Tar: The Darkside Of Genius

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A venerated conductor, played by Cate Blanchett, has her life upturned when someone from her past commits suicide after accusing her on improper behaviour.

The trailers for this film made it look far more cerebral than it actually was, it looked far more liked a stylised concept whereas what this film actually turns out to be is fairly conventional in most regards.

I enjoyed that this film felt like a direct response to #metoo and cancel culture and asked questions that aren’t often thought about such as what happens after the accusations are made, how do these people continue on, how do they live with themselves for what they have done, what is the power of an accusation? Though the plot has been roughly done before, I thought that this film did bring some nuance to the conversation and reframe things.

As always Blanchett was terrific and completely chameleon esque, she sank fully into the role to such a point where you question whether this is a fiction film or a documentary and question the boundary between art and reality. Though I suppose that was the point.

My main issue with this film was that the runtime was far too long. Not only does this make the film feel far more inaccessible as it leads to pacing issues but it also feels incredibly self-indulgent, there could have been a fairly solid two hour film here, but they get far too cocky and decide to try and stretch it out, this leads to problems.

Overall, an interesting concept coupled with a great performance from Blanchett are met with an off putting runtime that leads to large pacing issues.

Pros.

Blanchett

The film’s take on #MeToo

The style

Cons.

The runtime

It feels a little too smug at times

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Enola Holmes 2: Back By Algorithm Demand

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Enola Holmes, played by Millie Bobby Brown, is back for an all new tedious mystery that you will immediately forget about the second the film ends.

So I will say that this film is watchable, and does have a few good moments. I liked the furthering of the romance between Enola and Lord Tewkesbury, played by Louis Partridge, and thought that it was very sweet and I also liked that Enola is now out on her own and is not still at the beck and call of her brothers.

However, I would say that is where the positives for this film end. Mainly my problem with this sequel is that it is totally unneeded, the mystery is far more dull than the first, you don’t care about it and it all just feels like Netflix were screaming for more of the same. Indeed most of the aspects that worked well in the first film, such as the fourth wall breaking, are turned up to the max here and in almost every case they are pushed too far and to a point wherein they become annoying.

Moreover, though Henry Cavill was a strong part of the first film, here he feels pretty aimless. Maybe that is the point, but they force in Moriarty Holmes’ famous nemesis to try and give him something to do and even that ends up boring. In many sense I feel like this film was forced into production before they had a good idea as to what they wanted the sequel to be and so a lot of it comes off as generic.

Finally, a lot of the commentary and messaging of this film is not as insightful or as fresh as it thinks it is, and instead ends up bring out the same old same old feminist lectures that have been done better before. It comes off as try hard and wannbe, if they are going to give the film a message lets at least have it be timely and fresh.

Overall, a fairly needless sequel.

Pros.

Enola is finally her own boss

It is watchable

A few entertaining moments

Cons.

It doesn’t justify its existence

The commentary is tame and tepid

It can’t find an interesting story to tell

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Guess Who’s Coming To Christmas: A PureFlix Cast Off

1/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A hard rocking singer, played by Drew Lachey, decides that what he actually needs to have a good Christmas is small town values and the love of Christ.

Is this a faith film? Was this in the PureFlix Christmas selection? Honestly, I have nothing against faith films but this was awful and had a terrible message. The daughter, played by MacKenzie Porter, doesn’t seem to have a will of her own in this film- it is either what the father wants for her or what the leading man wants. The two seem to treat the female lead as though she is a bag of rice to be controlled and bartered over and it’s quite off-putting. However, it does get worse as the wider faith elements that permeate almost all areas of this film just turn it into religious propaganda.

Lachey’s lead isn’t particularly likeable either as he goes from a sleaze to a patriarchal oppressor and that is supposed to be a good change for his character if you can believe it.

Honestly this film just feels like a PureFlix cast off.

Overall, a bad film with a message that becomes more and more off-putting the more you sit and think about it.

Pros.

It is short

Cons.

It feels like a PureFlix cast off

The message is awful

The lead isn’t likeable

The ending sours the whole film

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Christmas With You: A Sleazey Christmas Message

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A famous singer, played by Andi Garcia, decides to spend Christmas with a fan, played by Deja Monique Cruz, whose TikTok video she likes, and whilst she is there she also decides to hook up with the fan’s dad, played by Freddie Prinze Jr.

