teaming up again, especially so soon. But knowing that these two are also doing the next Deadpool movie after this, I’m also hoping that this serves as a better example of them working with each other’s sensibilities. I’m not expecting a masterpiece here; just something that will restore enough faith that Deadpool 3 has a chance of working, considering I can already see a creative choice for that film that has a high chance of screwing up. But we’ll get to that when that film comes around; for right now, we have this to take a look at.

Synchronic (2021) - Movie Review

Normally, when picking a movie to review, it usually involves some light Googling and finding names that I either recognise directly or recognise any of the work associated with them. This is why I tend to pick out specific members of the cast and crew whenever I do these write-ups. However, this film is a bit different to that as, aside from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s names being attached to last year’s excellent She Dies Tomorrow, I have no real experience with their own bodies of work. Nor was I all that aware of this film was even about, doing my best to let the initial trailer and as few plot details as possible in the process of finding somewhere to watch it stand on their own. I don’t normally allow myself the opportunity to go into a film blind, but I have to admit, this is one hell of a film to go into knowing as little as possible.

Four Kids And It (2020) - Movie Review

The titular It of this film isn’t the legendary cosmic monster who dresses like a clown. No, this one might be even weirder than that. This It, voiced by Michael Caine, is a sand-dwelling creature that looks like Yoda fucked Chewbacca’s dad and somehow gave birth afterwards. He grants wishes by inflating himself with magical stomach gases, but can only grant one wish a day, except when he can do more because the plot needs him to.

Already, this sounds like the kind of crazy you can only find in media made for children, also known as one of the main reasons why I still give kids’ films an honest chance well into my 20s. Unfortunately, the lunacy isn’t confined to just the story specifics; this entire production is off its face.

Tenet (2020) - Movie Review

After diverting from his usual illusionist ways in 2017 with Dunkirk, writer/director Christopher Nolan seems to be back on his cerebral shit. In fact, he seems to have gone right back to Inception, as his latest is another example of high-concept complexity wrapped up in the kind of mainstream bombast that has allowed Nolan a foot in both houses for so much of his career. While I’d argue, both for subjective and objective reasons, this doesn’t quite reach the same dizzying heights as Inception, I’d also argue that this film has more than enough of its own finesse to succeed.

Don't Let Go (2020) - Movie Review

We’re once again dipping into the overstuffed bucket of Blumhouse Productions releases, and considering Jason has already shown a wide variance from decent (Black Christmas), excellent (The Invisible Man) to just plain terrible (Fantasy Island), all in just a few months’ time, I really don’t know what to expect from this one. Add onto that how this is written and directed by Jacob Aaron Estes, who we last checked in on with his writing contributions to the terminally pointless Rings, and how lead actors David Oyelowo and Storm Reid haven’t had the best of luck in their last handful of theatrical outings, and this could really go pear-shaped quickly. Well, much to my eternal surprise and gratitude, this turns out to be a saving throw for all three of them.

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) - Movie Review

One of the most common hypotheticals in the realm of time travel fiction is the Baby Hitler scenario: Travelling back in time to kill Hitler as an infant before he grows into one of history’s most notorious dictators. There are a lot of ethical dilemmas and potential consequences that spring out of this idea, but one of the lesser-discussed ones is the possibility that making the kill successfully wouldn’t solve everything. That while the very specific threat Hitler posed may be prevented, something just as bad, or worse, could take its place in human history. It is this idea that forms part of the core of today’s feature, and it makes for one of the most welcome surprises of the year.

ARQ (2016) - Movie Review

In the annals of speculative fiction, the very idea of time travel is one that seems to fascinate people the most. Like, to the point where even filmmakers and audiences that want nothing to do with the deeper implications of sci-fi are willing to go along with it; on paper, Groundhog Day shouldn’t have gotten as widely popular as it did. However, in spite of that, it is also one of the most problematic and fiddly sub-genres in the entirety of fiction, let alone speculative fiction. The reason for this is one of basic logic, and how most storytellers fail to take into account the extremely complex logic behind time travel, paradoxes, timelines, parallel timelines among many, many others. As such, even with the better time twisting tales that have come out recently like Looper, Edge Of Tomorrow and even (by some accounts) Predestination, plot holes make themselves quite prominent and end up tearing away at the work’s structural integrity. Will this film fall into that same trap?

Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015) - Movie Review

Project Almanac (2015) - Movie Review

I try and make an effort when it comes to not letting production companies’ involvement with a movie deter me from seeing it. This is a big exception, though, as we have a triumvirate of worrisome entries here: Insurge Pictures and MTV Films’ only features of note together in recent years are two pop star documentaries, and Platinum Dunes is the place where horror remakes go to die a slow and ugly death, while dragging stillborn original concepts down with them. When you include this with the fact that this is yet another entry in the now-largely-boring found footage genre, it starts to look something that belongs in the ‘must-avoid’ pile. But, given how much Michael Bay has managed to seriously surprise me in the last couple of years, I am willing to at least give this a try. That and I am kind of a sucker for time travel.