LEGO Batman sees Will Arnett return to the role of Batman which he did in the LEGO Movie in 2014 and here Batman arrests the Joker and then is beloved once more by the people of Gotham but a new Police Commissioner (Rosario Dawson) wants to work with Batman and well he kinda tends to work alone.
I had a lot of fun watching this movie it is easily the most fun I have had in a cinema since watching Split earlier this year, Arnett really does that campy Batman all anew for this generation (the recent DC animated film Return of the Caped Crusaders really felt out of place I feel) and it doesn't feel annoying or irritating to watch at all, Dawson has a lot of fun as the new Police Commissioner while Ralph Fiennes makes for a terrific Alfred.
The film also has some truly gorgeous animation there were many times where I was just looking at the film and thinking "This looks amazing" plus if you are a long time Batman fan there are plenty of gags and references to the history of the Dark Knight but I will say that the LEGO Movie is preferred to this film for me as that film had a lot more gags, more characters to enjoy watching and a more fresh feel to it whereas this if you aren't a big Batman fan you'll have a good time but a lot of the gags and references might go misunderstood.
And so that was LEGO Batman a lot of fun that is well worth watching, 3 and a half out of 5.
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Film Review - Life (2017)
Life stars Ryan Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson and Jake Gyllenhaal as astronauts on the International Space Station who pick up a probe coming from Mars they and their team then study the probe and see that it has a lifeform on it but just because it's an organic lifeform that then starts picking off the crew one by one doesn't mean it's a bad person.
Life has some pretty neat gooey Blood effects but overall it's a pretty boring sci-fi horror flick that has the unfortunate misfortune to open so close to Alien: Covenant which Ridley Scott is making as this really does come across as a very poor imitator (my cinema had the posters for both films side by side from each other even.)
The main reason this falls over is the characters all of them are one note bland and boring nobodies that you don't even get to spend much time with in their day to day lives on the ISS before the blood starts a flowing and this was a genuine highlight of both Alien and Aliens both films had a very clearly defined group of characters that we spent a lot of time with and who we came to understand before the terror and tension came bursting on the screen whereas here it starts almost straight away after a few brief scenes.
What this film also lacks is a character like Hudson in Aliens and this came to mind for me with the very sad death of Bill Paxton last month and Hudson in that film essentially represents a lot of the audience watching that film which is he's the one having the breakdown ("17 Days? We're not gonna last 17 hours" "Hudson, HUDSON") whereas here a lot of them sit around and try to figure out what to do which I thought.
"Here's an idea, go down to the Ammunition decks get the Nuclear Warhead and strap one to your head, you'll knock the Smegger to oblivion."
It also represents a real waste of all 3 of those talented actors who deserve a lot better than this.
And so that was Life and frankly wait for Alien: Covenant in May but it does have some cool gooey Blood effects so it's not a complete disaster, 2 out of 5.
Life has some pretty neat gooey Blood effects but overall it's a pretty boring sci-fi horror flick that has the unfortunate misfortune to open so close to Alien: Covenant which Ridley Scott is making as this really does come across as a very poor imitator (my cinema had the posters for both films side by side from each other even.)
The main reason this falls over is the characters all of them are one note bland and boring nobodies that you don't even get to spend much time with in their day to day lives on the ISS before the blood starts a flowing and this was a genuine highlight of both Alien and Aliens both films had a very clearly defined group of characters that we spent a lot of time with and who we came to understand before the terror and tension came bursting on the screen whereas here it starts almost straight away after a few brief scenes.
What this film also lacks is a character like Hudson in Aliens and this came to mind for me with the very sad death of Bill Paxton last month and Hudson in that film essentially represents a lot of the audience watching that film which is he's the one having the breakdown ("17 Days? We're not gonna last 17 hours" "Hudson, HUDSON") whereas here a lot of them sit around and try to figure out what to do which I thought.
"Here's an idea, go down to the Ammunition decks get the Nuclear Warhead and strap one to your head, you'll knock the Smegger to oblivion."
