Category: REVIEWS

The world of a New York detective, Jacob Kanon, (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is destroyed when his daughter and son-in-law are brutally murdered in London. Unable to sit idly by and do nothing, Jacob travels to London to get the answers he needs. As he learns of similar heinous murders happening across Europe – each preceded by a postcard sent to a local journalist – Jacob is in a race against time to stop the killings and find justice for his little girl.

Going into The Postcard Killings, my expectations were not too high. It isn’t because I thought the cast was weak or anything like that – in fact, the complete opposite can be said. One of the most underrated actors of this generation, in my opinion, is Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

As Negan in the hit AMC post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, Morgan brings an incredible sense of fear and intimidation to the role and has since grown to be a fan favorite character over the course of about four years now. Plus, while his appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was short, it was welcomed.

In addition, I also feel as if Famke Janssen is an underrated actress and I hope that she gets more recognition soon. Unfortunately, The Postcard Killings is definitely not the movie that is going to put respect on her name. While the acting is respectable and good for the most part, this is a film that ultimately falls flat on an array of levels.

One of the biggest reasons as to why this movie doesn’t work is thanks to the screenplay by Liza Marklund and Andrew Stern. Strangely enough, the film oftentimes feels like a simplistic drama rather than the gripping thriller that it promised. Large time periods go by where you start to realize that nothing has happened to develop the storyline or progress it along in any way.

It’s not like it’s painful to watch or anything like that, but rather, it’s one of those movies where you can’t help but see what they should have changed to make it a significantly better movie. All in all, it’s a drastically generic and by-the-book thriller that is not only relatively predictable but just flat-out boring to watch at times. So many scenes are completely devoid of suspense and tension, where those two key elements were supposed to be present in. Everything feels incredibly dry and mishandled. The screenplay as a whole just didn’t work and had such a hard time telling this story in a unique and exciting way.

But if there is something to praise here, it is the performances. Jeffrey Dean Morgan does an excellent job of portraying a detective that is at the end of his line. He feels like investigating this case is the only thing that he is capable of doing. He won’t rest until he solves the case. It was truly relieving to see the screenplay actually do a good job of fleshing out his character in a way that was immensely impressive and it was boosted due to Morgan’s raw performance.

Furthermore, Famke Janssen does a great job in the role of Valerie Kanon, as does Naomi Battrick in the role of Sylvia. They all have pivotal roles in the story, and while the movie as a whole wasn’t worthy of their talents, it was delightful to see how well the characters, in general, were handled. They all got fleshed out quite well and it was by far the strongest aspect of the film.

So while the film is definitely respectably well acted and great in a character and even cinematography aspect, this was nevertheless a deeply underwhelming thriller that doesn’t quite hit the mark.

The Postcard Killings offers a great cast that gives their all, but the story as a whole is too generic and uninteresting to make this story worth experiencing.

Ronnie (Zachary Ray Sherman) lives with his mother. He’s racist, homophobic, misogynist and subscribes to an alt-right channel where his idol, Chance Dalmain (Travis Hammer) preaches to his viewers about the ‘real America’. Ronnie is also lonely.

He thinks he’s a nice guy and all he wants is to find a woman who understands him so that she can be the one that looks up to him when everybody else is looking down.

Then one day Ronnie meets Candy (Monique Parent) and he instantly takes an interest in her and while he’s doing his usual internet search for ‘viewing material’ he sees Candy on a website offering her services. So, Ronnie finds her address and goes to see if he can offer any services of his own, and sure enough Candy and her husband, Larry (Hugo Armstrong) find a way that Ronnie can get involved in their internet porn business.

Cuck is the feature debut of Rob Lambert who also co-wrote the screenplay alongside Joe Varkle and they tell a very familiar and yet still very relevant story of a man whose exposure to right wing media and the influences around him have turned him into an incel.

Although there may be comparisons to Taxi Driver and more recently Joker, what sets Cuck apart is that it views its protagonist with neither a hint of sympathy and doesn’t ever laugh at his expense. Instead setting the film in the present-day turns Cuck into a character study that feels very real and Sherman’s portrayal feels so authentic that Ronnie could be somebody that you could meet at any time.

Sherman puts in a great performance as Ronnie and there’s never a time where the audience won’t totally believe that Ronnie doesn’t totally believe in what he’s saying. However, Sherman’s portrayal leads to moments of great sympathy for Ronnie as the audience may even find themselves wishing that if Ronnie wasn’t so naïve and easily led, then his life would be so much better.

It is unfortunate that Cuck does go down the route that audiences may expect from a film such as this, however as this story is as relevant now as it ever was, a little reminder that bad influences don’t go away so easily may be just the right thing that’s needed for modern America.

