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Well, right off the bat this movie screams IT’S THE SAME DIRECTOR AS INCEPTION. The familiar cast members, the editing, colour-scheme and the over-complicated storyline were just a few of the tell-tale Nolan signs.
However, as I am a massive Inception fan, I was not upset about this. In fact, I was hoping to see more of the same cast (where’s Leo at?). Continue reading
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I love whodunnits!
My friend and I have read multiple Agatha Christie novels, and while we always try to figure out the culprit before the end, we never seem to be able to get into Agatha Christie’s head… Continue reading
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As I mentioned in the first remake – Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – you can in no way compare these modern day films to the 90’s Robin Williams Jumanji masterpiece. Nor are these parody movie intended to be.
With that said, let’s begin:
Jumanji: The Next Level was everything that I expected it to be. It was clearly capitalising on the success of the first one, with the story being an after thought. However, if you didn’t see the first movie then you’d still enjoy this second instalment… Continue reading
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It followed the same upstairs/downstairs troubles and triumphs, but with the backdrop of the Royals coming to stay at Downton. All the while, tying up the loose ends of the final series.
The movie was ho-hum, and plodded on in the same fashion as series 5 and 6 had (not much scandal or suspense). I think the writers had been running out of steam for some time, and the movie didn’t seem to show much difference in their creativity… Continue reading
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Yesterday is a movie exploring the world where The Beatles never existed. After a global black-out, the protagonist Jack (Himesh Patel) wakes to discover that he’s the only one who remembers The Beatles or their songs.
Thankfully, as he’s a struggling musician he’s able to bring The Beatles’s music back to life. But with the fame and fortune, guilt and doubt isn’t far behind.
Yesterday is an easy watch. It’s a great Sunday afternoon family film with a fantastic soundtrack… Continue reading
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We had such a wonderful night out to see the remake of The Lion King!
While the original 1994 Disney version wasn’t my absolute favourite movie as a child (Sleeping Beauty will always be number 1), it was certainly a movie that was ingrained in my childhood.
I used to sit close to the TV with my Simba, Narla and Scar plush toys in front of me, and act out all the scenes alongside the movie.
It was a real treat to watch The Lion King for the first time again. However, its realistic live-action animation didn’t always work in its favour because it meant that the animals couldn’t physically do what the cartoon characters could do… Continue reading
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I was on the back foot about this film because I loved the ‘first’ Jumanji film so much.
I say ‘first’ film, but these movies are totally unrelated. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is very loosely based on the board game featured in the 1995 film, but updated to a play station game to target the newer generation.
The main characters are high schoolers who find themselves in detention together – not unlike The Breakfast Club. They are cleaning out the basement of the school when they come across this Jumanji game… Continue reading
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Believe it or not, this is the fourth version of A Star is Born.
1937 (Janet Gaynor and Fredric March)
1954 (Judy Garland and James Mason)
1976 (Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson)
2018 (Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper)
It’s about a rock star called Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) who is an alcoholic with failing hearing and a career that is winding down. He bumps into a waitress called Ally (Lady Gaga) who has some decent pipes and takes her under his wing. Before he knows it, she’s an even bigger pop star than him and fame changes her from a humble, ordinary girl into an unrecognisable star… Continue reading
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I was dubious about this film at first, I was thinking ‘any second now it’s going to take a turn for the worse’. But it didn’t! It was actually a very uplifting film from beginning to end.
I love movies about a likeable and naive underdog – like About a Boy or Driving Lessons – but coming-of-age films with a great soundtrack like this one is even better. The songs are so catchy!… Continue reading
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A classic 1990s rom-com! Featuring the mum and dad of 90s rom-coms – Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
It’s from the writer/director Nora Ephron – the brain behind When Harry Met Sally, the similar 90s story of Sleepless in Seattle, and Julie & Julia. (She must have really loved Meg Ryan – I wonder if Nora considered her for Julie & Julia because she has a striking resemblance to Amy Adams.)
You’ve Got Mail is the ultimate feel-good film… Continue reading
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From the director of Superbad, and the creators of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, comes Paul.
A story about a laid-back alien called Paul (Seth Rogan) who is on the run from the government across the States before getting picked up by a couple of geeky tourists, Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost). Graeme and Clive attended Comic-Con before travelling to various locations where UFOs have been sighted in an RV, until they get a closer encounter than they expected!… Continue reading
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It is a sci-fi horror about Ray (Tom Cruise) and his two children Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin) trying to escape the alien invasion. The aliens are relentless and terrifying as they displace millions.
There’s no where to run, there’s no where to hide and there’s no way to kill the aliens and their machines.
Horrifying!… Continue reading
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Cloverfield is basically The Blair Witch Project but set during an apocalypse in a city, rather than a witch hunt in the woods. I thought it would be an easy watch, and perhaps even a good film as I’ve always heard it being referenced to.
(Not to be confused with 10 Cloverfield Lane, which is the second instalment.)… Continue reading
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Initially reminding me of other star-studded, multi-storyline films like Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Day and Love Actually, I didn’t have high-hopes for this ‘dramedy’. However, I was pleasantly surprised – it’s very funny indeed.
