Tag: Comedy

Zombieland 2: Sometimes Dead is Better

Zombieland 2, is the belated sequel to the cult classic horror-comedy of 2009. The film, much like the first follows our group of unlikely loveable survivors as they try and stay alive in the zombie apocalypse. Double Tap, a reference to one of Columbus’, (Jessie Eisenberg), rules for surviving Zombieland from the first film, takes place ten years after the end of the original. The plot revolves around Tallahassee, (Woody Harelson), Columbus and Wichita, (Emma Stone), as they try and find Little Rock, (Abigail Breslin) after she departs the group and tries to find herself and a cute guy; so she can have the idyllic family life.

If that message seems odd to you, it’s one of many. This film feels like it was made ten years ago, a lot of the jokes feel dated and in poor taste. I’m not saying every movie has to be PC and can’t say what they want to say; I’m just saying some of the messages in this film are troublesome.

The character of Madison, (Zoey Deutch), encapsulates this precisely, she is a new character to this film, and she first runs into the characters when she meets Tallahassee and Columbus in a mall. She then sleeps with Columbus despite him seemingly loving Wichita, who at this point in the film has run off for a month because the prospect of marriage scared her, but like many of the characters joke in the movie, he moves on really quickly and not only does his undercut the love between him and Wichita, but it also serves to assassinate his character. Which makes the final moments of the film feel cheap and unbelievable.

Furthermore, Madison is the embodiment of everything that is wrong with this sequel; the original main characters almost feel pushed to the side, just to focus on the film’s new characters who are all boring and underdeveloped. In addition to this, most of the new characters are only included to allow these tiresome recurring jokes. An example of this is Madison herself; her main character trait is that she is dumb, a bimbo, you’ll be damned to forget that in this film as there is a joke about her lack of intelligence every five seconds, something this film doesn’t seem to understand is that repetition doesn’t make a joke funny.

What’s more, as you have probably seen in those woeful trailers, there is a prolonged scene in which new survivors show up, who are basically copies of Columbus and Tallahassee and they can’t see it. Isn’t that funny? These characters are only included for that joke, and the film drags it out and drags it out, and it’s just not funny. We could have had more scenes that added to the story of our four main characters but, no we need this ten-minute unfunny joke.

I wish I could say that this was just a sequel that didn’t need to be made, but it is far far worse than that. This film tarnishes the original by making characters do things they wouldn’t do, just to set up a cliched boring narrative. This film spits in the face of the original and looks smug about it. Harrelson is the only person who looks like he wants to be there; he is the one saving grace. Double Tap has a joke about women Suffrage just casually thrown in, and it feels so out of place and out of touch. This film should have either come out ten years ago or, just not at all.

Sometimes dead is better.

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Abominable: Dreamworks most surprising Gem

Abominable is an animated film from Dreamworks, about a young girl Yi, voiced by Chloe Bennet, who has shut herself off from the world after the death of her father. That all changes when an escaped Yeti takes refuge on the roof of her building. As she embarks on a mission to help him get home to Mount Everest, the Yeti helps her through her grief and reminds her of what a beautiful place the world can be.

I had low expectations going in, and I hadn’t heard much about the film, what I had heard was suggesting it was going to be incredibly average. However, I can honestly say after seeing the film that it’s a delight. Abominable is greatly influenced by Dreamworks other heavy hitters, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragons. Though their respective influences are clear, I think this film rises to the same level as these two greats, if it doesn’t surpass them.

The central theme of the film is grief, and what this film does better than something like Coco, the emotion does not feel artificial or forced, but rather incredibly raw and genuine. So much so that you can relate to Yi’s level of grief and empathise, imagining the level of pain you would feel if you were in that situation.

Everest, the Yeti, doesn’t have much to say or do, apart from wanting to get home to the mountain of the same name, but he takes the traditional role of making all the kids realise who they are. Though this role is incredibly cliche, here it can’t help but make you smile as the dynamic between the kids and Everest is precious.

The one area this film falls down in is its’ villains. Said antagonist is Dr Zara, who the film first reveals to us as a sympathetic character who wants to study and protect this majestic creature. However, as we should all know because she has a British accent, she must be evil, and sure enough midway through the film this turns out to be the case. Her motivations are quite lacklustre wanting to capture the creature so she can sell it, and though Sarah Paulson is drafted in to voice her, she is given precious little to sink her teeth into. Something the film does well in the antagonist department is show how the character Burnish, who is presented as a nasty man who wants to recapture the Yeti to prove himself right, has a change of heart and realise that Everest needs to be protected. This shows how even the villains of the film can be redeemed. The main characters show elements of this as well, as they develop to become better people.