The film’s UK release has been postponed to sometime later this year, however it will be available to view on Amazon Prime from April 20. 

Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don’t know where they are — or how they got there. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, ruthless elitists gather at a remote location to hunt humans for sport. But their master plan is about to be derailed when one of the hunted, Crystal (Betty Gilpin), turns the tables on her pursuers.

If you are an avid film lover such as myself, then you have more than likely heard about the troubled past surrounding the release of Craig Zobel’s The Hunt. The film was originally scheduled to be released in theatres on September 27, 2019. Marketing on the movie had already begun, and it seemed like that date was a lock. But then, sadly, the horrific El Paso and Dayton shootings transpired close to the film’s release date, which caused Universal Pictures to postpone the release date of the film indefinitely saying that “now is not the right time to release the film”.

Although the decision was smart and responsible for Universal to do, people were left wondering when, or if, we would be able to see what Zobel cooked up with his seemingly insane action thriller. Months went by and still no word on a new date, but after a while, it was confirmed that the movie would finally see the light of day on March 13, 2020.

Ever since the project was initially announced, I was actually looking forward to it quite a bit. Everything about it seemed like it would work. It came across as The Hunger Games but for adults only. Now that I’ve seen it, I can happily report that it was definitely worth the wait, as The Hunt is an incredibly entertaining satirical action extravaganza, even if it misses the mark in a few areas.

If you have seen the trailer, you are probably going to head into the theatre expecting it to be a bloodbath, and it most certainly is. Don’t go into The Hunt expecting a relatively tame experience with not a lot to say. The opening sequence alone was disturbing and absurdly gory, but it never comes across as showing off. Sometimes, a film will have so much blood and gore in it to the point where you have to stop and ask yourself, “Is there even a story to tell here?”. Gratefully, there is a story to tell here amongst the killing spree, and it is one that was profoundly interesting.

Even though it can be a little bit predictable in some aspects, the plot was one that was original and intriguing. It makes you ask yourself hard questions and really puts you in the position of the lead characters. If you were to wake up in the middle of a massive forest with a bunch of strangers who are ball-gagged along with you, you would absolutely be terrified. But once you learn that you were placed there by a group of people that are ultimately going to try to kill you for sport, you would be even more horrified, and you would do whatever it took to get freedom, and this movie does a great job of exploring the mindset of the people inside this twisted game.

Easily one of the strongest aspects of the film as a whole was the performances from the entire cast, such as Emma Roberts and Ike Barinholtz. But the most terrific performance in the movie was without a doubt Betty Gilpin as Crystal. She feels carefully reserved here, and incredibly dangerous. By watching her character as the story progresses, you get the sense that if you were to do her wrong, she would have absolutely no problem killing you or seriously injuring you. Gilpin does a wonderful job of portraying a woman on-edge and one that you can understand. The way her character is incorporated in this gripping and intense story was profound and interesting.

Luckily, the story never takes itself one-hundred percent seriously either. I was deeply worried that screenwriters Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof would attempt to make a fully-fledged dark thriller because, if that is what The Hunt ended up being, it quite simply wouldn’t have worked. But by injecting a sense of lightheartedness into the script every once in a while, it made everything feel much more entertaining. If they had gone the fully serious route, it would have come across as tired and uninteresting.

Regardless, the balance of comedy and thrills here is extremely good. Although not all of the humor works, especially with some of the characters early on, there is still enough of it to be entertained by. But when it comes to the thrills and the action here, it is immensely entertaining and brilliantly done. Yes, there are a ton of elements to The Hunt that will cause controversy. There are some moments that will make people upset, and that’s completely understandable. At times, Zobel bites off more than he can chew. But in the long run, this was a great satirical action-thriller with one whopper of an ending that will leave you thinking long after the credits roll.

The Hunt‘s comedic aspect may be a bit hit or miss, but when it comes to the intense, hard-hitting action and thrills, it delivers in spades.

Ride Like A Girl: Another Review – As a little girl, Michelle Payne (Teresa Palmer) dreams of the impossible: winning the Melbourne Cup – horse-racing’s toughest two-mile race. The youngest of 10 children, Michelle is raised by single father Paddy (Sam Neill). She leaves school at 15 to become a jockey and after early failures she finds her feet, but a family tragedy, followed by her own near-fatal horse fall all but ends the dream. But with the love of her dad and her brother Stevie, Michelle will not give up. Against all the medical advice and the protests of her siblings, she rides on and meets the Prince of Penzance. Together they overcome impossible odds for a shot at the dream: a ride in the 2015 Melbourne Cup, at odds of 100 to 1.

