Grown Ups: Hanging With The Boys

Grown Ups is a comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan. The plot follows five childhood best friends who reunite after the death of their high school sports coach.

So, yes I know this is a trash comedy, but hey I am a big Adam Sandler fan; if you can’t tell. This is one of the few Sandler flicks that I haven’t seen; so I decided to right that wrong.

I have to say even though I feign a mature persona, there is nothing I like more than a few good poo jokes: I think a lot of people feel the same way.

The humour in this film works for me, it made me laugh several times throughout. I found the free style back and forth comedy to work a lot better than the slapstick, if anything I thought this film relied on the slapstick a bit too much and it often did nothing for me.

My issue with this film is the way it treats the characters that aren’t Sandler and his friends, the jokes to these characters are usually quite mean spirited and in poor taste. However, what really sticks out is the way the film treats women. To say is objectifies them is an understatement. Yes, you can make an argument for the wife doing the same thing to other men, but that is always handled as a joke, when Sandler and co do it, it is creepy and pervy. There is a long sequence of Sandler and co checking out a girl’s arse and it goes on for way to long and soon becomes uncomfortable.

Overall, if you like Sandler and his pals you will probably like this, the humour often worked for me, but it is subjective. The film certainly ages very poorly and feels out of place in the era of Me Too.

Pros.

The humour

It feels like hanging out with your friends

Very easy to watch

Cons.

The slapstick doesn’t work

Some of the jokes feel creepy and predatory

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Geostorm: The Government Controls The Weather, No Really

Geostorm is an action film directed by Dean Devlin. The plot sees rogue weather patterns start springing up all over the planet after a space station that is supposed to control the weather goes faulty. A conspiracy is at hand and there is only one man for the job.
So, I put this on the other night because I was looking for some fun mindless action that I could tune out to. There are plenty of films that fit this bill and sometimes, silly action movies can provide some entertainment, look at the success of the Furious series for proof of that, but this is not a good ride, nor is it silly, it is simply boring.

The key issue with this film is despite the premise being ridiculous it takes itself far too seriously. This film tries to be dramatic and serious and fails spectacularly, it needs the fun that it denies itself.

The odd thing is, there are moments of light comedy relief scattered here and there within the film, but because the film has committed to this very serious tone, they just feel out of place.

I am not going to harp on about how dumb this film is because anyone considering watching it already knows. What I will say is watching this has made me miss the days of smart action films, smart blockbuster when things didn’t feel dumbed down.

Overall, this film is bad because it doesn’t embrace the silliness that is innate to the premise.

Pros.

The premise is good

Cons.

They then utterly waste said premise

It is no fun

It is too dumb

The acting is non existent

It is dull.

0.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Children Of Men: The Future Looks Bleak

Children Of Men is a science fiction drama film directed by Alfonso Cuaron. The plot imagines a dystopian world where children have not been born for 18 years and most of the world’s countries have been wiped out. We follow Theo (Clive Owen), a man who finds himself drawn on to a path that sees him protecting the first pregnant woman since the world went to hell.

This film is superb, I have been meaning to watch it for some time and I am glad I did.

The world feels so lived in and real, despite there only being sparse hints as to what happened in it. I would love to see more films and additional material exploring this world. The eerie thing about this film is that it is not a million miles removed from where the world is heading now and that’s frightening.

Clive Owen is a strong leading man, he is often underrated and is rarely talked about in good or even great actor conversations, but he is always consistent and reliable. I buy that his character used to be part of the rebellion, he has the ex-solider vibe down to a tee. Furthermore, it is a treat to see Owen interact with the other veteran actors on screen like Michael Cain and Julianne Moore, with both of these Owen has convincing chemistry.

The best thing about the film is how tense it is, there is not even a single minute to breath and you’re constantly on guard watching it as you never know when things are going to turn. A ‘thrill ride’ might be an overused term, but it applies here.

Overall, a great piece of dystopian fiction.

Pros.

Owen

Reminder of reality

The tension

The action, but also the drama.

Cons.

It has a very pacing issues here and there, though they’re only minor and it is perfect for the most part.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Missing Link: Modern Myth

Missing Link is an animated film directed by Chris Butler. The plot follows explorer Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman), as he sets out to find Big Foot (Zack Galifianakis). Once the two meet Lionel realises that Big Foot or Mr. Link as he goes by is different entirely from how he would have guessed and agrees to help him find more of his own kind in the Himalayas.

