Blackberry: The Rise And Fall Of A Titan

Summary

The rise and fall of one of the most prolific mobile phone companies of the Noughties.

So let me start off by saying that this is a fantastic showing from Glenn Howerton. He is on top form here and really does prove that he has solid dramatic chops, it is a shame his agent has him doing sub-par series like Velma that totally waste his talents. Through and through this is Howerton’s film.

Moreover, as far as the rise and fall of x company films go this one was quite compelling and interesting for the first hour and a half, we’ll get to that other half an hour in just a moment. I found myself really interested and engaged with how the company was slowly losing its soul over time and thought that the cast did a really great job getting me to care about the characters.

However, it isn’t all sunshine and roses, within the last act of the film things go off the rails quickly, mainly they side-line Howerton’s character for big stretches which hurt the film a lot, and then they try to tie it all together with a montage of this is where they are now scenes at the end, this doesn’t work as it feels like after spending over an hour getting you to care about these characters the film just drops the ball with them at the end.

Overall, Howerton makes this film as good as it is, but the disastrous third act really hurts the film significantly.

3/5

Pros.

Howerton

The early pacing and the rise parts of the film

The soundtrack

Cons.

The last act really drops the ball

The final act also side-lines Howerton, a terrible move

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From: Season One Overview

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A large group of people find themselves trapped in a town they can’t escape from wherein they are hunted every night by a group of monsters.

In many ways you can see how this show was from some of the producers and creative voices behind Lost, asthey have very similar mystery/supernatural aspects to them. However, where this show is much better than Lost is the fact that it knows how to use its tension and usually progresses things at quite a nice pace. Every time the monsters show up, which is in most episodes, the show becomes fantastic and is electric to watch with the threat and the terror being palpable.

Conversely, whenever the show slows down and focuses more on the characters or their drama the show can drag. Now for the most part this drag is a rare occurrence and the character drama is kept to a minimum, but with the largest cast of characters it is inevitable. Speaking off the cast is a deeply mixed bag, some do a terrific job and really can be counted on as reliable pillars of the show, whereas others seem only there to broaden out the show’s potential viewership figures.

Overall, well worth a watch, but with a few issues that hold it back from being the next big tv show.

3.5/5

Pros.

The monsters and the horror aspects

The mystery

The season ending

For the most part great tension and pacing

Cons.

At times the show slows down for character drama and this hurts it

Some of the characters serve no purpose

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The Boogeyman: Clearly This Film Didn’t Have The Budget To Spring For Any Kind Of Lighting

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A family is plunged into a fight for survival after a supernatural evil takes over their home following the death of their matriarch.

The director behind Host and Dashcam made this film, two of the strongest horror films in recent memory, my, my what a step back.

This feels like the most bland form of studio horror, entirely by the book and with nothing new to surprise you. The metaphor of the film is ham-fistedly done and stands in a poor contrast to other films that try and reflect grief through a supernatural entity, see The Babadook. If you have been paying attention to the genre space recently you will see scares from Smile and Barbarian repeated here sans the punch they had in those films.

The monster is well designed and does look genuinely menacing at times and that is one of the few positives I can give this film. However, despite this good design you will rarely ever see the monster because the film is so dark that you can barely see what is going on most of the time. If you want to get incredibly drunk play a drinking game for every time a character in this film enters a room and doesn’t put a light on, or every time in the middle of the day everything feels like it is on half brightness. I understand this film may have been made on the cheap and as such not have the budget to be showing off a CGI monster at every turn, but the level of darkness in this film is just ridiculous.

Moreover, in terms of performances the central family are serviceable, Yellowjackets’ own Sophie Thatcher steals the show in a number of scenes, but she doesn’t have much to compete with. The film has pretty much all the characters outside of the main family be dislikeable, I don’t know why. They even try and force in some mean girl stuff towards the end that just feels like the most cliché pap and makes you roll your eyes hard.

Lastly, there is something so depressing about this film that at times it makes it unpleasant to watch. I understand the irony of saying that about a horror film but I would argue that plenty of horror films cover depressing and dark topics without making the viewing experience feel depressing. Take Hereditary for example a little girl dies fairly early on and a family descends into hell, but at the same time it is still a fun and thrilling viewing experience you don’t leave the film sad, or at least I didn’t, the same can’t be said for this film.

Overall, a disappointment.

2/5

Pros.

The monster, when you see it

Thatcher

Cons.

It is too dark both literally and figuratively

All of the non-family character are immensely dislikeable/ they force in some teen drama for no good reason

It has horrible pacing issues

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Fool’s Paradise: Mocking The Disabled And Using Sexual Assault As A Punchline

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Charlie Day plays a modern day version of a Charlie Chaplin character

There was a lot wrong with this film. In many ways it felt like the sort of film that Adam Sandler would put out say a decade ago, crude, stupid and very mean spirited. There is perhaps an assumption on Day’s part that because he is playing the character that is the butt of the joke and he is the one that put the film together then it makes it okay and less mean spirited, but I disagree.

