Tag: Movie review

Studio 666 (2022) Halloween Advent 2022

Rating 18
Length 1h29
Release 12.4.2017
Director Greg McLean (Writer James Gunn)
About An ordinary day at the office becomes a horrific quest for survival when 80 employees (John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona) at the Belko Corp. in Bogotá, Colombia, learn that they are pawns in a deadly game. Trapped inside their building, a voice over an intercom tells the frightened staffers that two workers must be killed within 30 minutes. When another ultimatum follows, friends become enemies and new alliances take shape, as only the strongest will remain alive at the end.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: To purchase on Amazon Prime
Trailer:

Trick

  • The film looses steam about 40 minutes in. The issue being that the first half is solely relying on the charm of Dave Grohl to keep the story moving.
    It eventually delivers what the film needs, scenes without Grohl, but far too late and it feels like a mid-production direction change. It’s a shame because if we got some of those ‘rest of the band’ scenes earlier on, it have shaped up the narrative a little better.
  • In equal measure, the film keeps the rest of the band on the side lines. We see them all drift in and out of scenes, but never without Grohl.
  • The plot is there, and I guess it’s to do with following a protagonist rather than an ensemble, but it just feels like in an attempt to have some mystery the film left the audience behind.

Treat

  • So many brownie points for not making this a ‘found footage’/ documentary movie. It easily could have been the way they made this. I wouldn’t have survived more than five minutes if it was the case.
  • Dave Grohl *is* amazing. I’m sure you’d think, based on above, that I was the opinion he was atrocious. Not in the slightest, he was really good. It’s just that I felt the weight of him carrying the film. The sad thing about it though is that he didn’t have to.
    It’s safe to say that Grohl is awesome, he’s charming and he’s a solid performer. I had a smile on my face for most of the movie.
  • Once the film shifts its focus at around the hour mark, it gets a second wind and we finally see the other members of the band come to the forefront.
  • There is this amazing homage to the Exorcist that I just want framed. It’s not so obvious that everyone and your aunt will get it, but if you know… man, it’s Leo-pointing-at-the-tv brilliant.
  • There’s a blend of both B-movie practical effects and some killer CGI. They’re both used at the right time to keep the films tone and humour.
  • The music. Can I really talk about a Foo Fighters film without the music? It’s all great. There’s some call backs to their discography which I adored. There’s also a pretty decent cameo that I could rewatch for days.
    However, the gem of this film is the theme which is heard during the opening credits. It is incredible. So it should come as no surprise when I tell you that none other than John Fucking Carpenter helped compose that bad boy! be still my heart!

Final Thoughts

When you consider other band attempts at playing themselves for the silver screen, this is light years ahead of any others. As a horror movie goes, however, the camera focuses way too much on Grohl until too late and the casual viewer has all but lost interest.
Make it more of an ensemble and this would be incredible.

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) Halloween Advent 2022

Rating 18
Length 1h26
Release 23.10.1998
Director Steve Miner
About After escaping serial killer Michael Myers’ attacks, Laurie Strode relocates to California and adopts a new identity. However, years later, Michael returns to finish what he started.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Netflix
Trailer:

Trick

  • I spent a lot of the film writing down question: how has Michael learned to drive? (Rather well I might add), why does Laurie/Keri have a pumpkin that she’s taken the time to carve even though she does let Josh Harnett celebrate Halloween? Why has a coroner been called if the psycho hasn’t been declared dead and why THE FUCK has no one taken that mask off to aid in said declaration?
  • What I feel is an attempt to humanise Laurie and keep an element of her ‘Final Girl’ innocence, is that bullshit hand reaching tender moment we get between her and Michael. Fuck the hell off, Laurie is not soft and she doesn’t really know him as a brother. No one needed the moment of hesitation from her.
  • Laurie’s reveal to the boyfriend. Bullshit. Not a chance would he respond like that. He’s not some horndog teen wanting to get his leg over, you’ve spent the last almost-50 minutes building this life around Curtis’ iconic character, making it quite clear that she’s fucking hard work for anyone she lets in. It seems like a well established relationship that’s being kept hidden, that’s one patience dude.
    It doesn’t matter the reason for the deception, it is still exactly that and I just wish he’d had a more realistic response that that of a frat guy distracted by his hard on. Acceptance without process is such bullshit, and only happens when there’s one person writing both sides.
    Seriously, give me Will walking away, furious that she’s lied. A natural division that is typical for a horror movie. Have Will killed because he’s refusing to believe Michael Myers is behind him and will no longer humour his paramour. Or, have him realise too late.
    Literally anything other than “Okay, take your shirt off.”
  • For a short film, we really do spend a lot of time doing fuck all. There’s interesting things at play, but there’s no payoff. There’s the interesting attempt at exploring Laurie’s trauma and how it manifests as functioning alcoholism. Can you imagine if that’s explored further? She’s told Will who she really is, he’s fucked off to process and she drinks to the point that she’s hazy. That scene in the what I assume is the lunch hall becomes very different. Hell, own the alcoholism and firebomb the bastard?! Probably not the right message, but it’s certainly better that the half baked one we get.

