There’s a germ of a good idea in Man Up, a disappointing rom-com starring Simon Pegg and Lake Bell. It’s the idea of its characters as “emotional jigsaws” – dating in their mid-30s/early-40s while burdened by the baggage of failed relationships. In Man Up’s world, the challenges of dating aren’t so much associated with finding…
The nature of romantic comedy has changed in the past 20 years. Sleepless in Seattle, Pretty Woman – these movies provided a fairytale aspect to the idea of romance: Prince Charming, the one person made for you. Nowadays, a hyper-realistic brand of rom-com has sprung up, grounded less in idealised perfect moments and more in…
What even are you, Last Witch Hunter? The ominous title and gothic poster suggest a grim action-fantasy flick – think Vin Diesel’s antihero Riddick shtick, but with witches – but we’re actually granted a slipshod, poorly-paced disappointment. Vin Diesel – sorry, “Kaulder” – was cursed with immortality some eight centuries ago, but where ‘curse’ would…
Results is a conscious step towards the mainstream for director Andrew Bujalski, who cut his teeth on indie “mumblecore” features like Funny Ha Ha before wowing critics [who are not me] with 2013’s eccentric, experimental Computer Chess. This is decidedly more conventional fare – with recognisable actors (Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders, Kevin Corrigan) in a…
“You can either do good, or do well.” Such is the backdrop of this British attempt at a zero gadget spy film. Spooks: The Greater Good starts slow, introducing a nice bit of brooding menace via Kit Harrington, followed by Elyes Gabel’s coldly passionate antihero. The first real spycraft is actually quite well done, creating…
The Dressmaker follows Myrtle Dunnage (Kate Winslet), returning from Paris to the town she grew up in, where her mother “Mad Molly” (Judy Davis) has all but lost her memory. She has to face the realisation that she may have murdered a young boy as a child, and even though she does not recall the…
If we’re lucky, we begin our lives in a community of warmth and acceptance, a family where our status as loved goes unquestioned. But as we age into adolescence, that haven is inevitably breached by doubt and distrust, as we begin to question our position in the world. Those questions are exacerbated when you’re an…
Pack your tissues, it’s time for a weepy melodrama where the relationships are bumpy and the illnesses terminal. I feel no regret disclosing that last bit since Miss You Already’s title betrays the unfortunate fate of perky mother-of-two, Milly (Toni Collette). Indeed this film is content rolling out its by-the-numbers plot relying on the performances…
Full disclosure: I know essentially nothing about fashion, and literally nothing about haute couture fashion. My knowledge of Christian Dior comes entirely from hip-hop lyrics, and it turns out that puts me squarely outside the target audience for Frédéric Tcheng’s fashion doco Dior and I. If you’re the kind of person who understands words like…
On the surface, Digging For Fire doesn’t diverge significantly from the previous Joe Swanberg flicks I’ve seen. It’s populated by funny, attractive actors (the likes of Brie Larson, Orlando Bloom, Chris Messina, Anna Kendrick and Sam Rockwell) casually the shooting the shit (often in various states of undress). Pretty much everyone is on the boundary…
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