The problem with experimental films is that sometimes they fail. Sunshine is just such a film. Directed by Danny Boyle from a script by Alex Garland, this has a wonderful pedigree – these are the same guys, after all, who brought us 28 Days Later – and really should work. But it doesn’t.
This isn’t to say the film is a complete failure. In fact, not only is it quite beautiful to look at, for the first half it’s very good. Like a lot of modern films though, it falls apart in the conclusion, mostly, I think because Boyle and Garland don’t trust their audience. Continue reading “Review: Sunshine”
No one does sarcastic action hero better than Bruce Willis. There, I said it. And no matter how many people try to top him at it, it just doesn’t play as well as if it were Bruce Willis. Why is this so important to state, though? Because there are many pretenders to the John McClane throne and even though it’s been twelve years since the last time Willis has donned the McClane mantle, in Live Free or Die Hard he slips it on like he’s wearing an comfortable old suit and man is it great to see him back. 
The filmmakers behind Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix have done something a little risky. Here, in the fifth installment of the wildly popular series, they’ve not only shied away from the light, airy world created by Christopher Columbus in the first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, but they’ve also ignored any type of pre-film summary. When the lights go down in the theatre, the film starts. Just like that. There’s no “previously, in Harry Potter…” synopsis of everything that’s gone before. And good on them, I say. By this point in the series, if you’re just joining in, there’s just too much back story to try and deal with. Go rent the other four if you need to catch up… we’ll wait. 
Before we can really talk about this film, we need to talk about definitions. This is where a lot of film critics run into trouble. We look at movies differently than normal people. In fact, just the other day, my own mother asked me if there were any films I actually liked. Now the reason for this is because we, sometimes, expect more from a film than possibly the filmmakers themselves. 
Do you ever get the feeling that people making superhero movies have never read a comic book? With the exception of 
To get it out of the way, right up front, I liked this movie. As a sequel, it was better than the second installment in the series (something which doesn’t often happen) and as a film in and of itself, it works on a number of levels. The film follows the continuing adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow (
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 