Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label movie

Review: Yesterday

What if you woke up one day and discovered that nobody but you knew who The Beatles were? Their history and their songs just ceased to exist, leaving you to wonder if you were going crazy or if everybody was in on some elaborate joke? Well, that's what happens to Jack. Except, instead of booking an appointment with a psychiatrist (which I would be doing in his situation), he decides to turn his life as a struggling musician around by releasing all of The Beatles' hits as his own. As people begin to hear Jack's songs and he catapults to stardom, his feelings of guilt begin to surface. It's an interesting moral dilemma. While Jack is lying about writing all of the songs himself, no one would ever find out the truth, and even if they did they wouldn't believe him. The true geniuses behind the music technically don't exist, so who is he really hurting? It's hard to imagine what you would do in that situation. While I really enjoyed this movie; the...

Review: Long Shot

Long Shot is a rom-com, with the emphasis on the com. As well as being one of the best rom-coms this year, it is also one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. It made me laugh embarrassingly loudly in public, which is always an indication of a great movie. Charlize Theron is so glamorously beautiful in a way that would make you hate her, if she didn't also seem like a wonderful, fun, down to earth person. Playing Charlotte Field, the U.S. Secretary of State, who is trying to implement a huge environmental deal and secure her place in the next presidential campaign, Charlize possesses the poise and grace of a politician, and also the comedic skills that the role requires.  Meanwhile, Seth Rogen is his usual hilarious self as Fred Flarsky, a journalist who, despite his outspoken nature, finds himself working as Charlotte's speech writer. The casting in this movie is amazing. As well as Charlize and Seth, you have June Diane Raphael (who you may recogn...

Review: I, Tonya

The multi-coloured tracksuits, the big, permed hair, the soundtrack; I, Tonya really brought the 80s to life in this Tonya Harding biopic, and not in a tacky way. While the costumes and music set the scene, taking us to a different era, a different place, it's the story that really draws you in. Regardless of how much of the plot is true to life, and how much is embellished for Hollywood, it is such a great story. The big climax is, of course, the infamous Nancy Kerrigan incident, a moment in time that ensured that people all over the world knew the name Tonya Harding. However, I, Tonya is so much more than that, taking a deep dive into Harding's life, from her controlling mother, to her abusive husband, to her lifelong fight to get people to take her seriously as a figure skater. I want to focus on the film, rather than on the life of Tonya Harding, because I haven't read enough about her yet, but it's hard because I just want to talk about what a strong person she...

Review: Suicide Squad

  It’s fair to say that assembling a gang of super villains to use as a weapon in case of an emergency is a terrible idea, but that is the idea that introduces us to the Suicide Squad. Made up of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Deadshot (Will Smith), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), El Diablo (Jay Hernandez) and Killer Croc ( Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje ), the Suicide Squad is a frightening mix of criminals, psychopaths and people with supernatural powers. Blurring the line between good and evil, we find ourselves sympathizing with the villains and realizing that not everything is black and white, even in Gotham.  For those of us who are unfamiliar with the comics, we get a brief glance into the backstories of Harley Quinn, El Diablo and Deadshot while the other characters act as filler for the rest of the team. Joining the main team we have Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), the leader of the squad; Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), the brains behind the whole operation; ...

Review: Ghostbusters

I am just going to preface this by saying that I do not like the idea of remakes. Usually an unnecessary exercise, they remake classic movies or TV shows and do a terrible job. They remade Footloose for fuck's sake, FOOTLOOSE! A classic, one of the best movies that the 80s has to offer and they decided to remake it. How dare you disrespect Kevin Bacon like that. I refuse to watch it. And don't get me started on British/Australian TV shows that America has to remake. Can you not just enjoy the original series of Skins? Why does everything have to be Americanised? So anyway, getting back on track, I wasn't super excited when I first heard that Ghostbusters was getting a revival. It sounded like a gimmick to have an all-female cast and I wasn't sure about how it would turn out. I really wanted to see it though because after it came out it seemed like people had some really good things to say about it, and they turned out to be right. Ghostbusters was hilarious. It...

Review: UHF

I love 80s movies. Pretty in Pink, St Elmo's Fire, Dirty Dancing, Footloose, Cocktail, there are so many good (and so bad they're good) movies from the 80s. Of course, having been born in the late 80s myself, I have discovered them later, and so have missed out on some cult classics. While anything with Molly Ringwald or an amazing dance sequence lasted the test of time, these other films that have slipped through the cracks and been lost in that colourful decade are bewildering at best, unwatchable at worst. UHF falls into the former category. UHF has the bizarre factor, where you ask yourself 'what the hell is happening?' at certain points throughout. Luckily, it's made watchable by balancing this out with lots of funny moments and a surprisingly good plot. It also has a great cast, with appearances from a young Fran Drescher and Michael Richards. The story revolves around George Newman (Weird Al) who finds himself unemployed after he is fired fr...