REVIEW: ‘The Trip to Spain’ is a hilarious, though familiar, Coogan/Brydon getaway

The age-old wisdom is that travelling is one of the best ways to expand your mind, giving you experiences that can’t be had elsewhere. But as any traveller will remind you, it’s easy to bring your bad habits with you on a journey. Perhaps that’s one of the keener observations in The Trip to Spain, the new theatrical cut of the TV series starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. No matter how much the fictional versions of the two comics learn about themselves in these stories, there’s always a new country to explore and play host to their middle-aged foibles.

New Releases, FilmRobert SnowAugust 23, 2017the trip to spain, the trip, steve coogan, rob brydon, comedy, travel, Europe, literature, spain, don quixote, aging, britishComment

REVIEW: ‘The Dark Tower’ ventures into an entirely generic multiverse

When Nikolaj Arcel’s film is at its best, it does harness this mixture of genres, suggesting that there’s a fascinating world for audiences to explore. The realm of Mid-World contains derelict versions of technology from our world, but with a society that seems more like a 19th-century American frontier settlement, only equipped with electricity and futuristic capabilities like teleportation. Frustratingly, just as viewers are getting interested, the film has its characters travel to Manhattan, where a series of rote story beats plays out: the hero is injured and fortuitously healed before the final fight; the hero has a falling-out with his companion, only to bond over a shared experience; the hero stops a world-destroying space laser with a few well-placed, slow-mo bullets.

REVIEW: 'Dunkirk' is Christopher Nolan's best film to date

The raging debate now isn’t whether or not Dunkirk’s the best summer film to date -- because it undoubtedly is -- but whether or not this is Nolan’s finest work on a resume that has no major blemishes. I would argue this is definitely Nolan’s best film because this is a technical Nolan at his technical best, and his expertise shines through in every single aspect of the film, most notably in using the rule of thirds in both plot structure and developing tension between characters.

REVIEW: ‘Atomic Blonde’ is a neon-lit thermonuclear warhead, with a few frayed wires

A finely engineered watch figures prominently in the plot of Atomic Blonde. It’s loaded with some secret information that everyone in the movie wants to get their hands on. It’s tracked by operatives of MI6, the CIA, the KGB and the French DGSE. Whoever has the watch controls the fates of dozens, if not hundreds of spies in Cold War Europe. As the people of East and West Berlin take the final crucial steps towards reunification, a shadowy battle plays out over a single deadly timepiece.

Like the watch, the film is a collection of beautiful components. The craftsmanship behind every part is on full display: bold, fluorescent cinematography, calibrated performances, and a vicious one-take action scene for the ages. There’s an important flaw, though: Atomic Blonde puts all of this powerful material on display, but can’t seem to put it together correctly. It’s as though the pieces are grinding against each other, resetting the clock when the film should be ticking forward and building tension.

REVIEW: ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ is a triumph of emotional, layered sci-fi

Make no mistake: on the surface, Matt Reeves’ film features cutting-edge motion-capture tech and the investment of an estimated $150 million (before marketing costs). But the key to the film is a focused, moving screenplay - one that finally puts all of its attention on the main character of the series, Caesar the ape (Andy Serkis), as opposed to viewing him alongside a human lead. We track Caesar through his greatest struggle, to find a lasting home for his people, an endeavour that references Old Testament stories, classic cinema, and modern politics. Big tentpole films with truckloads of CGI don’t have to be made this way, and all too often aren’t. So why not celebrate when Hollywood gets it right?

REVIEW: ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’, where the villain finally measures up

If you spent any time in the pop culture world over the weekend, you probably heard that Homecoming has one huge thing going for it: a formidable, carefully chosen villain. And it’s important to point that out as soon as possible, not only because Marvel films tend to fall apart in this exact area, but because Adrian Toomes (a.k.a. The Vulture, played by Michael Keaton) is crucial to why the movie feels so cohesive. Toomes has a relatable objective, a code of honour, and his relationship with Spider-Man makes you forget at times that we’re watching yet another fragment of a perpetually sprawling, incomplete story.

True North Streaming: The Best New Titles on Netflix Canada, July 12/17

True North Streaming is a semi-regular column highlighting some of the best new additions to Netflix’s Canadian service. Like many of you, every so often I get a pleasant surprise when I discover a cool movie or TV show that’s just popped up on Netflix’s often-maligned sister platform. These posts will help you filter through the often quirky mix of Netflix Canada’s offerings and find the most valuable ways to waste some time.

And with that, in no particular order…

TV REVIEW: ‘Doctor Who’ Series 10 oscillates between bland and exciting, but ends with a bang

For its part, Doctor Who gets the special distinction of throwing a splashy ending every few years, whenever the lead actor playing the Doctor decides on a career change. Fans and critics alike focus in: what will the show leave us with to remember a particular actor’s interpretation of the character? How will the handoff to the next Doctor work? More pointedly, what kind of show was Doctor Who with Peter Capaldi in the lead, and what will keep us watching as we continue into the sixth decade of Who?

