Category: REVIEWS

When Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) slaps Fox News founder Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) with a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, not a soul could predict what would happen next. Her decision leads to Fox News correspondent Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron) coming forward with her own story, as well as multiple other women, inciting a movement that reverberates around the world.

Jay Roach is a filmmaker that I respect even though I am not always the biggest fan of his films. He has made some fun movies in the early 2000s such as a few of the Austin Powers movies but I usually find that he has a hard time telling a dramatic story and telling it well. Back in 2015, he directed the biographical drama Trumbo which was a decent enough picture, but one that I found lacked an emotional punch and whose story was stretched out.

This is why Bombshell was a movie that I was not extremely excited for. Even though, the initial trailer did impress me and the makeup team looked like they were doing fantastic things. But there were two things that were compelling me to check out this film – the first being its screenwriter, Charles Randolph. Randolph served as co-writer on The Big Short; a movie that I actually quite enjoyed despite some flaws. It was a deeply interesting and incredibly well-told story, and when I learned that he was penning the script for Bombshell, I was more intrigued.

But maybe the thing that excited me the most was the cast. This is a star-studded cast to say the least. We have legendary actors such as Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman in the leading roles, with relatively new and revolutionary actress Margot Robbie serving as a supporting actress. On top of that, we have other supporting actors in the bunch such as John Lithgow, Connie Britton, and Allison Janney.

Gratefully, Bombshell was a movie that was decent enough, although almost nothing about it blew me away. Its story, while definitely interesting during certain elements, just did not have that emotional impact that I was hoping it would have. This is one of those films where you get more interested in what’s happening as the film progresses, but I don’t necessarily think that’s a good thing. It took me a great deal of time before I was interested in our lead protagonists, but luckily, I did care after a while.

It’s just that the approach to the screenplay is so unconventional, really. With a better script, this could have been a really great film, but its writing is often times too quirky and its strange style bog the film down during some parts. Also, there are numerous moments in which some of the characters break the fourth wall. The previous film Randolph wrote, the aforementioned Big Short, also had scenes where characters would do this, albeit much more exaggerated. There was an entire scene in that film where Margot Robbie, as herself, was in a bathtub giving a gigantic monologue right to the camera.

There are no sequences as meta as that here, which is a good thing. It was something that took me out of the story a little bit in The Big Short, and while Bombshell does do this every once in a while, it did not bother me too much.

Something that genuinely deserves a round of applause here is the makeup and hair-styling team. They just received an Academy Award nomination for the film during the writing of this review, and it is not hard to see why. The team did a truly remarkable job at transforming Theron into FOX News anchor Megyn Kelly.

Speaking of Theron, the strongest element to Bombshell is without a doubt its cast and how good they are here. Theron is asked to do a whole bunch here and she makes it look so easy. Never once did I see Theron in the role. It truthfully felt like I was watching Kelly on screen, and not an actor.

Easily the best performance this film has to offer though, comes from Robbie who portrays Kayla Pospisil, an employee at FOX. Not only did I think she delivered the strongest performance of the entire cast, but she is the character that I was perhaps the most interested in. The film gives here some good development over the course of its running time, although it would have been nice if the film spent just a little more time with her character, as it really primarily focuses on Theron and Lithgow’s characters.

There is one scene with Robbie towards the third act that impressed me greatly. Its an incredibly emotional and raw scene that Robbie acts beautifully in. Right down to the timing of a single tear drop dripping down her cheek to a subtle shake in her voice, it is truly astounding what she was able to do with the role.

Finally, something that really bugged me about the film was its editing by Jon Poll. It is not good. It actually kind of reminded me of the editing in Bohemian Rhapsody a few years ago. One sequence in particular taking place inside of a restaurant had an absurd amount of quick cuts and after a while, it just became annoying.

But nevertheless, this is a decent movie with a story that gratefully gets better and more interesting as the film’s running time chugs along, but it suffers from a somewhat dull and often times strange script that doesn’t have enough of an emotional impact. What really keeps this film afloat is its remarkable acting by all of the leads as well as some of the supporting cast, as well as its good direction and sleek cinematography.

Bombshell is a terrific showcase for Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie’s acting abilities and is great in its technical efforts, but often lacks in its storytelling.

