Best Sellers: Urinating On Books, The Hallmark Of A Good Writer

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A publishing house on the edge of ruin finds solace in an anarchistic old writer, Michael Cain, can his new book be the thing to save them?

I find this film has moments of heart and genuine emotion but then it pushes too far into oversentimental territory. When the film becomes overly sentimental the problems with the script become increasingly apparent to a point where it almost feels emotionally manipulative.

However, the film does have its moments and I think Caine does a very good job here, his character is layered and multifaceted and grows on you over the course of the film. He has a good amount of on screen chemistry with Aubrey Plaza’s character and the two have excellent rapport. Plaza is as always very good; she does a lot with the little she is given, and she makes for a very relatable and likeable lead.

Overall, though this film wanders into the realm of the cliched and overly sentimental it still has enough heart and warmth to keep it on track.

Pros.

Plaza

Caine

The emotion for the most part

Cons.

The over sentimentality

A weak script

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Comes A Day: Never Go To A Jewellery Shop They Just Aren’t Safe, Learn From Films

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of people become trapped in a jewellery shop during a robbery.

This film doesn’t seem to quite know what it wants to be, on the one hand it wants to be a dark comedy and on the other a pure crime film. However, the film brings over elements of each which end up complimenting each other nicely to produce a comedy crime film that will bring a smile to your face.

I have been a big fan of Craig Roberts for a while now, ever since I first watched Young Dracula on CBBC, and he continues to impress me across his career. I found his lead to be likeable and more than a little relatable, he feels human and reflects how most would be in that situation: I thought it was a masterstroke to have him not be the action hero sort as it would have thrown off the whole vibe of the film.

Furthermore, he is also supported by a very strong cast with Imogen Poots and Timothy Spall shining in every second of screen time. I appreciated the amount of character development Roberts’ and Spall’s characters get and think it was well done, however, it needed to be applied to Poots’ character who remained underdeveloped throughout. The same can also be said for the villains.

I think this films greatest weakness is that it is overly ambitious: it starts a lot of ideas and themes that it then doesn’t finish which cheapens the impact.

Overall, a very enjoyable crime film that could have just done with stronger villains and more development for Poots’ character.

Pros.

Spall

Roberts

The ending

Cons.

Poots is underserved

The villains need more personality

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Anchorman: Wearing Underpants To Work Before It Was Fashionable

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The world of early morning news is thrown into disarray by the arrival of a female reporter.

I find something about early to mid-noughties Will Ferrell films oddly calming, they are very easy to watch and switch off to. This belief stems from the fact that this was before the shouty era of Ferrell wherein every line was made funnier by him screaming them a second time.

The humour of this film was very hit or miss for me, there were a few jokes that made me laugh but for the most part they left me cold. Of course there are a lot of off colour jokes in here where the characters make troublesome comments, but I didn’t find it to be done maliciously or with such vulgar unpleasantness as to take me out of it.

Christina Applegate is the real star of the show here and her character of Veronica Corningstone is terrific. She gets all the best lines, and plays off Ferrell’s Burgundy well, often matching him in terms of energy and heart.

Overall, despite some problematic lines this is still watchable, and Applegate makes it better.

Pros.

Applegate

Ferrell

A few funny jokes

Cons.

Not all the jokes land

A few troublesome comments

A lot of the side characters are deeply unlikeable

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What If: Thor Were An Only Child

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Thor, Chris Hemsworth, comes to Earth to party.

This was a very watchable episode of What If, it was by no means the best, but it had its moments. I found this to be the funniest of all the episodes so far and it made me laugh quite a few times, Jane Foster, Natalie Portman, and Darcy Lewis, Kat Dennings have all the best lines.

Moreover, I enjoyed the back and forth battle scenes between Thor and Captain Marvel, Alexandra Daniels, they were very reminiscent of Tom and Jerry or Looney Tunes and had a good escalation. I found Captain Marvel to again be too self-righteous and dower to be any real fun, the only time I found her character amusing was during the final scene when she has the joke about helping Thor study. The MCU really needs to go out of its way to make the Captain Marvel character more fun and likeable because right now she is a buzzkill, though maybe that was the point of the episode.

I did not like the ending and I felt like it came out of nowhere, indeed having Ultron show up with a completed infinity gauntlet simply to end the episode seems like a silly and needless decision, they could have just ended it neatly at the wrap up of the party sequence.

Overall, a fun episode but not one without its fair share of issues.

Pros.

Thor

The comedy

It’s fun

Cons.

The ending

Captain Marvel

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My Son: James McAvoy Doesn’t Need A Script

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A man, James McAvoy, goes on the hunt for answers after his son goes missing. Based on the French film Mon garcon.

My, my this is a bleak film. This is certainly one that you will need to watch something happy after to wash away that sense of despair and hopelessness.

I enjoyed my time with this film, maybe enjoyed is the wrong word. McAvoy was magnificent here truly. Rumour has it that for the shooting of this film McAvoy did not have any lines and instead just responded to the other characters on screen, if this is true it is a testament to McAvoy’s skills as a performer as you truly believe him as this manic, panicked father who would move heaven and earth to see his son home safely.

I found the final reveal, which I won’t spoil here, to be chilling and frightening in a very real way which stayed with me for days after watching it. I think what makes the reveal so impactful is the truth of it and how that kind of thing probably does happen in our world under our noses.

Overall, not a film for everyone the subject matter and the reveal will make this one hard to watch for some but if you do find yourself watching it you will be rewarded with a masterclass in acting from McAvoy.

Pros.

McAvoy

The ending

The reveal

The tension

Cons.

The bleakness

Clare Foy should have been given more to do

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Star Wars Visions: The Twins

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A pair of Sith twins work to create a weapon that can destroy entire star systems but then turn on one another.

