Father Of The Bride: Complaining About Having Money

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I have heard a lot of people talk about this film over the years, it has achieved ‘classic’ status in some people’s eyes. However, I am not one of them.

Firstly, I did not find it funny to hear Steve Martin’s character complain about money when he is clearly very well off, not only that but we the audience are expected to feel sorry for him when his future son in law’s parents have more money than him. The privilege is staggering. For many of us owning a house like the one Martin’s character has would be a proud moment in our lives, something we dream towards, however here it is a source of shame…

Despite being a Steve Martin fan, I thought the comedy here was a little flat; comedy is subjective of course. I found myself laughing a few times, but more often than not the jokes didn’t land. I thought the whole bit about Martin Short’s character having a hard to understand accent was particularly unfunny and I was left waiting for some hidden moment of comedic brilliance when I would finally ‘get it’ yet that never came.

Overall, as far as romantic comedies go it is passable, it lacks both the heart and soul of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the family comedy of Meet The Parents, but it will do in a pinch.

Pros.

A few funny jokes

Marin

Cons.

A lot of the jokes don’t work

The clear privilege and the out of touch nature

The ending

If you enjoyed this review, then please head over to my Patreon to support me, I offer personalized shoutouts, one on one Q and As, the ability for you to pick what I review next and full access to my Patreon exclusive game reviews. Check it out!

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Blackstock Boneyard: Back To Bore You To Death

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Though this film is good enough horror shlock, there is not enough to it to make it compelling or anywhere near above average.

I will admit I often found this film to be funny, though more often than not in an unintentional way on the part of the film. There were parts of the film that almost played like a comedy, everything was so laughably over the top, though I did like that about the film.

I enjoyed the B movie charm of this film and thought the dumb spectacle was very entertaining. Sadly, the characters were very milk toast and failed to inspire any kind of reaction in me; other than one of boredom.

Moreover, the film suffered from pacing issues throughout with the film feeling about double its actual length. There were times when the film entirely lost me, and I found it very hard to keep paying attention to it.

Overall, entertaining enough, but not without deep issues that bog it down.

Pros.

The spectacle

It is dumb fun

Cons.

The acting

The pacing

Frequent excursions into boring

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Ribbon: Fighting In The Corporate Machine

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This film holds a mirror up to the ugly twisted face of corporate America, whilst also asking us if we weren’t already familiar with it. This film manages to do social commentary in such a special way, where it feels entirely organic to the story and the world of the film, yet it is also cutting, to the point and often times shocking as well; even when done in a comedic way.

Socio-political points aside, this film is at heart a comedy and in that regard it also succeeds. As I write in many of my reviews judging comedy films can be hard as what I find funny you may not: it is hard to find an objective good when it comes to this type of film. That said I found this film to be hilarious, it made me laugh multiple times throughout and when I wasn’t I was smiling.

This was in no small part due to the characters, who you do become deeply emotionally invested in by the end of the film. All of the characters in this film are written in such a way that they feel deeply human and personable: this is so much the case that it is very hard to not end up caring about them. They are incredibly well written.

Overall, this film is a triumph, a few scenes had a bit of bloat to them but that aside- near perfect.

Pros.

The social commentary

The humour

The characters and how they come across

The ending

The style of the film

Cons.

A little bloated in places

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Ebola Rex: Does What It Says On The Tin

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This film will never win any awards, it will never be lauded, but it will entertain you for a little over an hour and provide you with some good, switch your brain off, trashy, fun.

The characters are all paper thin, but again you aren’t really watching this film for nuance or for rich meaningful character arcs, you are watching it to see a T-Rex with a deadly disease destroy things and just generally be a pain. In that regard there is plenty of b movie esque destruction and carnage, enough to easily pad the film out.

The pacing of the film generally works. I found that the film was starting to run out of steam by the end, and had it been any longer it would almost certainly have suffered from pacing issues, but as it stands it feels well balanced.