Honestly, I just thought this was fairly boring, it wasn’t so bad it was good nor was it redeemable or even enjoyable in any way. As I approached the two thirds mark I was checking to see how long was left which highlights how much of a slog this film is to get through, it is really just aggressively average.

The worst thing about this film is just how little chemistry the two leads have, there is a moment in the final few minutes of the film where they have their big first kiss of the film and it couldn’t be more cold if they were trying for it.

Moreover, there is inherently something a bit icky about a star coming to spent time with her teen fan and then hooking up with her dad and becoming her new stepmother. I don’t know it struck a weird and not wanted chord with me.

Overall, a deeply meh Christmas film that you can easily give a miss.

Pros.

It is watchable

It does have some unintentional humour

It is nice to see Freddie Prinze Jr back on screens again

Cons.

It is boring and a slog to watch

The premise is a bit icky

The leads have no chemistry at all

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Falling For Christmas: Lohan Is Back

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A hotel heiress, played by Lindsey Lohan, has her life turned upside down when she get short term amnesia and is nursed back to health at a ski lodge.

It is nice to see Lohan back, after being away for so long and dealing with so much, she definitely is the life and soul of this film making for a great female lead who is easy to warm to and whose evolution over the course of the film you can both feel and see on screen.

However, even she and her pretty good chemistry with her co-star Chord Overstreet, aren’t enough to save this film from all the hallmarks and cliches of these so bad there good Christmas films. Everything feels very formulaic and happens exactly as you would expect it when you would expect it to, there is no shock and nothing deviates from the trite script. This does takeaway from any potential stakes that the film might have as ultimately you know where this film is going at all times.

Another mark against this film comes from how long it spends talking about all the influencer stuff at the start of the film, it reads like a ninety year old talking about how the youth of today are and it is cringe as hell. Honestly the influencer character of Tad, played by George Young, makes the whole opening ten minutes of this film borderline unwatchable.

Overall, Lohan tries her best but the formulaic nature of this film holds it back.

Pros.

Lohan

The chemistry

Quite a few sweet moments

Cons.

Tad and all the influencer stuff

It is incredibly generic and formulaic

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50/50: Laughter In The Face Of Tough Questions

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Adam Lerner, played by Joseph Gordan Levitt, finds out he has cancer and that his odds aren’t good.

I thought this film was one of the most genuine and touching that I have watched in a while. It made me cry at several points as I think the beauty of the film really is quite powerful to behold, not only does the film deal with heavy themes but it does so through a lens of optimism and to a degree happiness. I found this to be a really lovely film in many ways.

In terms of performances Levitt proves once again just how great he is here, his character goes on a real journey and in the end when his character is finally free of cancer it is a real fist in the air sort of moment. The film earns that. Seth Rogen is also unusually good here in a more paired down dramatic role, though some of his usual schtick does come through here and there. I think Rogen can be a really charming and talented dramatic actor given the right roles.

The comedy drama mix of the film is fairly mixed, I would say it leans more towards the latter than the former although there are a few funny moments here and there that actually did make me laugh.

Overall, a strong film that everyone should see.

Pros.

It is funny

It is sweet

It takes you on an incredibly nuanced ride

It isn’t afraid to ask and tackle tough questions and topics

Levitt

Cons.

A few minor pacing issues

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The Holiday Calendar

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A psychic advent calendar helps a young woman, played by Kat Graham, to see her future.

I will admit this film’s premise has some goofy appeal, a psychic advent calendar at least feels fresh, I haven’t seen one of them in a Christmas film before, however this freshness is quickly undone as the calendar is merely used as a means to an end to enter into the usual holiday rom-com cliches.

Indeed it seems I hoped for too much with this film as it quickly becomes generic. All of the rom-com cliches and tropes are dusted off and forced out on stage for good measure, the love triangle feels incredibly obvious in where it is leading and there are no stakes at all in the whole thing as we all know how it is going to end.

The acting is all fairly sub-par and for Graham who I know can act because she was okay on The Vampire Diaries this is clearly her slumming it for an easy paycheck.

Overall, even the whacky premise can’t save this film from becoming a bag of cliches and tropes.

Pros.

The goofy premise

It is watchable

Cons.

The pacing

It is generic

It is nothing you haven’t already seen before

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Black Panther Wakanda Forever: The King Is Dead And The Seat Is Empty

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Wakanda copes with the death of its King.

