Category: 2019

Poms (2019)

From the Studio That Brought You BAD MOMS and the Producer of BOOK CLUB.

Rating 12
Length 1h31
Release 01.12.2019
Director Zara Hayes
About Elderly women in a retirement community start a cheerleading company but soon get discouraged. However, when their video goes viral on the internet, they decide to take part in a competition.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Netflix
Trailer:

The Good

The cast is brilliant, they’re funny and it’s really good to see some of these heavy hitters together. I’m also a massive sucker for the old folk movies ever since Cocoon and Batteries Not Included introduced me to Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn.

I adore the idea of these older women performing in a cheerleading competition. It sends a strong message of “you’re never too old to fulfil your dreams”

There’s also a beautiful message about intergenerational communication and the role reversal that comes with families. It’s a little bittersweet, but also empowering for all the right people.

The Bad

What happened to the promotion of this movie? It was released in 2019 and I’d never even heard of it. Honestly, that’s the biggest shame because this is the sort of film that’s missing out there among the superheroes and aliens.

The Ugly

You will ugly cry. It’s set up right at the beginning, and you’ll think you can get through it, but just wait …. niagara falls!

Final Thoughts

A perfect Sunday afternoon film when you’re in need of catharsis.

Captain Marvel (2019) Film Review

Discover what makes a her(o).

Rating 12
Length 2h04
Release 08.03.2019
Director Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
About Amidst a mission, Vers, a Kree warrior, gets separated from her team and is stranded on Earth. However, her life takes an unusual turn after she teams up with Fury, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Disney+
Trailer:

The Good

Ben Mendelsohn has a voice I could listen to all day, he also is clearly enjoying his job as the potential big bad that isn’t all that he seems. Through his character we’re given the skrull and their plight. The story arc is incredibly real world and this film lays a strong foundation for further development.

The 1995 setting and music is really wonderful. Not as iconic as Guardians of the Galaxy’s mix tape, but it really grounds the story in the 90s. The only shame of it all is that we don’t get more films in this time frame.

The Bad

One person who is good at playing bad is Jude Law. Once it’s out in the open, Law really hams the role in a way so many others before him should have.

Not so sure how I feel about the inclusion of Ronan. We know that nothing will happen to him in this film because of Guardians, but also his threat of coming back for Carol is empty because we already know what happens to him beyond this film.

The Ugly

CGI Fury and Coulson do not hold up to repeated viewings. Actually, it didn’t hold up the first time. Vast improvements on the dead eyed look from films like Polar Express, but there’s a shininess that stops you from forgetting they are CGI faces.

The timeline hijinks in an attempt at mystery ends up being really annoying. It made the plot convoluted for the sake of it and raised more questions that never really get answered.

Final Thoughts

While it wasn’t such an amazing watch at the time of release, it’s improved greatly under the comparison of the messy and aimless Phase Five.

Jojo Rabbit (2019) Film Review

Rating 12
Length 1h48
Release 01.01.2020
Director Taika Waititi
About Hitler Youth cadet Jojo Betzler firmly believes in the ideals of Nazism manifested by his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler. However, his foundations are shaken when he finds a Jewish girl in his house.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Disney+
Trailer:

The Good

Sam Rockwell portrays his character so unbelievably well. Giving enough to make you question who he might be. Or rather, hope, he is who we think he might be. The presence of doubt allows for jeopardy at important turning points in the film.

That opening with a German-language version of I Want to Hold Your Hands by the Beatles is an absolute genius choice of song, particularly when the film then doubles down with brightness and joyful “youth Hitler” camp, that mirrors the height of Beatle Mania. It’s odd, it’s juxtaposed to everything other films have represented any element of WWII, but that’s exactly why it is so clever.

There’s a visual element that’s reminiscent of work by Wes Anderson and so it gives me as a viewer my favourite part of his work, without the heaviness that I find with his dialogue and choice of music. I’m now honestly, wanting a team up between him and Waititi.

