The Stolen Valley Movie Review
These two women are complete strangers at first but by stories end they will have become besties. The film’s lower budget has a few knock-on positive effects. It’s always easier to believe in an actor’s character when you haven’t been overexposed to them or seen them in a career-defining role. One of the other positives is reducing the special effects to a minimum, less bombast, more story.
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When conflicts arrive they are not resolved with huge explosions ...
Monkey Man Movie Review
The action, while extremely violent in its nature is almost subtle in the way it is presented. The blood flows but the closely shot action scenes keep the energy high and confronting visuals somewhat discrete. There is very little gun play and the confrontations remain mostly in the hand-to-hand combat and knife play arena.
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The story of revenge runs parallel with an examination of the plight of the poor and disenfranchised in India and the folklore surrounding ...
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Movie Review
Those early films were so endearing. Now fast forward to today and we have the trifecta duke out of monsters called Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. The third member is the uncredited Mothra, guess the film title was long enough already? Into this mix comes the advanced state of computer-generated imagery, so unfortunately the balsa wood and paper have been set aside in light of more believable visuals and bigger targets to destroy. Did anyone say the Great Pyramids of Giza? They get ...
Kung Fu Panda 4 Movie Review
This time the main subject is not being afraid of change and overcoming a comfortable existence to find your better self. Visually the film contains almost everything the ever-advancing craft is capable of with fantastic use of colour and wonderful set design. Being based in the East adds another element of the exotic and this is used to the fullest.
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This is the most character-based outing of the series and relies heavily on the appeal of its two main voice actors ...
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Movie Review
The much-maligned attempt at a reboot in 2016 featured an all-female cast consisting of Saturday Night Live alumni and was very unfairly treated by the press and public, it wasn’t great but was more fun than it was given credit for. A lot of that was a gender bias. Then the brains behind the series handed it off to Paul Feig for 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife. It told a story outside the original but was still set in the same world. It made $204 million worldwide against a budget of $75 ...
Alliance Française French Film Festival – The Three Musketeers – Part I: D’Artagnan Movie Review
The Three Musketeers touches on the timeless themes of integrity, a sense of duty and brotherhood but also includes kick-ass sword fights and more than its fair share of damsels in distress. With this new (2023) take on the classic, The Three Musketeers - Part I: D’Artagnan and Part 2: Milady, it’s fitting to be shepherded by French director and second-generation movie man Martin Bourboulon.
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These two films were major productions in France and as such feature ...
Alliance Française French Film Festival – The President’s Wife Movie Review
Based ever so slightly on real life, National Treasure Catherine Deneuve plays Bernadette Chirac, wife of France’s 22nd President Jacques Chirac. After years of servitude to her husband’s career, when the time arrives for her to take residency in the Elysée, she doesn’t take kindly to the marginal position she is expected to live in.
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Her emergence from the shadows cast by Jacques underlines most of the film’s humour. It’s marvellous to see Deneuve in a ...
Alliance Française French Film Festival – The Animal Kingdom Movie Review
It also explores the Marindaze family, Father François (Romain Duris) and Son Émile (Paul Kircher). François has lost his wife and Émile’s mother to the mutations and she has to reside in a facility that keeps these beings from the public view. When this facility has a breakout of its residents, it puts things into overdrive.
If Son Émile didn’t have enough teen problems to deal with, like talking to girls and fitting in with cool kid members of his new school, he must now face ...
One Perfect Match Movie Review
Intentional or not, this film’s use of local scenery is hilarious. This romance film makes some very odd choices to play for an American audience and as a result of that has created some very funny moments. Ostensibly setting the film in Florida provokes many internal laughs as you go from an office view of the Brisbane River to stock footage of the high-rise buildings of that sunny American state.
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The storyline of having one of the character’s family owning a ...
Dune: Part Two Movie Review
Substitute oil for spice and the fiefdoms in the books are not that far thematically from the ones that dot the Middle East in current days. The military aggression in that part of the world to keep American cars filled with dead dinosaur juice is also somewhat of a parallel. Herbert who died in 1986 was on to something.
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Adding Director Denis Villeneuve to the cinematic versions of the books was an astute choice. No one in Hollywood can create more arresting ...
