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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 was looking forward to watching a movie full of triumphs and heart-wrenching moments. I guess I was expecting Little Miss Sunshine meets The Help.
Sadly, Green Book was a somewhat shallow story that did not reach the emotional depths that I expected it would.
It’s about Frank “Tony Lip” Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) who works as a bouncer before being asked to drive a successful (and rather pompous) African American musician (Doctor Don Shirley) around the deep south… Continue reading
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Bohemian Rhapsody is a biopic of Freddie Mercury’s life within the iconic band, Queen.
It’s an emotional journey with an epic soundtrack, mirroring the trauma and heartbreak of Mercury’s rise and fall in fame.
What I like about this movie is that unlike Elton John’s biopic, Rocketman, Bohemian Rhapsody retains the original Queen soundtrack. So it feels like a more accurate representation of Freddie Mercury and his music… Continue reading
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Storm Boy is a story about a boy who rescues three pelicans in an isolated coastal area of Southern Australia called 90 Mile Beach.
Once nursed back to health and released into the wild, one pelican stays behind with the boy and never left his side.
This is a largely unknown and only briefly advertised film, which is a shame. However, I think anybody who has read the novel or seen the 1976 Storm Boy film will adore it…
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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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Seven Pounds is the film you watch when you’re depressed and have no intention of wanting to feel better. It’s heavy and tells a story of an absolute tragedy.
It’s about an IRS agent Ben (Will Smith) who is overwhelmed and broken with guilt after accidentally killing seven people – including his wife – when driving recklessly. He was wealthy and had everything, he felt indestructible and took what he had for granted… Continue reading
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I don’t know how I have gone this long without reviewing this remarkable movie.
The Truman Show is about Truman (Jim Carrey) who lives a humble life in a suburban town with a solid job and a perfect wife. But he can’t stop thinking about a woman he fell in love with at university. He soon begins to reflect on his life and missed opportunities, before expressing his desire to travel… 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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Has Melissa McCarthy done drama before? This is the first non-comedy film I’ve seen her in anyway. It looks like a gripping tale. Can You Ever Forgive Me? is based on a true story about Lee Israel who is a … 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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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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It’s a film I’d never heard of, but bought at a second hand shop on a whim because it featured Robert DeNiro.
It’s advertised as a drama and marketed around Christmas time because of the family themes in the story. However, I think it would have brought a dark cloud over the holidays if you were to watch this film during December! The marketing is incredibly misleading.
It’s not funny. It’s not happy. It’s not carefree… 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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Well. That was a pretty enormous disappointment.
After seeing the trailer, I thought, ‘this is my kind of film’. During 1940, a female protagonist, Catrin (Emma Arterton) proves herself to be a talented screenwriter for propaganda films (created to inform, and to lift the spirits of the public). Bill Nighy – a fabulous actor – plays an egotistical has-been actor called Ambrose, and everyone looks beautiful.
‘Brilliant’, I thought, ‘a coming-of-age drama based around film and writing – both things I love – with a sprinkle of comedy and a touch of tragedy against a wartime backdrop.’
How wrong I was… Continue reading
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I’ve been thinking about this movie for days.
A gripping tale in post-war Germany, about a woman name Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet) who has a summer affair with a teenage boy named Michael Berg (David Kross). A few years later, Berg is a law student and is sitting in on a Nazi war crime trial in court where he is stunned to see Schmitz again… Continue reading
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Based of course on the spectacular events of January 2009 where Chesley Sullenberger (Sully) landed a commercial plane on the Hudson river after an birdstrike took out both the plane’s engines. All 155 souls onboard survived.
What Sully: Miracle on the Hudson focusses on is the aftermath where our hero is interrogated over whether or not he really did make the safest decision to make a water-landing… Continue reading
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What I thought was going to be a quirky, enchanting, and uplifting story, turned out to be a dark and twisted tale.
Despite Kate Winslet’s beauty and surprisingly accurate Australian accent, this story was far from a sweet and innocent drama. The Dressmaker is about a woman returning home from Europe to the rural Australian village she grew up in. She endeavors to discover the secrets of her childhood… Continue reading
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I am ashamed how close I came to watching Tina Fey’s new movie, Sisters, rather than seeing this touching drama. (I still reckon Tina Fey is a genius, though.)
After seeing the Brooklyn trailer I was prepared to see a slow-paced, sullen and potentially grim film. But this was not the case!
I walked out of the cinema feeling uplifted, positive and encouraged. I felt as though I’d been wrapped up in a big, fat duvet, sung a lullaby while sipping on hot cocoa inside by the fire during a blizzard… It gave me the warm and fuzzies, and made me feel happy… Continue reading
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A heart-breaking story about, not the person who leaves, but the person who’s perpetually left behind.
I like this unusual perspective, particularly since time-travel is such an attractive, but foreign, concept. Yet, the story is focused on the more human and deeply relatable themes.
I’ve heard the book is fantastic – I’m going to read it this summer. But, the movie is exquisite. If you haven’t seen or read The Time Traveler’s Wife, the low-down is that a man is a time traveller and his wife is not. The time traveller, named Henry (Eric Bana) can’t control his travelling, so his impromptu disappearances and reappearances become a way of life for his wife Clare Abshire (Rachel McAdams)… 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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Based on a true story, Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) battles the ghosts of her past: heroin addiction, divorce, the death of her mother and the abandonment of her father. As a way to start fresh, she goes on a 1000-mile journey along the Pacific Crest Trail.
To be frank, the flashbacks made me feel really uncomfortable. But… I guess the world of heroin addicts shouldn’t exactly be attractive.
A classic ‘runaway movie’, although I’m not entirely sure if this is actually a sub-genre. Nevertheless, Wild fits into this category along with Into the Wild, Thelma and Louise, and to some extent: Eat Pray Love, Gone Girl and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty… Continue reading
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(Prepare to see a lot of screen grabs with quotes from this film around. The script is so poetic.)
Her is a sci-fi romance, drama hybrid that premiered at the 2013 New York Film Festival.
It’s set in the near future where rather than keeping one’s head down – staring at a phone screen – people now have an ear piece that respond to voice commands.
The operational system – or OS – that performs the requests now have personalities, and for all intense and purposes, are a personal assistant with feelings and emotions equal in complexity to humans.
This new update is something that the main character, melancholy and lonely Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), becomes immediately interested in… Continue reading
NZ Film Freak 