In many senses this is a depressing film, it doesn’t just address the real world passing of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman this film lives it and throughout the film Boseman’s death is never too far away, we are given many reminders of it.

However, I did enjoy for the most part that this film has a serious tone, too many of Marvel’s Phase 4 projects have really leant hard on the humour and it has hurt them. This for the most part plays everything very seriously and that is good and helps the film to feel impactful and maintain stakes. Although, an issue to this is the inclusion of Riri Williams, played by Dominque Thorne, who for the most part is annoying and forces in a lot of corny jokes where they just aren’t needed. Moreover, Williams is never specifically said to be the Iron Man replacement of the MCU but it feels like she is being pushed that way, and boy does she feel like a off brand version of the character.

I really liked that this film finally introduced Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta Mejia, into the MCU I think he is easily the best thing about this film and certainly is a scene stealer. A lot of the underwater scenes with him and his people are really cool and interesting and for the most part the effects hold. However, the CGI does prove to be glaringly bad on a few occasions which is quite poor when you think about how much money was pumped into this film.

The cast for the most part are a mixed bag Danai Gurira and Angela Basset give stirring performances and are very deserving of praise, but Winston Duke is mostly passed over and ignored and Letitia Wright is noticeably bad and clearly finds it hard to emote as throughout Shuri’s ride in this film her face barely changes scene to scene be it happy, angry or sad. Another thing that bugged me about Shuri in this film is that all of a sudden she can fight and it makes no sense, she becomes Black Panther and then whoops Namor despite being tactical support in the last film and for the early parts of this one. Where did this sudden training come from? It would have taken one line to have tied this off and not have it be an issue, but no, to me it reeks of the writers thinking that the audiences are too dumb to pick up on it. Another dumb plot whole is why does Wakanda not just tell the world about Namor and his people and how they are responsible for all the attacks rather than taking the blame themselves? It makes no sense and the film does not address it.

Overall, slightly worse than the first film but it does introduce Namor to the MCU so that’s pretty cool.

Pros.

Namor

The mature tone

The ending

Cons.

Riri is annoying and breaks a lot of the tension with dumb jokes

Wright can’t act and Shuri develops all these fighting skills out of nowhere

The poor CGI and plot holes

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Living: Make The Most Out Of Every Second

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An office worker, played by Bill Nighy, discovers he only has a few months to live and sets out to live his life to the fullest during his remaining days.

I will preface this review by saying that this is not an easy film to watch on multiple levels, it is both depressing and also at times extremely cringey, especially when the overly formal period characters can’t express themselves at all, but that is all part of it and part of what makes this film so good.

This film truly feels like a British film, by that I mean if it were an American film especially one made by a Hollywood studio then it would have been overly sentimental and sickly sweet, this wasn’t that. The things left unsaid because the character physically couldn’t say them and the bittersweet enjoyment to the man’s final months feels raw and authentic and in that the film presents us with real truth. In that regard I found the ending of the film particularly powerful.

The performances across the board were strong but of course both Bill Nighy and Aimee Lou Wood deserve to be singled out for extra praise. Nighy conveys a lot whilst saying very little and really puts his character through an emotional ringer over the course of the film. Whilst Wood manages a real warmth and plays of Nighy well, they make for a strong on-screen pair.

Overall, not an easy watch, but an enriching one.

Pros.

Nighy

Wood

The emotional nuance

The ending

Cons.

Pacing issues

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We Wish You A Married Christmas: Cute Alpacas To The Rescue

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A married couple check in to a B and B over the Christmas period in order to try and fix their marriage.

Really the main selling point for me of this film is the Alpacas, I really like Llamas and Alpacas and seeing one on the poster for this film is what made me want to check it out. For the most part the Alpacas aren’t really featured but when they are it is the best moments of the film.

Really everything else about this film is deeply generic and makes the film hard to watch. It is a slog to get through and the central couple have no chemistry at all and instead feel throughout the film, even in the end when they are supposed to be happy with each other again, as though they hate each other.

The pacing is also really incredibly bad, and the film feels like it is on for double or even triple its runtime.

Overall, some cute Alpacas aren’t enough to keep you watching throughout this film, as boring as it gets for bad Christmas films.

Pros.

The Alpacas

It is unintentionally funny

Cons.

It is tedious to sit through

It is deeply generic

The romantic leads have no chemistry at all

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