I think how much you enjoy this film will come down to how much you enjoy B movie monster films.

Overall, fun but nothing to write home about.

Pros.

Mindless fun destruction

B movie charm

Well-paced

Cons.

Paper thin characters

The gimmick gets old fast.

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Plan B: ‘Save Your Car For Your Husband’

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

On the surface the similarities between Plan B and the HBO Max exclusive Unpregnant are hard to ignore. Both feature young women seeking out a way to get rid of their unwanted pregnancy, which takes the form of a cross country road trip with their best friend, both differently cover a lot of the same ground, however, both are unique, and both are good in their own right.

Plan B steers away from some of the more social conscious, politics heavy areas of Unpregnant and focuses more on the leading pair coming of age and what that means for girls in this day and age. That is not to say there aren’t some heavier moments peppered in, there are, but widely this film is more comedy focused.

I found this film to be quite funny, it made me laugh out loud on a good few occasions and had me chuckling throughout. I thought both the leads had moments to shine in this department and were well balanced, avoiding a one’s funny one’s trying too hard style situation.

Overall, a strong comedy film about coming of age and female friendship, only spoilt by a few slight pacing issues.

Pros.

The humour

The leads

It feels real and lived

You care about the characters by the end

Cons.

The pacing

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

The Conjuring, The Devil Made Me Do It: Always Remember Your Heart Pills

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I am very mixed on this film. It is different from the other two Conjuring films, but that is both a good thing and a bad thing.

As a good thing it is nice to see the film focus on one case that is very self-contained and does not feel like it is setting up a few hundred tie in sequels, prequels and spin offs. I thought the story itself was interesting and told well.

However, my issue with this film comes from its stakes. So the previous films have had the Warren’s square off against demons, sometimes a few at the same time, however here they are facing a far more human threat. The villain of this film is an evil Satanist because we still need to add to the fears of the Satanic Panic, years after it was all the rage. Whilst this could have been a cool idea it does feel quite anti-climatic and like a step back after what we have already had.

Moreover, I feel like this film is really stretching the ‘based on a true story’ concept, as yes technically it is but if you read up on the real life events you will quickly see just how loose that is.

I enjoyed Farmiga and Wilson as always and I thought John Noble was a nice addition to the cast: the acting in the film is definitely a high point.

My question really is where do they do with the series from here? They are quickly running out of stories from the Warren well, and the ‘based on a true story’ narrative is also starting to wear thin. They need to fast track some of those spin offs to fill the void, cough, cough Crooked Man.

Overall, still good, just a bit underwhelming.

Pros.

Wilson

Farmiga

Nobel

Cons.

The villain feels like a step back
It feels very final I don’t know how they will be able to continue it

The based on a true story line is starting to become a lie

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

A Quiet Place 2: Much Like The Walking Dead This Post Apocalypse Feels Repetitive

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

There was a lot of hype and excitement going into this film for me, many had said it was the film that was going to save cinemas, or that it was an experience unlike any other. As such I went in with high expectations hoping for the perfect sequel I had been promised, and honestly I was left disappointed.

If I had to describe this film to someone in a sentence I would say, ‘more of the same’, really there is nothing new here it is the same gimmick from the first film just done again. This time around they do explore the world a bit more, or at least that small part of it, and we get new situations that result in noise and monsters; the issue is these situations feel very similar to what we have already seen.

From a story perspective this film does not really push the needle for me, the big ending of this film feels like an afterthought of the first films ending and the whole journey there feels anticlimactic. A lot of things are shown and not explained, for no reason other than padding out the plot.

Finally, and on a positive note, I did enjoy the newcomer of Cillian Murphy I thought he fulfilled the surrogate father role rather well, and his was easily the most interesting arc across the film; I only wish we had more time with him.

Overall, this is nothing new if you liked the first film you will like this. I would not say this is the film to rush out and see in cinemas if you haven’t already been back as honestly I don’t think seeing it in that format, as opposed to watching it at home, adds all that much.

Pros.

