The Witches Of Eastwick: The Powers Of Liberation

The Witches Of Eastwick is a dark fantasy comedy film directed by George Miller. The film sees 3 suburban women go on a voyage of self-discovery and sexual exploration after a mysterious man (Jack Nicholson), comes to town and tempts them out of their boring lives.

I enjoyed the more overt references to the supernatural and the implication that Nicholson’s character was the Devil (or a demon of some kind), I thought it added a nice extra something to the film and really enriched Nicholson’s character.

I thought the performances were strong from everyone involved, Cher, Sarandon and Pfeiffer all gave great performance and I liked seeing their journey over the course of the film, when they became ‘witches’ the character transformation felt earned.

My one complaint would be that at nearly two hours the film is far too long. The film definitely could be improved by being shortened as a lot of the scenes have very obvious bloating and plot padding, the latter of which takes away from the drama of events after they have happened and effectively derails the film.

The monster CGI form the film’s final moments is laughable at best and does not feel in any way tense, but this was probably good for the time, so I won’t be too harsh.

Overall, an interesting premise boosted by some strong performances is let down by poor pacing and an inability to form meaningful tension.

Pros.

Strong performances

An interesting premise

Hints of the supernatural

Cons.

Poorly paced

Lacking in tension

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

A Street Cat Named Bob: One For The Cat Lovers

A Street Cat Named Bob is a biopic, drama film directed by Roger Spottiswoode. The plot tells the real-life story of recovering homeless drug addict James (Luke Treadaway), and the cat that gave him a new lease on life.

I loved the book this was based on, so I went into the film with high expectations. The film seems far more down beat than the book, though the friendship and eventually turn around is inspiring and uplifting a lot of the moments along the way are deeply, deeply depressing. I have to say when the film ended I was left feeling bummed out.

I enjoyed seeing the bond between James and Bob (the titular street cat), I thought their relationship was very endearing, as someone who has had many cats over the years I can say that it is very effecting and will strike a cord with any cat owners.

Treadaway seemed convincing in the role, I enjoyed him and his characters emotional arc. However, I would say his Australian accent was inconsistent, it came and went sometimes you could hear it and it was believable but other times he seemed to forget to do it.

Overall, this film packs an emotional punch, if you can bare some of the more intense moments of despair then there is a beautiful film here.

Pros.

The James/Bob relationship

The ending

The emotion

As a cat lover I found it even more impactful

Cons.
It is very sad

Treadaway accent comes and goes

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Vigil: Waking The Dead

The Vigil is a horror film directed by Keith Thomas. The plot sees a young man (Dave Davis), perform an overnight vigil for a recently deceased member of the Jewish community. However, once his watch begins thing begin to go wrong, and the man must fight off the efforts of a demon if he ever wants to leave that house again.

This film genuinely unnerved me, that is not something I get to say very often. I think by capitalising on an underrepresented type of horror, Jewish horror, we really get to see something fresh and unique. When thinking about these sort of films, possessions films/ demon films, we often are presented with a narrative from a Christian view point, and it is nice to explore the idea of demons from another faith’s viewpoint. The only other obvious example I can think of a similar film would be the Jeffery Dean Morgan stating The Possession where we get the Jewish view point represented.

I think the scares are very well done here and I enjoyed a lot of the slow burn horror scenes. This film does have a few jump scares in it, which is usually a point of derision, but here they actually work well within the film and the film as a whole doesn’t feel reliant on them.

My only negative would be that this film is very bleak and will make you feel sad after watching, which personally I was not anticipating, but be warned.

Overall, a very original film that is brimming with exploration and novel approaches.

Pros

The focus on Jewish mythology

The demon itself, the look and design

The horror

The ending

Cons.

It is very bleak

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Wonder Woman 1984: Consent Issues And Rape Threats

Wonder Woman 1984 is a DC superhero film directed by Patty Jenkins.

Yikes. How can a film go from a first entry I gave 5/5 to this. There are so many issues with this film I don’t even know where to begin.

To start on a slightly positive note, Gal Gadot is still a lot of fun as Diana/ Wonder Woman. She brings just the right level or heart and badassery to the role, which makes for a great watch. Likewise, Pedro Pascal is an entertaining villain, and though hammy and scenery chewing manages to have quite a few good moments, that help an otherwise deeply troubled film.

My central issue with this film and the one that almost made me stop watching it is the consent issue. When Diana’s lost love Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) comes back from the dead he is in the body of someone else, this other person does not know Diane or Trevor and yet this body is used by Trevor to have sex with Diana which raises all sorts of iffy moral questions; who thought this was a tasteful idea in a family film no less. Adding to that I don’t understand why recent DCEU films have been so keen on including the threat of rape, these films are supposed to be aimed at a wide audience including kids. At least in Birds Of Prey, it had an older market in mind, here we see Kristen Wiig’s character threatened with sexual assault, why? To show she is weak? Think about the message that sends.

Another issue I had with this film is just how in love with the 1980s it is. When I first started seeing 80s nostalgia it was fun and charming, but this film manages to push it over the line and make it feel gimmicky and annoying. There are moments when the film could have the charm of a Chris Columbus film but then it has to go and overdo it.

Additionally, this film seems to be the most radical departure from Zack Snyder’s bleak and oppressive DCEU films and the most blatant in its attempt to copy the MCU. However, even this it manages to get badly wrong. This film takes the annoying humour from the MCU and stretches it out for 2 and a half hours, (an unreasonably long about of time), not only is a lot of this humour in no way funny, but it also removes any tension from the film; for the 1^st hour and a half literally nothing happens.

