A Haunting In Venice (2023) - Movie Review

After the release limbo and subsequent inundation of cast controversies that wound up plaguing Death On The Nile, it is somewhat relieving that Kenneth Branagh’s latest dive into the works of Agatha Christie hasn’t run into any such unpleasantness just on the surface. And yet, right from its horror-tinged trailer, I admit to being sceptical about how much I would like this one. Honestly, my first impression was that this was going to be yet another attempt to cross-promote with the Conjuring supernatural aesthetic, which has been steadily shrinking in my favour over the course of 2023. But hey, this wouldn’t exactly be the first time I went into a film with weird and arguably unfair expectations, much as I try to avoid such things. And it’s ultimately a moot point anyway since, again like Death On The Nile, I quite enjoyed this.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) - Movie Review

Well, after looking at the lion’s share of films about war and films about journalism over the past year and a half, I wasn’t exactly expecting to see one so soon that would combine the two together. Now I’m just hoping for a crossover between films about sub-par opera singers, films about evil witches and films about terrorist plots in Europe. Maybe I’m the only one who wants to see Gerard Butler kill the Snow Queen through the power of bad singing, but I still don’t doubt a nearby announcement for the release of The Phantom Of The Opera 2.

Anyway, tangent: I’m here to discuss Tina Fey, not the dregs of my fanfiction folder. Tina has essentially become this generation’s Meg Ryan, the actor that is meant to represent the average generally dissatisfied older woman. The main difference between the two being that Ryan gave us Sleepless In Seattle and Kate & Leopold, and Fey has so far given us films like Mean Girls and even Sisters from earlier this year; Ryan made chick flicks, Fey makes real flicks. Far as I’m concerned, at any rate. So, time to dip into that pool again with the latest of Fey’s filmography.

Sisters (2016) - Movie Review

It seems that today’s subject is going to be the first in what I hope is a short-lived trend of older actors doing teenaged things for the year, what with Dirty Grandpa coming to screens in a little while. I’ve gone at length how much I really don’t like the school of comedy that says just being offensive or violent or awkward doesn’t automatically make a film funny; well, the same applies for mid-life crises. Probably the only time I’ve seen a piece of media make adults acting like teens funny was during an episode of Buffy; that was over fifteen years ago. As a result, despite my affinity for Tina Fey, even that appreciation wasn’t enough to make this film look good going by the trailer. Bear in mind that I was willing to give the weaksauce This Is Where I Leave You a chance because of Fey’s involvement; that’s how bad this looks from the off-set. Well, given only one way to find out if my pessimism once again pays off. This is Sisters.

This Is Where I Leave You (2014) - Movie Review

Given my habitual watching of everything that comes my way, expectations on how a movie looks and sounds before seeing it means something different than what it used to. Before, as it probably does for a lot of you reading this, I would look at a film’s cast, premise and trailer and judge whether or not I would go and see it based on that. Now, since I watch most if not all of the movies I get trailers for, it feels more like opening a birthday present from somebody I don’t know; it could be good, bad, bizarre or any mixture of the three, but I won’t know till I open it. I’ve had movies that were good that I thought would be bad (The Fault In Our Stars), vice versa (22 Jump Street) or had my assumptions proven right (Divergent sucked). What am I getting at with all this? Well, tl;dr I thought This Is Where I Leave You would be hilarious just because Tina Fey is in it.