It also represents a real waste of all 3 of those talented actors who deserve a lot better than this.
And so that was Life and frankly wait for Alien: Covenant in May but it does have some cool gooey Blood effects so it's not a complete disaster, 2 out of 5.
Film Review - The Boss Baby (2017)
The Boss Baby is the new Dreamworks Animation film and stars Alec Baldwin as a Baby for Baby Corp who separate newborn bubs into 2 categories: Those who love family and those who love management Baldwin's character goes into management and is later adopted by a family and his older brother Tim is none too happy about having a little brother at least at first.
I had a very good time watching this movie I will admit I was looking forward to it because of the very fun advertising I saw for the film but the film itself did not let me down for the most part and the main reason for this is due to Baldwin's excellent voice work I've been a big fan of this man since his work as Dr Jack Ryan in the Hunt for Red October (it still annoys me to this day that circumstances prevented him from doing Patriot Games) and his dry humour is used to very good effect here playing this little baby in a suit who could do business deals in a nappy and he provided a lot of the smiles and laughs I had in the film.
As for the film itself its fine for the first two thirds but the last act it begins to fall apart in that way that many animated films do these days and that is a fight between the main characters at the two third mark and then a generic I'm sorry scene and then a fight to save the day and its gotten a little boring now to constantly see this happen in animated films.
And so that was the Boss Baby a fun time that is mainly worth seeing for Baldwin's excellent performance, 3 out of 5.
I had a very good time watching this movie I will admit I was looking forward to it because of the very fun advertising I saw for the film but the film itself did not let me down for the most part and the main reason for this is due to Baldwin's excellent voice work I've been a big fan of this man since his work as Dr Jack Ryan in the Hunt for Red October (it still annoys me to this day that circumstances prevented him from doing Patriot Games) and his dry humour is used to very good effect here playing this little baby in a suit who could do business deals in a nappy and he provided a lot of the smiles and laughs I had in the film.
As for the film itself its fine for the first two thirds but the last act it begins to fall apart in that way that many animated films do these days and that is a fight between the main characters at the two third mark and then a generic I'm sorry scene and then a fight to save the day and its gotten a little boring now to constantly see this happen in animated films.
And so that was the Boss Baby a fun time that is mainly worth seeing for Baldwin's excellent performance, 3 out of 5.
Film Review - Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Beauty and the Beast is based off of the 1991 animated film of the same name and Emma Watson plays Belle who lives in her little town, it's a quiet village, every day like the one before all the while she tries to fight off Gaston (Luke Evans) but when her father Maurice (Kevin Kline) goes missing she finds herself at an enchanted castle and a tale as old as time, true as it can be.
I was very very very nervous going into see this movie mainly because I was a kid of the 90s who watched that original film on Video along with Aladdin and the Lion King but the casting of Ms Watson as Belle did give me some sliver of hope that it could deliver the goods but could it deliver or just end up feeling like a lot of remakes do and that is there was no need for it.
Well this movie was indeed better than I thought it was going to be but not by much and I will start with the positives of course it's great to hear those original songs again and in about 30 seconds you could sing all of them off by heart as I did in the cinema especially Be Our Guest and the Mob Song plus Kline, Evans and Sir Ian McKellen are really good here and make the most of their scenes in the film.
But sadly the storytelling here didn't really feel all that different in the sense that it didn't do enough to really push the image of the original film out of my head and it didn't help that many scenes just felt padded out in order to try and justify a live action film running time and this was at its worse in the songs which would go on and then stop before the next verse is sung and it really got on my nerves.
And also (and I really hate to say this) but Watson was very disappointing as Belle for 2 reasons first of all her singing was not the best especially during the opening Belle number now it does improve in the 2nd half of the film but seeing that just made me wish her opening songs had been reshot to take advantage of this.
The other reason is that at times her British accent comes through in her line readings and she begins to sound more like Hermione from the Harry Potter series personally speaking I would've preferred someone like Anne Hathaway as Belle who could sing as she proved with I Dreamed a Dream in Les Mis which won her the Academy Award that year but I wasn't to know any of that when Watson was announced in the role.
