Like so many teen comedies before it, Booksmart focuses on house parties. And, like many films before it, it tells the story of those who haven't partied before (maybe those previously framed as outsiders, nerds or highly-strung) having their first wild experience: cue wacky hi-jinks. To a certain extent, Booksmart, follows well trodden ground. However, … Continue reading Booksmart (Review)
Madeline’s Madeline (Review)
Where does art end and reality begin? It's a pretentious question, but a pertinent one that merits exploration. It's also one of the many questions that Josephine Decker's sublime film tackles. The focus of Madeline's Madeline is more experiential than narrative. It's nominally about a troubled teen, Madeline (played astonishingly by Helena Howard), and her … Continue reading Madeline’s Madeline (Review)
The Raft (Review)
In 1973, an anthropologist (Santiago Genovés) loaded a specially made raft with ten other people and sailed across the Atlantic. This documentary tells that story through a mixture of archive footage and contemporary interviews with the surviving crew. Overall, it's an interesting story worth telling but the film itself provides little insight. Its linear approach … Continue reading The Raft (Review)
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Review)
Somethings shouldn't be brought back. This is an argument put forward by several characters in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, as the plot (for want of a better word) revolves around an attempt to bring back ancient monsters in order to restore balance to the planet. The film's narrative has its own conclusions about this, … Continue reading Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Review)
Rocketman (Review)
From the first shot, Rocketman establishes itself as strange: a flamboyantly costumed Elton John (Taron Egerton) walks down a nondescript hallway to a meeting in rehab. This is our framing device for the biopic, as Elton looks back on what brought him to this point. The result is extremely entertaining, often emotional and sometimes really … Continue reading Rocketman (Review)
NastyPALs Episode 9: The Revenge of the Boogeyman
After being amused by the Boogeyman, Adam and Stephen check out its sequel. Well, this film that claims to be this sequel. Well, this thing that claims to be a film that I guess is a sequel. This is a strange movie.If you wish your sequels were ninety percent flashback sequences directly lifted from the previous … Continue reading NastyPALs Episode 9: The Revenge of the Boogeyman
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (Review)
The premise is simple: everybody is after John Wick. Events at the end of Chapter 2 have left John (Keanu Reeves) exiled from the assassin's underworld and have placed a multi-million dollar bounty on his head. It's John Wick versus the world, and that's a pretty good set-up for a John Wick movie. For the … Continue reading John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (Review)
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (Review)
If you have spent any time outside of a cave in the last twenty-three years, you'll be at least passingly familiar with Pokemon - and its adorable poster-child, Pikachu. Detective Pikachu certainly takes this familiarity for granted but is accessible enough to appeal to the uninitiated - or uninterested. It's a film stuffed with referential … Continue reading Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (Review)
Eighth Grade (Review)
The portrayal of a social media obsessed generation is hardly new to cinema but few - if any - films have portrayed today's teenagers with as much empathy, understanding and sympathy as Eighth Grade. Writer/director Bo Burnam's debut feature is a note perfect evocation of a generation, in which a mastery of specificity allows the … Continue reading Eighth Grade (Review)
Pet Semetary (Review)
The latest Stephen King adaptation presents the idea that some things should be left alone. The line 'sometimes dead is better' became a tagline - and is sadly apropos when describing the film. Maybe this property didn't need to be brought back to life. Maybe dead was better. The plot of Pet Semetary revolves around … Continue reading Pet Semetary (Review)
Assorted Opinions 