Treat

  • Jamie-Lee Curtis and Janet Leigh sharing scenes together. Oh what a joy it is to see.
  • The “Williamson Opening”. I couldn’t put my finger on it while I watched, but there was something so familiar but not “Halloween” about that pre-credits, almost detached, sequence. Then I read that it was written by Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson and it all makes sense. However, do not get me started on the mis-casting of Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the oft-expelled Jimmy.
  • Speaking of the opening, I do love the use of Mr Sandman. Not only as a call back to Carpenter’s second outing, but just in terms of it setting the scene of an idyllic town, the calmness of the 50s ‘family values’ and the charm that brings with it nostalgia. For it to cut mid song, just to remind you what film you are actually watching.
  • There’s a fair few Easter eggs and homages to other movies. Lip service thank you to Scream and its prominent use of Halloween (1978) in the first of that franchise, the car that Janet Leigh gets into at the end of the day and away for her weekend, down to the mirrored scene between Laurie, Molly (Michelle Williams) and the Shape. There’s so many more. I must say, I’m so very glad that Mike Myers turned down a walk-on cameo. It read like the Jay and Silent Bob one from Scream 3 and just a tad overkill.
  • Points for not killing my man LL Cool J. Extra points for not referring to or commenting upon the trope that the ‘black guy dies first.’

Final Thoughts

Upon reflection, this probably wasn’t the best film to put on after week-long nightmares regarding my father, Michael, being returned to me three years after his death. You know, with the whole Michael Myers being unkillable, to the point that he’ll return for yet another sequel despite having his head lobbed off.

Sleepy Hollow (1999) Halloween Advent 2022

Rating 18
Length 1h29
Release 12.4.2017
Director Greg McLean (Writer James Gunn)
About An ordinary day at the office becomes a horrific quest for survival when 80 employees (John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona) at the Belko Corp. in Bogotá, Colombia, learn that they are pawns in a deadly game. Trapped inside their building, a voice over an intercom tells the frightened staffers that two workers must be killed within 30 minutes. When another ultimatum follows, friends become enemies and new alliances take shape, as only the strongest will remain alive at the end.
Moon: Full moon when the Tree of the Dead is first seen
Where to Watch: Netflix and Now TV
Trailer:

First Thoughts

This film is in my overall top 10. Surprising it would seem to others as apparently I don’t like Johnny Depp. It’s not that I dislike Depp, it’s that I do believe the use of Depp in Burton’s work should have been sparingly.
I remember watching this as a rental during one of my summers at Aunt Ursula’s (You’d understand if you saw her). One of those stormy sort of days in which it seemed to get dark unusually early.
I remember the poster took pride of place outside Walsall Arboretum in the Summer of 1999. I wasn’t allowed to go see it in the cinema given its age rating and being only 13. Oh, it looked awesome.
Then I remember buying it as an ex-rental VHS the summer after. It became the sort of film I would put on and do other things while it was on. While I enjoyed the film in itself, it was the music that perhaps had me watching it as often as I did.

I’ve not watched it for at least two years now. I try to not repeat watch films in an attempt to widen my experiences and in favour of looking to much older films… I say as this film became a legal adult this year.

