Every once in a while something really astonishing and fresh comes along and Thunder Road is both astonishing and fresh. It blew my mind! Jim Cummings deserves every accolade and more for this wonderful little micro-budget indie film. I'm a sucker for a good movie about mental illness. If you add in an element about parent/child bonds, family, or parenting alone then you've got me and I'll watch that movie. Thunder Road tackles loss, addiction, mental illness, masculinity, family bonds, and the stress of being a single-working parent, and yet somehow is a hilarious comedy. And it does all this without ever laughing at Officer Jim's mental breakdown. This film is filled with earnest love and pain and it balances all the feels and tackles tricky issues effortlessly. This is not a cringe comedy, it's all heart and soul. 5/5 MUST SEE! |
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Showgirls is a real turkey but given the right conditions it can be a lot of fun. For instance, in a theater with a live drag show where you're you can drink alcohol and talk aloud. That makes this movie a fun time. Without a doubt Showgirls is ridiculous. You can practically hear director Paul Verhoeven screaming "MORE! BIGGER!! BIGGER!!" and as a result this movie is extremely melodramatic but that's what makes it what it is. This is also a movie that can't decide if it's a drama, comedy, rape revenge, or rags to riches... Have a laugh. 2/5 on a big screen and with booze 1/5 sober Magic Mike XXL is the highly anticipated sequel to Magic Mike, one of my favorite films of 2012. This is a super fun time. Many Edmonton women were pleasantly scandalized this evening at the mall. XXL reunites several characters from the first film, adds in a few more good ones, and follows them all to Myrtle Beach for a Male Stripper Convention. While the first film was more about the strippers, this is very much about the audience, and therefore very much about women and the female gaze. Both films were shot and edited by Soderbergh, though this one was not directed by him--this was directed by his longtime Assistant Director Gregory Jacobs. Still, I'm delighted to notice Soderbergh's thumbprints here and there. That was a nice throwback Warner title card. That cold open, no credits? Perfection. Those slow zooms? Nice. Overall, however, this is a completely different film from the first Magic Mike. It's an excellent sequel, and it's more than capable of delivering what the more basic audience wants as well as catering to more sophisticated tastes. Also, this movie is pretty darned feminist. Do it. 5/5 |
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