Betty Davis changed the landscape of music in America, but more incredibly, Betty Davis opened up a new field and began a revolution for female artists. Betty Davis gifted a new form of creativity, personality & honesty to all the female artists who followed her. To quote her ex-husband Miles Davis, she was “Madonna before Madonna, Prince before Prince”. Then, she stopped.

She disappeared from music. Betty – They Say I’m Different is a documentary released in 2017 by filmmaker Phil Cox that uses Betty’s own stories to give an insight into not only her tremendous contribution to music, but also why a ground breaking artist chose to turn her back on the industry.

Betty – They Say I’m Different channels the unique personality of Betty Davis throughout. There’s a weird atmospheric buzz about the film. Phil Cox’s odd combination of interview, animation and countless images of birds and flowers only begins to make sense as you get about halfway through the documentary.

Until we hear more of Betty’s own testimony and unique story about the crow that took her on her musical pathway, a lot of it is confusing and at times, annoying. Even when it becomes clear what the usage is for scenes appear repetitive and senseless, which for a 53 minute feature is usually quite difficult.

The doc could have helped by at least in some way suggesting earlier that the strange narration is actually Betty herself, because at first I didn’t realise. Even on the second viewing, which made it seem nonsensical and pointless.  For the casual viewer with little understanding Betty – They Say I’m Different might be a huge turn-off in the first ten minutes. I’d argue it’s worth pushing through.

The only mystery and confusion Betty – They Say I’m Different is successful in maintaining is that of Betty Davis herself. It’s still unexplained why she disappeared, and Betty – They Say I’m Different is predominantly a series of close friends trying to answer the riddle unsuccessfully. This mystery does lead however to one very awkward moment where there appears to be building to a reconnection as her old band mates speak to her on her phone.

Yet it actually leads unceremoniously to a big disappointment where she rejects them (albeit incredibly politely) and they end up performing without her.

This disappointment reminded me of Noah Baumach’s film While We’re Young starring Adam Driver, Naomi Watts & Ben Stiller which debates the use of creative licence vs strict truth in documentary film. Betty – They Say I’m Different has very much taken the Ben Stiller stance and battled for truth and honesty by including the build-up and the disappointment regardless. They didn’t sugar coat the rejection for a better ending, which I appreciate as a film lover.

Overall, Betty – They Say I’m Different just falls flat. It’s confusing and slow despite its length. I loved learning about Betty, but I don’t think Betty – They Say I’m Different is going to impress or maintain the attention of the casual viewer. Music lovers might go mad for a chance to learn more about arguably the most influential female artist to have graced the airwaves, but it doesn’t quite hit the high notes enough times to convince most.

You can watch the trailer for Betty – They Say I’m Different below.

1917 isn’t a gimmick. It’s not Sam Mendes and Roger Deakins deciding that making a film look like one continuous shot would be a fun thing to do. Rather, 1917 is nothing short of a complete tour de force from both sides of the camera, and one of 2019’s absolute best films. 

The script is astonishingly Mendes’ first-ever writing credit, and the only reason he wrote it is because of how deeply personal the story is for him. He, along with his writing partner Krysty Wilson-Cairns, based the film on the experiences of his grandfather in The Great War and the stories he told Mendes. This simple fact is why the film is so moving, so personal and impactful.

George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman play Lance Corporals Schofield and Blake. Two young British soldiers whom we meet unassumingly as they find what rest they can while fighting on the Western Front. All too soon Blake is ordered to pick a man and report to General Erinmore (Colin Firth) and thanks to being right next to him Schofield is the lucky chosen man. They walk and pass a seemingly endless amount of men, many of whom would charge to their death in days to come.

And, as always in war films, these men and their sacrifice and the needlessness of their mass death is the focus. Once with the general, we find out that in amongst the devastation, Blake and Schofield have the rare opportunity to prevent tragedy and save Blake’s brother. His brother is a member of a company of 1600 men, stationed deep in enemy territory, about to walk into a German trap that would see all of them slaughtered.

With the telephone lines cut, there is only one way to deliver the vital orders to the man that needs to see them, on foot and through no man’s land right on the tail of a retreating German force preparing to sucker punch. Desperate to ensure his brother’s safety, Blake sets off leaving Schofield no choice but to follow.