The young stars are incredible and walk the line between absolute innocence and old before their time without it feeling like Bugsy Malone. The character of Jojo is well presented and has a clear story arc and growth.

The Bad

As much as this film will make you laugh, it most definitely will counter with tears. It doesn’t hold back on the truth about Hitler’s regime, and the death, hate and destruction that comes with it.

The Nazi

Having Taika Waititi play Hitler is as powerful as the musical number within The Producers by Mel Brooks, proving yet again the best way to present the biggest evil is to poke fun and laugh.
Waititi, while scary at the end when everything has gone awry for Germany, also retains an element of a child-like tantrum seen throughout the film. I couldn’t think of anyone better to pull this off.
He’s also right; being of Jewish heritage and playing Hitler, is the biggest ‘fuck you’ to the guy. I couldn’t be more proud of him as a director, and levity aside, I cannot imagine how difficult it would have been for Taika Waititi to do this.

Final Thoughts

You have to be in the right frame of mind for this satire. I tried to watch this in 2020, and I didn’t get past the rabbit test scene. Perhaps it was that I was too deep into the Covid isolation, but I struggled and bailed. This time though, I discovered the most beautiful film that had a lot to say about love, despite the overwhelming hate all around.

The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) Film Review

Rating PG
Length 1h26
Release 24.05.2019
Director Frank Coraci
About At a farm, Max meets the sheepdog Rooster who tries to help him overcome his fears. Back home, Gidget loses Max’s favourite toy, while Snowball tries to rescue a white tiger cub, Hu.
Moon: loads of full moons throughout the film
Where to Watch: BBC IPlayer
Trailer:

The Good

Patton Oswalt taking over as the voice of Max was a genius move. To the point, I would love him to voice the first instalment. He has a voice that works for the personality and as an actor he is wholesome.

While still on casting?! Harrison Ford finally lent his voice to an animated character. Could you think of anything better than the gruff and hardened Rooster?! He’s an actor who can handle being angry at the world, without being off putting. Between him and Oswalt, I was grinning all the way through this movie.

The animation and and characterisation of having domesticated cats is so spot on. Having the tiger demonstrate those behaviours too was adorable. Obviously because everyone who loves cats would love to pspspspsps a big cat in the hopes of being able to pet.

The Bad

Did the writers not know what most of us think when we hear a dog is going to a “farm”? I won’t lie, I spent the film on edge thinking Max was going to prove the theory that all dogs go to heaven. I think I would have liked a little reassurance that the plot was *not* going that way and maybe parents would too.

The Ugly

I love both of the plots; the farm and the tiger. However, the both feel a little undeveloped and as if they should have really taken part in their own, separate, film. Was it that the writers got so far and couldn’t develop the storylines, so smushed them together?
Either way, it felt a little lacking.

Final Thoughts

A competent film that you won’t regret watching, but certainly doesn’t reach it’s full potential.

Knight Before Christmas (2019) Film Review

Rating 12a
Length 1h32
Release 21.11.2019
Director Monika Mitchell
About A medieval knight is transported to the present day, where he falls for a high school science teacher who’s lost her belief in love.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Netflix
Trailer:

The Good

  • Vanessa Hudgens is on a roll with providing Christmas wonderment. This is a solid edition with being the girl you root for.
  • While there’s the fish out of water romance plot, there are some rather charming secondary plots that will warm even the coldest of hearts.
  • You din’t need your brain engaged for this bit of Hallmark inspired fluff. Sit back, relax and let the Christmas spirit wash over you.

The Bad

  • There is zero chemistry between Hudgens and Josh Whitehouse. As much as I want her character, Brooke, to be happy in love… I’m not so sure Cole is the guy. Which is actually why I’d have rather have had more of the family with the single dad.
  • As fish-out-of-water films go, there are better. Granted, there are worse out there, but there are plenty I’d watch before this one. It almost came across like the gimmick of him being from the past (and a different location) overwhelmed the entire thing and was too big for everyone involved.