Trick

  • I would go so far to say that there’s an overload of flashbacks for such a film. However, I’m going to say that the ones I really could do without are those of Ichabod himself.
    I get that they’re to develop the character and give us insight into his leanings towards science over faith, however it can be deduced from everything else. other than it being a way of presenting a secondary filmic tone, there is very little to gain.
  • There’s a little too much gloss on what should really have rough edges. Burton works best within the realms of pulp. I love this film, there’s no doubt about that, but it really is missing the B-movie tone that would make it perfect.

Treat

  • Not only is this film an almost love letter to the Hammer Horrors, Burton manages to get two Hammer veterans onto the screen. Christopher Lee and Michael Gough, however fleeting, add a certain atmosphere.
  • Miranda Richardson is glorious in her duel role. She is, without a doubt, the standout among the ensemble. Which when you consider that involves actors who’ve fought in a galaxy far, far away or battled at the school for witchcraft and wizardry that truly is saying something.
    This is a woman who has scared the crap out of me and made me laugh within a split second of each other for year in Blackadder, in which the tone is overly buoyant and light. Burton has given her the keys to the gory kingdom and she doesn’t half bring her A-game!
  • I cannot deny, this film is visually stunning. The filter used, while detracting from the overall gore, adds something so much more sinister in terms of tone.
  • Ray Park could have been on a par with Andy Serkis. You know, if he wasn’t a massive bag of dicks. Okay, he also couldn’t act for shit, whereas Serkis doesn’t hide behind the CGI.
    That said, it is Ray Park and not, alas, Christopher Walken, who brings the Headless Horseman to life. Maybe it’s just me and my knowledge going into the film, but the fight scene with Casper Van Dean’s Brom has all the signature moves of Darth Maul. Believe me, it pains me to give this guy credit over Walken, but that’s a testament to how well he performed.

Final Thoughts

The last of Burton’s greats. A wonderful retelling of Washington Irving’s classic tale with the DNA of a Hammer Horror. A great watch at any time, but the perfect one for the spooky season.
Long may it reign as part of my own personal top 10.

Beetlejuice (1988) Halloween Advent

Rating PG
Length 1h32
Release 19/08/1988
Director Tim Burton
About When the deceased couple Adam and Barbara are unsuccessful in scaring away a family that has moved into their old home, they seek the help of bio-exorcist Betelgeuse.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Trailer:

Trick

  • While having a PG rating, there are some elements that might give little ones too much of a scare. Beetlejuice himself was frightening to me as a child, and I still feel a little off kilter when it comes to the snake scene.

Treat

  • This is Burton at his best. It’s crafted beautifully, perfectly cast and a true timeless classic. From those opening bars of Danny Elfman to the happy-ever-after epilogue, this film doesn’t put a foot wrong.
  • You know you’re in safe hands from the opening scene. The audience learn a lot about Adam and Barb and their life before death in that opening 10 or so minutes. It’s economic, full of foreboding and most viewers will be invested.
  • The Burton Muses before Depp and Carter. Ryder and Keaton are incredible in what is a heavy hitter casting. Ryder is the perfect strange and unusual Lydia, Keaton is barely recognisable as the eco-exorcist.
  • The effects! While Burton was aiming for B-movie obviousness, in a world now overloaded with cheap CGI, this is a welcome palate cleanser. It works with the colour palate and homages to other creature features. There’s also what has now become the Burton trademark Claymation for the world beyond the house for Adam and Barb.
  • There’s always something new to spot. There is so much detail in this film, that you could watch it a hundred times and still have something new to learn. It was only in this recent watch that I noticed Catherine O’Hara’s Delia recycles her husband’s red jumper from an early scene and wears the knitwear as pants.

Final Thoughts

Burton before he overused Depp in roles really not meant for him, his work was not only watchable, but rewatchable. It’s a perfect treat for an October evening and almost gives pre-Christmas Panto vibes.

Halloween Advent: What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Rating 15
Length 1h26
Release 12.4.2017
Director Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement
About Viago, Vladislav, Deacon, and Petyr are vampires who share a flat. Deacon’s servant Jackie leaves her ex-boyfriend Nick inside. Petyr turns him into a vampire and he soon joins them as a flatmate.
Moon: no moon sighting that I noticed
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Trailer:

Trick

  • As with most improvisation, the plot can feel a little aimless. For an average viewer, that might be a little off putting or challenging when it comes to focus.
  • There’s a certain something about the humour of the creatives behind some of the most brilliant New Zealand exports. It’s vegemite, for want of a better word. You are either going to be hooked from the start and love what they produce, or you are going to question the sanity of everyone who tells you to love them.
  • Mockumentary films are not for everyone. Their style and tone will put a lot of people off.

Treat

  • A vampiric Spinal Tap?! What is not to love?
    From botched feedings to werewolf rivalry, this film gives you the lovable stupidity of the Tap boys and a centuries old view of a modern house share.
  • This is an example of incredible improvisation and what stands actors like these apart from the SNL crew. There’s an effortless chemistry between the players and it allows an element of comfort within the apparent aimlessness of the plot. Which, lets face it, is a natural feature of a documentary.
  • While your Flight of the Concords regulars are as amazing and on point as always, the star of the outing has to be human Stu. A computer tech guy thrown along for the ride through happenstance.
  • The humour, while niche, is outstanding. Think the IT Crowd, but with New Zealand panache.
  • The music and soundtrack will haunt you long after the film finishes.

Final Thoughts

The house share element is frighteningly relatable, the horror is on point and its no surprise that it spawned a tv series and a potential sequel.

Halloween Advent 2022. Bring it On: Cheer or Die (2022)

Rating PG
Length 1h 31
Release 27/09/2022 on dvd and digital 08/10/2022 Syfy broadcast in US
Director Karen Lam
About A cheer squad’s plan to have a secret practice at a nearby abandoned school on Halloween takes a terrifying turn when their teammates begin disappearing one by one.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: N/A
Trailer:

Trick

  • The production value of the franchises seventh outing is rather shocking. While the best is done with what they had, it only makes me wonder what they could have done with a budget closer to the original.
  • It’s a sanitised slasher horror. Due to its PG rating, this horror is devoid of anything that will scare even the yellowest of bellies. Yes, there’s some heavily implied gnarly endings to the characters. However, it doesn’t have the same Hitchcockian impact that the iconic ‘shower scene’ had.
  • The final act is so pointless. It’s almost as if it was only put in to use the franchise name.

Treat

  • It is an easy, super silly, watch. Perfect for anyone who wants Slasher lite. Young ones and squeamish alike will be at ease watching this plot unfold.
  • It’s comical. Both in its deaths and in its dialogue. The actors involved have brilliant timing and saved this film from being a total trash fire.
  • The cheerleading skill really works with the slasher tropes. It worked really well and helped a number of them evade capture.

Final Thoughts

It ticks all the boxes for concept and story. The problem lies with its rating. Treating this outing to a 15 rating really would have brought this slasher to life.

Halloween Advent: My Best Friend’s Exorcism (2022)

Rating 15
Length 1h37
Release 30.09.2007
Director Damon Thomas
About In 1988 best friends Abby and Gretchen navigate boys, pop culture and a paranormal force clinging to Gretchen. With help from a mall exorcist, Abby is determined to compel the demon back to the pits of hell — if it doesn’t kill Gretchen first.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Trailer:

Trick

  • It is a slow burn plot. It absolutely pays off, but you have to stick with the set up and some viewers out there today do not have the attention. Especially when you add the fact that this film is not getting a cinema release.
  • Anyone with 80’s nostalgia fatigue would do well to steer clear of this one. Yes, there’s an somewhat timeless tone that would forgive you if you assumed it was modern day with the 80s fashion back in style. However those who are tired of the era being used in every film and tv show since Stranger Things, will perhaps want to pop this to one side.
  • The nighttime scenes are made for a cinema. I lost a lost of the action during those scenes. Combine this with the slow burn, and you might just zone out before it gets good.

Treat

  • This film is Jennifer’s Body meets Fight Night, in all the right ways.
  • The 80s era, the bright colour and pop songs. It all contrasts with the darkness and sinister chill that everyone watching it there to see beautifully.
  • The friendship ups and downs really resinated with me, as I’m sure it will with others. The film tackles some fairly weighty issues that are really quite cleverly approved and resolved.
  • Christopher Lowell is always a joy on a project, but in this case he steals the show. Almost to the point that I wish he was much more involved.
  • The two leads, Elsie Fisher and Amish Miller are one’s to watch. While a slow burn is not my favourite type of film, the two girls and their friendship has me invested from the very start.

