Movies 1000 results

Retro Movie Review Logan Lucky

It’s also a work of two parts and while the first half struggles a bit to find its footing, in the second half, things pick up nicely. As in all good caper yarns, things are not always as they seem and the work’s internal logic by film’s end is most satisfying. Soderbergh as is his way, loads the film with a heavy duty cast and it’s great to see Daniel Craig play against his usual screen persona as Joe Bang, a bleach blonde career criminal with a way with science.   // ...

A White, White Day Movie Review

Ingimundur (Ingvar Sigurdsson) is a police officer who is trying his best to deal with the loss of his life partner and wife. The cracks start to appear early but the film’s unconventional manner takes its time to establish just how unusual life can be in the cold and barren tundra of Iceland. //   It also presents a form of child rearing that puts the overly cautious way of the west in stark contrast. These young ones are not handled with kid gloves on. The film uses very ...

Waves Movie Review

As the story evolves, you witness the impending disintegration of teenager Tyler Williams (Kelvin Harrison Jr.). You can see the end result in the distance but can do nothing to change the ultimate outcome. This situation tears his family apart and each member ends up dealing with the sorrow and loss in their own way. //   With the audience nerves still raw, the film enters its second half. The tone becomes less frantic and more introspective. This mood is helped in large ...

Retro Movie Review – Steve Jobs

Screenplay writer Aaron Sorkin’s influence can be felt in more than just the words in the film as the Sorkinisms just keep piling up. The famous walk and talk shot is used throughout, as is the uber intelligent and quick witted conversational style. The brain pool on display is never short of exceptional as are the acting chops.   //   Michael Fassbender as Jobs is fantastic as is Kate Winslet as Job’s right hand woman Joanna Hoffman. Winslet’s take on Hoffman with ...

Retro Movie Review – Dunkirk

In this context, he build tension in a masterful way. The film features very little dialogue and Hans Zimmer’s score is a major player in the film’s tone and emotional impact. The tension is fierce and relentless and never loosens its grip throughout the 106 minute running time.   //   The horror of war is never far from view but it isn’t presented in an overly graphic or bloody way. This approach adds even more to the film’s impact because it doesn’t distance ...

Retro Movie Review – 21 Jump Street

How this happened is no real mystery. First it must be said that out of the ten or so people I spoke to before the screening, none had actually seen even a single episode of the eighties era television show, so the slate seems to be clean for a new interpretation with no baggage of having to adhere to fans that know every nuance of the original. The film also steers firmly into the direction of parody and as such takes as many swipes at eighties era society as it does the television of the ...

Retro Movie Review – Everest

The film is incredible tense and from the first frame you feel the rising level of impending doom. Even for those that have little knowledge of the actual events of the disaster, the film fills you with that dark sense of foreboding. It frames the climbers (accurately or not) as a group of driven people with little regard for their own safety or the tons of rubbish that modern day mountain climbing leaves behind.   //   The film is big in almost every way, a big cast, a ...

Retro Movie Review – John Wick: Chapter 2

Keanu Reeves still nails the role and having someone with limited acting chops playing the role of the proverbially ‘talk softly and carry a big stick’ kind of guy works towards the film’s success. He also has another dog this time and it’s to the film’s credit that the pouch makes it to the end credits alive.   //   The film picks up shortly after the moment where part one left off (four days to be exact) and the two would make a great side by side movie ...

Retro Movie Review – Alien: Covenant

Michael Fassbender does double duty this time out and his android character poses most of the film’s questions on life and the meaning of. Non existentialists need not fear for those with less interest in large degrees of depth, there is still plenty of inventive gore and enough scare tactics to keep most audience members on edge.   //   Picking up where Prometheus left off, Alien: Covenant works well as a stand alone film as it doesn’t add all that much to the alien ...

Retro Movie Review – Fast & Furious 7

Actor Paul Walker’s passing back in the 2013 was a very sad moment and happened midway through the filming of F&F 7. It caused a number of delays while they rewrote the script. Walker was a very well established journeyman actor and was well liked by all who knew him. This plays out sombrely in the latest film as the series has always focused on a group dynamic and championed the virtues of being part of an extended family.   //   The filmmakers have done a good ...