I think this is underrated when it comes to Laika Animation, a lot of people get caught up with ParaNorman, Coraline, and Kubo and yes, this might not have the same level of heart of imagination as some of them, but it still has a lot of merit all its own.

The animation is beautiful, it is very refreshing to see a stop motion animation film and that definitely helps it to standout. Moreover, when they arrive at Shangri La and meet the Yeti’s the creature design is simply exquisite.

The voice cast are all giving it their best Galifianakis is the standout for sure and makes the naïve Mr Link quite endearing. Jackman also brings a lot of emotion to his role and we see Lionel go from a rouge to a somewhat good person; though that personality change is incredibly predictable. Emma Thompson as the leader of the Yeti’s Dora is by far the scene stealer of the film.

Overall, a nice wholesome family friendly gem that might have slipped off your radar. It is not Laika Animations’ best, but it is still fun to watch.

Pros.

The creature design particularly the Yeti’s

The voice cast

A nice wholesome adventure

Sets up an interesting world

Cons.

It doesn’t have much charm and loses you a bit as it goes on

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Behind The Candelabra: Leaving Liberace

Behind The Candelabra is a biographic drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh. The plot covers the last years of Liberace’s (Michael Douglas) life and his highly troublesome romance with Scott Thorson (Matt Damon).

So, my takeaway from this film was ‘damn wasn’t Liberace a bad guy’.

As far as biopics go this was incredibly well done, it was very engaging, and the train wreck worth of drama made it very hard to look away even for a second. I applaud it forgiving us a look at Liberace the person in a very enclosed time period rather than just giving a brief overview of his career. I also applaud it for showing the good and the bad, something modern biopics have struggled to do, thought I probably does help that the subject is dead and that his friends didn’t have huge involvement with the project.

Douglas and Damon both gave terrific performances and drifted into their characters; they were entirely convincing.

My one issue with this film is that it has a tendency to verge on melodrama. There are multiple scenes in this film that would not be amiss in a reality tv show, and yes, I understand that Liberace was a very larger than life type of figure, but it became a bit much at times.

Overall, this was captivating and held my attention well for the almost two hours’ worth of runtime.

Pros.

Showing the good and the bad

A shorter focus

Great performances and cameos

Hard to look away

Cons.

A bit too much like reality tv at times

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

Moonwalkers: Faking The Moon Landing

Moonwalkers is a comedy film directed by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet. The plot follows CIA agent Kidman (Ron Pearlman), as he travels to London to get acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Kubrick to fake the moon landing for the American government. However, rather than meet the actual Kubrick Kidman meets two local losers.

This film was one of the best I have seen recently, it was charming, endearing and the action scenes worked surprisingly well and didn’t ruin the tone of the film.

The drug trip look this film goes for works really well and captures the decade of the 60’s really well. It also compliments nicely the plot of the film that is in and of itself more than a bit ridiculous. I for one really enjoyed the absurdness of this film and I think it made standout.

Kidman is perfectly cast as a vet who doesn’t fit in with the world around him. As are Rupert Grint and Robert Sheehan (the two con artists that Kidman falls in with), who perfectly capture the loveable loser angle. Sheehan really gives it his all and gives a very spacey and far out performance that shows why he is one of the best Irish actors currently working.

Overall, this is a hidden gem and definitely worth your time.

Pros.

Perfectly cast

The plot and the setting reflect each other superbly

Great performances

A fun out there premise

Good action scenes

Cons.

It has a few minor pacing issues

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Emoji Movie

The Emoji Movie is an animated film directed by Tony Leondis. The plot follows the lives of several different emojis on a teenager’s phone as they face deletion.

So, right off the bat I just want to say I can’t stand T.J Miller he is an awful person and has done several disgusting things, look it up, so him being cast as the lead was never going to win any points with me. To be fair he is not the worse thing about this film, he is serviceable as a lead, but he is also incredibly forgettable.

The issue with this film, the critical problem, is the fact it was written and made by a group of people who clearly aren’t young themselves and have no idea how the teens of today actually are. It reads as an incredibly out of touch move, a hello fellow kids sort of thing. The dialogue in the film itself can’t help but feel incredibly dated, when the characters use happening slang of the time it just makes you cringe.

The other issue with this film is that it was clearly a reactionary move to The Lego Movie. The executives can delay it all they like, but the parallels are striking. The difference between the two however, is that the Lego Movie is a good film and that Lego itself is timeless and has been around for years, whereas emojis are a very new thing and don’t have near the same level of fondness.

