Watched : January 2019

Jan 01 2018 A surprisingly fabulous film. Good kitsch, humour, and heart warming moments. Follows a young man recently freed from imprisonment from people who stole him as a child and claimed to be his parents. He takes to a show they used to make for him, called Brigsby Bear, and upon release, obsesses over completing the show. Heartwarming tale. 8/10

Jan 01 2018 An interesting character study of a cult leader and his protegee. Deep, dark, surreal in some respects. Very well shot, great acting, and interesting moments. I did feel at times the film was being overly odd for its own sake, and sometimes this detracted from my enjoyment of the film. However, minor complaints aside, a wholly entertaining, well shot, and well crafted art house film. 7/10

Jan 02 2018 An interesting film. Slow burner, slow build up, messed up ending. Follows a preacher who slowly becomes an environmental radical due to his involvement with a troubled environmentalist and his pregnant wife. The movie becomes twisted and tangled slowly, as the preacher begins to despair over circumstances. Great film, well shot, great characters. 7/10

Jan 02 2018 A stylish murder mystery that follows a Hollywood starlets assistant as she grapples with the mysterious murder of her boss. The assistant is framed, and she is on the run from the law and trying to figure out what happened. The story and plot are suitably mysterious, and the acting from the main character Jill, (played by Lola Kirke) is fabulous. Good style and score as well. The ending was quite underwhelming (IMO), though, and did detract some point from the film. Enjoyable though. 6/10

An enjoyable Star Wars film with some interesting vistas, characters and action. A fun and worthwhile flick to be sure. Lacks some of the more deep story elements of some of the earlier story elements. Even so, the science fiction is fun, the characters are fun, and the story is fair. Worth a watch for sure, and a continuation of the solid new flicks coming out in the franchise. 7/10

A wonderfully animated and fantastical film in the spirit of Studio Ghibli. Follows a young girl as she stumbles upon magic, and seeks to stop an evil duo from completing a sinister experiment. Fun, cute, well animated, with a good story. Characters were a bit cliched, and the animation, although very interesting, is similar to Ghibli and therefore nothing totally new. Still, a very good film. 7/10

A slow burning film about a taxi driver, who, through no fault of his own, hits a motorcycle driver. He is faulted with the accident, and subsequently is required to pay the mans medical bills. As the bills mount up, he begins to lose control of his life. A slowly paced movie, that is well shot and acted. The commentary is sometimes ham-fisted, and the film is often very slow in parts - too much even for me sometimes. Even so, it is stylistic and interesting. Worth a watch. 6/10

A largely boring film. Follows the pair from the previous film, as they are coopted into trying to rescue the dinosaurs from Isla Nubar, which is being destroyed by a volcano. Double crossed, raptors, business men, blah blah blah. Boring, dumb message about rescuing man made abominations? Cause Nature?? Dumb. 4/10

A very enjoyable heist movie. Cliched in many ways, with some hammy moments and some ridiculous technology. Still, the camp was good. The characters were enjoyable in a "shut your brain off" kind of way. The heist elements were enjoyable. It was a film where I was rooting for the main characters. I was surprised how much I liked this movie, and the cinematography was solid to boot. 7/10

Jan 13 2019 A highly enjoyable science fiction film. Elements of films like Drive, Blade Runner, and Total Recall. It has very realistic and imaginative technology - a believable cyberpunk style. As mentioned, the world-building worked for me. The acting was solid, the action solid, and there were some schlocky horror elements which were wholly enjoyable. Solid 8/10 - one of my favourites this month,

Jan 13 2019 A fairly enjoyable movie all told. Bad CGI in many places, a limitation of the budget. Much of the story elements were not super engaging in some aspects. Even so, some very interesting visuals despite some lackluster CGI. The acting was believable and the world felt real. The "man and his dog" story element felt enjoyable and even touching in some aspects. Honestly enjoyed this movie, despite its visual shortcomings. A high 6/10, and recommended.

A solid and charming anime film. A bittersweet story of life, love and loss. Takes place in wartime Japan near Hiroshima. Tells the story of a young girl who marries into a family outside her native city. She moves there, and learns to live a new life as a wife, all while pursuing her passion for sketch artistry. Excellent and unique animation, a sweet story, and some cool visuals and ideas. 7/10

A horrid action flick. Overly stylized to the point of looking bad. The acting was awful, with Stallone leading the pack in the worst way possible. Racism abounds as well, which was a disgusting addition that added no humour or entertainment. Follows a hitman and a cop as they team up to take down corrupt local officials that killed there partners. Cliched, dull, lifeless, ugly, stupid, inept. A terrible film. 3/10

A unique and interesting film. The acting and drama were superb, but the fantasy elements, although interesting, lacked quality and, in some case, character. This movie was quite similar to A Monster Calls - a very similar film about grappling with grief, and portraying it as a monster. Even so, this was an enjoyable film, with unique elements. Worth a watch. 6/10

27-01-2019 An entertaining sequel. Action packed, gritty, stylistic. Denzel Washington is great as usual. The story was largely weak - too grand for the character and story, with the previous film feeling more appropriate. Even so, largely entertaining. 6/10

January 28 2019 An interesting film about a group of roommates who discover a large amount of money. The film is a look at the spiraling morality and debauchery of the group, and what they would do for money. A good film; interesting story, good acting, and solid set up. Well shot, with some great visual moments, a tense score, and some interesting cuts. Well worth a watch. 7/10

January 31 2019 A solid Hitchcock film. Good gothic tale of a woman who marries a rich man with a dark past, and a dead wife. A story of distrust, love, and troubled pasts. Well shot with some very memorable scenes. Great acting. Great story. Great score. 8/10

January 31 2019 An interesting film shot in the style of a film noir. Slow moving crime drama about a barber who's own action and inaction leads to disaster for everyone around him. His intentions are often pure in some way. Well shot and acted, and the portrayal of the time period is interesting and adaptive. Characters are well fleshed out, and feel very Cohen-brother (if that makes sense). Quirky I guess. Fun film, well worth a watch. 7/10