Boyhood Movie Review
When the film starts, we catch up with six year-old Mason (Ellar Coltrane) and his family, sister Samantha (Linklater’s real-life daughter Lorelei Linklater) and mom and pop (Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke). What follows is a coming of age tale that touches on many elements of the modern day life, single parenthood, sibling rivalry and just trying to figure out this crazy thing called life.
The concept is interesting but it’s the performances that make this film transcendent. ...
Magic in the Moonlight Movie Review
As is the norm for these kinds of things a rocky romance reluctantly blossoms between the pair predictably precipitating the drama and comedy for the story. Of course Firth is old enough to be Stone's father but add a little Just For Men and, voila, problem solved.
Written and directed by Woody Allen, the film is a frivolous but interesting discussion on open versus closed minds; hard rationality versus the fantastic; and the complex relationship between science, philosophy and religion. ...
Snowpiercer Movie Review
If you thought peak hour trains were bad, wait until you see Snowpiercer. At the back of the train (1001 cars long according to the comic) are the underclass, given barely enough food to survive and used as breeders for the upper-class, who live in luxury at the front of the train, enjoying fresh food and entertainment.
The film details a revolution, where valiant souls from the rear fight their way through the train to find the engineer and the perpetual motion machine that runs the ...
What We Do In The Shadows Movie Review
Flight Of The Concords alumni Jemaine Clement as the vampire Vladislav and Rhys Darby as the werewolf Anton deliver their usual understated take on comedy, as does the rest of the cast. This is a film that is constantly amusing but not necessarily laugh out loud funny at all times. It does however have a few big laugh moments and this night’s audience was demonstrative in their approval.
There are so many everyday life activities that the undead would experience if they lived normal ...
Sharknado 2: the Second One Movie Review
A movie about tornados sucking up sharks and destroying Los Angeles was an unexpected phenomenon. Sharknado dominated the twittersphere when it first aired, the term ‘Sharknado’ began appearing in mainstream media, and organisations (including the Red Cross) used the film’s success to promote storm safety information. The Asylum is not a company to miss an opportunity, and they have released the sequel a year later.
Sharknado 2 starts with the stars of the first film, Ian Ziering ...
The Expendables 3 Movie Review
I mean it was serious the last two times too but this time it's even serious… er. Indeed this mission is so dangerous that Rambo sacks his current geriatric crew in favour of a new younger mob. Apparently there's greater honour in leading young folks to the slaughter than it is to lead old folks… or something like that… but, hey, as long as it's a good rollicking fun time, who cares?
And this is fun! Good clean silly fun with a dash of violence that teams up the best assembly of ...
Guardians of the Galaxy – a second movie review
Where the film hits its stride, though, is in the painting of its characters - which are a marvelous, dysfunctional and irreverent bunch of varying galactic species with individual agendas converging on a common goal of claiming the reward on a valuable artifact, oh, and maybe saving the galaxy.
Bradley Cooper is wonderful as the feral, sentient raccoon, Rocket. Chris Pratt's Peter Quill (AKA Starlord) is a good, funny, charismatic hero. Vin Diesel is mostly MIA as the tree creature, ...
Sex Tape Movie Review
Part one of the film makes for some very uncomfortable viewing as it’s far more cringe than comedy but part two is actually quite funny as the viewer buys into the ridiculous storyline. It’s one of those film only stories where the main protagonists continually do things that only people in movies would actually do.
Casting also cuts fifty/fifty as there are few cinematic experiences less appealing than seeing lead actor Jason Segel naked and not to be gender biased, lead actress ...
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Movie Review
The plague created by Will Rodman's Alzheimer's ‘cure’ has spread throughout the globe and decimated the human population and, presumably, empowered ape populations worldwide. Caesar's simian refugees build a growing community in the redwood forest while a splinter group of human survivors eke out an existence within the ruins of San Francisco. The diminishing fuel supply the human's require for electricity generation inevitably bring them into contact with Caesar's community who ...
Jersey Boys Movie Review
It should be noted that Eastwood's film is not a musical but rather features performances of The Four Seasons' music to signpost defined periods within the band's chronology. Correspondingly, the film is perfectly suited for those who love The Four Seasons music but do not possess a commensurate love of musicals (like me!) and as such appeals to a slightly different market. A smaller market it would seem given the film does not appear to be as successful as its theatrical predecessor.
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