Like A Boss: Promoting A Female Friendship

Like A Boss is a comedy film directed by Miguel Arteta. The plot sees two best friends have their friendship tested after a businesswoman invests in their business. Mel (Rose Byrne) sees the buy out as a good thing and wants to learn from makeup mogul Claire Luna (Selma Hayek), whereas Mia (Tiffany Haddish), doesn’t like the outside control and worries they will become just another corporate cog. The friendship tears, but can they come back together again?

I enjoyed this film more than I thought I would. The humour was hit and miss for me, I found myself laughing when I didn’t expect to. I thought when the comedy went blue it was less funny, at least to me personally, but like I often say comedy is subjective.

I liked how this film just focused on the friendship, there was no romance subplot or anything else; it is really just a film dedicated to celebrating friendship. I think the fact it also highlight and lifts up female friendship is also really nice to see, the relationship between the two actors seems genuine and they’re believable as friends/ business partners.

I thought the plot was very by the numbers, most of the things that happen I have seen a hundred times before, so it wins to prizes for being novel or inventive.

Overall a surprisingly enjoyable, watchable comedy.

Pros.

Showing female friendship

No forced romance subplot

Byrne and Haddish

Cons.

Not all the jokes land

The plot is nothing new

The weak side characters

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs: Eat It Up

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is an animated family film directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The film follows Flint (Bill Hader), an inventor who dreams of becoming a famous scientist. One day Flint invents a machine that can make food rain from the sky, everything seems to be going well, until the machine starts to malfunction.

I have been meaning to watch this for some time and a few nights ago I did, I have to say for the most part I enjoyed it, but there were a few issues that kept it from being great.

Firstly the imagination is commendable, I thought it was wonderfully unique and I have never seen anything else like this. The animation is also great, I thought it looked distinctive and well proportioned; the food also looked really appetising.

Secondly, this film has a lot of heart. I thought it handled the theme of fathers and sons really well and the final scene between Flint and his father was moving and brought a tear to my eye. However, the same flair for emotion wasn’t carried over into the other characters and Flint’s relationship with the other characters particularly Sam (Anna Faris), was weak and unconvincing.

My main issue with this film was the humour, it really didn’t land for me. Humour is subjective I know, but the humour in this film skewed towards kids and I didn’t find any layers to the comedy that might have appealed to me or other age groups.

Overall, a good effort with a lot heart, but the childish humour and the poor character development stop this film from being as good as it could be.

Pros.

The father son relation between Flint and his dad

The animation

The imagination

Cons.

The comedy

The poor side characters and weak interpersonal relationships

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Smallfoot: Bring Back Channing Tatum!

Smallfoot is an animated family fantasy film directed by Karey Kirkpatrick and Jason Reisig. The plot follows Migo (Channing Tatum), a young yeti who dares to think differently. Migo believes that creatures called Smallfoots (Humans), exist, a view that gets him banished from his village. So, he sets out into our world to capture and bring back a live Smallfoot to prove himself right.

This film is made good by the never-ending charm of Channing Tatum. Tatum hasn’t been in anything for a while, so I had forgotten what a fabulous on-screen presence he has. I kid you not, if a lesser actor has the role in his stead then the film would never have been able to rise above average. This film owes a lot to Tatum.

What I really enjoyed about this film is its heart. The inter character relationships are particularly strong amongst the main cast, with the bond between Migo and Percy (James Corden), perhaps being the most heartfelt of all. This is furthered by the fact that Corden is playing a toned-down version of his usual ‘character’, which really helps the character to be likeable and not grating.

The one area where the film falls down is in it’s supporting cast. There are plenty of talented names amongst this films’ supporting cast, but most of them have little more than one or two lines and leave no impression on you at all. It is an insult to the craft to even call a lot of these minor characters and they’re so paper thin that they might as well be non-existent.

Overall, a happy family film that will leave you feeling good.

Pros.

Tatum

Character relationships

A toned down Corden

Feel good message

Cons.

The side characters aren’t even characters

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Downhill: Never Has A Title Been More Accurate

Downhill is a black comedy film directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. The plot sees a dysfunctional family head to a ski resort to try and reconnect, things slowly descend. It is an American remake of the Swedish film Force Majeure.

The words an ‘American remake’ should have been a red flag. This film is not terrible, but it is pretty bad. I found it very hard to finish.

The key issue with this film is that it is trying to do two things. Firstly it is trying to replicate the darker Swedish sense of humour, but crucially it does not understand it and so fails. Secondly, it is also trying to appeal to a more mainstream audience and have some more obvious jokes, this also fails. So the issue this creates both of these failures serve to make the other worse and more blatantly off-putting.

