Patriots Day
What’s it about?
A retelling of the horrific Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, and the dramatic four-day chase of the Tsarnaev brothers.
What did we think?
Angela Young says: Hollywood dramatising recent tragic events makes me uneasy, so I can’t say I find this film anything other than distasteful and unnecessary. That said, it’s reasonably well told (not too much high-drama BS thrown in with the facts) and a lot of the actors do a pretty good job, including Kevin Bacon and a strangely deflated-looking John Goodman, though Mark Wahlberg’s made-up hero character designed to neatly tie things up is pretty overdone. I’d much rather see a well-made documentary.
Live By Night
What’s it about?
It’s the 1920s, and Ben Affleck is a zoot suit-wearing, machine gun-toting gangster. Sometimes he has feelings, but you can’t really tell.
What we thought
Amy Currie says: Live by Night is overstuffed with plot and takes itself far too seriously. I’m sure the book on which it was based is quite interesting, and that it would have made a decent Netflix series. As it is, it’s not so much a saga as an edited highlights package. It certainly looks pretty, and some of the subplots and characters are genuinely intriguing. They’re gone in a flash, though, and we’re back to more of Affleck not moving his face.
Don’t bother.
Manchester By The Sea
A sombre examination of mourning as a withdrawn and troubled man is unexpectedly left guardianship of his dead brother’s 16-year-old son.
Angela Young says: This film will split audiences. For me, I was seared in two by its utterly real depiction of a pain so awful as to kill a man’s soul. An eccentric soundtrack (from orchestral to choral to swing) and extremely slow pace fits this artistic masterpiece like a glove. Casey Affleck’s portrayal of Lee – now guardian of his late brother’s kid – deserves the Oscar. Michelle Williams’ brief appearances are perfect, and Lucas Hedges is spot on as the kid. A profoundly moving piece on the vast variances of mourning, superbly written and directed.
Split
What’s it about?
A trio of teenagers are kidnapped and imprisoned by a brilliant but strange man with ambiguous motives. Also, it’s an M. Night Shyamalan film, so, you know, take that as you will.
What we thought
Dan Beeston says:If there’s one thing M. Night does well, it is suspense. The problem is that there is always a sword of Damocles distracting you from being in the moment. That notion that you’re waiting for ‘The Twist™’. Ignore that. Split is not ‘The 6th Sense’. It’s just a scary and interesting story told well.
It’s also one where you can’t trust the reviewer’s experience. I can tell that some people will get a lot more out of this than I did and some people will be left frustrated. Ironically, I expect ‘Split’ to be divisive.
Jackie
What’s it about?
An intimate portrait of stoicism, pride and ego; Jackie is an imagining of the Life magazine interview with Jacqueline Kennedy (Natalie Portman); covering her dignified reaction to the traumatic events she experienced in November 1963, and how she created the legend of Kennedy’s Camelot from her unabashed desire for a meaningful legacy.
What did we think?
Stephen Scott says: The culmination of a thought-provoking script, Portman’s mesmerising portrayal of the iconic First Lady, psychological storytelling technique verging on poetic, and an innovative and organic soundtrack, Jackie delivers a profound exploration of how truth is manufactured and interpreted.
Elizabeth Best says: Just give her the Oscar already.
Monster Trucks
What’s it about?
An all american teen boy finds a strange creature that uses his old truck as a hermit crab shell that allows him locomotion at high speeds.
What we thought
Dan Beeston says: This conceit is so absurd that I expected a collision of poorly thought out reasons for shonky car chases. What I did not expect was a kids adventure story that rivals Spielburgian classics like ET and the Goonies. Every story element meshes together beautifully. Characters are beautifully realised and I found myself chuckling through the entire film.
This film also manages to add something new and fresh to the tired (no pun intended) trope of the car chase.
What’s Popular
I Feel Pretty
What’s it about?
An average-looking, average-weight person crushed by society’s unhealthy obsession with svelte beauty gets everything she wishes for, before losing it all. Then regaining it because Hollywood.
What did we think?
Stephen Scott says: a funny, moral allegory that falls apart when it gets confused about its own identity.
