Month: May 2024

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

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From director George Miller comes the long awaited new installment of the Mad Max films. This time the focus is on Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) where we learn about her origin story. After being kidnapped as a child (Alyla Browne) and held captive by the evil Dementus (Chris Hemworth), she vows to one day return home. Through the next fifteen years we see her grow into a fearsome warrior who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

This was my first foray into the Mad Max films. I wanted to at least watch Fury Road before checking this one out, but time ran away from me. I was worried that this would hinder my overall enjoyment of the film. Luckily that wasn’t the case. I’m guessing as it was a prequel, it helped set the tone right from the get go and I found it quite easy to follow.

The first thing that struck me was the cinematography. The vast landscapes of the Wasteland were stunning and I really felt as if I had been transported into another time and place. Learning about the different areas from the Great Place of Many Mothers and Citadel was interesting too.

Taylor-Joy is one of the best actors around right now. The way in which she embodies Furiosa, taking on the role from Charlize Theron in the 2015 version, was absolute perfection. Though she doesn’t have a lot of dialogue, she conveys everything she needed to with her looks and mannerisms. Hemsworth, on the other hand, donned an entirely different character than I’ve seen him play before. He was a strong villain and he was so completely out there which worked effortlessly. Browne did a fine job as a young Furiosa and I loved the additions of Tom Burke as Praetorian Jack and Lachy Hulme as Immortan Joe.

Another area in which the film excelled in was its action sequences. They were visually impressive with lots of cool stunts and special effects. Those complete with the sweeping score really added an extra element to the overall experience I had while watching.

I’ll admit that I was initially on the fence about watching Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. I didn’t think it would be my type of film or that it would go way over my head. I’m glad that I gave it a a chance anyway and was proven wrong.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5

IF

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John Krasinki is back in the director’s seat with a completely different type of film. Bea (Cailey Fleming) is going through a tough time. When she moves in with her grandmother (Fiona Shaw), she ends up befriending one of the upstairs neighbors named Cal (Ryan Reynolds). Cal is on a mission to reunite IFs, or imaginary friends, with new children as their old ones have grown up and forgotten about them. He enlists the help of Bea and together they embark on a magical adventure.

Where the film exceeds is in its casting. Fleming is a great pick for our protagonist. I’ve never seen her before, but her performance was endearing and relatable. Reynolds seems to dial it back a bit from his usual song and dance to give Fleming more of the spotlight. He’s still a very important player though and the two worked well together. For me it was the different voices that brought the IFs to life that I had fun discovering: Steve Carell as Blue, Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Blossom, Louis Gossett Jr. as Lewis, Akwafina as Bubble, Emily Blunt as Unicorn, George Clooney as Spaceman, Bradley Cooper as Ice and many more.

Unfortunately there are some pacing issues that are evident throughout. Things take too long to get going in the beginning. There’s some groundwork that needs to be set up with the audience learning about Bea’s life which is fine, but I wanted more time with the IFs! I also felt like it wrapped up way too quickly in the end.

The moral of the story of getting back in touch with your inner child really spoke to me. I was one of those kids who had an imaginary friend and I could totally relate in that I don’t even remember who they are anymore. Just because you grow up doesn’t mean you don’t have to forget the parts of you that made you happy when you were younger. These sentiments really tugged at my heartstrings.

Overall IF was an enjoyable film that the whole family can enjoy. It will certainly resonate with children for the beloved friends they will meet along the way, but I think it is the adults who will get the most out of it. Though it may have gotten a bit muddled along the way, it is still worth checking out.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5

Turtles All The Way Down

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Turtles All The Way Down by John Green was first introduced to the world in October of 2017. Now, the beloved book has been adapted for the screen. Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced) is trying to live her life as normally as she can which isn’t easy due to her obsessive compulsive disorder. When she reconnects with her old crush Davis (Felix Mallard), she is swept up in the mystery of where his business tycoon father disappeared to.

Like many others, I devoured Green’s novel when it first came out. It’s been some time so I cannot confirm or deny as to how close they stuck to the original material. But I am happy that this one finally got the same treatment that many of his other pieces of work have received.

Merced completely brings Aza to life. The way in which she depicted her difficulties was nothing like I had seen before and I mean that in a good way. We saw the good, the bad and everything in between and I found that to be really refreshing. I truly believe that people who deal with the same disorder felt seen while watching this.

The rest of the cast were perfectly chosen for their roles. I absolutely loved Daisy (Cree), Aza’s best friend. They were there for each other through it all and she brought some much needed comedy to the film. It was nice seeing Mallard in something outside of his usual stint on Netflix’s Ginny and Georgia and Judy Reyes was a spot on choice for Aza’s mom Gina. I also appreciated the inclusion of J. Smith-Cameron as Professor Abbott and Poorna Jagannathan as Aza’s therapist Dr. Singh.

