aaronadoty Reviews

Long Shot (2019)

Kinda icky but pretty funny

[6/10 · 5 February 2024]

Some of the jokes will make you laugh while also feeling like you want to take a shower - and it wears its stereotypes like a cardboard crown - but "long shot" ends up being a clever and effective romcom with plenty to say about politics and the media, despite its implausibility. It also sets a frenetic pace in one-liners, sick burns and comic set pieces, including its own homage to "something about mary". While it gives off some queasy incel vibes, it also manages to be both funny and warm.

"Long shot's" by the numbers romcom structure is fully present and correct, but like most all good examples of the genre, it plays the laughs and emotions like a sweet and funny love song.

Malevolent (III) (2018)

Saved by the women

[5/10 · 5 June 2023]

While far from being a great example of the genre, this haunted house / survival horror film is saved from banality by two things. Firstly, its sound design, which makes good use of the period setting to build atmosphere through the scratches, clicks and distorted audio of walkie-talkies used by the team of paranormal investigators. But secondly, and most importantly, by strong performances from Florence Pugh and Celia Imrie (who is able to bring depth and feeling to a character that could have been a paper cutout in the hands of a less skilled actor). The plot also teases at some parallels between the personalities and motivations of these two characters, both in their relationships with their mothers and their desperation to hold onto what remains of their families.

Smile (V) (2022)

It Follows, with jump scares

[6/10 · 1 June 2023]

I feel like the elevator pitch for this movie was: "imagine It Follows except you can't get rid of the curse just by having sex". Unfortunately, the script did not lean into the premise enough - while there were a few scenes where the menace promised by the setup was used to reasonable effect, the movie was let down by an over-reliance on jump scares. From a purely personal point of view, I think I watched this movie at the exact time when I had finally seen one too many protagonists drop a glass after being frightened by a random noise. At least the film was meta enough to make a joke about this at its own expense. A bit more metatextuality could have added depth to an otherwise generic "why won't anyone believe I'm not crazy" narrative. In the end, the makers of this film could not resist the temptation to jump from "invisible menace" to "dodgy CGI creature feature". A note to movie makers: this is almost never the right call.

White Noise (I) (2022)

A perfect adaptation of a great book

[10/10 · 30 December 2022]

White Noise is one of my favourite novels, so there was every chance this film would be a shattering disappointment. Instead, it is not just an excellent cinematic retelling of the novel, but an exceptionally good piece of cinema in its own right. Its themes also have a new potency in modern-day America, musing on the slippery nature of facts as represented in the media and communicated by government agencies (and within families). The densely-packed, fast-paced script has an almost tactile quality of its own, at times moving so quickly and with so many strands that it washes over you like a fast-flowing stream. The cinematography and art direction are similarly rich, with scenes reminiscent of photographs by Andreas Gursky or Gregory Crewdson. This film is an absolute treat, a glorious confection.

The Batman (2022)

Grim, dirty, plodding, dull and overlong

[5/10 · 13 December 2022]

Grimy, seedy Gotham is the most interesting character in this movie. Pattinson's one-note Bat is the dull, dour and dreary centre of a cast that can never manage to build any narrative interest to rival the magnificent backdrops of the city itself. Gotham is dirty, grey and cluttered with the ruins of former greatness. It is always dark and perpetually raining, like the Los Angeles of the original Bladerunner. If only anything that was happening between the human characters had the kind of weight or consequence that justified the creation of such a finely wrought cesspool of fading glory. The Gotham shown here feels like a metaphor for the Batman franchise - once vibrant and magnificent, but now a faded ruin, buried under layers of a past that has all but rotted away.

The Conjuring (2013)

Real life scares

[7/10 · 29 August 2022]

Strangely compelling, "The Conjuring" and its sequels are not scary because of the frequent (limp and heavily telegraphed) jump scares, or the generic, factory-made "spooky atmosphere". Rather, the scares come from imagining Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as the real-life Ed and Lorraine Warren, peddling their particular style of supernatural religious hokum to people desperate for explanations of unsettling events. As they confidently explain the laws of demonic possession to people struggling with domestic turmoil, the gleams of zealotry in their eyes send a shiver up the spine. It is genuinely frightening to see how convincing Wilson and Farmiga are in their roles.

The Dead Don't Die (2019)

A low-key B-movie homage for the Trump era

[7/10 · 11 July 2021]

The Dead Don't Die adds nothing to the thoroughly played-out zombie apocalypse genre, but it reads as a tender homage to over 70 years of B movies set in small town America, from the sci-fi thrillers of the 50s to the po-mo zombie comedies of the new century. It also gives Jim Jarmusch an excuse to pack in a whole bunch of his favourite players and have some gentle fun with them, in a typically downbeat way. The most enjoyable parts of the movie are the interactions between small groups of characters on the sidelines of, or gaps between, what passes for the main 'action'. There's a lot of tongue-in-cheek and 4th-wall breaking dialogue, and some pretty heavy-handed musing about the demise of truth and the shallow obsessions of late-stage capitalism. None of this stops the enjoyment of watching the excellent cast comfortably inhabit their genre stereotypes as they move through a series of gorgeous locations that represent the distilled essence of the 'small town with strange going's on' cinematic trope.

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)

A thing of brilliance

[8/10 · 26 June 2021]

From the absolutely, rigorously-followed step-by-step romcom structure, to the idiotic comic asides (whales breaching on cue comes to mind), to the flawless recreation of the Eurovision Song Contest (with its irresistible charms), and the absolutely central role played by the exquisite music of Sigur Ros, The Story of Fire Saga is a goofy delight from start to finish.

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

Enduring 90s action classic

[6/10 · 14 June 2021]

TLKG is a Christmas movie in the Die Hard vein, and a she/he black/white buddy movie with solid chemistry. It's insane conspiracy plot is a tiny premonition of the insane conspiracies that now run free-range on every social media platform. Geena Davis is electric as a middle-aged, middle-class mom who bumps her head and wakes up as an unstoppable assassin.

The Neon Demon (2016)

A taut wire of constant predatory threat

[7/10 · 17 November 2018]

There appear to be some who think this is a movie about the fashion industry. If so, it has about as much to say about fashion as "Suspira" has to say about ballet. Really, this film is about obsession, loneliness, fear and the crippling tension of being on constant guard against the attack of predators. Alone and vulnerable in Los Angeles, Jesse (Elle Fanning) is a skittish prey animal surrounded by the dangers of the urban jungle. As she navigates the threats around her, she transforms into a kind of predator herself. But she will soon discover that not all killers hunt alone.

It (I) (2017)

Strong in parts, IT struggles to stay fresh and maintain cohesion

[7/10 · 25 June 2018]

With some great set-piece scares and an ensemble of impressive teen actors, IT works well and hews close to the feel and substance of King's source material, even though its narrative core often feels weak. The movie struggles in places to escape cliché (heavy reliance on a scary house and scary clown being the main offenders), but manages to find disturbing power in the behaviour of the adult (and near adult) citizens of Derry. Writing in Entertainment Weekly, Chris Nashawaty complains of Pennywise the clown, "the more we see of him, the less scary he becomes". This is true, but - whether intentionally or not - this truth reflects a central theme of the movie: it is by banding together and overcoming their fear of IT that the "Losers' club" ultimately prevails.

Date Night (2010)

Too much, too little

[5/10 · 13 November 2017]

Too much Wahlberg, not enough Ruffalo and Wiig. Too much Fey and Carrell, not enough Kunis and Franco.

This works OK as a modern screwball comedy, but could have made better use of the rest of the ensemble cast. I'd have preferred to see much less of the wooden Wahlberg, and more of Wiig and Ruffalo, whose characters appeared only long enough to serve their sole narrative purpose. Kunis and Franco were similarly wasted, as were Liotta and Fichtner (although the latter made the most of his few minutes on screen, dishing up a nice serve of wacky).

Oblivion (I) (2013)

Exquisite production and great performers wasted on feeble script

[5/10 · 10 November 2015]

This film looks beautiful. The ravaged Earth, full of the detritus of civilisation; the lovingly designed aircraft and drones; and the house that looks like something from the Jetsons brought to architect-inspired life. They are all stunning, and the film lingers over them, rightly proud of their magnificent, on-screen realisation. Cruise, Freeman, Riseborough and Kurylenko all turn in solid performances, but the show is stolen by Leo as Sally ("Are you an effective team?") even though she only appears as a video image, and mostly in grainy black and white. GoT's Costner-Waldau is wasted in a cardboard cut-out role.

Ultimately, however, the film disappoints time and again through its shoddy script and tiredly predictable, pasted-on action sequences. The film is at its best when nothing much is happening, little or nothing is being said and you have time to just gaze at the gorgeous eye-candy.

As with the original cinema release of "Bladerunner", the expository voice-over narration at the start is a mistake and serves only as the first example of the many disappointments to come in the ham-fisted storytelling.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)

A challenging, but rewarding, surreal fairytale

[9/10 · 27 August 2015]

This film was difficult to watch. I realized part-way through that I am accustomed to being told by the soundtrack what to think and feel about a scene in a movie. For the most part, Uncle Boonmee gives you no such clues. Without them, I had to make up my own mind about how to respond to each scene. As a viewer, you are given natural background noise and an ensemble of fairytale characters - the monkey spirit, the catfish spirit, the princess, the club-footed woman, the monk and the ghost - and you are left to figure out the rest by yourself. There is plenty of scope to do so: the ordinary daytime scenes and the surreal nighttime events both proceed at a languid pace, and the characters respond to even the most disturbing developments with polite calm and gentle acceptance. It is fortunate that the mood is so relaxed and the progress of the film so sedate, as there is a lot of weirdness to process. Think Gozu, with all the violence, theatrics and narrative removed.

Insidious (I) (2010)

After a strong start, "Insidious" fails to deliver

[5/10 · 5 August 2015]

"Insidious" has a number of things going for it: a stylish credit sequence, with an old- school giallo feel to it, and enhanced by the creepy still images; a gorgeous house as the setting for the first part of the movie, which builds some great atmosphere; and a spookily discordant stringed-instrument score (though it has a tendency to overwhelm the action on occasion). There is also an excellent jump-scare about halfway through that caused me to call out involuntarily as I sat watching the movie in my empty living room. Unfortunately, the shift in action from the 'haunted' house also sees the movie lose its way. The characters proliferate, but fail to add depth, and as Rose Byrne's 'woman on the verge' storyline fades into the background, so does any sense of compelling narrative. The action takes an unwelcome baroque turn, and the attempts at humor do not add to a series of sequences that commit the grievous sin of failing to be even remotely scary. After a promising start, the disappointing second and third acts feel like they have been pasted in from another movie altogether.

Girl Most Likely (2012)

This film shouldn't be as bad as it is

[4/10 · 23 July 2015]

It is hard to put a finger on why this film does not work. I'm an enormous fan of Kristen Wiig and happy to watch her in most anything. I also love genre romantic and family relationship comedy. Beyond my personal positive biases, this film has a lot going for it, including the directorial team responsible for the delightful "American Splendor", the great Annette Bening, and reliable performers like Matt Dillon and Bob Balaban. There were little flashes of pleasure, mostly intertextual in nature - like seeing Blaine from "Glee" (Darren Criss) in a boy band tribute performance, and Nicky from "OITNB" (Natasha Lyonne) as a glitter artist / cupcake stall proprietor - but, overall, the film felt flat and hollow. It was not possible to develop any feeling of warmth or sympathy for the main players. And, without an emotional core, a lightweight relationship comedy like "Girl Most Likely" is an empty  shell, and a little sad: like an abandoned hermit crab's home.

Unlike "Bridesmaids" or even her supporting role in "Adventureland", Wiig and the rest of the ensemble never really click, and the result is just kind of disappointing.

Tenderness (2013)

Pleasing, warm-hearted family relationship comedy

[7/10 · 23 July 2015]

Gently-paced family road trip as divorced parents drive from Brussels to the Alps to collect their son following a skiing accident.  A series of mundane incidents and interactions provide windows into the personalities of the characters - particularly the dreamy, accident-prone mother and the macho, slightly boorish but generally endearing father.  

The warm human interactions are contrasted by repeated scenes of empty spaces, snowfields, mountains, lakes, farmland and views of architecture that generally dwarfs the humans moving through it (freeway overpasses, highways snaking up mountainsides, the brutalist architecture of the ski resort).  Like many road trips, nothing really ever happens, but the journey is a pleasant one.

For Those in Peril (2013)

Squandered promise leads to dull disappointment

[2/10 · 28 July 2013]

This film seemed to have such promise as it developed, but ultimately that promise was squandered by a fizzler of an ending and many missed opportunities for more interesting storytelling along the way.  As the sole survivor of a boat tragedy, Aaron seemed initially to be unfairly shunned by the other residents of his small Scottish fishing village - but later developments give an inkling into the reason that he attracts such hostility.  Unfortunately, the film takes too long to get there and does nothing with the new narrative turn.  While the decision to leave the boating tragedy completely unexplained may have seemed a good one to the filmmakers, for the audience it just further serves to underline the hollowness at the heart of the narrative.  By taking too long to say too little, the film fails to sustain atmosphere, story or emotion.  Its haphazard use of locations means that it is also unable to sustain a sense of place, with each scene feeling like a separate, dull bead spaced widely along a thin thread of narrative.