The Pitch: “Amy Schumer magically gains the body of a supermodel, except she’s only imagining it … but this belief banishes her self-doubt and she lives her life with gusto and happiness”
The Reality: “Amy Schumer pulls off a lot of laughs, carries the concept really well, but just over halfway the plot and characterisations get lost and inexplicably she goes all Mean Girls / Devil Wears Prada, and even though her final speech brings back the original concept, it’s a hollow victory as her joyous oration about looks-aren’t-important is celebrated by a room of supermodels”
Truth or Dare
What’s it about?
A group of college friends celebrating their last spring break together in Mexico play a game of Truth or Dare in the ruins of an old missionary. When they return home, they discover something evil has followed them back and wants the game to keep going, with deadly consequences.
What did we think?
James Tinniswood says: I pick truth: eh. It borrows from It Follows, Unfriended and Final Destination but is neither as tense as the former two or as over-the-top and silly as the latter. Most of the Pretty Young Things are either underwritten or just not good people, so it’s often hard to care when they’re forced to do bad things. The kind of movie where people earnestly say “the game is playing us”. Fine but forgettable.
Rampage
What’s it about?
A gorilla gets infected with a virus of some sort and some other animals get big and aggressive and the Rock is a primatologist(?)
What did we think?
Nick says: This movie is garbage. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about it. The action is boring, humour doesn’t work, and the Rock tries too hard. Gee whiz. Just watch anything else.
Isle of Dogs
What’s it about?
In the near future the dogs of Japan are diseased and dangerous. Every dog is sequestered on a trash filled island off the coast. Six months later a young boy steals a plane in a desperate attempt to rescue his beloved pet.
What we thought
Dan says: Wes Anderson’s film-making is exceptional but I find his stories chaotic and unsatisfying. In Isle of Dogs his art is recontextualised by the sublime stop motion puppeteering and the Japanese locations. It makes it much easier to settle in and appreciate a performance, rather than a story. The narrative is thin on the ground but that’s not what you’re watching for. The theme of lost dogs is so beautifully crafted that I can only urge you to get out and see this film.
“They’re good dogs Brent”
Editor's Choice
I Feel Pretty
What’s it about?
An average-looking, average-weight person crushed by society’s unhealthy obsession with svelte beauty gets everything she wishes for, before losing it all. Then regaining it because Hollywood.
What did we think?
Stephen Scott says: a funny, moral allegory that falls apart when it gets confused about its own identity.
The Pitch: “Amy Schumer magically gains the body of a supermodel, except she’s only imagining it … but this belief banishes her self-doubt and she lives her life with gusto and happiness”
The Reality: “Amy Schumer pulls off a lot of laughs, carries the concept really well, but just over halfway the plot and characterisations get lost and inexplicably she goes all Mean Girls / Devil Wears Prada, and even though her final speech brings back the original concept, it’s a hollow victory as her joyous oration about looks-aren’t-important is celebrated by a room of supermodels”
Truth or Dare
What’s it about?
A group of college friends celebrating their last spring break together in Mexico play a game of Truth or Dare in the ruins of an old missionary. When they return home, they discover something evil has followed them back and wants the game to keep going, with deadly consequences.
What did we think?
James Tinniswood says: I pick truth: eh. It borrows from It Follows, Unfriended and Final Destination but is neither as tense as the former two or as over-the-top and silly as the latter. Most of the Pretty Young Things are either underwritten or just not good people, so it’s often hard to care when they’re forced to do bad things. The kind of movie where people earnestly say “the game is playing us”. Fine but forgettable.
Rampage
What’s it about?
A gorilla gets infected with a virus of some sort and some other animals get big and aggressive and the Rock is a primatologist(?)
What did we think?
Nick says: This movie is garbage. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about it. The action is boring, humour doesn’t work, and the Rock tries too hard. Gee whiz. Just watch anything else.
Isle of Dogs
What’s it about?
In the near future the dogs of Japan are diseased and dangerous. Every dog is sequestered on a trash filled island off the coast. Six months later a young boy steals a plane in a desperate attempt to rescue his beloved pet.
What we thought
Dan says: Wes Anderson’s film-making is exceptional but I find his stories chaotic and unsatisfying. In Isle of Dogs his art is recontextualised by the sublime stop motion puppeteering and the Japanese locations. It makes it much easier to settle in and appreciate a performance, rather than a story. The narrative is thin on the ground but that’s not what you’re watching for. The theme of lost dogs is so beautifully crafted that I can only urge you to get out and see this film.
“They’re good dogs Brent”