Sports movies like this are ones that are often avoided by a lot of audiences simply because they can fall under a ton of genre-conventional tropes. It’s completely understandable. Although movies such as Miracle and Hoosiers are typically regarded as quite good, most people can agree that they are fairly predictable.

These films usually have a ton of the same elements in them, with one of the biggest ones being a long, drawn-out montage sequence. There’s usually a point in the middle where our lead protagonists/sports team is losing confidence and things aren’t looking too great for them at the moment. Then, they somehow find a way to come back and find their mojo and have a shot at winning it all.

Rachel Griffith’s Ride Like a Girl is similar to those other movies in that it does have sequences like this and is mostly predictable in the long run. But, along the way, there is plenty of fun to be had to prevent this from being completely disposable.

A large portion as to why this movie works as well as it does is due to the lead performance by Teresa Palmer. She totally disappears into the role of Michelle Payne, and is incredibly charismatic and charming. We always know what her ambitions are, and seeing her drive was greatly inspiring, even if you know how the real-life story plays out. There’s always something immensely uplifting about watching somebody trying to accomplish their goals when they’re so passionate about it, and to say that Payne is passionate would be an understatement.

Ever since she was little, she has loved horses and has wanted to enter a horse race. She feels a deep connection to the sport and wants to prove every naysayer wrong. While the story that plays out is quite predictable and is nothing we haven’t seen before, it is still an entertaining journey due to the performances from the main cast and the excellent character development and arcs that we get. Another element that boosted the film as a whole was the cinematography by Martin McGrath and the musical score by David Hirschfelder. They compliment each other beautifully making for one great technical achievement.

If there is something big to complain about here, it would have to be the first act. It is mainly a set-up act that shows us what Michelle was like when she was younger, and we spend a lot of time getting to learn about her past. While this is absolutely necessary, it does, unfortunately, make the first portion of the movie a little boring to watch. Once the second act comes into play, the entertainment value picks up immensely.

All of this leads us to a third act that was remarkably crowd-pleasing in all the right ways. The direction the film took was highly satisfying and is sure to put a smile on every viewer’s face. It’s ultimately a tale of how far someone is willing to go to accomplish their goals and see their dreams become a reality. While it isn’t the most original outing there is, it’s nevertheless heart-warming and gleefully fun.

Ride Like a Girl may fall into typical genre tropes, but the performances across the board and the heart-warming story are too excellent to ignore.

“Almost Love” is an ensemble comedy from filmmaker Mike Doyle. It follows the life of a gay couple Marklin (Augustus Prew) and Adam (Scott Evans) who have reached a make or break crossroads in their relationship and the friends they interact with.

Elizabeth (Kate Walsh) is Adam’s best friend and entering marital breakdown with her husband of 15 years Damon (Chaz Lemar Shepard.) Cammy (the charming Michelle Buteau,) another friend of the couple, questions her judgement and social motivations when she begins seeing a homeless man (Colin Donnel;) and there’s Haley (Zoe Chao) a teacher who is experiencing conflicted feelings about her not quite 18-year-old student Scott James (Christopher Gray.)

Marklin and Adam have been together for 5 years, and are both successful in their respective careers; but, Adam, working as the ghostwriter version of a painter for celebrity artist Rebella (Patricia Clarkson) has taken a toll on his emotional health and self-esteem, whereas Marklin is more satisfied professionally as a fashion designer and blogger.

The distinct differences in their professional lives start to spill over into personal and they begin to question whether or not their relationship can last through the down cycle.

Though the centerpieces of the film are Marklin and Adam I found the context to be less hyper-focused on their sexuality so much as it was about the reality of relationships, how they ebb and flow, and how we can choose whether or not we survive in them through communication and patience. The film has all the inner workings of a classic rom-com, it feels a bit like “Love Actually” (2003) but it just never turns out to be as sweet.

Making the choice to not focus the plot around Marklin and Adam exclusively gave the film an unfortunate feel of a half-finished story. I think excising the use of the interjecting storylines would have been preferential and would not have left the audience with so many question marks and underdeveloped sub-plots, though I do admire the filmmakers’ risk and dedication.

The stand outs of this piece for me were Scott Evans as Adam; he delivered a fine performance and really understood how to craft the perfect balance of emotional depth and light-hearted fun, and Michelle Buteau as Cammy who provided comic relief and had wonderful synchronicity and chemistry with everyone she shared the screen with.

“Almost Love” is an almost there movie for me, it is basically the meat without the bones; with a few more brushstrokes it could have been something truly unique, but it ultimately felt like one of Rebella’s paintings, and left me longing for a blank canvas.