Reviews Archives - Page 11 of 34

15 June 20218 January 2022

Tribeca 2021 Review: ‘Mark, Mary & Some Other People’ is all about sharing and caring

Two young people in a convenience store. He asks Siri about the caloric difference between two snacks. She chimes in that he could just read the bags. Realizing that they’ve met before, he asks her out, but she won’t say yes until after the results of the pregnancy test she’s buying. This is the meet-cute in Mark, Mary, & Some Other People, and it’s adorable in its own way.

A year later, madly in love and married, one of them brings up the idea of trying ethical non-monogamy. Hilarity and headache ensue. Needless to say, this isn’t exactly your traditional romantic comedy, but it is a (mostly) fun one.

15 June 20218 January 2022

Tribeca 2021 Review: ‘Wolfgang’ chronicles the life of the first celebrity chef

We live in a world of celebrity chefs. A world in which there are entire television channels and a subgenre of documentary dedicated to chefs and food. There were chefs on TV before all this began, but one chef incited the world of food celebrity: Wolfgang Puck.

If you’re a fan of food television, there isn’t a name more synonymous with it than Puck. If you’re going to make a documentary about the first real celebrity chef, then you definitely want the team who made Jiro Dreams of Sushi and Chef’s Table to make it.

14 June 202119 April 2022

Review: ‘Chained’ establishes Marlon Kazadi as one to watch

Abuse comes in cycles and is often passed from one generation to the next. Thus it is in Chained, which sees a boy with an abusive father hold another man captive. Yes, that’s the whole movie. It’s pretty good, too.

14 June 202119 April 2022

Review: ‘Akilla’s Escape’ examines cycles of crime

Crime doesn’t pay unless you’re really good at it. Akilla is really good at it. He has a marijuana farm, distribution network, men in his employ, and a friendly relationship with the local crime lord, The Greek. Weed has been made legal though, and rather than continue the cycles of his life Akilla wants out.

After putting all his affairs in order, he goes to inform The Greek, but when he arrives, he’s greeted by the barrel of a gun. That gun is in the hands of 15-year-old Sheppard, who is in the middle of robbing the crime lord with some friends. The friends escape, but Akilla subdues Sheppard and is now faced with a choice: turn him over to The Greek or disrupt the same cycle of crime he got caught in some 20 years before.

13 June 20218 January 2022

Tribeca 2021 Review: ‘Poser’ is a captivating thriller that investigates the art of copying

There is a scene early on in Poser in which Lennon (Sylvie Mix) and Bobbi (Bobbi Kitten) play the mirror game. As Bobbi moves, Lennon mirrors that movement until after a few minutes, Bobbi explains, Lennon’s movements will begin to inform her own. Then, after a few moments more, they won’t be able to tell who is mirroring who.

This scene is a condensed version of Poser, a story in which a young woman with difficulties interacting with others ingratiates herself in the Columbus, Ohio indie music scene by emulating the people she meets. If you’re picking up Single White Female vibes you’re not exactly on the wrong track.

8 June 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Awake’ is a technical stunner searching for a movie

I love long takes. I think they are an excellent way to highlight scene geography and build narrative tension in a film. I know they are complex endeavours that require every person involved to operate in unison. I find them thrilling.

Awake is full of long takes and other interesting camera work. It has fight scenes inside cars, long walks through buildings, and car crashes from the passengers perspective. Unfortunately, what it doesn’t have is a good story to tell, which is a shame because technically, the film is a stunner.

8 June 20218 January 2022

Review: The first two episodes of ‘Loki’ set up an intriguing adventure

Tom Hiddleston is back as the god of mischief in Disney’s new limited series Loki, and he’s definitely up to no good. Or, maybe a little bit of good. It’s not really clear, but that’s half the fun. Loki has always been in it for himself, but now he has Owen Wilson to add some direction, and the results are good.

3 June 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘The Dry’ is a well-executed mystery with a strong central performance from Eric Bana

Small towns have a certain appeal. The pace is slower, and the community can be close-knit. When things are good, small-town living is the sweet life, but life can turn sour when things aren’t so good and never recover. Kiewarra is this type of town, one that was shattered by the murder of a young woman, Ellie Deacon, some twenty years ago and never quite recovered, and now that three people are dead, things might only get worse.

1 June 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Little Fish’ is a new twist on a familiar heartbreak

Imagine that you have met the love of your life. You have an adorable meet-cute, you share a magical first date, and you connect on a profoundly deep level. Now, imagine that your memories of this relationship are slowly dripping away. This is the story of Little Fish, a love story set in the midst of a global pandemic that causes memory loss and one that will break and fill your heart in equal measure.

1 June 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Edge of the World’ is a beautiful –but kinda boring– adventure

Edge of the World is based on the life of James Brooke, the man who inspired –in whole or in part– novels by Conrad and Kipling. Brooke, a veteran of the Bengal Army, sailed to Borneo in the late 1830s and, after helping the Sultan of Brunei put down a rebellion, was gifted rule of Sarawak, a large swath of land on the northeast side of the island. He ruled for decades, and his descendants ruled all the way into the mid 20th century.

There is, as they say, a lot of story to tell here. This movie doesn’t quite tell it, though.

31 May 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Riders of Justice’ is dark, funny, and affecting

Everyone processes grief differently. Some people turn inward, looking for answers to complex equations that only prove that everything happens by chance. Others direct their rage outward to avoid confronting any other feelings. Sometimes, these two people team up and go on a revenge spree. You know, as you do.

26 May 20218 January 2022

Review: ’Cruella’ is stylish, funny, fun, and one of the best Disney live-action updates to date

Disney’s recent series of live-action remakes and updates of their library of classic animated films have been, to be generous, let’s say, a mixed bag. That’s not to say that they are unpopular, but most of them feel to me like they are unnecessary. This is especially true with the direct remakes, such as The Lion King or Dumbo.

Cruella takes a page from Maleficent‘s book. Rather than being a simple update of a film we already know and love (and already have a remake of), and tells the origin story of Cruella De Vil, the dog murdering villain from 101 Dalmations. This gives it more freedom to be its own thing, and the results are that it manages to capture the spirit of an animated film while adding the production value of a live-action film starring two Oscar winners.

In short, it’s one of the best of these movies so far.

24 May 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Army of the Dead’ is dumb, fun, and Zack Snyder’s best movie in years

Zack Snyder has been making comic movies almost exclusively for the last 15 years, starting with 300 and most recently with this year’s release of his extended cut of Justice League. That’s not a complaint, but it is interesting to me that he has come back to zombies after having finished that run, the genre that started his career.

It is my opinion that his remake of Dawn of the Dead, penned by James Gunn and released in 2004 as his first feature, is my favourite of Snyder’s films. His return to the genre is a proposition that I found exciting, and while it’s not a perfect movie by any stretch, Army of the Dead is his best movie in ages.

19 May 202111 January 2022

Review: ‘Trigger Point’ is a knockoff of better movies.

You’ve seen this before. The normal small-town man with a hilariously comprehensive home security system (which he uses to save stray cats) and excellent hacker skills (which he uses to help kids advance in video games), whose quiet life is disrupted when his history as an elite assassin catches up to him. It’s a classic setup and one that has worked to great effect many times. Unfortunately, this is not one of those times.

14 May 202111 January 2022

Review: ‘The Woman in the Window’ pays homage to many other films you should probably watch instead

Imagine for a moment a film full of Oscar-winning actors you love, written by a Pulitzer prize winner whose work you adore, directed by a director with a solid track record, and that pays homage to some of the great mystery stories of all time. Now imagine that it isn’t very good.

Awesome Friday!

Category: Reviews