And so that was Beauty and the Beast an okay adaptation but it really makes me not want a live action Aladdin and it is not for younger children as the climax will scare them easily, 2 out of 5.
I was very very very nervous going into see this movie mainly because I was a kid of the 90s who watched that original film on Video along with Aladdin and the Lion King but the casting of Ms Watson as Belle did give me some sliver of hope that it could deliver the goods but could it deliver or just end up feeling like a lot of remakes do and that is there was no need for it.
Well this movie was indeed better than I thought it was going to be but not by much and I will start with the positives of course it's great to hear those original songs again and in about 30 seconds you could sing all of them off by heart as I did in the cinema especially Be Our Guest and the Mob Song plus Kline, Evans and Sir Ian McKellen are really good here and make the most of their scenes in the film.
But sadly the storytelling here didn't really feel all that different in the sense that it didn't do enough to really push the image of the original film out of my head and it didn't help that many scenes just felt padded out in order to try and justify a live action film running time and this was at its worse in the songs which would go on and then stop before the next verse is sung and it really got on my nerves.
And also (and I really hate to say this) but Watson was very disappointing as Belle for 2 reasons first of all her singing was not the best especially during the opening Belle number now it does improve in the 2nd half of the film but seeing that just made me wish her opening songs had been reshot to take advantage of this.
The other reason is that at times her British accent comes through in her line readings and she begins to sound more like Hermione from the Harry Potter series personally speaking I would've preferred someone like Anne Hathaway as Belle who could sing as she proved with I Dreamed a Dream in Les Mis which won her the Academy Award that year but I wasn't to know any of that when Watson was announced in the role.
And so that was Beauty and the Beast an okay adaptation but it really makes me not want a live action Aladdin and it is not for younger children as the climax will scare them easily, 2 out of 5.
Sunday, March 19, 2017
On the Air Season 4 Episode 3
General Notes:
Here is my new Radio ep where I reviewed the following:
- Logan
- Jasper Jones
- Hidden Figures
As well as pay tribute to Bill Paxton.
Audio is here: https://soundcloud.com/abclocalradio_sa/friday-flicks-march-10
Here is my new Radio ep where I reviewed the following:
- Logan
- Jasper Jones
- Hidden Figures
As well as pay tribute to Bill Paxton.
Audio is here: https://soundcloud.com/abclocalradio_sa/friday-flicks-march-10
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Film Review - Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Kong: Skull Island is the next chapter in the Monsters Cinematic Universe which started with Godzilla in 2014 and it is set in 1973 and tells the tale of a scientist played by John Goodman who sees an uncharted island in the ocean and asks to go explore it, he eventually does taking with him an Army Colonel played by Samuel L Jackson, a photographer played by Brie Larson, an expert tracker played by Tom Hiddleston and while there they find a human survivor on the island played by John C Reilly.
Kong was an okay film but much like 2014's Godzilla it became very easy to sadly get a bit bored with everything going on in this movie don't get me wrong the film has some great visual effects moments and action scenes and the cinematography by Larry Fong who also did Batman V Superman is very nice with its Vietnam War esque imagery and strong use of colours which made it very nice to look at while watching it.
But again I think to myself "So What?" because the story and the human characters really aren't all that interesting, none of them have any real character arcs or motivations and none of them are really all that interesting to watch over a 2 hour period Jackson has some good motivation in terms of his anger over the Vietnam War but it isn't really developed into anything significant, Goodman and Hiddleston are fine in their roles but don't really get anything to do very much.
But the biggest waste of all is Larson and much like the endless parade of weak villains in superhero movies I am getting completely and utterly sick to death of seeing actresses I love to watch like her and Rooney Mara in Lion recently getting nothing roles in these big films that go out to mainstream audiences that up and comers could play just as easily and this woman won an Academy Award for her work in Room last year before this role and it just makes me feel so fucking frustrated as so often now the great roles for women are being seen in small indie films that don't get a very big release and it has to stop as actresses deserve so much better than this shit.