The Ugly

  • Travel in time, great do that. Travel in space, totally okay with it. Doing both with no explanation, nope. Do not like it. Yes, I’m a Doctor Who girl. However, this shit is lazy.
    Have him on a quest, with a ship. Or have her spending Christmas in England. Do not, absolutely do not, have him travel hundreds of year and thousands of miles, for a girl. Nope, nope, nope.

Final Thoughts

Eh,lazy plotting and an overpowering gimmick will pretty much guarantee that I won’t be watching this again any time soon.

Tone-Deaf AKA Killer Instinct (2019) Halloween Advent

Rating 15
Length 1h27
Release 18.5.2020
Director Richard Bates Jnr
About After losing her job and imploding her latest dysfunctional relationship, Olive (Amanda Crew) flees the city for the weekend, escaping to the countryside for some peace and self-reflection. She rents an ornate country house from an eccentric widower named Harvey (Robert Patrick).
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Own Copy but is available on Now Entertainment
Trailer:

Trick

  • There’s something off about the plot and I can’t quite put my finger on what it is.
  • The addition of the son feels a little pointless, especially when there’s no real resolution with him in the end.
  • The dream sequences are at odds with the rest of the film. Normally I would find that fine, if not interesting. Perhaps its down my mood while watching, but it just didn’t work for me with this watch.

Treat

  • Robert Patrick and Amanda Crew made, or salvaged, this film. Individually they both provide solid performances, but when they have scenes together they are amazing.
  • The final act is brutal, but well worth the slow burn of the first hour. When the characters eventually end up in their fight for survival, you wonder if there was any way to get to that point any sooner.
  • The comedy is off kilter and that works for me. It gains that inappropriate ‘should I be laughing at this’ sort of laugh.
  • The breaking of the fourth wall is used sparingly and good effect, particularly that last line.

Final Thoughts

Not a film I’ll rush to watch again, but it’s a fair horror offering for fans of Robert Patrick.

A Dog’s Journey (2019)

Rating PG
Length 1h 49
Release 3.5.2019
Director Gail Macuso

The Good

  • Well, doesn’t Josh Gad make an adorable fury narrator?! It’s why I probably had so much difficulty with the deaths; Gad had me invested right from the start.

The Bad

  • The aged makeup on Dennis Quaid and Marg Helgenberger was a bit ropey there at the end. Little bit like how they always aged Patrick Stewart on Star Trek.
  • This is a sequel?! What the hell! How did I not know this? Not that I think I missed anything. I’m just curious as to how similar it was.
  • It’s rather twee, very predictable and much more like a film I’d expect from the Hallmark channel and not a cinematic outing. I know, I know…. after Marley and Me you’d think I’d learn my lesson regarding the health and wellbeing of a dog, but it wasn’t just that. It was all the plot points that not only where all present and accounted for, they all came at the expected time too.

The Ugly

  • Oh I cried so hard. I thought I could handle it, but nope. I balled like a baby so many times. Yes, it felt cathartic. However, who the hell thinks its a good idea to make these sort of films? I know its my own fault for putting the bastard on like, but do you know what happens when you try and hug a cat?!

Final Thoughts

There is no other reason to watch this film unless you need to cry. Literally, the only reason.

Crawl (2019)

Rating: 15
Length: 1h 27
Release: 23.8.2019
Dir: Alexandre Aja
About: Florida residents Haley and her father get trapped in a massive hurricane and struggle to escape. But things get worse when they realise that the floodwater is the least of their fears.

The Good

  • This is an incredible film; high octane in a contained area is surprisingly effective. The location being at the home instils fear into the viewer because this is the one place you should feel safe.
  • I love Barry Pepper. We need more Barry Pepper. His character really goes through the ringer and it’s his survival I’m holding out hope for more than anything.
  • There are some great misdirects and fakeouts that really add tension, such as the three friends at the petrol station and Hayley’s Jurassic Park kitchen recreation.

