Get Out
A brilliant and honest comedy with horrific undertones, Get Out cleverly uses its genre trappings to create a bold and unique film.
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Tag Archives: Satire
Nightcrawler
I have no idea just how close to reality Nightcrawler veers, but with a bit of a mental squint, the world it describes doesn’t seem that different to our own.
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RoboCop
Robocop explores the notion of what it means to be a cyborg with an astounding degree of depth and complexity, especially for a mainstream movie. In fact, it’s a much better science fiction film than it is action film.
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Iron Sky
In a stroke of genius, the soundtrack is provided by Laibach, a band who have long known how to confuse the general public with their deliberately confusing (mis)appropriation of fascism, nationalism and Nazi aesthetics.
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Red State
I was certain I knew what he was capable of and what his limitations were. Red State has completely blown such notions out of the water. What I see now is a filmmaker that could basically do anything, if he turned his mind to it. In Red State, he effortlessly writes, directs and edits horror, action and comedy in what could arguably be considered an ‘art house’ flick.
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The Nanny Diaries
There is so much wrong with this film it is difficult to find something to praise. Laura Linney perhaps comes closest to deserving it, playing Mrs X with a ruthless and manipulative streak that is the ultimate exemplar of the script’s point of view, and required someone of Linney’s ability to make work.
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The Simpsons Movie
The Simpson family have been joined by all manner of fancy animated characters and creations, and they have stayed resolutely the same. In spite of the wizardry of Pixar et al in their attempts to bring human characters to life, The Simpsons still presents the most realistic collection of animated humanity going around.
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It isn’t as good as the series’ peak (somewhere around and after season 5, so say I), yet it is significantly wittier than the last few seasons.
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The Host
The Host is actually a cut above the average monster movie flick – the creature’s initial rampage is brilliant. The first act skilfully blends humour with horror, and that on its own is worth the price of admission, which is a good thing considering it goes downhill from there on.
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Thank You for Smoking
The time is right for an exposé of the lobbying industry, and first-time director Jason Reitman has succeeded in shining a bright light on the machinations and behind-the-scenes skullduggery that prevail in this powerful profession. Forming the ‘MOD (Merchants of Continue reading Thank You for Smoking
American Dreamz
In its attempt to satirise both American popular culture and politics, and certain well-known political figures, American Dreamz is both too obvious and too late, and instead comes off merely as insipid and dull. When ‘American Idol’ has made such Continue reading American Dreamz