Film: Dunkirk

GENRE: War, Drama

RATING: PG-13 for some language and intense war stuff
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 46 minutes

STARRING: Fionn Whitehead & Harry Styles (newcomers)

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Tom Hardy (Inception, The Revenant)

DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan (Dark Knight Trilogy, Interstellar)

WRITER: Christopher Nolan (Inception, Memento, The Prestige)

PLOT: Trapped British soldiers need to be evacuated so England sends a bunch of regular boats.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: Didn’t know story but love Christopher Nolan.

STORY STUFF: Wow. I am surprised I never heard about this event in WWII before. It’s simply fascinating, intense and inspirational. Nolan does a deft job of showing three different timeframes at the same time and keeping you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Not a single second is wasted in this story. Every moment counts. It’s amazing.

ACTING STUFF: Nolan peppers his cast with a couple of his favourites like Hardy and Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins), some fresh-faced newbies and a few acting heavyweights like Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet) and Rylance. It is important to mention that there is hardly any dialogue in this film. The drama comes from the looks on these faces. They will pull you in with their shows of fear, concern, morality and bravery. One of my favourites was Rylance as a father doing what needs to be done to save young soldiers. He has such an earnestness to him. It’s riveting.

ARTISTIC STUFF: There is a lot I could write about but there are two elements that wowed me. The first is the cinematography. Hoyte Van Hoytema (Interstellar, Spectre) not only dazzles with some breath-taking aerial shots but also keeps us focused on the POV of our main characters. If they don’t know what’s going on outside the boat, neither do we. Creating that suspense kept me glued to the screen. The other element helping the suspense is the ticking time-bomb of Hans Zimmer’s (Inception, The Dark Knight) score. The actual ticking reminds you of the time constraints these soldiers are dealing with. It’s spellbinding.  

VERDICT: Five stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You have eyes and ears.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Atomic Blonde

Film: The Big Sick

GENRE: Romantic Comedy

RATING: R for language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 0 minutes

STARRING: Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley, Portlandia, Burning Love)

Zoe Kazan (Ruby Sparks), Holly Hunter (The Incredibles, The Firm)

DIRECTOR: Michael Showalter (Wet Hot American Summer writer)

WRITERS: Emily V. Gordon & Nanjiani (newcomers)

PLOT: A new couple deals with their cultural differences and then is interrupted by a coma.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Really enjoy Nanjiani work on Silicon Valley.

STORY STUFF: What a great story. Even better that it’s based on the writers’ real life. There are some good laughs but it’s not an outrageous comedy. There are some sweet romantic moments, but not too syrupy. There is some tense family drama but light enough to not make you squirm. The story is very well balanced. The last half hour drags a bit but because of the realistic responses, makes perfect sense. I hope the Academy remembers this script come Oscar time.  

ACTING STUFF: A very well cast film. Nanjiani and Kazan have great chemistry, which makes their relationship a treat to follow. Nanjiani has this great earnestness about him that makes this film so endearing. While Hunter’s protective Mama Bear routine works well, it’s Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) who steals the show when it comes to the parents. Nanjiani’s mother is also pretty awesome.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Not much to report here. It’s shot well and doesn’t distract which is a good thing. They do spend a bunch of time behind the scenes at a comedy club and I’ve been watching Crashing and I’m Dying Up Here so I’m actually getting a little tired of how things work backstage. But that’s totally just me. Some might find it really interesting.  

VERDICT: Four and a half stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You like a great romantic comedy and aren’t racist.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Dunkirk

Film: Despicable Me 3

GENRE: Animation

RATING: PG for action violence and rude humour
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 30 minutes

STARRING: Steve Carell (The Office, Crazy Stupid Love, The Big Short)

Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids, Ghostbusters), Trey Parker (South Park)

DIRECTORS: Kyle Balda (Minions), Pierre Coffin (Despicable Me)

Eric Guillon (newcomer)

WRITERS: Cinco Paul & Jen Daurio (Despicable Me, Secret Life of Pets)

PLOT: Gru meets his twin brother and they join force to get revenge on an 80’s inspired villain.   

