The release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens later this month will mark the newest entry in one of the most popular science fiction movie franchises to date, the first new addition to the series in a decade. To commemorate the new film, the first one made without the involvement of George Lucas and directed by …
“It’s best not to think of her as a woman. That would be a mistake.” These words are uttered by Kenneth (Ewan McGregor) to freelance operative Paul (Michael Fassbender) in a scene somewhere toward the end of Steven Soderbergh’s truly excellent but much ignored action movie Haywire. The woman they are referring to is Mallory …
Seemingly late in the game of David Koepp’s Mortdecai, the eponymous character (played by Johnny Depp) asks his wife, “Are you quite finished with your barrage of insults?” It’s an apt question for the film itself, a cataclysmically unfunny, unbelievably tedious disaster of baffling misjudgments and multiple career lows that feels as long as Shoah, and only a little less harrowing. No such luck, though, as the film goes on for another 25 minutes. It then ends on people about to throw up. Also apt.
Moulin Rouge! is a mixed bag. It’s an idea that looks good on paper, but looks horrendous in execution. It’s a film where it should have the ability to make all the right emotional pivots, but succumbs to an ostentation that exists in its final product, making this a hallmark for director Baz Lurhmann’s career. …
In early 2012, while most of the film world was caught up in Oscar prognostications, one film quietly came and went through theatres, earning less that $20 million domestically, and just over $30 million internationally. That film was Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire, with Gina Carano taking on the lead role of Mallory Kane, and its quiet box office reception is in no way indicative of the film’s quality. While it may appear, on the surface, to be a standard action thriller – and there’s certainly no issue with that, as the genre is littered with efforts that fail to even be competent in their execution – in true Soderbergh style, there’s a lot more going on in Haywire than it may appear at first glance.
Working from a brilliantly honed script by doctor-turned-screenwriter John Hodge (who cameos as a police inspector), Shallow Grave is very dark British satire with a simple setup. This tight little thriller is a parable about the effects of greed on friendship. What would you do if you found a huge amount of money? It’s a plot worthy of Hitchcock, and Boyle’s relentless homage comes complete with dutch angles and shots lifted wholesale from the Master’s greatest hits.
Jack the Giant Slayer Directed by Bryan Singer Written by Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie, and Dan Studney USA, 2013 Perhaps it’s fitting that a literal tug of war is pivotal in Jack the Giant Slayer, a large-scale blockbuster retelling of the famous fairy tale about Jack and the magical beanstalk. The film itself appears to …
The Impossible Written by Sergio G. Sànchez Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona Spain, 2012 Based around the Boxing Day tsunami that struck South East Asia in 2004, The Impossible documents the true story of how one family of five was separated during the chaos, and their unlikely survival despite horrific injuries, presuming the other party …
The Impossible Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona Written by Sergio G. Sànchez Spain, 2012 It is a certainty that once every few years a film about a large scale disaster, natural or otherworldly, will be released in theatres. There is something about such terrifying events which strikes a particular nerve in people. Perhaps it is …
Shallow Grave Directed by Danny Boyle Written by John Hodge UK, 1994 There’s a general rule in fiction that, in order to generate any real empathy or connection with your target audience, you have to make sure that your protagonists are to at least some degree sympathetic, likeable even. It’s a rule, incidentally, which seems …
Beginners Written by Mike Mills Directed by Mike Mills USA, 2011 “Indie,” as a signifier, has grown into something sinister in the post-Wes Anderson landscape. It’s come to represent cloying, predictable romantic dramedies about aimless young men and the insufferably quirky women who inspire them to “really live, man.” Despite possessing many of the genre’s …
Velvet Goldmine Directed by Todd Haynes Screenplay by James Lyons & Todd Haynes USA, 1998 A mishmash of Citizen Kane, Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie, Oscar Wilde and with a little bit of The Wall thrown in for good measure, Velvet Goldmine is science-fiction, fantasy, biopic and time capsule wrapped into one. Taking its non-chronological structure …