We follow them for every step of their arduous journey, from the dank trenches to the desolate no man’s land, to the grassy rolling fields of northern France. Each is more breathtaking than the next and filled to the brim with nail-biting tension. There’s nothing quite like the experience of watching 1917 for the first time; you forget to breathe, the camera passes so many horrors the basics of a corpse seem mundane by the end. There’s the eeriest feeling that it’s all a bit too real, and then there’s the harrowing question all World War One films ask, why did the world put itself through all this again years 20 years later? These thoughts and questions flow through your mind as you watch and simply soak everything in, stunned.

Each and every second of this is captured by Deakins who outdoes even himself with the cinematography. The actors are the focal point of almost every shot, and he does them a great service. He captures them on the forefront of disaster in ways no other film has ever done and may never do again for a long time. There are moments where you feel like time has stopped, you aren’t watching anymore; you are there stuck in a moment. No one in the world creates these infinite moments like Deakins. He’s a master of developing the sensation that you’ve entirely handed yourself over to a film and 1917 owes him much for its brilliance. 

By comparison, Mendes’ career tells a different story. He misfired with Spectre, his efforts there lacked the thrills of Skyfall and felt incredibly underwhelming at the time. There’s no better way to bounce back than with something as intense as 1917. Above all else, applaud him for his courage. He took 100 million dollars from a studio and set out to shoot, on location, a film designed to look like one continuous shot, set entirely around two young actors who’ve only recently begun to gain exposure at the Hollywood level. He took this impossible ambition and made it something out of this world and deserves his name up there with the likes of Scorsese and Tarantino as one of 2019’s finest directors. 

Yet Mendes and Deakins would have nothing if it weren’t for the extreme talents they placed before our eyes. The biggest regret of this awards season is the lack of recognition coming for the two young leads. They are chameleons in their roles, uncovering parts of their range that I can’t wait to see again in different circumstances. In a different year, they could both be frontrunners for Academy Awards, but the powers that be have decided this year isn’t that year. After seeing the film though and soaking in the stunning conclusion, you realise that you have just seen two future superstars take their first steps to the top of the mountain and that’s more exciting than anything else. 

1917 is awe-inspiring at every turn and will be immortalised as the moment George Mackay and Dean Charles Chapman made it big on the silver screen.

Best friends Mia Carter (Tiffany Haddish) and Mel Paige (Rose Byrne) run their own cosmetics company — a business they built from the ground up. But they’re also in over their heads financially, and the prospect of a buyout offer from an industry titan proves too tempting to pass up. The beauty business is now about to get ugly as the proposal puts Mia and Mel’s lifelong friendship to the ultimate test.

A couple of months ago, while sitting in the theatre waiting for Elizabeth Banks’ reboot of Charlie’s Angels to begin, the coming attractions started. Most people think that the coming attractions are boring and they don’t usually enjoy watching them, but the same cannot be said with me. There is always something magical about watching some (hopefully) good trailers in the theatre with the lights dimmed while waiting for your feature presentation to start.

But, the first preview that showed during that screening was one for Miguel Arteta’s Like a Boss. It’s trailer was so bad that I genuinely dreaded the knowledge that I would have to eventually go ahead and check it out. Although I give every movie the benefit of the doubt and watch them anyway, something inside me just knew this film wouldn’t be good. But nonetheless, I went into Like a Boss crossing my fingers that this would be the rare January film that was actually pretty diverting and decent. But, yeah, my gut instinct was right this whole time. Like a Boss is one of the most unfunny comedies in a long time. It’s probably, in fact, the weakest comedy since 2019’s The Hustle.

Something that was kind of abrasive about this film was how in your face all of the jokes are. Comedy is extremely subjective, though. My favorite type of humor is the humor that you have to kind of think about. It isn’t an incredible surface-level joke. Dad jokes make you shake your head and chuckle, but they’re not hilarious. Cringe comedy is also a big thing for me, which is why I love watching shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Office.

Like a Boss offers some of the most childish humor there is out there. None of the jokes landed here. They are jokes that are aimed towards teenagers that is probably going to please the masses, but these jokes to me, just weren’t funny. This is a movie that is not even an hour and thirty minutes long, and I am glad that it wasn’t longer, because every time somebody said something “humorous” from the script, I cringed.