FULL DISCLOSURE: Love the minions and Agnes.

STORY STUFF: The story has some good moments, but the main plot I found meh. I was not engaged in the twin storyline as much as the writers probably wanted me to. I did enjoy the minions in jail and Agnes’ continued obsession with unicorns. They made me smile and laugh.

ACTING STUFF: Carell is fine and all as Gru and Dru, so is Wiig as Lucy but the real scene-stealer is Parker who has a lot of fun as Balthazar Bratt, a villainous former child star. You can tell the eighties stuff is more to appease the adults in the crowd but it works.

ARTISTIC STUFF: The animation doesn’t blow your mind but gets the job done. It’s still a well-made film with good production values.

VERDICT: Three stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You like the minions and can wait for their screen time.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Big Sick

Film: Spiderman - Homecoming

GENRE: Action, Adventure

RATING: PG-13 for action violence and some language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 13 minutes

STARRING: Tom Holland (The Impossible, The Heart of the Sea)

Michael Keaton (Birdman, Batman), Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man)

DIRECTOR: Jon Watts (Cop Car)

WRITERS: Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daly (Horrible Bosses),

Erik Sommers & Chris McKenna (Lego Batman Movie),

Christopher Ford & Watts (Cop Car)

PLOT: Peter Parker tries to juggle school life and going up against the Vulture as Spiderman.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: Love Spiderman, second only to Batman.

STORY STUFF: That was a lot of fun. I think what I enjoyed most was the fact that Peter Parker looks like a high school student doing teenagery things. The story moves at a great pace, has fun dialogue, well-made action sequences, loads of humour and interesting characters.

It also helps that Marvel is involved with its inclusion of Iron Man, Avengers aftermath and cheesy PSAs. Oh, and there are some fun twists. Don’t bother looking for them tough. Just enjoy.

ACTING STUFF: Holland is fantastic as Peter Parker/Spiderman. I liked Toby Maguire but Holland is perfectly cast. He has the right look, the right charisma (at times) and the right amount of insecurities as a new hero. Keaton surprised at his take on Vulture. He grounds it in reality by not just going the crazy route. He has a motive that makes sense. Jacob Batalon (newcomer) as Peter’s friend, Ned, is also well cast. I also liked how this version of New York seems to fit the racial diversity of the city without it feeling like it’s going the PC route. I will say it was weird to see Martin Starr (Silicon Valley) in such a straight-laced role.

ARTISTIC STUFF: It has all the artistic qualities you would expect from a Marvel film. Great action, cinematography, and general production value.  

VERDICT: Four and half stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You like Marvel films and enjoy a younger Spiderman.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Despicable Me 3, The Big Sick

Film: The House

GENRE: Comedy

RATING: R for lots of language, violence and brief nudity
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 28 minutes

STARRING: Will Ferrell (Anchorman, Daddy’s Home, The Other Guys)

Amy Poehler (Sisters), Jason Mantzoukas (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

DIRECTOR: Andrew Jay Cohen (newcomer)

WRITERS: Brendan O’Brien & Cohen (Neighbors)

PLOT: A graduate’s parents decide to join their friend and open an illegal neighborhood casino to pay for her tuition.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: The trailer looked funny.

STORY STUFF: The film is full of laughs. It is well paced and leaves you rooting for our heroes. The problem lies in the last fifteen minutes when it becomes clear that the writers/director don’t really know how to end the movie. It’s unfortunate because I was having so much fun until then.

ACTING STUFF: Ferrell and Poehler do an admirable job. We’ve seen them have fun with these types of characters before in previous films and SNL but it is always welcome. The real standout is Matzoukas who steals every scene he is in; his wild eyes and commitment to the role is outstanding. I felt bad for the funny Nick Kroll (The League) who is subjected to the thankless bad guy, a role Jeremy Piven would have played twelve years ago.   

ARTISTIC STUFF: It’s not going for artsy but they do have fun with some montages and slow motion shots. The soundtrack also has some ballin’ money and mobster songs.

VERDICT: Three and half stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You like Will Ferrell and enjoy outrageous situations

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Spiderman: Homecoming, Despicable Me 3