Star Trek: The Motion Picture was bad. Really, really bad. Nicknamed The Motionless Picture by some for its awful pacing and huge amounts of filler, the sequel needed to up its game quite drastically for Star Trek films to remain viable. The big-screen future of one of the world's two biggest science fiction franchises was in the balance, and fortunately Wrath of Khan … [Read more...]
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) review by That Film Guy
Following the staggering critical success of Rushmore, director Wes Anderson was given a bigger budget and slightly more creative freedom. He chose to use it to create his own take on a family drama in The Royal Tenenbaums. Focusing on a family from New York City, New York The Royal Tenenbaums begins patriarch Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) as he separates from his estranged … [Read more...]
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) review by That Film Guy
Very loosely based on Judi and Ron Barrett's children's book of the same name, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a Sony Pictures Animation. During release it became the highest-grossing film released by the animation house taking over $240m at the box office. It represents the directing debut of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who rose to prominence after directing successful … [Read more...]
Scary Movie 5 (2013) review by That Film Brat
The parody genre has experienced a bit of a downhill slide in recent years. Films like Airplane, Hot Shots, Top Secret, and a host of others are now considered comedy classics. However, in 2000, the Wayans brothers decided they would take a crack at the parody genre and released Scary Movie, a parody of the 90s self-aware slasher movie, specifically Scream and I Know What You … [Read more...]
Triangle (2009) review by That Film Brat
Written and directed by Christopher Smith, writer/director of Creep and Severance, as the DVD box is quick to remind us, Triangle is a film I only found out about through pure chance. Someone I followed posted about it and said that it was her goal to make everyone watch this film. I took a chance and put it in, knowing nothing of the plot, or the film itself, other than it was … [Read more...]
The Birds (1963) review by That Film Guy
During the tail-end of his career Alfred Hitchcock began to dabble in the horror genre and over the course of a few years developed two of the finest examples going. In 1960 Psycho was released and became one of his most popular and enduring works, then 3 years later he developed what could ostensibly be called a ˜monster film' in The Birds. … [Read more...]
A Late Quartet (2012) review by That Film Guy
Israeli director Yaron Zilberman turns his eye toward a musically-themed drama in A Late Quartet. As his quartet reaches its 25th anniversary, cellist Peter Mitchell (Christopher Walken) is diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease. Declaring his intention to make their next performance his last, fellow members second violinist Robert (Philip Seymour Hoffman), his wife … [Read more...]
Oblivion (2013) review by That Film Guy
Based on a yet unpublished graphic novel of the same name, Joseph Kosinki's Oblivion is an homage-heavy science fiction film starring Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko. Following his success as director with TRON: Legacy Kosinki draws together a host of science fiction tropes and recognisable themes to create the world of Oblivion. … [Read more...]
Dungeons & Dragons (2000) review by That Film Dude
With Peter Jackson's unbelievably risky The Lord of the Rings trilogy imminent, New Line Cinema wanted to test the water and see if mainstream audiences would be willing to watch a high fantasy film. Naturally worried by the amount of money spent on LotR, they wanted to do this relatively cheaply, and thus was born Dungeons & Dragons, nominally based on the role-playing … [Read more...]
The Gatekeepers (2012) review by The Documentalist
Dror Moreh's The Gatekeepers is one of the five Oscar nominated entries for Best Documentary Feature. Telling the story of Israel's domestic secret service agency, Shin Bet, six former heads of this secretive organisation candidly discuss their roles and their thoughts and reflect on the effect their decisions had on the peace effort. … [Read more...]