The world the film creates is beautiful and expansive, with a robust lived-in feel to it. Every destination the kids go to in their quest to get Everest home feels like it has a thousand stories to tell; leaving them aptly for a sequel.

Overall Abominable blew my expectations away and was one of the most charming, heartwarming animated films I’ve seen in a long time. Chloe Bennet deserves praise for her role as Yi, and the film as a whole deserves recognition for its positive messages about grief and coping with it, and the importance of family and being yourself. Abominable is a film I can’t recommend enough.

4/5
Reviewed by Luke

The Cornetto That Saved British Cinema

British Cinema has been around since 1888, British Horror nearly as long. For years Hammer Horror was the driving force in national terror, with the likes of the Christopher Lee starring Dracula films being international classics. However, as they reached the end of the 20th century, their influence began to wain. British Cinema as a whole began to diminish, yet there was still lifeblood in the old industry, and we got British Rave Culture Cinema with the likes of Danny Boyle leading the way.

However, internationally British Cinema and British horror wasn’t what it had been, becoming a series of tired, repetitive cliches. Then came along one man who would be instrumental in raising both aspects of British film to what they had been in the golden years; that man was Edgar Wright.

Wright began out directing the cult British sitcom Spaced, the show that would launch the career of his long-time collaborator, Simon Pegg. From there Wright would go on to head the Cornetto Trilogy, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End, three solidly good films.

With Shaun of the Dead, Wright resurrected British Horror and brought it back into the mainstream consciousness. British Horror had endured the end of Hammer and had kept going, but had become far more niche than it used to be; Shaun of the Dead changed all that. What is on its surface a silly film about a group of friends fighting off the Zombie Apocalypse, beneath the surface lay the hidden depths of a broader social commentary. Shaun of The Dead was so beloved domestically that it brought British eyes back to British Horror, and more impressively brought the eyes of the World to Edgar Wright.

The idea of Auteur Cinema is that a director can become so prolific that they begin to influence the very industry itself, their films are instantly recognisably and sell because of the Director name attached rather than the film itself, think Wes Craven or, John Carpenter; for British Cinema Edgar Wright was our Auteur.

Following on from the cult success of Shaun of the Dead, Wright released Hot Fuzz which instead of mocking the Horror genre mocked the Cop Action Film genre, this was even more of a success. One of the reasons at least to me that Wright’s work is so prolific is that he plays off the stereotypes the rest of the World has about Brits, in a way only a Brit could do.

Whatsmore, Wright highlighted to the World some of the best British actors of that generation, introducing us to the likes of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, to name a few. That eye for talent has stayed with him throughout his career and doesn’t look to be going anywhere soon.

To conclude Wright’s importance to Cinema can’t be understated, he has brought the eyes of the British public as well as the World back to British Cinema and has shown what we are capable of. Even know as he has become more of a Hollywood director, he is still an inspiration and shows how British Cinema is still relevant in 2019.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood: A Love Letter To Tarantino

Preface: When I first saw this film, I didn’t like it, but after seeing it the second time I have much more of an appreciation for it.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, is the 9th film by acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino, and is in a sense a retelling of the real-life Manson Murders; all bit it with a twist, but I’m not going to spoil that here. The film itself reads like a love letter to the Golden Age of Hollywood, as well as to the 1960s.

The plot of the film revolves around three intersecting stories, each focusing on one of the three main cast members, Brad Pitt,( Cliff Booth), Leonardo DiCaprio, (Rick Dalton), and Margot Robbie, (Sharon Tate). Rick’s story focuses on him realising he is past his peak in terms of acting and, needs to adapt his ways to stay relevant. Booth is mainly a supportive figure to Dalton, being there to lend a hand, although his story line does bring about the Manson Family element which adds an exciting spark to the film*.

*I believe knowing about the events of the Manson Murders before going in to see the film, adds a sense of dread to the proceedings, with you knowing it’s just a matter of time before the killings happen; if you don’t know the history the final act of the film can feel like it’s just come out of nowhere.

The third and final main character, Robbie’s Tate is by far the weakest as she is given the least to do, and I didn’t notice this the first time around, but nothing much to say as well; her amount of dialogue compared to Pitt’s and DiCaprio’s is none existent; she mainly exists to dance around to various 60’s tunes and go on drawn-out trips to the movies.

On the flip side of that, the writing and the dialogue for both Booth and Dalton is well done, both of their characters seem like people, they’re relatable and easy to root for. Moreover, one of the final scenes of the film shows the relationship between these two men, in such a perfect away, it’s incredibly effective.

My biggest complaint against the film is the pacing of it. A lot, and I mean 60% + of the scenes feel like they could have been edited down, a lot of them weren’t vital and just served to reinforce and retell us things about the characters we already knew. Adding to this complaint, we only actually see Charles Manson, for one scene; which is incredibly brief. I don’t know if they shot more scenes and they didn’t make it in, but it leaves said scenes feeling oddly out of place.

Overall there are things to like about this film; both leading men are charming, there are some excellent celebrity cameos, but it doesn’t hide the fact that this is one of Tarantino’s weaker efforts.
The man has a stellar catalogue, with the likes of Django Unchained and Inglorious Bastards, but this seems like a mismatch of different things and ideas that don’t come together.
To summaries, I loved 40% of the film, but the other 60% was just too long, too dragged out and, dare I say it too self indulgent.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Yesterday: The Best Film of Summer 2019

Summer 2019 has, in terms of film, been one of the most disappointing in recent memory. We’ve seen unwanted remakes and reimaginings; beloved series shoot themselves in the head, looking at you Men In Black International and, your genius decision to not bring Will Smith back. Overall Summer 2019 has been in a word- meh.

The highlights would probably include, Brightburn for sheer originality, Toy Story 4 for not being a blatant cash grab and, Spider-man Far From Home, which let’s face it is only really cared about now because it might be the last one in the MCU.

Horror was in pretty good form over the summer though, with Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Midsommar both being fantastic films, sadly the horror front was let down by the lacklustre Annabelle Comes Home from the Conjuring Universe, but at least 2 out of 3 isn’t bad.

However, one film stood above all as the best film of the summer, at least to me, that film was Yesterday. Yesterday is a British ‘Feel Good’ Romantic Comedy, focusing on talented but, overlooked musician Jack Malik, (Himesh Patel), as he, after a bike crash, wakes up in a world where no one remembers the Beatles, except him and two others. What follows is Jack’s rise to fame as he takes credit for writing and singing all of the Beatles most famous songs, along the way he learns what’s important to him, and that fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Though the premise, Beatle-less world aside, has been done a million and one times before, there is something about Yesterday, so endearing and undeniably positive, that you can’t help but smile. It hits on a lot of different emotional cores and leaves you happier than when you went in; there is no doubt about that.

The film is well-executed and planned out, with each musical sequences feeling needed and relevant to the plot of the film, rather than just feeling like it’s there to be “remember this song”, as so many other musicals do. This goes to show that Director Danny Boyle hasn’t lost his streak for making great films, said streak brought us the likes of Trainspotting 1 and 2 and is still very present here.

A significant plot point of the film focuses on the will they won’t they, relationship between Jack and his childhood best friend Ellie, (Lilly James). The chemistry between James and Patel is palpable, which makes the eventual relationship not only believable but, also one you can’t help to root for and, become invested in. The interesting twist on the standard unrequited or, overlook love angle here is that it’s James’ Ellie who is madly in love with Jack, but he can’t see it and, thinks they are just friends. This twist on the standard gender roles this story angle usually has is fascinating and, something more films should do.

Finally, the film’s music is infectious, even if you don’t like or, for some reason don’t know the Beatles, their music is used in such a heartfelt and touching way here; that you can’t help but, sing along. Yesterday is a love letter to the Beatles and to music in general and, that fact shines brightly in every scene.

If you haven’t already, you should see this film, as I can guarantee it will put a smile on your face and, make just a little bit happier.

5/5

Review by Luke

A Beginners Guide to Comic Books

Ever since I was young, I loved reading comics; indeed, my obsession with Marvel and DC superheroes almost began in-utero. From as young as I can remember I have kept up with adventures of Batman and Spider-man, and as I have got older my tastes changed; I moved away from superhero comics, except for Moon Knight, and found a whole other world of comics and graphic novels that have nothing to do with superheroes at all.

My first foray into this world came as I started reading Bill Williamson’s Fables, which still stands as my personal favourite comic series ever, a series in which classic fairytale characters find themselves in our world in the present day. What makes the comic series so superb is that it manages to merge the silly wimsey of fairytales with the grittiness of real life; to a fantastic end.

So the subject of today’s post is how to get into, and hopefully love comics. In recent years a lot of people are getting into comics thanks in no small part to the mass success of the MCU, but there are so many different comics it is hard to know where to start. Ultimately it depends what you’re looking for if you’re trying to get into Marvel or, DC then every few years they will have significant events that restart the in-comic universe and make it more approachable for new readers. Failing that you can always find older issue of any series you want to get into at any good comic shop. If you want to get into non-superhero comics, then it’s even more accessible, as most of the time these series don’t have hundreds of back issues to sort through. As well as this most major comic publications have online services where you can read all of their comics for a fee.

How I handle reading comics is, I don’t try and keep up with every series from a particular brand, Marvel, DC, Boom, Dark Horse; instead I find authors I like and stick to their runs, exploring maybe one or, two other comic series a month. I believe this makes keeping up with comics way easier.

The reason everyone should try and read comics is not only because comics are cool, but also because so many of them have something different to say, and show the world from another viewpoint. To me, comics are the most original medium, as the creators are only really bound by the limits of their imagination, especially if they’re writing for an independent publisher. You can go from reading a comic about vampires across time to one about people who freeze time when they orgasm, the amount of variety and creativity is unlike anything found elsewhere.

To conclude I think everyone should give comics ago, yes it’s not going to be for everyone, but you might just read something that captures your imagination and engrosses you, and for some of the characters and worlds alone I think you should pick up a comic book today!

What Happened to the Arrowverse?

I remember the day the first episode of Arrow aired, it filled me with the same kind of wonder that I had when I first watch Smallville years prior. The same if not more could be said when Barry Allen appeared on Arrow in a guest-starring role, with the intention being for him to get his own series down the line. When Legends of Tomorrow came out, I was cautiously optimistic, to see how a show compromised of side and villain characters from the other two shows would be; I wasn’t disappointed. Even when Supergirl came out, I loved every minute of the first season.

Then something happened, The shows I had once loved, weren’t what I remember them being any more, the spark that was once there was extinguished. So the question I want to ask today is what happened and is there hope left?

The Problem I believe is multi-faceted; it is hard to put down to just one thing. To get the obvious out of the way, every show has a decline in quality the longer it goes on; Arrow is going into its 8th season, and the Flash is going into its 6th; as a result, they aren’t going to be as good as they were in their respective primes. With the 20-24 episode mode of storytelling, all sources of inspiration are used and then used again, as there are only so many things these characters can do before things start to get stale. The creatives know this, so they make filler content, a fairly standard practice, to pad out the season. This content often takes away from the drama and the stakes of the overall season and gives us meaningless side stories that only really appeal to a small group of people. A little bit of filler can be a nice break, but the issue with the Arrowverse at this point is every other episode is like this.

Furthermore, and this is true for Marvel and the MCU as well, the stakes on the Arrowverse shows are incredibly low. We know characters are safe, they have plot armor so they can’t die, which shatters a lot of the tension in episodes. The worst is when the episode ends on a cliffhanger and, it is set up to look as though X character is going to die, but the drama doesn’t work because you know they won’t. Now, the Arrowverse has killed off characters before that is true, but never major ones, never your Barry Allens or, your Oliver Queens: instead it’s always a side character, and even then they come back, look at Sara Lance.

Whats-more, The Arrowverse shows just become the same in the end they all follow a pattern, I’m not saying this is a wrong, a lot of people like it, but it does take away from the originality of the shows themselves. A lot of the time it is just pretty people in rooms, having soap opera level drama, that most of the time goes nowhere and, is rather inconsequential. This can be found across all of the shows and, makes it hard to be able to tell one apart from the others.

Ultimately for me the shows, barring Legends of Tomorrow which still entertains me every week, have become stale and, the Arrowverse as a whole simply relies on spectacle to sell itself, see any number of the crossover specials for evidence, and again I’m not saying this is a bad thing, I’m just saying it is not what it once was.

Hopefully, the Arrowverse can recapture what made it great at some point in the future.

PS Constantine is the best part of the whole Arrowverse.

Gremlins: The Best Christmas Film

With summer coming to a close we begin the slow march towards Christmas, it really does get earlier every year, as such I want to write about my favourite Christmas/ Holiday movie of all time; Gremlins.

The idea of a Christmas film is usually something happy and upbeat, enjoyable by the whole family, things like Home Alone and the Santa Claus spring to mind. In that parameter, Gremlins doesn’t really fit in; it is a horror-comedy film, unusual Christmas movie fare. However, that’s what works so well about it; it subverts all the stereotypes about what defines a Christmas movie, while still being set at Christmas, coming across almost as a homage.