Final Thoughts

It’s a decent watch. Perhaps not quite as good as Freaky, but it will certainly give you enough goosebumps to see you through the spooky season.

Spin Me Round (2022)

Rating Unrated in US (UK tbd)
Length 1h44
Release 19.08.2022 in US (UK tbd)
Director Fred Baena
About A woman wins an all-expenses-paid trip to a company’s gorgeous “institute” outside of Florence, and also the chance to meet the restaurant chain’s wealthy and charismatic owner. She finds a different adventure than the one she imagined.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: TBD
Trailer:

The Good

  • When the humour is good, it’s genius. That is mainly thanks to the ever loveable Zach Woods. He’s more like The Office Zach Woods than his Silicon Valley alter ego, but much more likeable than either.
  • Honestly, the only way I tolerated this movie was telling myself it was a GLOW special in which Allison Brie was playing Ruth Wilder playing Amber. The starting music and retro title sequence sold that to me at the start. It allowed a lot of the shoddy to get past me before it was too late.
  • Allison Brie cannot really be faulted. She handles the role really well and makes the wooing as believable as it can be. Her chemistry with Aubrey Plaza?! They really should have just ran with that.

The Bad

  • It’s a very busy film that, with a few tweaks, could have been a grand ensemble. By tweaks, I mean use the characters as more than plot devices. Molly Shannon, for example, goes from Sadness (yes, capitalised for the blue emotion) to wackadoodle for absolutely no apparent reason.
    Yes, sometimes we don’t need to know, but me? Couldn’t keep my mind from screaming “How the fuck was she a manager?” and wondering what like in *that* branch was like.
  • I wish the film started with Amber arriving in Italy. I don’t feel like I learned anything from the opening 15-ish minutes centred around her life. It doesn’t endear me to her any more than casting Allison Brie in the role does.

The Ugly

  • The plot was so haphazard and non existent, I’m pretty certain about 90% of the “script” was improvised. Badly. Painfully.
    No amount of Allison Brie being her amazing self was ever going to save this film that was having a massive identity crisis. The comedy was too cringe inducing and the romance was none existent.
  • The biggest problem for me was the sinister undertones of the first half of the movie. They’re there. They’re under and toney. They’re also underwhelming. I think as an audience, we’re also meant to get swept away by the “romance”.
    It’s really hard to when your watching the protagonist get served to the leading male on a plater. The lack of chemistry doesn’t help. Hell, maybe I’m a cynic, but I was never sold.
  • Finally, what the actual fuck happened to Aubrey Plaza?!
    She just fucks off for the last third of the movie and there’s zero resolution with the character. I hope to the celluloid gods there’s an alternate ending because that is the only way this film can redeem it’s romance genre cred.

Final Thoughts

I think it was trying to be satirical and this decades answer to Office Space, but lost itself in production. Or maybe up the creative’s ass! Either way, it’s nowhere near as clever, or original as it thinks it is.

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Rating 12a
Length 2h11
Release 27.05.2022
Director Joseph Kosinski
About After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime and Paramount+ from 24/08/2022
Trailer:

The Good

  • Miles Teller! There are so many levels of perfect to his casting. As the biological son of Goose, he’s spot on. As the boy who will have been raised by Maverick, he’s got it down. The mannerisms, the anger (that flush! I hope to god that’s real and not some CGI deep-fake shit because I identified with that anger tell so hard) and the chemistry with everyone he worked with was what had me invested.
    The final act had me wishing we’d gotten there sooner and spent the majority of the run time with just him and Cruise.
  • Bashir Sakahuddin’s turn as Hondo was understated and quite possibly my favourite part of the movie. The lines he gets to give out are gold.
  • It is a visually stunning film. The first movie struggled to keep my attention during flight sequences, but this?! There were so many shots I’d hang on a wall.
  • Tom Cruise knows how to entertain. I’m not just talking about his role in this movie as Maverick. He’s probably the only old school “star” able to command a box office. He has a brand and he’s used all his power to get this film made and into the cinema.
  • Val Kilmer and Iceman. Nope, that’s all your getting.
  • That said, my final note must be about Cruise and the character of Maverick. It’s a feat to have a character stay true yet not have washed out by the time we pick up the story 30 years later. Absolutely loved how it was within the realms of possibility.