Murphy

Blunt

Giving the kids more to do

Cons.

The padding

The ending is a retread

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Peter Rabbit 2: Comments On Current Capitalistic Shortcoming By An Emo Rabbit, Featuring Product Placement

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

This is an odd film both knowingly self-aware and also surprisingly reflective. Yes, it also has James Corden as a talking rabbit that wretches for a few minutes for a gag, pros and cons.

Something I want to point out about this film and many others referencing something as being bad and then doing it anyway does not make the film clever or meta if anything it makes the choice worse. This film does this by saying how bad it would be if the Peter Rabbit books were turned into American films and lost their way, they even look at the camera: they are simply stating a fact that in and off itself is not funny.

That said I did find this film surprisingly funny, both internationally and unintentionally. The Rooster and his deep thoughts about life remain the highlight of course, but I also found Domhnall Gleeson to be quite amusing this time around.

The story does feel a bit long in the tooth but has a nice message that manages to create happy feels by the end. Peter’s journey throughout the film does feel impactful and as there is growth there which is nice to see: Corden does his best to make the character off putting and irritating, but the film manages to prevail in spite of him.

I feel like this film was a step up from the first film and I wouldn’t be all that opposed to seeing a third film in the franchise.

Overall, a pleasant enough watch.

Pros.

The humour

The character growth

Domhnall Gleeson

Cons.

James Corden

The attempts at meta commentary

If you enjoyed this review, then please head over to my Patreon to support me. I offer personalized shoutouts, one on one Q and As, the ability for you to pick what I review next and full access to my Patreon exclusive game reviews. Check it out!

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

The Waterman: As Dry As The Deseret

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

I feel like this film views itself as whimsical, and as using the fantasy nature of its story to actually tackle hard hitting issues but in a wonderous way; however, to me it just seems hollow. I find a good comparison for this film would be to A Monster Calls, they are similar in many ways with the key different here being that The Water Man has no soul.

This is a shame as the film desperately tries to create one, playing up the emotional impact of a lot of scenes to try and further the effect of fairly weak writing. In the end the film feels overly sentimental rather than impactful, with it entirely not understanding how to connect with audiences.

The one thing I will give this film props for however is the acting. I thought Rosario Dawson, and David Oyelowo were both strong and the child lead was bearable, which is saying a lot for a child actor.

Overall, you can see what this film was trying to do, but it just doesn’t seem to understand how to play with an audience’s heart strings creating in the end a film that feels both soulless and hollow, whilst also feeling overly sentimental.

Pros.

The acting

The fantasy elements are interesting

Cons.

The emotions are all wrong

A lot of the fantasy stuff is underdeveloped

The pacing

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

Seance: A Boarding School For Mature Students

2.5/5

I have been very impressed by the prior work of Simon Barrett, he was involved in the creation of two of my favourite films of all time The Guest and You’re Next; however, in both cases he also had Adam Wingard as backup. Here Barrett is on his own, with this being his directional debut and it becomes clear very early on just how much Barrett needs his fellow mumblecore pioneers like Wingard, as this film begins to fall apart.

So before getting into all the reasons the film doesn’t work I want to give it praise for what it does well. The twist, that I won’t spoil here, that comes in towards the end of the film is actually surprising and I didn’t see it coming, it flips the film on its head which makes it infinitely more interesting.

The issues with this film mainly come from how cliché a lot of it is, all the teen angst/ mean girls stuff is incredibly played out from the beginning; and it is more than a little weird that all these ‘teen girls’ at this boarding school are actually late twenty/ early thirty year olds in real life- it makes the film somewhat unbelievable.

Furthermore, I did not find this film scary. The supernatural element feels again familiar and poses nothing new for genre fans or even those who watch more than one horror film a year: I found the scare set ups to be incredibly obvious as well.

Overall, very generic and mediocre.

Pros.

The twist

It is relatively well paced

Cons.

The supernatural element

The scares

The mean girls story cliches

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer