Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) - Movie Review

There’s nothing inherently wrong with a film being made with a very specific audience in mind. In this case, it’s for fans of the 1993 cult classic Hocus Pocus, one of the odder parts of Disney’s storied history. I only got around to watching it fairly recently (on insistence from my significant other), and while I don’t entirely get the hype for it, it’s still quite fun. Looking at it through a modern lens, it’s quite easy to see why the Sanderson sisters would become so iconic, since they are the perfect intersection between Drag theatricality, Gothic subversiveness, and just plain hammy performances. I mean, yeah, the amount of time the narrative fixates on the virginity of teenagers is… a bit much, but it has its place in pop culture. A place that Disney has now seen fit to add on to with a decades-removed sequel.

Being The Ricardos (2021) - Movie Review

A little over a year after his previous feature, and Aaron Sorkin is already back at it with another directorial effort. Only this one is sticking much closer to his own background in television than his last two films, with a biopic on one of the greatest sitcom couples in American history in Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. I once again find myself needing to admit my lack of background knowledge, as I haven’t seen much from any of Lucille’s shows (save for that one conveyor belt gag, which is still one of the greatest sitcoms moments ever in my book), but then again, I didn’t know all that much about Steve Jobs, Molly Bloom, or Abbie Hoffman, and that didn’t stop me from liking Sorkin’s depictions of those people. But while this has Sorkin still doing what he does best, the effect is significantly dampened this time around.

Toy Story 4 (2019) - Movie Review

I’ve been somewhat dreading this one. Not because I have any doubt about the latest iteration of the franchise that pointed the way forward for CGI-animated cinema, or that Disney/Pixar in its current postmodern phase isn’t capable of delivering. It’s more because, as I got into last year, Toy Story 3 is a very important film for me. It’s the film that served as a paradigm shift in how I viewed media meant for children from that point on, making me realise that the age-old excuse of ‘it’s just for kids’ is nothing more than the catchcry of lazy filmmakers.

In order for this film to measure up to that, it would have to pull an artistic feat that I doubt even Disney/Pixar is capable of. There’s no way this could be yet another improvement on the franchise’s kid-friendly existentialism; all it could do is be another good addition, in my eyes at least, and that’s thankfully what we get here.

The 15:17 To Paris (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: On an afternoon train from Amsterdam to Paris, U.S. soldiers Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos, along with their best friend Anthony Sadler, encounter a terrorist ready to kill everyone on-board. As they get ready to take him down, Spencer recollects what led him to this moment, from his school days to his military training to the brief instances before this very moment that would make him and his friends into heroes.

Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Road Chip (2015) - Movie Review