Cinema and Popcorn

Genre: Fantasy; Romance; Drama; Director: Rob Marshall Writer: David Magee Starring: Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Melissa McCarthy, Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, Jacob Tremblay and Javier Bardem The Little Mermaid is the best Disney live-action adaptation. It doesn't mean it achieves brilliance, but it does rise above the bar previously set by the previous adaptations. It offers some new takes on subjects like sexuality, a feminist approach to some scenes that were first presented as "damsel in distress" situations and it also sets a multicultural/diverse set. But the movie's secret ingredient is Halle Bailey - she's the best reason for audiences to buy a ticket and go watch the film on a movie theatre. The movie starts with a relatively dark approach in the visual department (for a Disney movie), but it then evolves for the standard and brighter looking (and more family friendly) movie audiences expect it to be. The visual effects work is inconsistent - it does ...

Genre: Comedy; Drama; Action; Sci-fi. Director: James Gunn Writer: James Gunn Starring:  Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Will Poulter, Sean Gunn & Chukwudi Iwuji James Gunn is back in full power for the MCU and he does bring the Guardians of the Galaxy  movie with most heart when compared with the previous installments. It does respect the typical MCU formula, but it adds an extra spice thanks to spot-on comedy moments and a small reflexion on loss, grief and getting back what was once lost. The entire cast delivers (as in previous movies), but the spotlight goes to Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) this time, with Zoe Saldana shinning brighter in some scenes. First of all, Guardians takes place after the many events of the MCU and while one could expect it to focus on Peter Quill's internal dramas, it takes on a fresh new direction and explores Rocket's past while giving the audience a lesson about wh...

Genre: Comedy; Drama Director: Ben Affleck Writer: Alex Convery Starring: Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Viola Davis, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker & Julius Tennon People who go watch Air expecting a groundbreaking sports drama will have a letdown, but Air is a solid real-life story put on-screen and told in a very straightfoward way. It's the "boy next door" of sports drama, but it doesn't mean it has nothing special: there's something very charming about this movie. The ensemble cast is great, the pace is great and the script is excellent - I was never truly impressed, but I was never bored... in fact, it is one of the most engaging "simple" comedy/dramas in recent years. Air is made of great direction decisions. Ben Affleck has offered us some impressive heavy work in Gone Baby Gone , The Town and Argo , but he's equally effective and narrative-focused with the lighter material Air is made of. In fact, I believe Affleck relies most...

I've been on a horror marathon these days, considering the box-office (and critical) success of the latest horror movies that have been released in theaters. But it's Cannes time right now and there are some reviews I wanted to share with you before entering the first phase of the Oscars 2024 season - the post-Cannes Film Festival phase.  So have a look at some scary and bloody film features' reviews: EVIL DEAD RISE There's something quite cruel about this movie, but it never cross the "too much" line. Evil Dead Rise is quite tense and quite graphic bloody horror film that they don't get made anymore. Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland lead an ensemble that give life to empathetic characters, but the others can't quite match the acting bar set by the two actresses. They are put in a very claustrophobic set in a a nail-biting situation. It's thrilling, it's engaging and it's scary and God-damned bloody. There are some great scenes (the ele...

It's only April, but it's time to make the very first (blind) Oscar predictions. The 76th edition of Cannes Film Festival marks the start of the award-playing movies of this year's award season - the event takes place from May 16th to 27th, 2023 - and it is expected to show the world the new works from Martin Scorsese ( Killers of the Flower Moon ) (not official yet), Wes Anderson ( Asteroid City ) or the Johnny Depp starring vehicle Jeanne Du Barry (the selected movie for the Opening Night).  Still, Sundance Film Festival, SXSW and Berlinale have already launched some award-deserving features that include A Thousand and One (the Sundance champion), Ben Affleck's Air or the latest A24 drama Past Lives - all three received widespread critical acclaim! Other much antecipated movies will only be released by the Fall film festival season (or even Christmas season), but I believe Oppenheimer , Dune: Part II , the musical adaptation of The Color Purple or Universal'...

Genre: Action; Drama. Director:  Chad Stahelski Writers:   Shay Hatten, Michael Finch & Derek Kolstad (based on characters created by) Starring: Keanu Reeves,  Donnie Yen, Ian McShane,  Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Shamier Anderson,  Rina Sawayama &   Hiroyuki Sanada John Wick is not amazing and it won't be featured many TOP 10 film lists at the end of the year, but it is great as an action movie, with impressive fight scenes thanks to eye-popping stunt work and camera work. The action takes place after the events of Parabellum with John Wick seeking revenge against the High Table and it takes a very simple narrative line that's not hard to follow, which allows the audiences to focus on all the action happening on the big screen and to notice the many impressive visual elements the movie offers. Keanu Reeves reprises the role of John Wick and he commands the screen once again. Despite of being a victim of weak writing, he's able to overcom...

Is Ben Affleck 's " Air " the first Oscar contender of the upcoming season?  Early reactions have been quite enthusiastic about Affleck's latest directorial effort - a crowd-pleaser that has actually a higher message to deliver. Amazon has decided to give it a wide theatrical release in the U.S. while Warner Bros. was granted the international distribution rights, which means Air is no lesser picture at the eyes of studios. In fact, Amazon Studios has failed to generate a big awards contender ever since Manchester By the Sea back in 2016 - of course Ladj Ly's Les Misérables (2020), Cold War (2019) and The Salesman (2017) were Best Foreign Language Academy Awards nominees (with The Salesman even winning), but afar from these three and I Am Not Your Negro and The Big Sick (both scored 1 Oscar nom), Amazon Studios hasn't had a big awards hit a long time ago. Is it a bad sign for Ben Affleck's Air ? Or is it a good sign for Amazon? Air closed this year...