And so that was Kong Skull Island and frankly it deserves a snoot full of a gas bomb as it's an okay but also kind of boring film to watch if you want a fun monster movie watch Pacific Rim instead, 2 out of 5.
Kong was an okay film but much like 2014's Godzilla it became very easy to sadly get a bit bored with everything going on in this movie don't get me wrong the film has some great visual effects moments and action scenes and the cinematography by Larry Fong who also did Batman V Superman is very nice with its Vietnam War esque imagery and strong use of colours which made it very nice to look at while watching it.
But again I think to myself "So What?" because the story and the human characters really aren't all that interesting, none of them have any real character arcs or motivations and none of them are really all that interesting to watch over a 2 hour period Jackson has some good motivation in terms of his anger over the Vietnam War but it isn't really developed into anything significant, Goodman and Hiddleston are fine in their roles but don't really get anything to do very much.
But the biggest waste of all is Larson and much like the endless parade of weak villains in superhero movies I am getting completely and utterly sick to death of seeing actresses I love to watch like her and Rooney Mara in Lion recently getting nothing roles in these big films that go out to mainstream audiences that up and comers could play just as easily and this woman won an Academy Award for her work in Room last year before this role and it just makes me feel so fucking frustrated as so often now the great roles for women are being seen in small indie films that don't get a very big release and it has to stop as actresses deserve so much better than this shit.
And so that was Kong Skull Island and frankly it deserves a snoot full of a gas bomb as it's an okay but also kind of boring film to watch if you want a fun monster movie watch Pacific Rim instead, 2 out of 5.
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Film Review - Rules Don't Apply (2017)
Rules Don't Apply is the return of Warren Beatty in terms of both in front of and behind the camera and is based off of the life of Howard Hughes the eccentric billionaire who slowly retreated more and more into seclusion but another tale being told here is that of an aspiring young actress (Lily Collins) and a young man who becomes one of Hughes's aides (Alden Ehrenrich)
This movie was just awful to sit through I mean it really really was and frankly I will be stunned if I see a worse movie than this one this year for these reasons:
- Firstly the script for this movie written by Beatty himself is a mess and literally this story is all over the place in terms of both the story of Hughes plus the story of these 2 young people who come to know him neither one of these is given anytime to develop in a meaningful way and the construction of this script is so god damned hap hazard you don't really get the chance to see any cohesion between the 2 plot lines.
- Secondly the performances in this movie are flat as all hell and this has a wonderful cast of actors Beatty's wife Annette Bening, Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin, Oliver Platt, Matthew Broderick, Martin Sheen, Steve Coogan plus Collins and Ehrenrich and all of them are flat and it's because not one of them is given any meaningful screen time to develop their characters and find their performances which you would think Beatty who has gotten great performances from actors in the past (AL PACINO IN DICK TRACY IS A STANDOUT HERE!!!!) would know that but it seems that he has been away for so long that he's forgotten this.
- And that brings me to my last point and that is Beatty's work on this movie and his direction feels completely and utterly lifeless none of the scenes feel like they come to life unless there's a vintage song from the soundtrack playing under it and the editing of the scenes feels very haphazard and when you have other actor/directors like Clint Eastwood one of Beatty's contemporaries still putting out big hits like American Sniper and Sully plus someone like Ben Affleck who has shown time and time again that he has total command of his medium and inspires everyone around him to give it everything they have this is quite frankly not good enough.
And even thinking about this has me stunned because this man made Dick Tracy in 1990 a film I feel is a little underrated this was a film that created a complete world of its own it has makeup work that is wonderful to look at and watch plus it has exciting songs and action and performances and Beatty was on top of his game but here it's like watching a great man fall from grace and turn into a senile old man and given his status as a legend he deserved to go out on top.
And so that was Rules Don't Apply and if you are a fan of Warren Beatty I cannot in any way recommend this movie as it is not good at all and I hate saying this as I am a fan of his but I have to and if you want a great film about Howard Hughes watch Martin Scorsese's the Aviator, 1 out of 5.
