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The creative potential on display in Joel Edgerton's The Gift is remarkably refreshing. The actor-turned-director, who also wrote the screenplay, has composed a skillful and assured directorial debut. It's a sly contemporary suspense-thriller, without the mindless sex and violence that plagues the genre. We could use a few more of these.
"I promised your mother that I would protect you."
It's jarring to hear Wade (Arnold Schwarzenegger) deliver that line long after his daughter has been bitten by a zombie.
When we first meet Manglehorn (Al Pacino) he's rescuing a baby from inside a locked car. The concerned mother waves her arms, pleading for her baby to be freed. Before doing so, he deems it necessary to criticize the cleanliness of the car as the mother stands by helplessly. This is a man whose life brings him no joy.
For a script that is mostly gibberish, I was amazed at how entertaining Minions was. It came as no surprise that minion mischief not only warmed the hearts of children but also adults alike.
Welcome to B-movie territory. Self/Less is silly, brainless and paint-by-numbers in an endearing fashion. It's ideal lazy Sunday afternoon fare. The type of film you'd be happy to find playing on cable on a rainy day.
A Spike Lee Joint. I always smile when those words grace a film's opening. It's not a credit we can always expect as Lee occasionally chooses the more drab, "a Spike Lee film," when embarking on potential money makers. Some for better, such as Inside Man, and some for worse, such as his regrettable remake of Chan-Wook Park's Oldboy.
After seeing the trailer for Ted 2, I was really looking forward to watching the sequel to one of the funniest and successful comedies of recent times. It fell nothing short of what I had expected; crude humour, bad acting, and satire. Was I expecting amazing film work with jaw dropping angles and visuals? Not a chance.
Jurassic Park -- what a classic franchise, only this time it fully encompassed what a world of dinosaurs would look like. Every detail of this world was spot on from the title scene (taking the viewers back to the original opening) to the physical design of the world itself. The CGI in this film was impressive and having the 3D element added in made it as realistic as possible.
Every summer the box-office landscape has that one movie that's on an entirely different level than anything else out there. That one movie people of all age groups will go to see and enjoy regardless of demographics. That one movie that other studios know will be such a unbeatable juggernaut that the box-office that they don't dare release their own films till weeks later.
Unfriended is a film about how bullying, terrorizing, and murder are carried out in the 21st century. Gone are the days of good old fashioned stalking by following someone from a distance in your car or sending them letters written in lipstick through the postal service.
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