Tag Archives: Movie Reviews

Drama, History, No Spoiler Reviews, Thriller

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 (2020): The Things I Liked…

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The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), Eddie Redmayne, Netflix
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), Eddie Redmayne, Netflix

Master of great dialogue Aaron Sorkin is the writer and director of new historical drama/thriller The Trial of the Chicago 7. 

Set around the 1968 uprising at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois and focused on the seven people on trial for various charges at the time, I found Sorkin’s story adequately engaging. 

Starring Eddie Redmayne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II to name just a few, I enjoyed the dialogue – as expected. I mean Sorkin did, after all, write the words in one of my favourite screenplays, The Social Network (2010). Even though I didn’t find the dialogue quite as scintillating as Sorkin’s Mark Zuckerberg movie, I certainly wouldn’t call it bad. For there are moments that delighted, several of which take place in the courtroom. 

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), Jeremy Strong, John Carroll Lynch. Sacha Baron Cohen
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), Jeremy Strong, John Carroll Lynch. Sacha Baron Cohen

Sorkin’s movie starts with an editing style that felt disruptive because it wasn’t as easy to keep track of timelines as I’d have liked. Luckily, things do eventually settle into a better rhythm, after which I enjoyed The Trial of the Chicago 7 as a brilliantly performed tale, especially by Redmayne, Abdul-Mateen II and Mark Rylance.

In addition to the engaging and dramatic courtroom scenes, you’ll enjoy watching the evolution of the relationship between the seven-plus men on trial. Sorkin’s is going to break your heart as it puts up a mirror to some of America’s ills, especially when you realise how very little seems to have changed where racial injustice and abuse of power is concerned. Yet, I wouldn’t say that The Trial of the Chicago 7 will leave you hopeless. 

In addition to the earlier editing and the dialogue being good bur not as scintillating as the words in The Social Network, the only other thing that didn’t stand out in the best way is Sacha Baron Cohen’s American accent. It’s also not the worst I’ve ever heard, so give Sorkin’s film a chance if you’re curious. You’ll likely become an even bigger fan of Redmayne while also finding that Abdul-Mateen II is now on your radar, in case he wasn’t already. 

Happy Film Loving 

G

Comedy, Drama, No Spoiler Reviews, Romance

LOVE SARAH (2020): The Things I Liked…

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Love Sarah (2020), Rupert Penry-Jones, Shelley Conn
Love Sarah (2020), Rupert Penry-Jones, Shelley Conn

Director Eliza Schroeder’s comedy/romance Love Sarah is one of those easy-viewing films that doesn’t demand too much from you. It’s well-acted and quite pleasant, especially if you love cakes.

Starring Celia Imrie, Rupert Penry-Jones, Shannon Tarbet and Bill Paterson; besides being in the right mood for the viewing ease this film offers, the baked goods are a key reason I had to see Love Sarah. Particularly since some of the baked items I saw in the trailer remind me of a great restaurant/bakery I used to visit in North London. It turns out Ottolenghi, the founder/owner of said bakery, consulted on this movie. I guess I know my favourite cakes when I see them. 

Story-wise, it’s predictable, as one might expect, but if you go in expecting that, it’s not so bad. The story focuses on a young woman who wishes to fulfil her mother’s dream of opening a bakery in London, England’s Notting Hill neighbourhood. A dream she sets about realising, thanks to the help of an old friend and her grandmother.

I found Love Sarah very watchable if you’re in the mood for what it offers. My favourite moment has to be the scene when the camera focuses on the pouring of chocolate sauce. Such sweet memories!

Watch Love Sarah if you’re curious. I’m quite sure that aspiring bakers will enjoy this movie that little bit more. Even though one might argue it absolutely makes succeeding as a baker look easier than it actually is.

Happy Film Loving,

G

Adventure, Comedy, No Spoiler Reviews

LOVE AND MONSTERS (2020): The Things I Liked…

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Love And Monsters (2020), Dylan O’brien
Love And Monsters (2020), Dylan O’brien

Love and Monsters is a fun/funny comedy/adventure about a young man named Joel and his hero journey; a journey where he learns how to survive a monster apocalypse to get to his girlfriend who’s eighty miles away.

Starring Dylan O’Brien, Michael Rooker and Jessica Henwick; it’s the monster special effects that grabbed my attention in the trailer. And let me say, they did not let me down. The images of giant snails and other oversized creepy crawlies had me watching some of the action through my t-shirt. Yet, I still found those scenes oddly thrilling and fun. Of course, ideally, I’d have liked to be less of a wuss. But I guess I now have a slightly better understanding of the kind of thrills some people get when watching scary movies. Particularly since there’s no denying that giant bugs are often gross and undeniably scary.