This movie was just awful to sit through I mean it really really was and frankly I will be stunned if I see a worse movie than this one this year for these reasons:
- Firstly the script for this movie written by Beatty himself is a mess and literally this story is all over the place in terms of both the story of Hughes plus the story of these 2 young people who come to know him neither one of these is given anytime to develop in a meaningful way and the construction of this script is so god damned hap hazard you don't really get the chance to see any cohesion between the 2 plot lines.
- Secondly the performances in this movie are flat as all hell and this has a wonderful cast of actors Beatty's wife Annette Bening, Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin, Oliver Platt, Matthew Broderick, Martin Sheen, Steve Coogan plus Collins and Ehrenrich and all of them are flat and it's because not one of them is given any meaningful screen time to develop their characters and find their performances which you would think Beatty who has gotten great performances from actors in the past (AL PACINO IN DICK TRACY IS A STANDOUT HERE!!!!) would know that but it seems that he has been away for so long that he's forgotten this.
- And that brings me to my last point and that is Beatty's work on this movie and his direction feels completely and utterly lifeless none of the scenes feel like they come to life unless there's a vintage song from the soundtrack playing under it and the editing of the scenes feels very haphazard and when you have other actor/directors like Clint Eastwood one of Beatty's contemporaries still putting out big hits like American Sniper and Sully plus someone like Ben Affleck who has shown time and time again that he has total command of his medium and inspires everyone around him to give it everything they have this is quite frankly not good enough.
And even thinking about this has me stunned because this man made Dick Tracy in 1990 a film I feel is a little underrated this was a film that created a complete world of its own it has makeup work that is wonderful to look at and watch plus it has exciting songs and action and performances and Beatty was on top of his game but here it's like watching a great man fall from grace and turn into a senile old man and given his status as a legend he deserved to go out on top.
And so that was Rules Don't Apply and if you are a fan of Warren Beatty I cannot in any way recommend this movie as it is not good at all and I hate saying this as I am a fan of his but I have to and if you want a great film about Howard Hughes watch Martin Scorsese's the Aviator, 1 out of 5.
Film Review - Moonlight (2017)
Moonlight is directed by Barry Jenkins and is based off of an undeveloped stage play called "In Moonlight Black Boys Turn Blue" and tells the tale of Chiron a young black man growing up in a rough neighbourhood in Miami, Florida we see him as a young boy played by Alex Hibbert as a teenager played by Ashton Sanders and as a young man played by Trevante Rhodes.
This was a film that I will say I admire more than I like and I do like this movie very much indeed I think Jenkins did a beautiful job directing the film a lot of the scenes in the film look very true to life I feel and at times the bold colours and strong lighting make it look like a painting especially in some of the night scenes plus the close ups he does in the film have this very intimate feel to them as if you yourself are looking at that person up close like you would someone in real life and also the film is very nicely structured which although some parts feel slow it never feels fatty in terms of its scenes.
The film also has a slew of great performances the three men who play Chiron in the stages of his life are all very good little Alex in particular does so much while not having a lot of dialogue to say in his scenes, Naomie Harris who initially had turned down the film thankfully changed her mind as she too is very good as are Mahersala Ali who rightfully won an Academy Award for his role here and Janelle Monae who was also recently in Hidden Figures is very good though both of them do not have large roles in the film.
But lastly the film captures very well the painful reality of someone who is struggling with their sexuality and how Chiron chooses to withdraw somewhat from the world around him primarily because of the circumstances of his upbringing and also how others around him will feel especially other men in his community where the street is sadly where a lot of them can end up and for a sensitive boy like Chiron it makes those growing pains feel a lot worse and this is why I admire this film as much as I do.
And so that was Moonlight a very admirable film that was correctly crowned Best Picture even if I don't love it as much as others have done but still this is a film well worth seeing, 3 and a half out of 5.