Overall, not as bad as you have heard, but still not worth your time.

Pros.

It is watchable

Cons.

It is cringe

It is a clear rip-off of The Lego Movie

T.J Miller

It has no soul or charm

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Cats: Eye Bleach

Cats is a musical drama film directed by Tom Hopper. The film is a big screen adaption of the famous theatrical musical of the same name.

So, yes I watched this to see if it was as bad as everyone said and yes, I can confirm for you all it is trash. Copies of this film should be burnt and we as a species would be better if we could erase it from our collective memory. Here’s how I got there.

Right from the off, the design and look of the Cats themselves is off putting, they’re too humanoid and also weirdly sexual. I don’t know if Furriers where the secret target demographic for this film, but it is weird, the casts are often shaking what would be their human sexual organs and yeah, its uncomfortable.

Secondly there is no real plot, from the opening moments of the film we are bombarded with songs telling us about what cats are and what their world is, but they don’t really explain anything, and you have no idea what is going on. There is also a song very early on in the film that takes place in a graveyard and I personally found something very disconcerting about this one, like it made me panicky and troubled and I can’t really tell you why.

I understand that it is a musical, but the constant songs get to be a bit much, there are other musicals that have actual lines of dialogue in-between their songs, but this is not one of those films. The acting is blatantly not there, most of the actors seem to either be there for an easy pay day or because they were forced into it (at least that is how they appear when they are on-screen as they clearly don’t want to be there).

Overall, this is as bad if not worse than you have heard.

Pros.

It is bizarre.

Cons.

The furriness of it

The design of the Cats themselves

The lack of a basic plot

The repetitive non-sensical songs

The terrible performances.

0/5

Reviewed by Luke

Greyhound: Yet Another Tom Hanks WW2 Movie

Greyhound is a war film directed by Aaron Schneider. The plot follows an inexperienced Naval Captain, Captain Krause (Tom Hanks), as he attempts to lead an Allied convey across the North Atlantic while being hunted by a pack of German U-Boats.

I will admit, this film has its moments and I can see what it was trying to do, but it falls short of being a good movie for me because of the incredibly, shockingly so for a big budget movie, bad CGI. The film is admirable for trying the way it does, but it just can’t escape the poor effects.

So, this film is set at sea, yet clearly not shot at sea. So therefore the water is CGI, this could be done in such a way as to be believable, other films have done it well enough before. In stark contrast to that the water effects in this film look like something out of a video game from about 15 years ago. They are so unrelentingly bad that they take you out of the film and become all you can see.

That said, the film outside of these poor effects is quite good. The tense hunting sequence where it looks for quite a while like Krause and his fellow seamen are going to die is well executed and captures your interest without having to try. My particular favourite scenes of the film are when the U-Boat commander calls Krause to taunt him, it reminds me of something from Silence Of The Lambs.

Hanks as Krause is fine, he is serviceable, but his character does not have much of a personality, the same can be said of the rest of the cast who are basically just set dressing. This is a shame as the film wastes the talents of the phenomenally talented Stephen Graham.

Pros.

Tense

It has you on the edge of your seat.

Hanks is serviceable

Cons.

It wastes most of the cast including Stephen Graham

The utterly horrific CGI

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Relic: The Devil You Know

Relic is an Australian horror film directed by Natalie Erika James. The plot sees a mother and daughter go and stay with their elderly relative after she goes missing for a few days, things quickly start to take a turn for the sinister and things are shown to be much more than they first appeared.

The first hour and twenty minutes of this film are great, they are tense, scary and ominous. The film brings you into this world and much like The Taking Of Deborah Logan you’re questioning whether what you see is the result of mental illness or something more. Then in the last few minutes the characters make a decision, said decision feels out of place, incredibly so.

Basically, the characters decide to stay, which in the circumstance would be the last thing they would do. The explanation we are given as to why they do this is some vague throw away reference from the start of the film. This one line in the beginning does not set this up, it feels forgotten about by this time in the film, if it was so important they could have at least said it again later on.

That said the first hour and twenty minutes do feel scary and if they alone were what I was judging I would give it a perfect score; however they are not, and the ending does ruin the film overall.

Ultimately, this could have been a great horror film if it was not for the ending that doesn’t work.

Pros.

The performances

The scares

You don’t know what is real

The tension

Cons.

The awful ending

3.5/5