The Bad

  • I personally could have done without the romance. It undoes the resolution of the first movie. I only couldn’t tell you if it was better or worse that they made a new character rather than have Jennifer Connelly play Charlie.
    Don’t get me wrong Connelly, and the character of Peggy, was decent. I just felt that it didn’t add anything.
  • The film really was trying to hard to recreate the conflict of the original. Unfortunately Hangman is too much of a unabashed dickwad throughout the film that it doesn’t have that same feel.
    I either needed a very different dynamic, or I needed something that breaks him down and humbles him and I’m not talking about not being picked.
    In fact, you know what would have been good? Keep the final act involvement of Hangman, but have him choke out during one of the final training missions.

The Ugly

  • I think I’ve spent too much of my life worried I’d become my mother, that I’ve become my father. Mainly because this movie is just a retelling of Star Wars: A New Hope.
    Seriously though?! There’s a good chance you were already thinking it, but if you weren’t, watch it again and tell me I’m wrong?!
  • Where was all the gay undertones that the original was so famous for?! My lecturer didn’t write a paper on the homoerotic coding of Top Gun for Top Gun: Maverick to do us so dirty!

Final Thoughts

I did not expect to like this film, let alone like it as much as I did. Issues aside, it’s a fairly decent movie. Dare I say the “blockbuster” has a pulse after all?!

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) Review

Rating 12
Length 2h28
Release 15.12.2021
Director Jon Watts
About With Spider-Man’s identity now revealed, our friendly neighborhood web-slinger is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life as Peter Parker from the high stakes of being a superhero. When Peter asks for help from Doctor Strange, the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.
Moon: Full moon during the climatic final fight
Where to Watch: Cinemas
Trailer:

First Thoughts

I don’t think I’ve felt the buzz and hype of a film so tangibly in a cinema for a long time. Nope, upon feeling it walking towards my screen, not even when Force Awakens came out. Not even a Midnight screening has given me that excitement that I felt with those early Potter films.
I watched people literally racing from a screen to the toilet, not wanting to miss a single second. As the usher scanned my ticket, he even reassured me that it was good and to enjoy it. It’s safe to say, I did.

The Good

  • The story is really good, very well structured and manages to balance the heavy castings impeccably. If you think of Maguire’s third outing and the ambitious plot weaving that attempted?! This film shows that it can be done.
  • The casting! Unless you’ve been sans internet for the last however many months, you’d know that Jamie Foxx, William Dafoe and Alfred Molina have returned to play off against an unfamiliar Peter Parker. All three bring what I loved from their previous performances and then some. Foxx, for me at least, gives a slightly different performance, but I have absolutely no problem with that.
    As for Dafoe and Molina. Both of them make it so hard to identify a favourite. Both of them bring their all, they bring the ham, but also manage to match the tone that Holland’s Spider-Man has established.
  • The humour is spot on, as always. It isn’t for everyone, but fuck them! I love it. I love every scene in which Ned does his thing, MJ does her thing and the humour that happens when they’re all together.
  • Tom Holland. What a beautiful, amazing and wonderful Peter Parker he is. Damn it, he’s *my* Spider-Man. It’s not that the other two were ever ‘wrong’ for the role. It’s just that the character works like Dr Who. You have *the* Spider-Man and that’s cool.

The Bad

  • I’m still not sold on the use of Dr Strange. I love every bit he’s in and I totally understand why we need him out the picture. However, it lacks the finesse that Stark’s ‘hands off’ approach had and because of that, Strange feels a little bit like a plot device that gets fucked off stage until he’s of use again. Or, you know, like how Captain Marvel was used at the beginning of Endgame.
  • I get the feeling these events are happening alongside the events of Hawkeye, the tv series, but as I think there’s still an episode to go I can’t quite get them married up in my mind.

The Ugly

  • This film does rely on the audience being well versed in the Spidy-Verse. This is not the film that should ever introduce you to the character and, even from the trailers, people should know at least a casual knowledge of the Maguire and Garfield eras is necessary.
    For me, this isn’t a bad thing. However, I do need to acknowledge that some other films have been able to achieve what this film has, while providing a film that works without seeing the previous.
  • There’s a cameo that I’m still not certain about. The geek in me loves it, however there’s just something about it that reminds me of Clint Barton’s introduction into the universe in Thor; underwhelming.