The Bad

  • ‘Gator cam. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, this is an over used camera angle in a creature feature. What is worse with this movie, is that it lulled me into a false sense of security. I actually mentally commended the movie and then they go and use it. Once they started, they didn’t stop.
  • While I love the character of Hayley, I’m not so sure about the choice of actress. I found her rather Kirsten Stewart circa Twilight.
  • The opening is a little long winded. There is a pay off for it, but I’m still not sure it was enough to justify the time dedicated on it.

The Ugly

  • The ‘gators are all too identical. The exact same size and screamed of copy and paste CGI. I’d have like to have seen variation as there surly would be an alpha. If you’re going to have so many, you really do need to have some distinction.
  • Total individual thing for me, but even though I knew Barry Pepper’s dad wasn’t dead in the opening act, it was a little too close to home in terms of discovering my own dad (obviously not in a crawlspace with alligators) so I did have to have a really good cry during the film.

Final Thoughts

Its a fair movie and a decent watch, especially if you’re a fan of creature features.

Film Review: Trick (2019)

Rating: 18
Length: 1hr 40
Release: 18.10.2019 (No UK theatrical release)
Dir: Patrick Lussier
About: On Halloween night in 2015, Patrick `Trick’ Weaver massacred his classmates at a costume party. After being arrested, he managed to escape police custody, but not before being shot five times by Detective Mike Denver. Everyone believes Trick must be dead, but when a masked killer reappears the following Halloween, and every Halloween after that, they realise the nightmare is not over.

The Good

  • The film has an excellent, visceral, opening. With a bloodbath opening on par with 2009’s My Bloody Valentine, it doesn’t let up even when we change location.
  • The whole sequence on the docklands is frighteningly good. From the set up, the people involved and the effects.
  • Omar Epps is a great casting choice as the detective obsessed with the Trick killer. While the framing of the story doesn’t give him protagonist status, he really should be.

The Bad

  • Sheriff Lisa Jayne’s insistence that there’s no case when people are being slaughtered in the name of Trick, if not Trick himself, really is shit. Even if she doesn’t believe it is Trick, there are connections and Detective Denver shouldn’t be dismissed as much as he is.
  • What is said to Denver is very repetitive. Almost as if dialogue was copy and pasted. it gets old… fast.

The Ugly

  • Its way too disjointed and lacking any flow at all. By opening the film up on Cheryl and the massacre, it has implications that she’s the ‘final girl’; the protagonist. However, she’s missing from the narrative for over half of it and certainly has no impact upon the murders between the first and third act. This then means there’s no investment with the characters or the outcome.
  • This lack of coherent protagonist also means that everything feels really shallow. The lack of connection and screen time with the survivors means there’s no real backstory to Trick and the dismissive nature of the police and FBI means there’s no real investigation to clue us in to any motivation.
  • Jamie Kennedy having such prominent billing yet so little screen time does disappoint. It does also make the final scene a little too obvious and lacks the shock that was intended.
  • The ‘reason’ for the attacks is such bullshit. “No one needs a reason to be evil.” and “We do this because we can.” I mean, what the fuck?! While there is an element of the tv show The Following with this ending, but it just doesn’t match up with the rest of the film.

Final Thoughts

It was great to have a modern slasher to watch and this really did have potential. Its just a shame it didn’t follow through with the set up.

The Last Laugh (2019)

Rating 15

Length 1Hr 38

Release 11.1.2019

Director Greg Pritikin

About: Retired talent manager Al reconnects with former client Buddy, a comedian who gave up performing decades ago, and urges him to go back out on the road.

The Good

  • Chevy Chase and Richard Dreyfuss make for an excellent double act that takes the Odd Couple on the road. Dreyfuss really brings the humour for the bulk of the movie, which makes Chase’s straight man performance a refreshing change.
  • On the whole its a funny film with a sweet centre, even if it is a little ‘American Pie does Old Folks’ at times.