The humour in the introductory voice-over in the first third of the movie is one of the key highlights. The other highlights include any encounters with oversized creatures which are both well-choreographed and scary; the latter especially if you’re not into bugs of any size. The only part I didn’t love so much is around the middle of the film, once Joel finds himself alone once more. It may be my impatience acting up here but the pacing seemed to slow down a tad. And the way the editing milked a very key moment for our hero just really annoyed me.

Still, I’d watch part two if it were coming. I mean, yeah, I don’t love bugs but for the first time in my life, being scared was actually fun. I honestly didn’t think that was possible for me.

Watch Love and Monsters because it’s fun. It’s a good hero’s journey/ coming of age story with exciting monsters and heroics.

Happy Film Loving

G

Comedy, No Spoiler Reviews, Sci-Fi

SAVE YOURSELVES! (2020): The Things I Liked…

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Save Yourselves! (2020), Sunita Mani, John Reynolds, Bleecker Street
Save Yourselves! (2020), Sunita Mani, John Reynolds, Bleecker Street

Save Yourselves! is a comedy/sci/fi film about a young couple who end up having to fend for themselves while the planet falls under attack. An alien attack that starts just as they leave Brooklyn, New York for a week at an upstate cabin where they plan to unplug from their phones and reconnect with each other. 

From writers/directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, I had to watch Save Yourselves! because the trailer was filled with precisely the kind of kookiness I enjoy from time to time.

Once the movie started, I found the young couple’s eccentricities quite refreshing and amusing. And the film’s two leads Sunita Mani and John Reynolds have great chemistry and perform well. It’s just unfortunate that I soon became bored with their characters. Even more so once the fluffy alien Pouffe got to their cabin and we see the way the brown fluffy Pouffe escapes out the door.

After the exciting escape scene, I wanted to spend more and more time watching the fluffy Pouffe in action. But of course, the focus was more on the couple and how they were dealing with being under alien attack. That’s not to we don’t see the more poof after this scene because we do and it’s great when they show up. 

Nevertheless, I’d hoped to enjoy Save Yourselves! more. However, for me, the film fits into that category of movie that doesn’t quite live up to the promise of its trailer. Even though I enjoyed the scenes with the Pouffe and liked the moments of humour at the expense of the millennial couple, for a good part of the film I wasn’t fully engaged. 

Give Fischer and Wilson’s movie a chance if you’re curious, you may find more to like than I did; especially since the trailer is quite fun.

Happy Film Loving 

G

Comedy, Drama, No Spoiler Reviews, Romance

EMILY IN PARIS (2020), The Things I Liked…

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Emily In Paris (2020), Lily Collins, Netflix
Emily In Paris (2020), Lily Collins, Netflix

I’ve seen one or two review titles say that if you miss Sex and the City (SATC), new series Emily in Paris (EIP) is here to help you out. As a long time fan of SATC and having now seen the new EIP series in full, I’d say that it’s at best a very loose comparison. Besides both SATC and EIP sharing a creator (Darren Star), the other similarities between the series feel very slight indeed.

Starring Lily Collins as Emily, a young American woman who’s hired by a marketing firm in Paris to provide an American perspective, the reason I watched the entire series isn’t so much because I think it’s great. I kept watching to ‘spend some time in Paris,’ a place I’d hoped to revisit in 2020.

The other reason is that I like Collins. And although the EIP story isn’t as well-written as one would hope, I found other elements that kept me watching. In other words, I blocked out all of Emily’s seemingly over the top and forced/exclamations to the generally loved elements of French cuisine, just so I could ‘stay in Paris.‘

Part of what made SATC so great, besides all the glamorous high fashion, the humour and its much-loved fifth star, the vibrant city of New York is the story of beautiful female friendships. There’s a little bit of that in EIP and room for improvement that a second season will hopefully deliver.

I know very well that EIP isn’t supposed to be SATC and it shouldn’t be. I’m just disappointed that it’s not at least as good in almost every way, including the fashion, which feels less exciting.

If Netflix confirm a second season of Emily in Paris, I’ll give it a chance in hopes that it will have improved. That way, my love of Paris and appreciation of Collins’s charm won’t be the main reason I keep watching, assuming I do. I mean, I probably definitely will.

Give Emily in Paris a chance if you’re very curious.

Happy Film Loving

G