Because Everybody Else Has One

So, a non-Star-Wars related movie also comes out this week. Not that anyone cares - or, frankly, should care. It's rubbish. This review is also up at Channel 24 What it's about A slacker manager of the local office of a major corporation is told by his cold-hearted sister and boss that unless he pulls in an unreasonable amount of money by the end of the quarter, she will have no choice but to fire him and close down the branch. And, effective immediately, the office Christmas party is canceled. In a last ditch effort to save the branch, he enlists the help of his best friends and number two at the company to throw the biggest Christmas party ever in an effort to boost his employee's morale and maybe, just maybe, sign up a huge client who would singehandedly bring in enough money to save the branch. What we thought Jennifer Aniston has long ago proven to be the kiss of death for most major Hollywood comedies – and she certainly doesn't buck the tren...

With the Oscars having just been, now's a pretty good time to take a look at a movie that clearly really, really, really wanted one.  Doesn't mean it deserved one though. Sorry, Ms Anderson. This review is also up at Channel 24 . What it's about After a young woman in her grief-counselling group commits suicide, Claire Bennett finds herself becoming obsessed with the woman's life and suicide, all the while dealing with her own tragedy. What we thought Coming hot on the heels of Still Alice and soon to be followed by The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby and Wild, Cake is – and not to be too flippant about this – yet another story about a woman coming to terms with her own tragic circumstances. Unfortunately, it's also by far the weakest of this current crop of tragi-dramas. As the film itself is weirdly very reluctant to reveal the nature of the tragedy at the centre of its story, I won't reveal it here, but suffice it to say that what...

By this point, reviewing the latest Harry Potter film is probably a total waste of time but I have a few words to say on that and (almost) all the other films that have been released over the last couple of weeks. First off, last week's films: Like I said, there probably is no point in reviewing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 because, while people who like Harry Potter will obviously be showing up in their droves for the finale, those who don't - yes, they exist - probably aren't going to drop in for the last half of the last installment. But, hey, I've always figured that people are like me and only really bother with reviews after they've seen the movies, so why not throw in my two cents worth? HP7b is, in a word, terrific. It falters very slightly at the end with an epilogue that is unnecessary here as it was in the book and Voldemort's eventual defeat is vaguely unsatisfying but, these minor flaws aside, this is a stellar climax to a ...