Is it weird that cinema is almost entirely absent realistic presentations of office politics? Don’t expect Office, an office-drama-comedy-romance-musical from Hong Kong director Johnnie To to buck that trend. Realism is almost entirely avoided in this tale of ambition, set in the heady times of pre-GFC 2007 and staged on an abstract, artificial, gorgeous set…
Haemoo – South Korean for “sea fog” – is a deceptive film; despite initially presenting itself as a people-smuggling drama, loosely based on a 2001 real-life tragedy, it’s in fact smuggling a carefully-crafted tragicomic thriller. The initial framing of its smuggler protagonists as desperate souls soon gives way to overt, melodramatic villainy – rape, violence…
Scorch Trials picks up literally where its predecessor left off, as Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and friends are ferried into a large complex, where supposedly anti-WCKD Aiden Gillen is transporting kids to safety. It doesn’t take long for the wheels to come off though, and Thomas and friends head out into the desert, searching for answers.…
Here are the things to like about American Ultra: Kristen Stewart’s performance as a put-upon girlfriend. She’s fantastic, as always. The chemistry between Stewart and on-screen boyfriend Jesse Eisenberg, playing a kind of Cheech-and-Bourne stoner/super-soldier mashup. Some imaginative use of neon/black light colours. …and that’s it, sadly. American Ultra could have been a funny, energetic…
Indie sensation Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a proven crowd-pleaser, with Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s film’s easy, cutesy humour and plethora of classic movie references earning it Audience Awards at Sydney and Sundance. It’s certainly entertaining enough. But the exceedingly twee title also hints at its incessant solipsism, with the “Me” of the title…
“What was your point?” “Nothing. It’s just a funny story.” Your typical creature feature suffers from the ‘fireworks factory’ effect: the cumulative expectations of violence, horror and – of course – the appearance of the creature in question building into frustration and, often, disappointment. Spring, on the other hand, had me wondering if I’d put…
I’ve done a lot of travelling in my time. There was a lot of dancing, more music than I could shake a glowstick at, and enough glorious (at the time) experiences that there’s definite “nostalgia” (cringeworthy recollections) to be “remembered fondly” (blatantly denied). We Are Your Friends captures all of that and then some. At its heart,…
The intellectual American subjects of Best of Enemies – bug-eyed National Review editor and conservative iconoclast William F. Buckley Jr; vaguely-aristocratic-looking playwright, screenwriter and very-un-Right Gore Vidal – are a long way from household names nowadays. This documentary covers the infamous ABC debates between the pair, but where I’d expected a “things sure have changed”…
Meryl Streep adds ‘Righteous-Rock-Chick’ to her resume in this breezy dramedy by Jonathan Demme. A musical masterpiece this is not. But it does offer a meaty slice of familial tribulation as the eponymous Ricki Rendazzo (Streep) attempts to reconnect with resentful offspring following self-imposed exile. Streep, the consummate pro, is clearly having a good time…
This movie is good. Like, really, non-cliché, good. I’d rewatched the previous, Timothy-Olyphant-starring Hitman film in preparation for this one. I’d enjoyed it. It wasn’t a cinematic masterpiece, but still an enjoyable film. After watching Hitman: Agent 47 however, it simply pales in comparison. Agent 47’s action sequences are superb, and the stunts leave you…
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