This was a film that I will say I admire more than I like and I do like this movie very much indeed I think Jenkins did a beautiful job directing the film a lot of the scenes in the film look very true to life I feel and at times the bold colours and strong lighting make it look like a painting especially in some of the night scenes plus the close ups he does in the film have this very intimate feel to them as if you yourself are looking at that person up close like you would someone in real life and also the film is very nicely structured which although some parts feel slow it never feels fatty in terms of its scenes.
The film also has a slew of great performances the three men who play Chiron in the stages of his life are all very good little Alex in particular does so much while not having a lot of dialogue to say in his scenes, Naomie Harris who initially had turned down the film thankfully changed her mind as she too is very good as are Mahersala Ali who rightfully won an Academy Award for his role here and Janelle Monae who was also recently in Hidden Figures is very good though both of them do not have large roles in the film.
But lastly the film captures very well the painful reality of someone who is struggling with their sexuality and how Chiron chooses to withdraw somewhat from the world around him primarily because of the circumstances of his upbringing and also how others around him will feel especially other men in his community where the street is sadly where a lot of them can end up and for a sensitive boy like Chiron it makes those growing pains feel a lot worse and this is why I admire this film as much as I do.
And so that was Moonlight a very admirable film that was correctly crowned Best Picture even if I don't love it as much as others have done but still this is a film well worth seeing, 3 and a half out of 5.
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Film Review - Logan (2017)
Logan marks the final Wolverine film for Hugh Jackman in the role and here he's working as a Limo driver hoping to make enough money to take him and an old Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) out to sea as the world is in decline and the X-Men are gone following a horrible incident but a little girl named Laura (Dafnee Keen) may change everything as she is being hunted by a dangerous organisation.
Logan is a bit of a mixed bag for me but before I delve into that I want to talk about what did work for me:
- First the action and the violence in this film is fantastic to watch, lots of slicing and dicing and people dying horribly and a lot (and I mean a lot) of blood is spilt here if you're a bit squeamish you might want to avoid this film as even I felt my head hurt a little bit after coming out of the film and I have a very thick stomach when it comes to violence in movies though it is very well filmed I will say one scene in particular gives the Quicksilver scenes in X-Men Days of Future Past and Apocalypse a good run for their money.
- And secondly a lot of the performances are very good here as well Jackman is a good as he ever was in this role and watching him here it's hard to believe that he's retiring from the role though you can understand why given he's done it for so many years, Stephen Merchant was pretty good as Caliban though Tomas Libertaque played him a little better in Apocalypse last year though the show stealers here are Stewart and Keen both are very good here and Keen in particular does a lot with very little dialogue and I hope she has a good career as an actress ahead of her.
But what holds this movie back from loving it for me is once again a Marvel related film has a very weak villain and both Boyd Holbrook and Richard E Grant are good actors their characters are pretty forgettable and their story is really nothing new that we saw in X-Men 2 where that film dealt with the Weapon X program and one part of their story in particular just made me go "What oh come on this is ridiculous."
And so is this endless string of boring villains in these superhero movies these days I mean whether it be this movie or Deadpool from last year or the Marvel Cinematic Universe and their library of boring and nothing villains save for Loki and that's really due to Tom Hiddleston (the perfect Vegeta from DBZ) so many of these films just constant fail over and over and over again in this crucial area and it just makes me feel so fucking sick to death of this genre which has become so dominant in the cinemas right now.
And it really REALLY makes me hope that the producer supreme Kevin Feige makes good to his word in regards to Thanos in Avengers Infinity War next year because if he doesn't then that entire MCU could well be for nothing to some but given how that universe like the X-Men series has always found a way to course correct for me I am willing to trust him on this front given his sincerity in the recent Infinity War video from last month.
But that aside Logan is worth seeing but its weak villains really hold it back for me and this was not a mistake that Bryan Singer made in his 4 X-Men films even Apocalypse, 2 and a half out of 5.
