Films That Matter
An Impossible Mission
How do you wrap up a franchise like Mission: Impossible? That is, if this even is the final installment... as they’ve made it sound (while at the same time, stars not named ‘Tom Cruise’ pipe up and suggest that might not be so). It has been twenty-nine years, with different writers and visionary directors – from twisty Brian De Palma and the action hair stylings of John Woo, to the lens flares of J.J. Abrams and animation expert Brad Bird, it was only about ten years ago that the franchise decided to opt for The Usual Suspects scribe Christopher McQuarrie for the final four. To return to that opening question once more, you could end with a Sopranos’ style cliffhanger, simply make another entertaining movie like the many before – like Everybody Loves Raymond did it with its final episode, or try to tie everything up in a neat little bow by bringing everything together as the Daniel Craig era did with James Bond. Well, it is definitely more along the lines of the latter example, with some distinct differences.
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Nice Guys Finish First
The Nice GuysMay 29, 2016Putting Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe together as an action comedy duo seems like a rather unorthodox and risky venture. Both have been able to add touches of humour to certain roles in their impressive resumes, yet they have generally been considered dramatic actors – with neither having truly had the chance to test their jocular delivery. So, it is perhaps slightly surprising that the duo have excellent comedic chemistry and timing in their new film The Nice Guys.
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Deadpool: It’s Alive
DeadpoolMay 19, 2016Lately, a lot of people have been suggesting that I watch Deadpool, so I checked it out and can now see why so many have enjoyed it. It has a high-octane frenetic pacing, entertaining dialogue, is a piece of cool filmmaking, and though it is a comic book movie, feels like the antithesis of most other Marvel and DC options. Fast talking Ryan Reynolds stars as Wade Wilson (aka Deadpool), the most unethical superhero you are likely to meet. He has a foul mouth, shoots searing insults, says it like it is, and enjoys killing baddies at a rather alarming rate. As I said, this is not your typical Marvel comic book movie.
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Star Pick with Jenny Lampa
How Hours Mark the TimeThe HoursApril 26, 2016Interweaving multiple stories can be a complicated thing to do. For every film that succeeds at structuring several tales into one powerful story, there are twice as many that fall flat. One movie that takes on this challenging task, tackling three separate narratives that take place in very different eras, is the 2002 dramatic motion picture The Hours. The film features several powerhouse performances from three superb actresses (Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore), so it is perhaps not surprising that actress Jenny Lampa, who has earned rave reviews and has received a number of acting nominations for her performance in the Swedish thriller The Break-In, selected this as one of her favourite movies.
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Bigger, Fatter, and Oh So Greek
My Big Fat Greek WeddingMy Big Fat Greek Wedding 2April 19, 2016Back in 2002, My Big Fat Greek Wedding hit the world by storm. . . and when all was said and done, it became the top grossing romantic comedy of all-time (without ever being number one at the box office). It told the story of an intensely smothering yet loving Greek family living in Chicago by way of our lead and voice over narrator Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos – who wrote the story and got an Academy Award nomination for her effort). The plain and slightly nerdy woman, who works at her parents’ restaurant and cannot seem to find love, sets us up for a feel good story that combines the concept of finding love in the most unexpected places with a positive spin on Greek-American stereotypes that hit right on the mark.
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Snatch and Grab
Snatch.April 3, 2016The first thing that came to mind after watching Guy Ritchie’s 2001 crime film Snatch was that it must have been a bugger to write. Ritchie, who both scribed and directed the movie, concocts a motion picture that feels like an amalgam of film noir, a British crime caper, a boxing flick as well as a comedy – all thrown onto the screen by some sort of high powered rocket launcher.
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Three’s Company
10 Cloverfield LaneMarch 18, 201610 Cloverfield Lane is an unusual quasi-sequel to the 2008 handheld found-footage Godzilla-like monster movie Cloverfield. I watched the original in theatres back when I was at University, and it struck me as a rather exciting, large scaled horror movie. The gargantuan scope of that picture is interestingly scaled back to the complete opposite in this loose spin-off.