This episode was disappointing. It was not bad so much as it was deeply average, and I feel like they could have done so much more with it. I am a big fan of Studio Trigger and so I was very excited for this episode which only made the disappointment worse.

I think the issue with this episode is that the plot is played out. How many times have we seen two siblings turn on each other and battle now? To many times to count, and that goes outside of Star Wars as well. It was entirely obvious that the brother was going to turn out to be the hero.

Moreover, there were also weird gaps in logic that I found to be jarring. An example of this would be that the twins can breathe in space, but their robot butler can’t? It makes no sense and when you start thinking about it, it just ruins the episode more and more.

The one thing I will compliment this episode on is that I enjoyed how into exploring kyber crystals it was, and I think that we need more of this from the Star Wars universe.

Overall, I was expecting a lot more and was deeply disappointed.

Pros.

Exploring kyber crystals

The battle scenes

The ending

Cons.

It was predictable

The plot was cliched

The gaps in logic

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Four Weddings And A Funeral: The Funeral Would Be More Fun Than This Charmless Affair

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The film revolves around Charles, Hugh Grant, and his circle of friends as they navigate love and life during a number of social occasions.

This one might be an upset, however this film did nothing for me.

Though I like the other Grant films from this era there was just something about this that didn’t quite work for me. I found the central romance to be clunky and not make a whole lot of sense narratively: having Grant’s character end up with his friend, who clearly has a crush on him, played by Kristen Scott Thomas would have made much more sense and yet they didn’t go with it.

Moreover, unlike Notting Hill I did not find any of the characters particularly likeable or charming. As the film progressed if anything I found myself becoming more and more uninterested in the characters and I cared less about what was happening to them as a result. Likewise the humour here also missed the mark for me, maybe making me laugh once or twice throughout but for the most part it left me cold.

Overall, though for many this is a classic it did nothing for me.

Pros.

Grant

One or two funny jokes

It is watchable

Cons.

The characters aren’t likeable

It is boring

The central romance is flawed

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Star Wars Visions: Tatooine Rhapsody

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A young band must perform the show of their lives otherwise Jabba The Hutt will have one of their member killed.

This may be the worst episode of Star Wars Visions, though as of the time of writing I am only three quarters of the way through. This episode is just so disappointing mainly because it doesn’t feel like it fits into the Star Wars universe at all, swap out a few character skins and references and this could be any other anime. It felt jarring.

All of the characters bar Jabba were kids, and I don’t understand the reason why? For the central foursome it makes sense I suppose but why was Bobba Fett pintsized? It makes no sense.

Moreover, the whole episode is built around these big concert scenes where the band perform, this in an off itself is not a red flag, however, when the band actually starts to perform it quickly does become an issue. To be blunt the music just isn’t good, and as it is so pivotal to the episode having it be bad makes the episode infinitely worse.

Finally, the central cast of characters are annoying and whiney which makes it impossible to form any kind of attachment to them and again kneecaps the episode.

Overall, one to skip when binging the series.

Pros.

It is short

A few interesting visuals

Cons.

The songs are bad

The characters are annoying

It makes no sense that almost everyone is a child

It doesn’t feel like it fits the brand

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The Card Counter: Scorsese Was Too Busy Watching Marvel Films To Help This Film Be Good

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

William Tell, Oscar Isaac, is a man fresh out of prison. In a past life he had been a torture specialist in the armed services and now he counts cards and is a fairly successful gambler.

That premise drips with promise, couple that with the fact that Martin Scorsese himself has taken a minute from attacking superhero movies to be involved with this film and you have me intrigued. However, sadly despite all that seems to be in this film’s favour it ends up as a classic case of style over substance.

Oscar Isaac does his best and tries to give the character an air of mystery, but it just doesn’t come together. Fundamentally this film is ruined on a script and plot level early on. You don’t care about the characters or their journey because they don’t really seem to have one. There is some back ground noise about Isaac’s character killing his former torture instructor but that feels as though it has come from nowhere.

Furthermore, the supporting cast also help to hold back any potential this film could have had, with Miles Teller wannabe Tye Sheridan and Tiffany Haddish impeding the film at every turn. Haddish is painfully miscast and then given nothing to do. I don’t buy her in a serious dramatic role, and her romance with Isaac’s lead is painful to watch. Sheridan on the otherhand is a nothingburger and fails to start.

Overall, I find it surprising that a film with this premise, with Scorsese’s involvement and Isaac in the lead could be this much of a disappointment- yet here we are.

Pros.

Isaac is trying

Aesthetically this film is interesting

Cons.

Haddish

Sheridan

It is hollow

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Star Wars Visions: The Duel

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Some time after the sequel trilogy a lone wanderer comes across a Sith lord and her army of stormtroopers terrorising a village, a battle ensues.

This was an incredibly strong start to Star Wars Visions, both artistically and in terms of story. The concept of the episode is interesting, and its setting post sequel trilogy is rife to explore; so far we have seen very little set after the Rise of Skywalker. I would love to see more of this world and its inhabitants, in that regard I think there should be another Star Wars show exploring Ronin and how he came by all those other Sith kyber crystals

Moreover, I thought the animation style was beautifully done and distinctive. I enjoyed the roughness of it and thought the hard edges and minimal use of colour really helped to form a strong personality for the episode.

The fight scenes were easily the highlight of the episode particularly those between the Sith and Ronin towards the end were each was pulling off crazier and crazier moves in an effort to best the other.

Overall, a beautiful start to the series with a keen personality and edge.

Pros.

The art style

The fight scenes

The ending

The tease for what comes after the sequel trilogy

Cons.

We need more.

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