It follows several storylines that all end up being intertwined. But it begins with Emily (Julianne Moore) who cheats on her husband Cal (Steve Carrel). Jacob (Ryan Gosling) takes pity on a moping Cal and gives him a fashion and ego make-over.
Steve Carrel – who is also a producer of this movie – wanted the film to be called ‘The Wingman’ as it accurately described the main storyline. But it was eventually decided that it was a boring title and Crazy, Stupid, Love was chosen instead. (Even though it’s a girlie title, and inaccurate as there’s not a lot of ‘crazy’ in the film.)… Continue reading
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I love Melissa McCarthy, but I lowered my expectations after reading a fair few below-average reviews about her new film Life of the Party.
This didn’t deter me though, so my brother-in-law and I went to the cinema. Within ten minutes we were choking on our popcorn during fits of laughter, and getting stitches as we tried to stifle our chortles! Almost every scene was hilarious. By the end of the film, I had mascara streaked down my cheeks and a mild headache from trying not to laugh too loud… Continue reading
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I’ve watched Peggy Sue Got Married with Dad before, and I remember it being quite an enjoyable film.
I had forgotten about its existence until Kathleen Turner was on the television (as she’s now a singer) and I was absolutely transfixed by the way she spoke. Not only was the sound of her voice hypnotising and famously distinctive, but also the way she told stories.
It wasn’t long before they mentioned ‘Peggy Sue Got Married’. I Googled her to find out which character she played, and couldn’t believe she was the Peggy Sue!
I immediately bought the film and we watched it on the weekend and how we laughed… Continue reading
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While it’s crudely about John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn) crashing random weddings to get lucky, it’s certainly a very funny film once everyone’s put their boobs away.
What begins as just another wedding to find a fling, ends with John developing a genuine crush on Maid of Honour Claire Cleary (Rachel McAdams). However, Jeremy is trying to convince John to escape the wedding early as Claire’s wildly intense and immature sister Gloria (Isla Fisher) forms a strong attachment to Jeremy… Continue reading
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Groundhog Day is one of my favourite comedies by a long shot.
Bill Murray is perfect for the role of sarcastic weather man Phil Connors who finds himself reliving the same day over and over again.
It’s not his favourite day to relive, in fact it’s one of his least favourite days of the year. Groundhog Day is a popular tradition in USA and Canada whereby a groundhog is pulled out of a hutch in front of crowds of people and ‘predicts’ when the first day of Spring will be… Continue reading
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From the brain behind The Boat that Rocked, Notting Hill, Love Actually and Bridget Jones comes a warm and fuzzy, all-nice, all-good, hot chocolate and cuddles on a rainy day kind of story. It’s called About Time. (If you loved Driving Lessons, then I think you’d enjoy this film.)
I love coming of age films, there’s nothing better than seeing bog-standard, everyday man-on-the-street kind of characters on the tellie, accomplishing the extraordinary and telling you that everything will be alright in the end… Continue reading
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Having recently reviewed Source Code – a sci-fi film starring Jake Gyllenhaal – I realised how similar that film’s concept is to Edge of Tomorrow. It was then that I realised that I have never reviewed Edge of Tomorrow! So here it is… Continue reading
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I love time travel films! This is a brilliantly simple story combined with the mind-bending possibilities of time travel.
‘Source Code’ is a top-secret military experimental operation where injured pilot Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is given the ability to repeatedly relive the final eight minutes of a man’s life. The man is Sean Fentress who dies in an explosion on a train. Each time Stevens relives the final eight minutes of this man’s life, he is given the opportunity to seek out the person responsible for planting the bomb on the train in an attempt to stop it from ever happening… Continue reading
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A brilliant action-comedy from writers Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. It’s one of my favourite films, and I can’t believe I’d never gotten around to review it.
This is my favourite film because it is so cleverly written and very funny. It follows the story of goody-two-shoes London policeman named Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) who gets transferred to a small, rural village against his will… Continue reading
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From the genius that is Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End and Scott Pilgrim vs the World), comes Baby Driver. A music-infused movie about a getaway driver named Baby, played by baby-faced actor Ansel Elgort (The Fault in our Stars). Baby scores his own life by picking the appropriate music on his iPod for everything he does. He doesn’t do anything without music playing in his ears, stemming from a traumatic car crash as a child that left him with tinnitus.. Continue reading
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Another brilliant film from M. Night Shyamalan. It’s the best kind of story – the kind that you’ll be thinking about for days.
For me, Split is a return to Shyamalan’s trademark of well-rounded characters and fantastic storylines. It’s a film that echoes the genius of The Village and The Sixth Sense.
Split is about a man called Kevin Wendell-Crumb (James McAvoy, whose talent will be gushed upon shortly) who has 23 personalities… Continue reading
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The Girl on the Train is up there with Gone Girl! A mind-twisting psychological thriller, through the eyes of Rachel (Emily Blunt) – a frail alcoholic who is the last person to see Megan Hipwell (Haley Bennett) alive… Continue reading
NZ Film Freak 