New Year’s Coincidence
I don’t typically make New Year’s resolutions. Firstly, I can’t keep the resolutions that I make, like writing on this site regularly, regardless of whether there are boundaries set by the calendar. Secondly, I don’t see the importance of needing to make changes to my life just because the year has increased by one; like […]
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Changeling (Movie Review)
There’s always a problem with movies that function as vehicles for someone to win the best actor/actress awards at the Oscars: they are long on monologues by the main actor and short on plot and substance. Thankfully for the sake of Changeling, Clint Eastwood is at the helm. Angelina Jolie’s performance combined with the strong story and exquisite cinematic flair makes this one of the best movies of 2008.
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Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Movie Review)
If you like staring at glory shots of a futuristic spaceship for what feels like forever with orchestral music playing in the background, then Star Trek: The Motion Picture is for you. Unfortunately, for the rest of us, this 132-minute movie feels more like an episode of the TV series that’s been stretched to fill that time. Robert Wise doesn’t have much to work with, but instead of cutting the runtime down to something more manageable, he gives us this movie that feels long and has little substance.
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CODA (Movie Review)
I’ve been struggling to come up with a proper introductory paragraph for Sian Heder’s CODA. There is nothing remarkable about it: nothing in the film is must-see nor terrible and so trying to produce some catchy hook of a paragraph for you to read for the next 1000 words has been a challenge. The issue with that is that CODA is a really great film and so I was hoping to come up with something that will catch eyes and draw people to this movie. Despite its formulaic nature that makes it one of the least predictable films I’ve ever seen, its light-hearted story, relationships, and the acting make this film a charming affair.
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The Banshees of Inisherin (Movie Review)
After watching The Banshees of Inisherin, three things came to mind: Ireland is beautiful, I love my cat, and that this movie is trying too hard to be deep. Martin McDonagh crafts a film fit for your neighbourhood arthouse cinema that is heavy in symbolism and imagery, but it all tends to get lost through the story’s journey. It’s slow, but it will ultimately strike a chord with almost anyone watching it.
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Shadow in the Cloud (Movie Review)
This is what the world of cinema has come down to: long conversations with lots of CGI. Shadow in the Cloud by Roseanne Liang doesn’t quite know what to do with itself. Is it a war movie? Is it a movie that celebrates feminism? Is it a sci-fi thriller? Maybe all or some to all. The film mostly centers around Chloe Grace Moretz’s Maude Garrett character and while she does an excellent job at what is almost a one-woman show, it’s still a chore to make it through the entire movie, which is saying something since it’s only 83 minutes.
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The Loveless (Movie Review)
Every so often, a movie comes along that was well made, well acted, and well produced, but misfires on so many levels. Kathryn Bigelow’s The Loveless unfortunately falls into this category of film. The film is beautifully shot, the acting is well done, and everything feels so gritty, you can smell the seediness of the story coming through the screen. But the story leaves something to be desired and there’s only so much that artful design can keep a movie going without a substantive tale.
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Doubt (Movie Review)
Doubt is a subtle movie about an extremely sensitive subject that does a great job at drawing its audience in and leave them questioning right and wrong. John Patrick Shanley’s simple touches mixed with incredible performances by the starring cast make this movie that feels more like a play at times deeply personal. Even though the stage is set using controversy within the Catholic Church, Shanley pulverizes the typical Hollywood formula of white-hat/black-hat good vs. evil on a secular level. A viewer that isn’t questioning the world after this movie hasn’t truly watched the movie.
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Ordeal by Innocence (Movie Review)
Mystery movies are usually safe affairs: even if it’s bad, it’s not horrendous. That’s quite the opening sentence for Desmond Davis’s Ordeal by Innocence because it’s definitely not horrendous, but it’s definitely forgettable. Even with the star power in front of the screen and Agatha Christie behind the source material, this movie has trouble holding up throughout the ninety-minute runtime. Even though the acting talent has a strong pedigree, this movie falls short.
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Incendies (Movie Review)
Chances are you’ll find yourself feeling very frustrated after watching Incendies. This is not because Denis Villeneuve did a horrible job directing the film; in fact, it’s one of the best films to come from Quebec in the last couple of years. It’s because you can’t help shake your head at the senseless violence that takes place in the movie. We’re not talking about the normal senseless violence that is pumped into high-octane thrillers but the senseless violence that still exists today in the real world.
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Madness Brewing 