While Turtles All The Way Down did seem to target more of a teenage audience, I am still glad that I watched it. It’s not often we see OCD depicted in this way on screen, so I have to commend the choices that were taken to make it happen.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️

Abigail

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From the team that brought us Ready or Not comes a new take on the vampire genre. When a group of misfits are brought together to kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure in order to collect a very handsome cash prize, they think it’ll be a piece of cake. But as they spend more time in an isolated mansion, they start to realize that the little girl is not as innocent as she originally seemed.

I know that I am very late to the party, but in my defense I had prior arrangements the weekend that this hit theatres. Now that it’s available on Demand, I couldn’t wait to finally check it out. Lo and behold it was exactly as I was hoping it would be!

Locked room stories are always a good call; without the distractions of jumping from place to place, it is so much more intimate. The audience gets the chance to really know the different players that are involved.

Another reason why this film worked so well was because of its talented cast. Leading the tribe of kidnappers is Melissa Barrera as Joey who proves that she is still one of the best Scream Queens around. Her mysterious past and unexpected connection to Abigail was interesting to watch unfold. Kathryn Newton, who has also proven herself as quite the Scream Queen lately, was brilliant as hacker Sammy while Angus Cloud truly brought the goofy Dean to life, may he rest in peace. Kevin Durand made me laugh as Peter while Dan Stevens was absolutely perfect as the douchey know it all Frank. I didn’t know whether to love him or hate him sometimes because he was just so convincing. All that being said, it was Alisha Weir who stole the show as our titular character Abigail. Going from playing Matilda in the musical version of the stage show to this? The girl has range!

The best part of all is that Abigail never took itself too seriously. Parodying past movies of the genre was such a smart move. It was laugh out loud funny with every joke landing and filled with lots of blood and gore. I was worried that part would be overkill, but I actually loved it. This was just the type of horror film that I can vibe with and I would very much be onboard with some more in this universe. Let’s make it happen!

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️

The Idea Of You

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Adapted from Robinne Lee’s acclaimed novel The Idea of You, follows Solène (Anne Hathaway), a forty year old single mother who meets Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), lead singer of the most popular boyband on the planet August Moon, while at Coachella. Their undeniable chemistry develops into something more, but Hayes’s celebrity status and Solène’s age threaten to come between them.

I read the book earlier this year in anticipation of the film. It instantly became one of my all time favorites. I didn’t think anything would be able to come close to its perfection. Overall I was pleased with how it turned out and felt like it stayed true to the source material.

Hathaway has never been better. This woman does not age; she is not only gorgeous, but her interpretation of Solène was so on point. As you get to know her, you just want her to get her happy ending. Galitzine, on the other hand, has shown that he is a dynamic actor who is up for pretty much everything that is thrown his way. He was the perfect choice for Hayes. Harry Styles comparisons aside, he made Hayes his own complete with the British accent, dark smouldering look and tattoos to boot. The two flickered brightly when they were on screen together and made me feel all the feels.

There have been a few instances portrayed on screen where the woman is older than the man in the relationship. She’s often shown as being in the wrong whereas if it was the other way around, the man would be patted on the back. The fact that these two individuals just want to be together regardless of what society expects from them was refreshing. It didn’t come without its backlashes and these were hard to watch, but it was extremely realistic and I appreciated how the film explored it like it did in the book.

The Idea of You is one of the better book to film adaptions that I have seen. Thanks to the incredible casting and sizzling attraction between Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, the characters that I fell in love with in the book were able to come to life. While I wasn’t a fan of the changes they made to the ending, this is a film that I will happily revisit in the future. Until then, I will be singing along to all of August Moon’s hits.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5

The Fall Guy

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Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is the best stunt man around. When an on set injury results in him breaking his back, he’s hesitant to get back into the game – that is until he learns his ex fling Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt) is directing her feature debut and according to her producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), he’s the guy for the job. But Colt has been brought onto the project with ulterior motives. Mega movie star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor Johnson) has disappeared and it is up to Colt to find him so they can finish filming.

Fresh off the success of two of the biggest films of last year are Gosling and Blunt. Individually they know how to do their thing and they do it perfectly. But when they are together, that is when the magic happens. The way in which Colt is determined to win Jody back despite her efforts not to give in is one of my favorite tropes. I would be more than happy for these actors to star together in many more projects to come.

Director David Leitch got his start as a stunt man himself and this is an ode to others is this part of the industry. Stunt people aren’t always given the appreciation they deserve which is crazy to me. The sequences we see throughout are unique, pulse pounding and really push the limit. I couldn’t decide which one was my favorite. I also thought it was a nice touch that the audience was able to see some behind the scenes footage of them being made.

Some have said that the comedy didn’t entirely hit the mark, but I still found myself giggling more or less the whole way through. Maybe that was more due to the circumstances that our characters found themselves in at times. For example, Colt crying in his car while listening to Taylor Swift was just so perfect! I also liked the crime parts of the story. I didn’t feel like they were far fetched and I felt like it fit with everything else that was going on.

The Fall Guy was one of my most anticipated films of the year, but I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did. It made me laugh out loud, was filled with incredible action sequences and the chemistry between the two leads was some of the best I’ve seen in a long time. It just left a huge smile on my face. The summer blockbuster season has officially begun!

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️