The plot wants you to be entertained by, and find funny, the mistakes and misunderstandings of someone who clearly has learning difficulties, the film even clearly states that this man has the mind of a child. So right off the bat this film feels like it is mocking the disabled, but it gets worse, there are a number of scenes where this character is sexually assaulted and it is played for laughs. At no point across the film does this character show any knowledge of what sex is let alone a form of consent, yet these female characters force him into performing and that is supposed to be funny. It is seriously messed up and damaging.

It is a shame the film ends up in such a puerile place as it does have some good celebrity cameos, said cameos often steal the show and are funnier than anything else happening on screen. In terms of pacing a lot of these cameos are clustered together rather than being peppered in throughout the film which leads to them going a bit underappreciated as you don’t really have time to notice them all.

Overall, a horrible film that belongs in the bin of history.

1.5/5

Pros.

The cameos

A few funny jokes

Cons.

It makes fun of someone who clearly has disabilities

It features frequent sexual assaults and frame them as funny jokes

It is toxic

The cameos are not spread out well within the film

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Hypnotic: Ben Affleck Has A Terrible Agent

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Ben Affleck has mind powers and they are so good he has forgotten about them.

What happened to Robert Rodriguez? Honestly once upon a time he was my favourite director and I would rush out for each of his films opening weekend, but now he is just making fairly subpar family films and stuff like this.

I will admit the idea of Ben Affleck trying to find his lost daughter going up against a cult of people with mind control abilities is genuinely interesting and if the film had stuck to the that then maybe this review would be different. However, the film seems to want to compete with the mind games of a Nolan film and adds in twist after twist to such a point that any shred of promise is wasted and the film becomes incomprehensible. This film wants so badly to be a Nolan esque film but it just doesn’t have a smart enough script for it.

The ending is also incredibly terrible and feels like the most convenient writing I have ever seen in recent cinema. The ending makes no sense, but everything after the first half an hour is like that, and also tries to go for a happy ending even though nothing in the tone of the film or the narrative suggests that to be appropriate.

Ben Affleck is doing his usual moody dad routine, and that worked for me here and I think it fit the character well, better than it did in some of his other recent work. The acting is all fine, no one particularly sticks out for good or for bad.

Overall, if this is the quality of his contemporary output Robert Rodriguez should retire.

2.5/5

Pros.

The premise is sound

Affleck fits the role

It is watchable

Cons.

It is a stupid film that thinks it is an intelligent one

It makes no sense

The ending is truly awful

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The Book Club The Next Chapter: The Sequel No One Needed

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of old friends head to Italy for a bachelorette party.

I was in two minds about watching this film at all, the first was fairly abysmal and was nothing other than a cynical ploy to cash in on the Fifty Shades fad that was popular when the film was greenlit. However, I must say that this film faired better than the first and was watchable and even charming at times, now there were some pretty big issues with the film don’t get me wrong but it was at least more passable than the first film.

In a sense I applaud this film for trying to be a sex comedy film at times with older women. Within the landscape and our broader culture old women are far too often seen as sexless and grandmotherly ceasing to have needs of their own, so it was nice that this film tried to address that. Although it must be said that it does so with the grace of a wrecking ball, and rather than have a mature conversation about the sexuality of older women the film instead just crams as many groan inducing, in a bad way, sex jokes as it can into its runtime. It just feels a little juvenile, though it must be said it is handled with more class than something that Al Pacino or Robert De Niro would do wherein they would be doing gross physical comedy as well.

Something that hit me early on with the film and that opened things on a sour note was how much this film is a covid film. By that I mean that this film within the first few minutes must have mentioned covid at least twenty times, and again I feel like this is done as when the film was being made the pandemic was a big news item, however, now upon release it just serves to date the film.

Both of those issues exist alongside the various technical issues that plague this film such as convenient writing, a generic plot, pacing issues and over sentimentality, but you would expect those sort of issues with a film of this nature so I won’t spend time addressing each in turn, just trust me they are there.

Overall, hopefully this is a closed book now.

2/5

Pros

It is watchable

It opens a much needed conversation on the taboo of older female sexuality within media

Cons

It turns an important conversation into a series of sex jokes that are never funny

It is generic, dull and at times the pacing is trying

The reminder of the pandemic

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iCarly: iBuckled

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Carly, played by Miranda Cosgrove, finally comes to terms with her feelings for Freddie, played by Nathan Kress.

Yes folks they are finally doing it, after constant hints since the revival the show looks set to soon make Carly and Freddie a couple, or will it? I think this can go one of two ways either they get them together soon and have the awkward nature of their romance play out this season, which is what I want, or they drag it out throughout the whole season, which I think after all the hints in the second season would just be irritating.

