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Inspired by the writing style of the Farrelly Brothers’ (Dumb & Dumber), Malibu Crush is a labour of love by award-winning actor and director, James Pratt.
It’s a quirky Indie film about two best friends from Pasadena who pretend to be highly acclaimed film school students in order to declare their love for an ex-girlfriend living in Sydney, Australia… 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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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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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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Previously titled Us & Them, this is a whole-heartedly, all-American family film. Therefore, you will either laugh from beginning to end, or you won’t be able to avoid cringing at the cheese.
I personally enjoyed Parental Guidance – I could appreciate the family-fun.
It’s about grandparents Artie and Dianne (Billy Crystal and Bette Midler)… 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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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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As part of an upcoming post about the top 10 wedding movies, I realised I had a lot of research to conduct.
I had originally disregarded Father of the Bride, but a few people told me it’s actually worth a watch. It’s based on a film of the same name, which was made in 1950. All in all it’s an enjoyable enough film, but unfortunately it’s also my worst wedding nightmare come to life.
It’s about a father, George Banks (Steve Martin), and his comedic journey of organising a wedding for his daughter Annie (Kimberly Williams). A lot of unfortunate yet funny things happen, particularly when the in-laws meet for the first time and when George has a break down in a supermarket… Continue reading
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A unique tale about the Vietnam war, seen through the eyes of an extraverted radio presenter, Adrian Cronauer (Robin Williams), who has been hired as a DJ on the Armed Forces radio station in Vietnam.
Cronauer is an outlandishly hilarious DJ who keeps the troops’ spirits up while serving in Vietnam. While most love him, Lt. Steven Hauk (Bruno Kirby) certainly doesn’t. Hauk’s dry, wooden ‘humour’ (or lack thereof) is hysterical, and he believes he can do a far better job on air. So the rivalry begins… 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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This is our Christmas film because it’s set at Christmas time in snowy New York – so magical!
It’s a fantasy romance film about fate, and whether you should act on impulse or allow life to take the wheel. When Sara (Kate Beckinsale) and Jonathan (John Cusack) meet on Christmas Eve by chance, Jonathan falls in love with her straight away, but Sara believes they must leave it to fate… 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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I was thinking about Ant and Dec, and the unfortunate circumstances that led to Dec having to do the Saturday Night Take Away on his own. I thought how one really can’t do much without the other. You always see them together, and they are at their best together.
That got me thinking about film duos – the actors we always see together on-screen, but get the feeling they hang out off-screen too… 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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I really needed this film in my life.
Another Kiwi classic from director Taika Waititi, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is about a national manhunt ordered for a rebellious Kiwi kid, Ricky (Julian Dennison), and his foster uncle, Hec (Sam Neill), who go missing in the wild New Zealand bush. A fantastically hilarious and beautiful tribute to everything that is Kiwi… Continue reading
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Looking forward to having a big belly laugh, my boyfriend was quick to remind me about his older films. Of which only one – Cemetery Junction – I enjoyed.
He was right, and my initial excitement for David Brent: Life on the Road suddenly took a dive.
Thinking about it, Ricky Gervais has a knack for TV series, but in his film career – in my opinion – he has always been a one-trick-pony.
After the first five-minutes of becoming reacquainted with the cocky and cringe-worthy character of David Brent, the repetitive jokes were drilled in over and over. This comedy became boring quite rapidly… Continue reading
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How to get a boyfriend on Tinder. “How to get a boyfriend on Tinder… You don’t get boyfriends on Tinder. To get a boyfriend on Tinder, you need to uninstall Tinder.”
This is a hilarious reality check to all those singles out there expecting to find true love on the dating app with the worst reputation… Continue reading
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For the sake of all the Abeds out there here are my annoyances with film and television… Continue reading
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I thought this was going to be an English version of Walter Mitty… I think that was the aim anyway, but it certainly wasn’t the final product.
Unfortunately, this potentially deep and meaningful storyline was not achieved due to the general lack of believability, and the distaste toward the main character, Hector (Simon Pegg).
Basically, Hector is a psychiatrist and he finds himself unfulfilled. So he goes on a journey around the world, visiting countries including China and Africa, to find out what makes people happy… Continue reading
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Like my horse, it’s funny at the beginning, saggy in the middle and a bit crappy at the end.
This is a film – featuring the spectacular David Tennant (Dr. Who!!) and Rosamund Pike – about a family of five going on holiday to Scotland for the grandfather’s 75th birthday party.
Long story short, the parents are having a divorce but only the children know, and they are sworn to secrecy while visiting their sickly grandfather so as to keep his final years pleasant… Continue reading
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2015’s new year animated film, Big Hero 6, is a perfectly adequate gate-way film to the Superhero genre.
It’s about an orphaned boy – because it would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe (BttF2) if it was a hero who had parents.
This orphaned boy is called Hiro, and his brother made a robot, who is essentially a nurse, named Baymax.
Anyway, one thing leads to another and Hiro has to get a super team together to catch the bad guy. The rest, I’m sure, you will be able to figure out. Continue reading
NZ Film Freak 