Furthermore, this film has a very talented cast with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell as co-leads. Sadly it wastes them, it does not just waste them it also makes them incredibly unlikable and irritating; Dreyfus especially. Dreyfus’ character becomes so neurotic and annoying that you just want to mute her when she comes on screen, she is no way likeable, was that the point? Ferrell isn’t much better, but we have come to expect bad things from him.

Overall, this film fails on multiple levels and has no redeemable qualities. Don’t watch it.

Pros.

The brief scene with Kristofer Hivju

Cons.

The tone doesn’t work

It is not funny

The characters are hateable

It is a waste of time

0.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Rio: Feeling Blu?

Rio is an animated family film directed by Carlos Saldanha. The plot sees nervous Blue McCaw Blu (Jessie Eisenberg), go on a trip to Rio to save his species. One he is there; he is kidnapped by poachers and must fight to return to his owner as well as save the other birds.

This film worked for me in a lot of different ways, right from the beginning when we see Blu as a little baby bird I was on board; it was so cute. Couple this with the fact that two of my favourite actors provide their voices to this film (Eisenberg and Jeamaine Clement), it was always going to be a hit for me.

I think the story of his wild animal learning to be wild again was really well done and I think the role was cast perfectly with Jessie Eisenberg. He has the shy, timid, neurotic nerd who will rise to the occasion and save everyone vibe down to a tee and it was perfect for this role. His Blu was loveable and relatable despite being an animal. He also had a lot of on-screen chemistry with Anne Hathaway who voiced the other Blue McCaw Jules.

Clement was everything that I would want him to be in this. He was the villain and evil Cockatoo with a chip on his shoulder and evil in his heart. Clement was wonderfully hammy and milked the role for everything it was worth, my one complaint would be that he only got one song; said song was excellent though.

Overall, this is a sweet film that really appealed to the animal lover in me, the voice cast did a really great job and I ended up really liking it!

Pros

Blu himself

Eisenberg

Clement

Eisenberg and Hathaway have great on-screen chemistry

Cons.

It just needed a little bit more

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Hotel Transylvania 3: Dead And Loving It

Hotel Transylvania 3 is an animated fantasy family film directed by Genndy Tartakovsky. The plot sees Dracula (Adam Sandler), and family go on a summer cruise as a means to unwind and spend more time together as a family. Dracula himself is on a quest to find love after he realises how lonely he is, however, the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with turns out to be the great granddaughter of his worst enemy.

The Hotel Transylvania trilogy is one of ups and downs, the first film was strong and had a keen emotional arc that worked, the second abandoned this and instead decided to focus on cheap jokes and walking back the character development of the first film. The third film, however, is the best of the 3, it loses the ensemble of the previous films, they are still there just not focused on, and instead tells a very personal story focusing on Dracula coming to terms with moving on after his wife’s death 100 years ago.

The concise storytelling allows for us to really go on the journey with Dracula and connect with him. Much like the first film the emotional heart of this film is strong and powerful, it made me feel something. I also thought having Mavis (Selena Gomez), come to terms with her dad dating again, to get another perspective on the issue, was a touch of genius from a writing point of view as it brought it all together.

Overall, this film learns from the mistakes of the previous films and betters them in every way, creating a film with something meaningful to say that will hit you with the same emotional weight as a good Pixar film.

Pros

The focus on Dracula

The strong emotional connection/ message

Mavis and how they use here

Moving the character development to interesting and new places

Cons.

I wish we got more of Dracula and Jonathan, Samberg and Sandler have great on-screen chemistry

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Peanut Butter Falcon: The Next Champion Of The World

The Peanut Butter Falcon is an adventure film directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz. The plot follows Zak (Zack Gottsagen), a young boy with down syndrome who dreams of becoming a professional wrestler just like his hero. However, in order to do that he needs to escape from the old people’s home that he has been forced into and venture into the great unknown on a voyage of self-discovery.

This is one of the most touching films I have ever seen, I kid you not there were a good few time when I had a tear in my eye. This one will hit you right in the feels. I think part of what makes this film so easy to connect to is its characters. They’re unlikely heroes, in a more simplified sense underdog.

I think Gottsagen was great throughout, he was easily the most loveable character and you will want to see him become a wrestler so much. I also thought this fatherly connection with Shia LaBeoufs’ character of Tyler was also incredibly well done. The two make a great pair and are incredibly endearing together. This was the film that made me stand up and take notice of LaBeouf as a serious actor.

