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IR Film Review: MADAME WEB [Sony]
The motivation of "Madame Web" has a good idea behind it but ultimately the delivery fails in many ways to achieve the aspect at all of its potential. Most of this has to do with the lack of consequence and a large amount of plot holes that plague the movie.
IR Film Review: ARGYLLE [Apple Original Films/Universal]
The aspect of the spy genre and what it means in reflection about the people who enjoy them is at the center of the whirlwind which is "Argylle", a new comedy/action film from Matthew Vaughn. Vaughn has always found interest in the quirky but then melding it with high concept action. His films are not straightforward and yet do speak to originality while also being derivative of everything before it.
IR Film Review: AMERICAN STAR [IFC Films]
The concept of an assassin film as metaphorical existentialism is not new but the idea of concept is in the eye of the beholder. With "American Star", Spanish director Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego places Ian McShane as an aging assassin on the Spanish island of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. The setting is masterful especially since it takes the audience a bit to figure out where it actually as McShane's hitman settles into his target.
IR Film Review: SOMETIMES I THINK ABOUT DYING [Oscilloscope]
The essence of a internal movie with a protagonist like Fran in the movie: "Sometimes I Think About Dying" is creating a character piece that simply shows a slice of life, however quiet it might be. Daisy Ridley plays Fran with a vulnerable fragility, somewhere between a manic depressive and a creative person exploring her own world inside herself.
IR Film Review: THE BEEKEEPER [MGM]
The aspect of creating a good Jason Statham film is to almost take the Statham out of the equation. Though Statham has been established as an action genre all his own, he is always at his best when he is playing a character that has an extremity of quirks all his own. With "The Beekeeper" by having David Ayer at the helm and the always dependable Kurt Wimmer writing, it is about the mythology more than the man.
IR Film Review: AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM [Warner Bros]
The context of "Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom" is redemption. The structure of the film begins a little too cartoonish but once it gets to its pinnacle, it redeems alot of its mythos despite a clunky finish in a way.
IR Film Review: MIGRATION [Illumination/Universal]
"Migration" has a sense of itself without getting too lost in its own trevails. This might be the writing of Mike White which is an interesting choice but definitely reflects in every character having both their own argument and point of view without being grating.
IR Film Review: WONKA [Warner Bros]
The essence of "Wonka" is the idea of optimism. By the time we saw him in both Tim Burton's version and the original Gene Wilder film, he had already become a icon of his own making. This new film from Paddington's Paul King takes the middle road and in doing so bridges the concept of the man/child. He is still relished in the idea that only chocolate can save the world.
IR Film Review: FAST CHARLIE [Vertical]
The aspect of the hitman genre has to move with the concept of a knowledge that, for some, this is a job like any other. It requires finesse with intelligence and a morally dubious countenance. With "Fast Charlie", Pierce Brosnan takes on the role of Charlie Swift, a smooth if reflexively loyal triggerman with a sense of the elegant but not as much the smooth but he does his best.