Because Everybody Else Has One

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And now, for the big movie of the week! Well, OK, considering its abysmal box office numbers, "big" might not be the word I'm looking for... This review is also up at Channel 24 . What it's about Returning once again to the stylish-noir world on Frank Miller's Sin City, we meet old faces and new as their paths cross and criss-cross in often deadly ways. What we thought As I haven't revisited the first Sin City in film in many a year, nor having caught up with any of the comics in even longer, I'm not sure if my luke-warm reaction to Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is a result of my having outgrown the property or if, very simply, this sequel just isn't anywhere near as good as the first film. Either way, though it certainly has its pleasures – even if those pleasures are more often that not on the guilty side – A Dame to Kill For is a definite misfire. To be sure, even if the first film was genuinely good (and I am starting to h...

I hate to dump on personal, independent flicks, I really do, but... This review is also up at Channel 24 . What it's about Set in Australia after a giant economic collapse, the Rover tells the story of a loner who embarks on a mission to reclaim the car that is stolen from him with the help of the brother of one of the thieves. What we thought The Rover is the eagerly awaited follow-up to David Michod's breakthrough film, Animal Kingdom, and being very much aimed at art house crowds, it has, not surprisingly, been on the receiving end of a number of very positive reviews. Personally though, I was bored senseless by it. The film's admirers point to the film's use of the desolate Australian planes as the perfect representation of a desolate future, while at the same time applauding the film's bare-bones minimalism that places atmosphere and mood over plot and characterization. Then, of course, there's also the matter of the very strong p...

It hasn't been a great month for movies and, sadly, this past weekend was no exception. I may be forgetting something but I believe The Purge: Anarchy is actually the best film of the week! How crazy is that? This review is also up at Channel 24 . What it's about It's Purge Night once again, where all American citizens are legally allowed to indulge in all their worst criminal behaviour for twelve hours and the focus this time is on a group of non-participants who are forced into the mayhem on the streets, with their only hope of survival lying in a man who is out on his own mission of bloody revenge. What we thought I was vaguely aware of the first Purge film when it came out last year but it was one of those film's that somehow managed to entirely pass me by. Interestingly though, while both films are the work of writer/ director James DeMoneco and are both based on the same premise, they are, by all appearances, very different films. The Pu...

In memory of the great Robin Williams, a truly funny man whose tragic battle with depression robbed us of his talent far, far too early. Here's Robin working his magic on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Really, what's with the hate? This review is also up at Channel 24 What it's about An idealistic young poet is given a ultimatum by her parents to get a “real” job or move out. Doing both, she soon finds herself living among a group of bohemian misfits and working (badly) as a clerk at Adult World a mom and pop (literally) porn shop but it's when she meets and forces herself into the life of her hero – an unsuccessful, cynical middle-aged poet – that things really start to get interesting. What we thought Along with certain similarities to indie-gem Igby Goes Down, in many respects, Adult World is the sprightly, more idealistic younger sister of the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis. It doesn't hold a candle to the Coens' stone-cold masterpiece, of course (what does?), but it certainly deserves more respect than it has gotten so far. Opening to weak reviews, worse box office and a tepid audience response, I doubt Adult World will find much...

And now for the true story of - Nah I can't even complete that sentence... This review is also up at Channel 24 What it's about Making the most of a legend that he helped propagate, Hercules is an apparently very mortal man who, with his small band of mercenaries, suddenly finds himself leading a ragtag army of peasants and farmers against bloodthirsty marauders who threaten to tear down the entire kingdom of Thrace. What we thought Brett Ratner is a director who has long been considered one of the more notorious hacks in Hollywood; a guy who producers call in when they need something knocked out in very short notice after the proper filmmaker attached to the project bails out. It's a reputation that he seems to have mostly earned on the (de)merits of X-Men: The Last Stand alone – a truly dire franchise-killer (or, in this case, attempted killer) that “proper” filmmakers like Bryan Singer and Matthew Vaughn have spent years trying to correct. ...

Judging by international box office reports, every person on earth has seen this already and have already formed their own opinions. Still, there was no way that I wasn't going to throw in my two cents, so here's my own take on what is easily the most unexpected Marvel hit of them all. Proving that the Marvel brand is all but indestructible, Guardians of the Galaxy made, in the U.S. alone, a whopping 94 million dollars on its opening weekend. Think about that for a moment. This isn't a film based on a well known comics property, nor is it one that has as its star an A-grade action hero or an even remotely commercial director at its helm. Instead - and all of its marketing has reflected this - it's an unabashedly bonkers space adventure with some seriously quirky anti-heroes at its centre, coated in several layers of cheese, a day-glo colour pallet and a gleefully now-obscure 1970s pop soundtrack. It's the kind of formula that makes Joss Whedon's brilliant b...

Sorry for the delay but I'll have my in depth Guardians of the Galaxy review up soon. In very short though: it's awesome, go and see it.  For now though, here's something completely different. This review is also up at Channel 24 . What it's about Aidan Bloom, a thirty-five year old husband, father and struggling actor, is confronted simultaneously by a dying father, a deadbeat brother, an impasse in his acting career and the sudden lack of finances to put his kids through the private Jewish day school they have been attending. With his life in flux he is forced to confront his deepest beliefs, dreams and ambitions, while trying to hold himself and his family together. What we thought As a general rule, when I call a movie an ill-disciplined, tonally inconsistent mess, I tend to mean that as a criticism. And yet, when it comes to Wish I Was Here, Zach Braff's long-delayed follow up to his massively popular directorial début Garden State, the...