Am I Racist (2024 Documentary)

Category: Documentary

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The challenge with reviewing documentaries that cover hot-button topics, and especially ones from figures as polarising as Matt Walsh, is in separating the film as a film from your personal politics about the topic that the film covers. If you so happen to agree with the point of view being presented, there will be very little in the way to stop you thinking the movie is Oscar-worthy, whereas if you have a pre-existing objection of some sort, then you will be more likely to find flaw with - and maybe even refuse to review - said cinematic work. I'm not personally unaware of that the challenge of personal bias, so with that in mind I will fully confess that (at time of writing) I was a Daily Wire subscriber (however I've let that lapse) and that I agree to an extent with some (but definitely not all) of the musings and opinions of Matt Walsh and co. I certainly wouldn’t call myself a DW fan-boi - but I do want to put it out there, and I will strive to review this like I see it.

The Third Wife (2018 film)

Category: Period drama/foreign language film

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Foreign language films can be a treasure-trove for film buffs, and I have to say, I'm glad I came across this one.

Storyline and everything else aside, if you love the art of film-making and storytelling, this movie is a must-watch. The attention to detail and level of authenticity that has gone into this production is simply mind-blowing - while I'm no expert on 19th century Vietnamese serfdom, it's clear the whole crew spent great effort getting the sets right, the clothing right, and even the props. If you want period drama, this is right up your alley!

Now, the name The Third Wife may already give some of the story away, but that's OK.

Sicario 2 (2018 film)

Category: Americans vs Mexican drug cartel action thriller

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"There's no way he survived that!"

Those words was the second-to-last thing I said as this movie came to an end. The last thing I actually said was "oh look - they reflected the opening scene in the ending! That's never been done in film-making before!".

It’s also quite possible that I at some stage said (quietly, under my breath) "Damn! Dora looks hot as a schoolgirl!". If you know, you know.

But in all seriousness, if you enjoyed the first Sicario, this is more of the same, but on a bigger scale and now with extra deus-ex-machina thrown in for good measure.

Crazy Rich Asians (2018 film)

Category: Romance drama with comedy elements.

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Maybe this movie should have instead been titled "Crazy Rich Singaporeans Of Chinese Descent" because, in reality, while the movie is titled Crazy Rich Asians, it focuses only on one type of Asian - Chinese - and only in one country - Singapore - as if there aren't also wealthy Asians of other ethnicities elsewhere in Singapore, let alone the rest the world. Ah well.

To sum up Crazy Rich Asians, I'd call it a romance drama that borrows plot points from Chinese teledrama series. If you happen to be familiar with Chinese (or other Asian) teledrama series, you'll recognise the tropes right away.

The plot of this movie goes as such: Rachel (played by Constance Wu) is an economics professor who doesn't know that the man she is dating in New York, Nick (Henry Golding), is the son of the wealthiest real estate tycoon in Singapore . However, this secret is revealed when the two travel back to Singapore where Nick is the best man at his best friend's wedding.

Hostel: Part 2 (2007 film)

Category: Torture horror with comedic elements

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The first Hostel movie was always going to be a tough act to follow. A shame that it didn't win any Oscars, but bloody hell, it was quite a fun, decent movie. But how do Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino fare second time around? Read on to find out.

Following on from the events of the first movie, this time we follow the (mis)adventures of three women - Beth, Whitney and Lorna, who befriend Axelle and end up in Slovakia after a train ride beforehand with some sleazy Italians. Wouldn’t you know it, they all end up in the same hostel from the previous movie where it now seems half the town is in on the act and the Elite Hunting Club have become a bigger and better operation that learned its lessons second time around - they now have a mobile-friendly bidding website and better locks on the doors.

Snowtown (2011 film) + UPDATE

Category: Violent murder/psychological drama/biopic

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Oh fucking hell. What a movie. 

Snowtown is as depressing as it is disturbing as it is hard-hitting as it is well-crafted as it is based on true events. And to me, it's made all the more impactful by the fact that I lived and worked only a handful of miles from where all this was happening!

In case you're not familiar, the name Snowtown refers to the small rural town approximately 100km north of the capital of the state of South Australia where four men, led by John Bunting, stored the remains of some of their murder victims in a former bank vault in the town at the time the four were arrested and their murder spree was ended in late 1999. Thus, the name/word Snowtown is synonymous with the string of murders committed by the four, despite the fact that only one murder was committed there. 

However, this movie is not a documentary - for all intents and purposes, this movie is a retelling of the Snowtown murders, but with details changed. For staters, the suburb where the perpetrators lived is changed, as well as some other things.

Candyman (2021 film)

Category: Supernatural horror/reboot of established IP with social commentary

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There's a fine balancing act that reboots/remakes and sequels need to walk - if they differ too much from established lore, then it's not really a sequel. But if the new story is too rooted in established lore, new audiences won't catch on because of stuff they never knew they needed to know about. And then you have the problem that if too much of the run-time is spent recapping or referencing established lore, this leaves less room to progress the actual story. Having said all that, I went in to this movie with absolutely no knowledge of the previous series and didn't actually know this was a reboot until I read the IMDB page.

The premise behind Candyman plays on the urban legend that standing infront of a mirror and saying "Candyman" five times will make the Candyman himself appear and kill you, but now packaged with a sociopolitical twist. This isn't just a standard horror film - it's a commentary on racism by those nasty nasty wypipo and police brutality.