REVIEW: ‘Baby Driver’ is an engine-roaring, music-blaring love story on wheels

The shortcut to describing Baby Driver is to call it a heist film. But the more you think about it, the less that label applies to the new film from Edgar Wright. Movies that truly belong in the heist genre tend to break down the crime, showing us detail-by-detail how the brilliant thieves got away with it. But there’s something more pressing at the heart of Baby Driver - an old-fashioned love story, where the hero is bent on escaping a criminal life he never wanted. He’s got better places to be, and a hell of a way to get there.

Reviews of Classic Movies: ‘Broadcast News’ is a surprisingly clairvoyant office dramedy

It’s a rare movie that gets the distinction of “aging well”. Too often, a movie made with a particular fervor about some kind of social issue or piece of technology risks seeming jokey or out-of-touch when you watch it again many years later. So when you come across an older film that feels just as relevant today as it did when it came out, you get a special thrill; the effect can even intensify if the film actually predicted something that would happen long after it released. It’s enough to make you briefly forget about the spiralling doom of Hollywood blockbusters to eventually all occupy a single cinematic universe.

True North Streaming: The Best New Titles on Netflix Canada, June 11/17

True North Streaming is a semi-regular column highlighting some of the best new additions to Netflix’s Canadian service. Like many of you, every so often I get a pleasant surprise when I discover a cool movie or TV show that’s just popped up on Netflix’s often-maligned sister platform. These posts will help you filter through the often quirky mix of Netflix Canada’s offerings and find the most valuable ways to waste some time.

And with that, in no particular order…

REVIEW: ‘Wonder Woman’ is a striking meditation on war wrapped in a solid superhero package

Happily (despite persistent rumours to the contrary) Patty Jenkins’ picture is a sturdy, involving piece of work on its own merits. It uses the broader DC universe as a stage for a reflection on the causes of war – is it something inherent in human nature, or something we can struggle to avoid? And it does so from the unique perspective of a woman being introduced to real combat (and the 20th century) for the first time. While Wonder Woman isn’t immune to the usual genre tropes (uninspiring villains, a messy climax), it’s still a great place to start; not just for female-led comic-book movies, but for the DC franchise as a whole.

Film, New ReleasesRobert SnowJune 4, 2017wonder woman, 2017, movies, cinema, film, superhero, comic book, dc, warner bros, review, criticism, superman, batman, gal gadot, chris pine, patty jenkinsComment

REVIEW: ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’ strands you in overly-familiar waters

The first act of the newest Pirates of the Caribbean movie features a sequence where a team of horses, hooked up to a one-ton vault, end up towing an entire building through the streets of an island township. In the midst of this chaos is Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), waving his arms like a mad octopus, in the throes of the shtick that Depp has offered on movie screens for 14 years. None of it is remotely plausible, and it goes on much longer than it has any right to.

REVIEW: 'Alien: Covenant' is ordinary, even with all the gore

Somewhere along the line, the Alien franchise went from claustrophobic sci-fi horror-thriller to sci-fi action set piece, and in doing so became yet another example of a sequel we didn’t need. Alien: Covenant is the sequel to 2012’s Prometheus and Ridley Scott’s third entry in the six-film franchise, which alone presents a problem: through nearly four decades, which included three different female leads, four different directors, four sequels and a prequel, there’s not a lot of ground left to cover. A film that should be equal parts tense, chilling and exciting ends up becoming none of those things.

Jason ChenMay 23, 2017Comment

REVIEW: ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’ is a gonzo interpretation that’s been cut to ribbons

Now comes King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, the newest (but twice delayed) film from Ritchie and the first major release based on the Arthurian tales since Antoine Fuqua’s 2004 film starring Clive Owen. True to form, Ritchie approaches the Knights of the Round Table with his signature flourishes, doubling down on the magical underpinnings of the source material. This is a movie with Mûmakil, giant snakes, and a hulking skull-headed necromancer. It’s almost a direct contradiction of Fuqua’s “What if Arthur was a real military leader?” concept, and one that feels more authentic to those familiar with names like Merlin, Mordred and Camelot.

But Legend of the Sword is also a naked attempt to re-forge King Arthur into a medieval superhero. The legendary king is given otherworldly powers not unlike those of the Flash, and thus the audience is entreated to sign up for yet another merchandisable multi-film cinematic universe - or would it be cinematic kingdom? Even that wouldn’t be so bad, if the film wasn’t also one of the most confusingly edited movies of 2017. Over and over, the movie scrambles up its scenes, leaving the distinct impression that Ritchie’s first draft wasn’t good enough for Warner Bros. (after Suicide Squad, who’s surprised?) and the editing was passed on to a committee. The Arthurian tales are flexible, but they’re no match for studio meddling.

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