This episode on the whole was a fairly mixed bag, I liked a lot of the Carly/ Freddie stuff and the jokes therein, I thought there was a number of laugh out loud moments towards the end of the episode, but I also thought there were a number of really awkward and cringe moments in the episode as well. The whole reality show sequence is bad and it makes no sense that Pearl, played by Mia Serafino, would just sit there as everyone is talking about how Freddie and Carly should get together.

The subplot about Freddie’s mm getting engaged was fine, but honestly when thinking about the episode I barely remember the subplot at all that’s how forgettable it was.

Overall, it is nice to see Carly and Freddie finally seem as though they are getting together.

3.5/5

Pros.

Carly and Freddie

A number of good jokes

Josh Peck shines

The ending

Cons.

The teasing and the will they wont they stuff

Some cringe moments

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Across The Spider-Verse: Spider-People Overkill

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Miles Morales returns to the Spider-Verse.

I was very excited for this film going in, but have to say I was a little disappointed with what we got.

First the positives, I thought the character work was great particularly as it applied to parent child dynamics and the idea of finding a home/family, in this regard the film really nailed some deep emotional scenes that were genuinely moving. I also liked the addition of all the new Spider-People especially Spider-Man India, I did think they went a little cameo mad especially when they got to the clubhouse near the end of the film, but for the most part I liked seeing all the different variants I remember from the comics. Of course another pro of the film was the animation, which was incredible and a real feat to behold, the fact that the animators were able to blend so many different styles of animation so seamlessly together in one film highlights the artistry of Sony Animation and is really a big boon for them.

Now despite all of that, this wasn’t a perfect film. I disliked the act structure and thought it felt like one of the Hobbit films, this was mainly due to the fact that it didn’t have an ending or third act but rather one long second act that will then lead into the next film. I understand this film was written to end on a cliff-hanger, but I think that it could have had a degree of resolution within its own narrative as well as doing this rather than just abruptly cutting away. Due to this structure decision the film feels like it has quite bad pacing issues. I also didn’t like what they did to Miguel O’Hara, and admittedly this one hit me harder than most as outside of Peter Parker Miguel O’Hara is my favourite other spider-person, I think making him a villain was a bad call. I understand that in the third film it will be revealed that he was taking orders from/ coerced to work for Morlun and the Inheritors and he will redeem himself, but I just think that by making him so outwardly villainous here it takes away from a lot of his heroic potential in the future.

3.5/5

Pros.

Spider-Man India

Miles

The animation

The emotional beats

Cons.

The pacing issues

The ending

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Ted Lasso: Season 3 Overview

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The friendly American football coach, played by Jason Sudeikis, goes home.

The final season of a much beloved show like Ted Lasso was always going to be sad and this was sad but it was also disappointing. As the credits rolled on the final episode of the third season I released that in a sense the show had peaked with the second season and maybe should have ended there.

Though I enjoyed most of the character work this season did, and the endings that most of the characters got, I also thought that at times it was overly indulgent. By that I mean it would go to a place of being overly sentimental, it would spend vast sections of episodes dedicated to the fate of a very minor character in the scheme of things and yes whilst it may have been well done it felt like filler as the actual story of the season was relatively short.

Moreover, the decision to make Ted sad, which really was a second season development, came back to hurt the show as it could no longer really pull off the quaint small town charm and positivity that had worked in the first season so well. Giving the character depth and complexity was a good thing and I am not saying he should have stayed a one note caricature but I think they took Ted’s sadness too far, so much so that it gives the third season a real sense of heaviness that sits within until its closing moments.

Overall, the third season was still good don’t get me wrong, but it was a noticeable step back from the other seasons and clearly evidenced at times the need for the show to end as it was becoming long in the tooth.

3/5

Pros.

It does some good character work

It has a number of sweet moments

It has some of the same charm as the earlier seasons/

Cons.

It is overly sentimental at times to the point of feeling indulgent

There is a lot of what can only be described as filler

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Reality: The US’s Further Edging Towards Fascism

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The story of Reality Winner, here played by Sydney Sweeny, and her arrest.

This film made me angry. It so perfectly points out and captures the American hypocrisy with their love affair with free speech only ever extending out to what they agree with. I think the film wants you to be angry at what happened to Reality, who at the end of the day was leaking information that was in the public good, not selling nuclear secrets to the North Koreans.

It is a thoroughly uncomfortable watch from start to finish as the film ramps up the tension and the claustrophobic nature of the raid. You like Reality within the film feel the walls closing in and increasing escalation.

Sweeny is terrific here and really gives a layered and nuanced performance, I think there is something so heart breaking about the fact that her life is over essentially and she just wants to make sure her animals are okay. Perhaps it is because I am not American and am fairly detached from their news cycle, but this film made me feel bad for Winner in real life and think that the US government want to bully their own citizens into maintaining this image of them being infallible when that just isn’t true.

Overall, this is a great anti-US protest peace illustrating the US’s increasing slip into being an authoritarian fundamentalist nightmare.

4/5

Pros.

Sweeny

The tension

The emotion

The core of the story and the message it has

Cons.

It is unpleasant to watch at times

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