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Showing posts from December, 2017

Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Stellar Success or Universal Failure?

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Rutime: 152mins | Director: Rian Johnson | Rating: 3.75 Stars Unlike many, I’m not a huge Star Wars fan. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the films, but I’ve never had that die-hard fan status which many feel. I also would likely be demonised by a lot of these die-hard fans, as to their horror, I actually really enjoy the prequel trilogy, and, dare I say it…. I liked Jar-Jar Binks. As a result of this, I went into Star Wars: The Last Jedi with an open mind and no romanticised bias and came out thinking, overall, it was a great film (despite having some glaring flaws). The Last Jedi follows the various stories of those in the Rebel Alliance and their attempts to stop The First Order. Whilst this is occurring, Rey (Daisy Ridley) seeks out Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to teach her the ways of the force and convince him to re-join the Alliance in an attempt to bring down Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and his apprentice, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), who threaten to take over the g

The Disaster Artist – Far From a Disaster. Anyway, How’s Your Sex Life?

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Runtime: 104mins | Director: James Franco | Rating: 5 Stars Oh. Hi, reader. Before I begin my review of The Disaster Artist it feels only right that I begin with a brief discussion of the infamous film it’s based on - The Room – which is labelled as ‘the best worst film ever made’. In all truth, I didn’t know about The Room until I saw the trailer for The Disaster Artist . When I then watched the trailer for it, I thought “what the f**k have I just watched…” Fast forward several months later and a friend (who happens to be a die-hard fan) berated me for not knowing about it and demanded that we watch it together the following week. I can safely say I had no idea what I was in for, and frankly, I’m not sure I’ve fully recovered since. The Room (Directed, Produced and starred in by Tommy Wiseau) attempts to tell the story of a successful ‘all-American man’, Johnny, whose fiancé falls in love with his best friend, Mark (Greg Sestero), and then attempts to manipulate

Wonder – Heart-warmingly Wonder-ful

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Runtime: 113mins | Director: Stephen Chbosky | Rating: 4 Stars I saw a trailer for Wonder a few months ago and thought nothing of it. Fast forward to the present and my mum and sister (who both read the best-selling novel) ask me if I’m interested in seeing it with them – “I’ve not anything better to do, so sure, why not”, I replied – I’m very glad I went. The story tells of a seemingly everyday family in New York who are living the American Dream – they live in a beautiful brownstone building, they have no financial problems, they own a dog – they seem to have to have it all. That’s until we are introduced to August (Jacob Tremblay), their son, who has severe facial deformities. As ‘Auggie’ enters fifth grade at a new school, he and his family try to find ways to cope with the mounting social hardships that arise as a result of his condition, taking us on a beautiful journey of self-discovery. Going into this, I admit I was wary. Given the subject of the film, I was con

Murder on the Orient Express – A Journey Worth Taking?

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Runtime: 116mins | Director: Kenneth Branagh | Rating: 3.5 Stars Many people watching this film will have had an entirely different viewing experience to the one I did, purely down to the fact that I must be one of the few people remaining (up until now) who hadn’t read Agatha Christie’s original novel or seen the acclaimed Sidney Lumet adaptation. Clearly, this was a major advantage due to the fact everything was new for me – I had no prior knowledge of the plot, and as a result, the murder-mystery remained a mystery rather than a reimagining. Murder on the Orient Express opens with the iconic detective, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh), solving a case involving a rabbi, a priest and an imam in Jerusalem (no, they didn’t walk into a bar). Almost immediately after he has solved the crime, however, he is hired to solve another case which requires him to take the luxurious Orient Express to London. Unfortunately, the journey is fraught with disaster and it is derailed mid-journ