The Bad

  • It really takes a while to get going and for the first 40 minutes, I have no idea where its going. I actually almost switched it off as that slow preamble to the main plot switched me right off; which is a shame because it could stop people seeing what a fun movie it actually is.

The Ugly

  • It’s bookended with some depressing shit. Like really sour. My reason for almost turning it off? The time spent in the old folks home was so dour, and my father seemed a little triggered, that I wasn’t sure we’d picked right for a Saturday night movie. It’s a shame because those middle acts where really cool.

Final Thoughts

Yeah… On reflection it was perhaps a bad idea to chuck on a film about ageing dudes sent into a home when my father had begged me two days earlier to not ‘lock him up’. Bad daughter!

Vice (2019)

Rating 15

Length 2hr 12

Release 25.1.2019

About Governor George W Bush of Texas picks Dick Cheney, the CEO of Halliburton Co, to be his Republican running mate in the 2000 presidential election. No stranger to politics, Cheney’s impressive résumé includes stints as White House chief of staff, House Minority Whip and defence secretary. When Bush wins by a narrow margin, Cheney begins to use his newfound power to help reshape the country and the world.

Dir Adam McKay

The Good

  • The casting is nothing short of incredible. As a whole. I’m not certain this film would work as well with even one casting change.
  • I found myself strangely sympathising with Cheney. The very fact that the film is able to do this is something. Not only that, it takes me on an emotional U-turn almost the second I’ve accepted my opinion.

The Bad

  • The filming style is what made The Big Short stand out, however the breaking of the 4th wall to explain jargon and political terms doesn’t quite work here. I’m not sure the explanations are explained as well and leave some of the audience behind.
  • It wasn’t his movie, but I do feel Rockwell was underused and the character of Bush almost eradicated from the narrative.

The Ugly

  • For me it plays it a little too loose with the timeline. It felt very timey whimey and really made it difficult to follow at times.

Final Thoughts

It’s something I’ve glad I watched but I think it had too much of its mind on award season glory than the bums on the seats.

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Rating: 15

Length: 2Hr 8

Release: 23.10.2019

About: Sarah Connor and a hybrid cyborg human must protect a young girl from a newly modified liquid Terminator from the future.

The Good

  • Sarah Connor. Having Linda Hamilton back was a god send. Yeah, she’s ‘old’ and she sounds a bit like Dot Cotton after a lifetime of fags but she makes this franchise enjoyable, relatable and scary. There was the novelty of having Arnie ‘go good’ in T2, but certainly for me it’s about Connor’s disenfranchisement from the world in which she lives.
  • The dialogue makes nods to first film, but it doesn’t replicate it like some of the sequels have done. The same goes for the plot; you might feel uneasy at first, after all it does start to feel like a reboot. Stick with it because, on the most part I like where it goes.
  • The relationships between the three women; Sarah, Grace and Dani makes for an interesting watch. Add to the mix the dude who has been the face of the franchise for the last 35 years, you have a dangerous mix of emotions and sass.
  • The new Terminator was pretty bad ass and blended some of the best aspects of the assassination cyborgs from the previous films.

The Bad

  • Too many flashbacks. I have flash back fatigue especially in relation to traumatic events. Filmmakers, watch your own movies. If the flashback is telling the audience something they already know, especially if a character just said it, ditch the scene. If it doesn’t add anything, it bogs the film down.

The Ugly

  • The film’s action started way too big, so it never really had anywhere else to go. The best parts of the film was the small moments and the interactions between the characters so it’s a shame that the film decided to go in a similar direction to all the films Cameron wants the audience to disregard.
  • Grace has a plot flaw that I found rather irritating and rather baffling. They explain it away, but it still doesn’t make tactical sense and I think some better planing was required to improve the design of the time travelling support.

Final Thoughts