Final Thoughts

Such a powerful, clever, outing that has gone straight to the top of my favourite MCU list. I want to go watch it again. I already know this is a film in which I will discover more on repeated viewings.

Christmas … Again?! (2021) Movie Review

Rating U
Length 1h33
Release 3.12.2021
Director Andy Finkman
About After a disastrous celebration, 12-year-old Rowena makes a wish and unexpectedly finds herself reliving Christmas Day over and over again. After a disastrous celebration, 12-year-old Rowena makes a wish and unexpectedly finds herself reliving Christmas Day over and over again.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Disney Plus
Trailer:

The Good

  • Lucifer’s Scarlett Estevez gives everyone watching the perfect blend of Kevin (Home Alone) Ferris (Buller) and Mouth (Goonies). She holds her own and does what she can with the material she’s given.
    It really makes me quite sad that her character in Lucifer didn’t give her a chance to demonstrate any of this.
  • There’s fart gags and ‘living the kiddie dream’ that will keep young ones happy.
  • With a 90(ish) minute runtime, it does make for an ideal mid-week choice.

The Bad

  • The fart gags. Seriously, I’m bored of them now. I don’t need the smell described to me while the character gags. Nope, no thanks.
  • The bizarre ‘everyone ends up at Ro’s house’ bollocks that was just weird. Everyone was rude, even the mother when it came to the last guest. Just really mishandled.

The Ugly

  • There are already so many Groundhog Day does Christmas out there that if you do this gimmick, you have to do it right.
    This film, does not. It breaks the reset rules way too many times. Sometimes Ro is able to wake up before the set up of the day and put things into place, other times characters who would trigger the start of the day don’t appear, allowing Ro to do something else. This includes having the kitchen to herself, or members of the family not yet arriving at the house even though they’d seemingly been there for hours in the set up of the repeat day.
    The kid is also allowed to seemingly fuck off for the day, do what she wants, with no consequences. What bullshit is this?! Who in their right mind would let their 12 year old wonder off for any day without searching for her, let alone on Christmas Day. Mind boggles.

Final Thoughts

A film I wanted to love, but ultimately I found the plotting choices lazy and just made it hard to enjoy. For a film that does it right, check out Pete’s Christmas (2013) instead.

Single All the Way (2021) Film Review

Rating PG
Length 1h41
Release 2.12.2021
Director Michael Mayer
About Desperate to avoid his family’s judgment about being single, Peter persuades best friend Nick to pose as his boyfriend on a trip home for the holidays.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Netflix
Trailer:

The Good

  • How the hell has Ugly Betty alum, Michael Urie, only just got a leading role in a film. I love this guy and he’s the ideal person to play Peter. He hasn’t aged a day either and I *must* know his secret!
  • The remaining cast was solid, but it is both Kathy Najimy and Jennifer Robertson that steal every scene they’re in.
  • Dan Finnerty makes a cameo with more of his musical stylings. Yep, for anyone wondering, that is the same Dan from the Dan Band that you may know from the Hangover.

The Bad

  • Why, oh why, does there have to always be a second love interest? Why couldn’t this have been two meddling nieces helping her uncle find love?
    The reason why I hate it so much is that the third wheel in our rom-com is always written in such a forced way to ram it down our throats that ‘they’re not the one’. We get it, they’re not on the poster; we are not invested.
  • I’m a little disappointed with the use of Jennifer Coolidge. It was rather a bland character that led to a bland performance. The is a Queen of camp and larger than life characters and she was really stunted in this.
  • Peter’s whole ‘I’m in this position in my career but it’s not a career I want’ bs really rankles me. It doesn’t mesh with everything else about his character and where he is at the start. His family are supportive, so why didn’t he give his plant shop dream a shot from the start?! Also, who the hell goes back to small town, America to open up a niche shop?!
    The story arc would have worked much better if he’d had the plant shit as a hobble, been incredibly unhappy in his job and have the realisation he needs to make a change.

Final Thoughts

Possibly a *little* too understated to enlarge your heart three sizes, but it’s certainly much more upbeat than last year’s LGBTQ offering Happiest Season (2020)