Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)
Zombieland: Double Tap will sell tickets off the promise of exploding zombies and sarcastic asides. Thankfully, it has both in droves.
Louder than Bombs (2015)
Louder than Bombs is an unconventional, masculine melodrama. It’s a melodrama in the sense that it revolves around familial conflict, domestic secrets and intense emotions; masculine in the sense that it’s reserved, quiet and inarticulate.
The Hyper-Masculine Incoherency of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is neither the hero the superhero genre deserves nor the villain it dreads. This is a film about two superheroes waging war with one another that’s similarly at war with itself, riven between competing narratives, commercial concerns and an overarching ambition that sees it striving for meaning before collapsing…
The End of the Tour and the Inescapable Insecurities of Being ‘A Writer’
As a portrait of David Foster Wallace, The End of the Tour is mostly a failure. Along with Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg), we follow Wallace’s 1996 promotion tour for Infinite Jest, but we learn less about him from the film than we could divine from reading his justly-celebrated novels and essays. Jason…
American Ultra (2015)
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…
Night Moves (2013)
Night Moves mostly slipped under the radar in 2014. Despite the presence of Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard and a marketable premise – an ecoterrorism procedural – it attracted little buzz and didn’t even receive a proper release in Brisbane (though I should acknowledge that the always-excellent Schonell Theatre screened it sometime after…
The Double (2013)
The Double is a thoroughly unpleasant cinematic experience. Whether or not that makes it a bad flm is a more complicated subject. Amongst the most affective films I’ve seen are films mired in misery – Requiem for a Dream or Irréversible – so I’m not prepared to dismiss a movie simply because it can’t be…
Double Feature: Adventureland (2009) and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
The similarities between Adventureland and The Perks of Being a Wallflower are abundant and easily apparent. Each follows an adolescent male on the verge of adulthood – James (Jesse Eisenberg) and Charlie (Logan Lerman) respectively – who aspires to be a successful writer. Each combine the traditional “nerdy” traits of introspection, intelligence and awkwardness with…
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