Logan is a bit of a mixed bag for me but before I delve into that I want to talk about what did work for me:
- First the action and the violence in this film is fantastic to watch, lots of slicing and dicing and people dying horribly and a lot (and I mean a lot) of blood is spilt here if you're a bit squeamish you might want to avoid this film as even I felt my head hurt a little bit after coming out of the film and I have a very thick stomach when it comes to violence in movies though it is very well filmed I will say one scene in particular gives the Quicksilver scenes in X-Men Days of Future Past and Apocalypse a good run for their money.
- And secondly a lot of the performances are very good here as well Jackman is a good as he ever was in this role and watching him here it's hard to believe that he's retiring from the role though you can understand why given he's done it for so many years, Stephen Merchant was pretty good as Caliban though Tomas Libertaque played him a little better in Apocalypse last year though the show stealers here are Stewart and Keen both are very good here and Keen in particular does a lot with very little dialogue and I hope she has a good career as an actress ahead of her.
But what holds this movie back from loving it for me is once again a Marvel related film has a very weak villain and both Boyd Holbrook and Richard E Grant are good actors their characters are pretty forgettable and their story is really nothing new that we saw in X-Men 2 where that film dealt with the Weapon X program and one part of their story in particular just made me go "What oh come on this is ridiculous."
And so is this endless string of boring villains in these superhero movies these days I mean whether it be this movie or Deadpool from last year or the Marvel Cinematic Universe and their library of boring and nothing villains save for Loki and that's really due to Tom Hiddleston (the perfect Vegeta from DBZ) so many of these films just constant fail over and over and over again in this crucial area and it just makes me feel so fucking sick to death of this genre which has become so dominant in the cinemas right now.
And it really REALLY makes me hope that the producer supreme Kevin Feige makes good to his word in regards to Thanos in Avengers Infinity War next year because if he doesn't then that entire MCU could well be for nothing to some but given how that universe like the X-Men series has always found a way to course correct for me I am willing to trust him on this front given his sincerity in the recent Infinity War video from last month.
But that aside Logan is worth seeing but its weak villains really hold it back for me and this was not a mistake that Bryan Singer made in his 4 X-Men films even Apocalypse, 2 and a half out of 5.
Film Review - Jasper Jones (2017)
Jasper Jones is directed by Rachel Perkins and is based off of the novel and takes place in Rural Western Australia in 1969 and a young boy named Charlie (Levi Miller) is led one night by Jasper Jones (Aaron McGrath) to the scene of a dead young girl whose death may have more going on than at first glance.
Jasper Jones is quite a nice little coming of age film combined with a mystery and Perkins handles both pretty nicely I feel, Miller may have gotten off to a bad start with Pan a couple of years ago but his work here and in Red Dog True Blue he has redeemed himself quite nicely as a capable young actor, I also really liked Toni Collette as his mother and Angourie Rice is very good here as well and she is doing very well for herself and follows up her show stealing work in the Nice Guys quite nicely here.
I also really liked the picture it paints of late 60s Australia where communities were starting to see migrants make themselves home a little more and how that community is affected by the Vietnam War and the National Draft and how the role of women is affected as well to a certain extent and I really like when a period film takes a little bit of time to explore what life was like then a little bit.
And so that was Jasper Jones a quite nice Aussie flick that further shows the renaissance of Australian film is in full swing and that we can do it as good as anyone else once again, 3 out of 5.
Jasper Jones is quite a nice little coming of age film combined with a mystery and Perkins handles both pretty nicely I feel, Miller may have gotten off to a bad start with Pan a couple of years ago but his work here and in Red Dog True Blue he has redeemed himself quite nicely as a capable young actor, I also really liked Toni Collette as his mother and Angourie Rice is very good here as well and she is doing very well for herself and follows up her show stealing work in the Nice Guys quite nicely here.
I also really liked the picture it paints of late 60s Australia where communities were starting to see migrants make themselves home a little more and how that community is affected by the Vietnam War and the National Draft and how the role of women is affected as well to a certain extent and I really like when a period film takes a little bit of time to explore what life was like then a little bit.
And so that was Jasper Jones a quite nice Aussie flick that further shows the renaissance of Australian film is in full swing and that we can do it as good as anyone else once again, 3 out of 5.
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