Overall, I think this is a very lovely film and is the sort of film we need right now when times seem so dark. It will have you smiling and cheering throughout. A must watch for sure.

Pros.

Gottsagen

LaBeouf

Johnson

The relationships between the 3

A small appearance by Yelawolf

Cons

None

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Love Witch: Finding Love The Witchy Way

The Love Witch is a horror comedy film directed by Anna Biller. The plot sees witch Elaine (Samantha Robinson), set out to find the man of her dreams, someone who will love her as much as she loves them as well as live up to her criteria of what makes a perfect man. Sadly, the American dating scene does not live up to her expectations.

So, this one was a mixed bag for me, I enjoyed the style of it, mimicking horrors of the 60’s and 70’s and applaud it for being as out there and strange as it ended up being. However, it is not without its problems some of which really harm the film overall and stop it from reaching good film placement.

One of my main issues was how repetitive the film became after a while. It was the same thing over and over again, Elaine meets a dude, she does a weird strip show for them, she slept with them and then she killed them and on and on the cycle goes. This quickly made the film tiresome, the only reprieve from this monotony was the final act which I actually enjoyed. It was by far the most out there part of the film and had heavy Wicker Man vibes.

My other key issue with the film was the nudity, I understand Elaine’s character is all about sex magic, but she spends most of the film in a state of undress. It gets to the point where you question the need for it, I am no prude or puritan, but it almost felt like this film was a softcore porn film at times. The nudity or half nakedness also became repetitive and boring after a while.

Overall, this film has a great sense of style and a very interesting premise, but the writing ruins the film. By being incredibly repetitive you lose any interest in the film or it’s characters and a strong third act can’t change that.

Pros.

The style and the visuals

Trying to be different

Cons.

The needless nudity and half nakedness

The repetitive story structure

Immense pacing issues

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Wreck-It Ralph: Win The Game

Wreck-It Ralph is an animated adventure comedy film directed by Rich Moore. A classic arcade game villain Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly), decides he wants to reform and be a good guy, when he realises that his fellow video game character won’t accept him unless he has a medal he sets out to win one.

As someone who has played video games all his life I appreciated the references and appearances in this film. I found them to be delightful and the nostalgia factor of them never really wore out.

I thought a lot of the emotional beats in this film had been done before and I wasn’t very impressed with the storytelling or the characters, that is until about 15 minutes from the end. As Ralph is about to self-sacrifice to save his friends a powerful wave of emotion hit me hard and I realised that I had been caring this whole time, I had formed attachments to these characters.

I think the message of the film about accepting yourself for who you are is really well done and is communicated in a good way. I think children need films like this as I could have a strong positive impact on their self-esteem.

Other than Ralph and his best friend Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), I thought a lot of the other characters were weak and I lose interest when they were on screen; they took away from the A storyline.

Overall, this is a film with a good heart and a message everyone can relate to, the writing is a little shoddy in places and the side characters aren’t great, but Wreck-It Ralph still manages to be moving in its own way.

Pros.

The message

The surprising emotional payoff

Ralph and Vanellope

Cons.

The terrible side characters

The writing wasn’t good across the board

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

I Give It A Year: Don’t Give This 5 Minutes

I Give It A Year is a British rom com directed by Dan Mazer. The plot sees a couple’s relationship become tested as their family and friends debate whether they can last.

Strap in this is another one I strongly disliked.

So call me old fashioned, but being in a couple isn’t the worst thing in the world? Maybe I am alone in this, if this film is to be believed I am. This film is constantly telling you how bad being in a relationship is, every minute, characters are often encouraging the leads to cheat and worse. Yeah it’s a real bad message all round.

This film is one of the most cynical pieces of trash I have ever watched. It seems to revel in ripping down each of its character joy and likes to punish its leads for even being in a relationship. It does this all through the medium of really poor jokes that are of highly questionable taste, I was under the belief that jokes are supposed to be funny. Clearly this film never got the memo.

All of the characters are the worst kind of people and are gratingly unlikable. The distinct lack of any kind of charm really makes this a hard watch, there were multiple times when I wanted to turn this off.

Overall, this film reads as someone who is bitter and resentful towards relationships so has created a film designed to mock them with such blinding cynicism that it is hard to watch. This one should be avoided at all costs.

Pros.

None

Cons.

The characters are awful

It mocks people for being in a relationship

The cynicism is unbearable

It is not funny

You want to turn it off after the first ten minutes

0/5

Reviewed by Luke