At the very least, this movie should have been somewhat amusing to watch. Tiffany Haddish is actually a really funny person and I greatly enjoy a lot of her work. The same can be said about Rose Byrne and the rest of the cast. The problem isn’t them. The problem is the script. Nothing entertaining happens here. It’s a movie that constantly settles for mediocrity and it’s one whose story is ridiculously predictable. There’s no tricks up Arteta’s sleeves which was unfortunate.

Arteta is actually a decent director, too. He previously helmed the 2017 comedy-drama Beatriz at Dinner, which actually succeeded at being a funny film that had some really great dramatic beats along the way. This is why it is actually kind of surprising that he directed this movie. The two feel wildly different, and I am unsure as to what compelled him to direct this.

Those who are looking for a competent story and one that is interesting will be disappointed too. Then again, I don’t think anybody goes into these kinds of movies expecting Best Picture nominees, and neither do I. Comedies for me, are movies that can be great, but they are almost never groundbreaking. Yes, there are a few exceptions, and sadly Like a Boss just isn’t one.

With one of the most unfunny scripts in film in quite some time, Like a Boss is a painfully unfunny mess with cringe-worthy humor that wastes its director and cast.

There’s always a feeling when watching a Guy Ritchie film that he’s made it for himself more so than anyone else. His style is so distinct and self-serving, and the gimmick of it has well and truly worn off. Richie overindulges himself in every single one of his films, and yet, in recent years he’s become a champion of the mainstream.

Despite Aladdin being one of last years highest-profile misfires it still managed to make 1 billion dollars, and his financial failure adaption of King Arthur was still far removed from the stories he told in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Now he’s returned to his roots in a way only Guy Ritchie can, with a film about an American gangster selling marijuana in England as he fends off the devious brits around him, he’s called it The Gentlemen.

Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) is said gangster. A ruthless Rhodes Scholar who found himself more drawn to drug dealing than studying while at Oxford. Realising his talent for getting rich kids to part with their money, he begins to expand, and by the time we meet him, he has marijuana production spanning all of England.

The bulk of the story is told to us by a private investigator named Fletcher (Hugh Grant) who trailed Pearson during his efforts to sell his business and go straight. Also, in the ensemble are Pearson’s right-hand man Raymond (Charlie Hunnam) his wife Rosalind (Michelle Dockery) and an extremely proficient boxing trainer who simply goes by Coach (Colin Farrell).

There are plenty of twists and turns in the narrative, as is to be expected. Along with those comes plenty of profanity and classic Ritchie mannerisms and yet it all works. There comes a point in The Gentlemen where it becomes inescapably fun, and strangely engrossing. And it all comes down to the hilarious chemistry the cast produce in front of the camera.

Throughout the performers never shy away from the most outrageous of gags. There are comical deaths, projectile vomit, everything Hugh Grant does, and an unfortunate evening with a pig. It becomes so over the top it may be the ultimate practise of self-indulgence Ritchie has ever made, but when it’s over, you can’t help but smirk and be happy to have seen it.

As mentioned, Grant absolutely steals the show as he delves into his range and produces a Fletcher who delivers every line to maximum hilarity. So smarmy and weaselly, yet endearing, is Fletcher that you don’t know whether or not you want him dead by the end. McConaughey is also brilliant, he seems to have an affinity for characters who indulge in the drug trade in any way, and here he proves gangsters are no different.

And they are only two pieces of Ritchie’s massive puzzle. Alongside them sit many other spectacular performers each of whom has a moment in the spotlight to shine.

There is no grand message in The Gentlemen, no cutting political commentary or highlighting of unseen truths. It’s cinema for the sake of cinema, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Ritchie is the perfect man to make this kind of movie, anything can happen at any time, and it does with a complete reckless abandon that reeks of fun more than an egregious lack of depth or thought.

There is no covering up for the liberties Ritchie takes to have things his own way, but there is a certain acceptance of them that The Gentlemen generates and that might just be the best part.

Guy Ritchie sticks more rigorously than ever to his unique style of filmmaking with The Gentlemen, and some will wish he hadn’t. But, for most moviegoers, this will be a bundle of outrageous fun, and that’s enough to make it Ritchie’s best work in a long while.