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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Modern-day Fairy Tale
HannaJuly 31, 2013The modern-day fairy tale film seems to have become the typical Disney cookie-cutter movie. They usually follow similar formats: wicked witch captures young girl, princess needs to be rescued or male hero saves the day, yet very few pictures capture the eerie and often scary vibe of the original fairytales that these stories are based on. It is amazing how graphic and frightening the Grimm tales and other similar stories actually are.
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Ghostly Fun
Blackbeard's GhostJuly 23, 2013For almost 100 years, Disney has entertained family audiences with their amazing live-action and animated films. One of my favourites is the oft forgotten 1968 pirate tale Blackbeard’s Ghost.
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On a Hot Summer’s Night
Double IndemnityJuly 15, 2013One of my favourite genres is the short-lived film noir category, which lasted through the 1940's and petered out towards the end of the 1950's. It grew from the German expressionism period of the 1920's and was compounded by the anxiety and cynicism that came out of World War II. Named by French critics who were describing the black-and-white Hollywood crime movies of the 40's, this is a unique genre that captures a much darker, cynical and more vicious world than most other films from this period.
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Take a Ride on the Wild Side
Something WildJuly 8, 2013It is unusual to find a film that is able to effectively change direction, speaking in the genre sense, without losing steam, confusing viewers, or ruining the flow of the movie. Yet, when properly done, these twists and turns can take you on a wild and entertaining ride to somewhere completely unexpected. This is what the 1986 motion picture Something Wild does effortlessly.
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Blood Ties
StokerJune 28, 2013It is pretty rare that I do this, but I sat watching a newly released DVD called Stoker last night and decided to write a review immediately after finishing it, and for once, one of the films I have critiqued will be readily available to buy or rent.
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The Professional Delivers
Léon: The ProfessionalJune 17, 2013The 1980's and 1990's were two superb decades for amazing action films that contained easy on the eyes stunts, clever storylines, touches of comedy and great villains. Movies like the Die Hard trilogy, Lethal Weapon 1-4 , Mission Impossible, and James Bond entries like License to Kill and Goldeneye entertained in all of these categories. One of the best action movies to come out of the 90's though, is known as Léon or The Professional.