Mute (2018) - Movie Review

 

The only thing worse than a bad idea is a good idea used badly. And in the realms of science fiction, the inherent freedom of the genre allows for a wealth of possibilities for stories to tell. However, as I have unfortunately gotten into before like with Self/Less and Downsizing, there’s a difference between having possibilities and actually making them pay off. With writer/director Duncan Jones’ latest, we see one of the more bewildering examples of this in action.

Next Gen (2018) - Movie Review

 

Streaming services are going to completely replace the traditional cinema in a few years. That’s not even speculation on my part, I’m taking that as a given with how much services like Netflix have changed our media consumption. And today’s film, I feel, is the penultimate signifier of that. Ads for Netflix series have been popping up on cinema screens for a while now, but this marks the first time I can recall a Netflix movie getting that kind of screen time. To the point where I’ve likely seen more ads for this than a decent amount of films I actually saw in cinemas this year. While we can consider the bigger ramifications of this elsewhere, the specificity of this has me curious: Is this film worth that much marketing push, or is this just another lacklustre effort being put on an artificial pedestal?

Climax (2018) - Movie Review

 

Even considering his knack for exposing the truly terrifying parts of the human psyche, Gaspar Noé’s latest effort starts off deceptively normal. A group of hip-hop dancers are rehearsing for an international tour, with all kinds of glorious 90’s hip-house blaring in the background, going through their paces in a dizzying display of physicality. Noé’s long-time collaborator Benoît Debie captures the initial dance sequence brilliantly, balancing cinematic framing with theatrical space to create an engine of raw kinetic energy.

From there, things wind down with the after-party, with the dancers being catty about each other like this escaped a kitschy reality show set, and they’re all enjoying themselves… until they discover that someone spiked their sangria with LSD.

The Land Of Steady Habits (2018) - Movie Review

Well, this certainly makes for a change of pace. Ben Mendelsohn, an actor I’ve covered numerous times before on here depicting some of the worst kinds of people imaginable, has taken a step into mid-life crisis dramedy. Not gonna lie, after seeing him in Una, I don’t think it’s even possible to see Mendelsohn on-screen without a rolling chill down the spine.

But it’s because of these very situations that typecasting is understood as such a negative practice, and it’s not like anyone really wants to be most associated with the power-hungry, callous and fucking despicable characters Mendelsohn is mainly known for these days. So, really, seeing him in a different setting should turn out to be a good thing, especially since it seems to be a really damn good fit for him.

Roma (2018) - Movie Review

Before getting into this film, I want to show you all something:

That video was made in collaboration with Autism Speaks, an organisation that, for me and many other autistics, has become emblematic of just how much work needs to be done when it comes to autism awareness. It shows a level of sickening propaganda that it has also become an emblem of how we see the world perceiving us. It’s frankly hard to sit through without feeling like a pariah on one’s own planet. And it was directed by one Alfonso Cuarón, director of Y Tu Mamá También, Children Of God, Gravity and a bunch of other work more worth having one’s name attached to than this shit.

I bring all this up because, as I get into his latest effort, know that I am struggling with trying to separate his place as a genuine cinematic marvel with his culpability in something that haunts the autism movement to this day, especially since that very video is one of the reasons why I’m an advocate for the cause in the first place: I don’t want this shit hanging around and making things harder for me and others.

Okay, rant over: Let’s actually get into the film itself.

Gnome Alone (2018) - Movie Review

 

It seems like every year, I come across a stupid animated kids’ film that, for one reason or another, appeals to me where it didn’t for many others. And I proceed to look like an idiot for trying to convince grown-ass adults that it’s worth watching. 2016 had The Angry Birds Movie, last year it was The Boss Baby (I am never going to live that down, it seems), and this year, it looks like it's gonna be Sherlock Gnomes.

While I reiterate that I’m just as surprised as anyone else that that film had anything worth praising, I would also like to state that a lot of the films I cover on here are looked at through the prism of me compulsively watching anything I can get my hands on. Anything good is worth highlighting, same as anything bad, and in the wilds of cinema, know that things can always get worse. What am I getting at with all this? Well, for those who still think Sherlock Gnomes is worthy of Worst Of The Year status, know that it isn’t even the worst gnome movie from this year. Behold the true contender for that title.

The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) - Movie Review

 

A lot of things have come to define the Cloverfield franchise: Ingeniously vague marketing, a tenuous connection to each other and including individual films that stand out so strongly on their own that it’s enough to make said tenuous connections feel like a total non-issue. It’s a loose-knit anthology series that, even with only two prior entries under its belt, has helped cemented producer J.J. Abrams as a cinematic figurehead. And then this film happened. Well, that winning streak had to break eventually.