To give some background to the film, it was released in the summer of 1984; it was a considerable hit commercially and critically and, this along with Raiders of the Lost Ark lead to the creation of the PG-13 rating. The plot of the film revolves around Billy, (Zach Gilligan), as he receives a Gremlin, here called a Mogwai, from his father as a Christmas present. Upon receiving Gizmo the mogwai, Billy has to learn and keep to the stringent rules of ownership; otherwise, there will be disastrous consequences, to spoil it, he breaks the rules and chaos ensues.

This film portrays Christmas, not as this sweet idyllic time of the year, but rather as this crazy manic time where everything is continuously moving, a move which I find refreshing. Furthermore, the relationship between Billy and Gizmo is very relatable to anyone who has ever got a pet on Christmas morning, with this relationship being the beating heart of the film.

Gizmo himself is easily the cutest puppet in film ever; he has a distinct look that makes him easily recognisable and iconic. Furthermore, the facial movements of the character convey emotion to significant effect, leading you not only to root for Gizmo but also viewing him as somewhat of the main character. Comparatively, the evil gremlins, because yes, there are more gremlins, and some of them are or, become evil, actually inspire fear. The puppetry of these gremlins conveys malice and menace as their different design comes across as ugly and monstrous, which the film uses to great effect, showing us the difference between cute happy Gizmo and the evil other gremlins.

The humour in this film is also incredibly well done being funny and very endearing; the gore of the film also works to this extent. With a lot of the kills towards the end of the film, being quite comedic in their brutality, in almost a Zombieland esque kind of fashion.
There is so much charm and heart to this film that it quickly makes it’s self one of the most memorable films of the 80s, having a legacy that lives on way over 30 years later. The sequel, while still entertaining couldn’t live up to the heights of the first film and fell short in many ways. However there is now talk of a Gremlins series coming to the small screen, so there is clearly still demand after all these years.
In my opinion, the first Gremlins is a must-see and one of the best films to watch at Christmas, if only as a palate cleanser to all those sickly emotional Christmas films that plague the holiday season, like ghosts that refuse to die.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Coming of Age

Over the years a lot of films have tackled the issue of coming of age, it is a common theme in many works of fiction and will be for years to come. There is something inherently relatable about films like these; where no matter the protagonist, you find something that reminds you of your own formative years. No series, in my opinion, handles the ideas of growing up and maturing better than the Diary of A Wimpy Kid films, today’s post will be a look at the franchise and what it meant to a lot of people.
Diary of A Wimpy Kid is a 2010, coming of age film, following the life of Greg Heffley, (Zachary Gordon), as he tries to navigate the world of middle school, be the most popular, and one day be famous. The film is based on a series of best-selling children’s books that are beloved by millions, the films themselves like to wear their book heritage on their sleeve and will often open with an animated scene that is very reminiscent of the books.
The three core films follow Greg as he progresses through the years of middle school, and we grow up with him in a way, or at least I did. We the audience see his priorities change as he gets older in a very relatable way, in the first film he just wants to hang out with his friend Rowley, (Robert Capron) and, play videogames; the friendship between these two boys is something that underscores the whole trilogy. By the time the second film Roderick Rules is set we see that now Greg is interested in girls and his friendship with Rowley changes, this is a thing that has happened to all of us, that transition from being a kid and thinking girls or, boys are icky to then being in a relationship, and I think that this transition is captured beautifully by the films.
Not only this but, the family interactions too were well thought out and intentioned, in the first film we see how much Greg is scared of his brother Roderick, (Devon Bostick), and how the two are always at odds. However, in Roderick Rules, we see that the pair actually share a bond and that perhaps Greg has just prejudged his brother and is later corrected, we see this towards the end of the second film in a very bittersweet scene. Moreover, the third film shows us the relationship between Greg and his dad and how Greg is trying to make him proud and get along with him, despite having nothing in common and being two drastically different people. This part of the third film has a lot to say about father-son relationships, and a lot of it is profoundly authentic and affecting; it reminded me more than once of my own life.
Perhaps the thing the film does the best is the development of Greg himself; he starts off the first film as a selfish arsehole who only really cares about himself, with a lot of his friends and family suffering as a result. A lot of the conflict of the films from his falling out with Rowley in the first film, to that tear provoking moment with Roderick in the second film all come as a result of Greg’s actions. As the trilogy progresses, however, we see Greg become a better person as he matures, one who will do what’s right to make his friends and family happy; sometimes even at his detriment, although it usually works out for him.
I think though these films owe a lot to the incredibly well-written books that they take inspiration from, there is something special about these series of films, that resonates with the audience, reminding them of their own lives and families: because at the end of the day who hasn’t been the wimpy kid who just wanted to be popular.
In my opinion, there is no fourth film.