Finally, Kristen Wiig is badly miscast. Her character is a cliché inside of a stereotype and it is clear from the off where it is going to end. In that vein, you would think the film would make more of an effort to give her Cheetah a moment to shine, but no she is quickly defeat within 5 minutes; we can’t have any threat or tension now can we.

Also the film looks oddly cheap throughout which does not make sense considering its budget.

Overall, this film somehow manages to be worse that Birds of Prey and reignites all my fears for the DCEU, please if anyone over at Star Wars is reading this remove Patty Jenkins now before she ruins the next film.

Pros.

Gadot and Pascal

Cons.

The consent issue

It looks cheap

There is no action

Kristen Wiig is miscast, and her character does not have a minute to shine

Why is there a rape threat in a family film?

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Naked: Yet Another Time Loop

Naked is a comedy film directed by Michael Tiddes. The plot sees a man (Marlon Wayans) become trapped in a timeloop on the day of his wedding. This forces him to revaluate the type of person he is and ultimately forces him to grow up.

So by and large this is a fairly generic film. The whole concept ‘the time loop’ is starting to become quickly played out and boring, as we have seen various different characters become trapped in loops many times over at this point.

Wayans tries his best and the few laughs that there are in the film do come from his character, so I will give him prompts for that. However, this character as a whole is a cliché of the man child/ underachiever trope and is once again nothing new: having all the nuance and development of a burnt Christmas dinner.

The comedy mostly missed the mark for me. I laughed maybe once or twice throughout and had a few more smiles, but mostly the humour left me cold. I found any character that wasn’t Wayans deeply unfunny, I don’t know if that was done by design to make Wayans more funny? Though all it managed to do was to make me feel indifferent.

Overall, as a comedy film this is watchable if you have no other options, but it is nothing you haven’t already seen better before.

Pros.

It is watchable

It has a few good jokes

Cons.

Wayans is struggling

The other characters leave no impression

The premise is been there done that

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Slow West: She Is Just Not That Into You

Slow West is a western, drama, romance film directed by John Maclean. The plot sees a young boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee), travel across the American frontier to try and find and reconnect with his lost love. Whilst, traveling he meets up with an outlaw (Michael Fassbender), and the two form a bond and journey together.

This film will not be for everyone, that is really the most important piece of information that you will get out of this review. It is very niche and artsy and is almost certainly an acquired taste.

The ending of the film did a number on me, emotionally. Seeing the conclusion of his naïve young boys’ journey is nothing short of heart-breaking, and the ending is bleak and will leave you depressed: at least that’s how I felt after watching it.

Fassbender and Ben Mendelsohn (who only has a small role), both give very memorable performances and sink into their respective characters perfectly. Mendelsohn became this looming spector of death, whereas Fassbender became more of the loveable rouge as the film went on and he became ever more fatherly to the protagonist.

Despite the shorter than average runtime this film does have some pacing issues and a few scenes do feel needlessly drawn out; this put me off.

Overall, a very strange art house western that won’t be to all tastes, but there might be some niche appeal there.

Pros.

Fassbender

The emotion

Mendelsohn

Cons.

The ending

Pacing issues galore

The main star was quite weak and easily out-shined

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Lethal Weapon 2: Advertising Condoms

Lethal Weapon 2 is a buddy cop action film directed by Richard Donner. The plot this time around sees Murtaugh (Danny Glover), and Riggs (Mel Gibson) go after a cartel of South African criminals that have a personal connection to Rigg’s past.

I think here we can see the tonal issues starting to become apparent, there is a lot of fallout surrounding Shane Black exiting the projecting and his darker script being rejected in favour of a more light hearted one; said script I would say is the major issue with the film. Quite dark and upsettingly violent sequences are upended with jokes and quips, which serve to ruin any tension built and let the air out of the balloon so to speak.
The tonal issues carry over to the characters as it limits their emotional growth and the extent of their journey’s. There is some interesting ideas and notions being floated around here, like Riggs dying to save his partner’s life at the end of the film, however, the film seem to gutless to follow through with these interesting character moments in favour of maintaining the status quo for sequels.

Gibson and Glover are still a terrific paring and have a lot of great on-screen chemistry together, sadly that is limited by insufficient character work.

Overall, this film shows us what is wrong with Hollywood, whereby the inevitable sequel is prioritised over the film itself to the detriment of all involved.

Pros.

Gibson

Glover

Cons.

The tone is mismatched and doesn’t work

The ending loses its emotional impact

The characters don’t seem to progress emotionally or personally from where they were at the end of the film

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Get The Gringo: Bringing Hand-Grenades To Office Meetings

Get The Gringo (Or as it is known in other territories How I Spent My Summer Vacation), is an action film directed by Adrian Grunberg. The plot sees an unnamed heister (Mel Gibson), become imprisoned in a corrupt Mexican prison, he must fight for his own survival as well as to protect a child who he has befriended.

So, yes none of my Mel Gibson action film reviews would be complete with me condemning his personal life and views, take that as a given here as always.

However, that said I really enjoyed this film and Gibson was a big part of the reason I did. He is magnetic in this film, despite being unnamed and undeveloped, in a few different ways, he has enough action hero charm that you don’t question it and instead get swept up in the adventure. As the film ends you can’t help but cheer for his character.

The plot of the film is quite smart, it is simple and self-contained enough to not be overly complicated, whilst also having enough twists to keep you constantly engaged and asking what is going to happen next. The third act is particularly well done in this respect, it has some great action set pieces, but also an almost Soderbergh level of suave to the final tie up.

Overall, I enjoyed this film a lot and I thought it was terrific.

Pros.

Gibson

The action

The twists and turns

The ending

Cons.

Some of the characters feel underdeveloped to the point of becoming stereotypes.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke