SilentLuminary Reviews

Genre: Indie film/Thriller           Time: 1hr 30 mins          Director:   Benjamin Louis Quick summary:  Six teens decide to record their final days leading up to their agreed-upon suicide pact. One important thing to note is that this film is very dialogue driven, mainly with the monologues by the characters to the camera. So not much visually entertaining happens. As well as this the dialogue is very cringe at times, almost feeling like some middle-aged man wrote what he thought teenagers spoke like. They go in circles of righteous vanity and very bad cliches.  My first impression was that the directing was bad, but the story and idea were good. I honestly kept watching for that, it's very compelling and you are interested in what is going to happen within the first slow burner half of the film. I wasn't sure about the main character, Scot", who tells his very eccentric group of friends about his idea to...

  Genre: Horror/Comedy            Time: 1h 35mins            Director:  Halina Reijn Quick Summary:  When a group of 20-somethings gets stuck at a remote mansion during a hurricane, a party game gone very, very wrong ends with a dead body on the ground and fake friends at every turn as they try to find the killer among them. First of all, this film immediately shows you how unlikeable this cast is, but in a good way. None of these characters are meant to be good people, and it shows throughout this as they constantly turn on each other, and backstabs are thrown about wildly. As they throw a small party at one of their mansions during a hurricane, they throw around words they don’t properly understand – from misusing ‘gaslighting’ and ‘narcissism’ to repeating common internet phrases like “facts are facts.” They play at having a good time with their friends, but only ever have their own best interes...

  Genre: Mystery/comedy             Time: 1 hour 38 mins               Director:  Tom George Quick summary: In 1950s London, plans for a movie version of a smash-hit play come to an abrupt halt after a pivotal member of the crew is murdered. When a world-weary inspector and an eager rookie constable take on the case, they find themselves thrown into a puzzling whodunit. I really liked this film, but honestly, I think it's because I really like all the elements put into this film more than most. It's a wild mix-up of a British comedy that parodies a serious who-done-it mystery, all while bringing a perfect splash of meta-commentary. There are air quotes and winks at the audience with obvious elbow nudges in almost every scene. I loved all the jokes, so since the movie is exceptionally well cast and stylishly filmed, I thought it was amazing. The characters all melded wonderfully, creating their...

  Genre: Thriller/Horror           Time: 2hr 3mins          Director:  Olivia Wilde Quick Summary: In the 1950s, Alice and Jack live in the idealized community of Victory, an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top-secret project. However, when cracks in her idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something sinister lurking below the surface, Alice can't help but question exactly what she's doing in Victory. I really don't know how I feel about this film. It really stretched to become something it ended up completely missing, especially with how long the film goes on.  This film looks absolutely stunning though, with the vibrant 50's aesthetic, amazingly framed shots that are really satisfying, and really cool visuals. Everything is very distinct, and sometimes a little bit wild.  Although, I think it focused a bit too much on that, sacrificing the plot which becomes a bit e...

  Genre: Action/Thriller      Time: 2 hours 6 mins          Director:  David Leitch Quick Summary: Ladybug is an unlucky assassin who's determined to do his job peacefully after one too many gigs has gone off the rails. Fate, however, may have other plans as his latest mission puts him on a collision course with lethal adversaries from around the globe -- all with connected yet conflicting objectives -- on the world's fastest train. If you want a film filled with shenanigans that constantly keep you mentally on your toes, this is the film for you. I loved how quick pace this was, it really added to how frantic everything is.  Its characters are very wild. All are either paid killers or otherwise violent individuals connected with the world of crime, and the majority either have grudges against one of the other characters or are the object of a grudge and trying to escape the consequences of past actions. Most of them are chatte...

  Genre: Horror/thriller           Time: 2hr          Director:  David Bruckner Quick summary:  A young woman must confront the sadistic, supernatural forces behind an enigmatic puzzle box responsible for her brother's disappearance. This was a very frustrating film to watch if I'm honest. A lot of characters make a lot of dumb decisions, which leads to more dumb decisions. It sits pretty much on the surface level of what I have heard hellraiser films are about and not much is really explained about the lore, as I was someone going into the film without seeing any of the others.  I found it very hard to route for the main characters as all of them were kinda unrelatable and really unlikeable. If they're not having a super loud annoying tantrum, they're having a very emotional breakdown, and honestly, it almost put me off the film.  Leading the group is Riley (Odessa A’zion), a struggling addict whose only lifelin...

  Genre: Fantasy/ Action          Time: 1h 47mins          Director:  Gary Goddard Quick summary: Skeletor wants the cosmic key as he wants to be powerful and take over the world. He-Man and company must save the world from Skeletor and free Sorceress, who is Skeletor's prisoner. Boy, this film is so silly; I love it. But not a lot. This was very much obvious a way to get kids to buy more He-man toys. The plot line is very simple, the script is kinda bare bones, and the action scenes are very cheesy, even for the 1980s. But man Skeletor (Frank Langella) absolutely carried this film with his dramatic acting that honestly really appealed to me. He was so entertaining to watch and my attention was instantly grabbed anytime he was on screen.  The cinematography in this is very dark with a bit of edge, giving us somewhat of that mystical fantasy feeling, though it does fall flat when you look at the set pieces as they feel...

  Genre: Romance/Comedy          Time: 1h 33mins          Director:  Woody Allen Quick Summary: Alvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages. I absolutely love how charming and witty this film is. It holds a special place in my heart.  So Alvy, the main person we follow in this film narrates the film by constantly breaking the 4th wall and talking to the audience, simply adding his analysis or commentary to what is happening, and honestly I found it so enduring. The whole film is built on conversations and people and how they interact. Everyone talks, and it delves into the relationships between multiple people.  They walk and talk, sit and talk, go to lunch, make love and talk, talk to the camera, or launch into inspired monologues. Boy, these monologues are so brilliant too. One...

  Genre: Thriller/ Horror          Time: 2h 14mins          Director:  Charlie Kaufman Quick Summary: A young woman soon finds herself with misgivings after traveling with her new boyfriend to his parents' secluded farm. Warning, this film requires a lot of attention and thinking. A young woman (Jessie Buckley) sits in the passenger seat of a car as her boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons) drives them both to his parent's house for dinner. They’ve been dating for seven weeks, just long enough for her to think that it might be time to break up. As her thoughts are communicated to the audience via voiceover, however, Jake breaks in. He does this for a lot of the film and it is so fascinating to watch. You can never really tell if he's just very good at reading her emotions, or that he can hear her thoughts. The whole journey, the air is uncomfortable between the two. The audience watches as it flicks through the pair having dull s...

  Genre: Family/Comedy          Time: 1h 26mins      Director:  Tim Hill Quick Summary: Garfield and Odie break out of their kennel to go to England with Jon. Coincidentally, Garfield greatly resembles a cat who has inherited a castle and accidentally ends up trading places with him. Director Tim Hill captures, quite literally, none of the ever-so-slight charms of the original AND manages to do everything else wrong in the process. It is truly painful to watch the incredibly forced performances of Billy Connolly, as Dargis. Connolly essentially spends the entire film trying to kill a Garfield look-alike cat so he can inherit a castle and turn it into a major resort. You can tell he really isn't enjoying it.  My poor man Tim curry too. Oh boy. My love, he carries this film single-handedly. Curry is a marvelous actor with tremendous stage credibility, and his voice work is, to his credit, far more appealing and entertaining than ...

  Genre: Comedy/Family          Time: 1h 20mins          Director: Peter Hewitt Quick Summary :  Jon buys another pet dog named Odie in order to impress the girl he likes from his high school. However, when Odie is abducted, Garfield, along with his other animal friends, sets out to rescue him. If you love Garfield, go watch this film immediately because it captures his energy and charm 100% in a wonderfully funny journey. I want to start off by saying, Bill Murry. The absolute best person they could have cast for the voice of Garfield, he really has all the parts nailed down. His smugness, flicking between affectionate and dis attachment so easily, and his iconic grumpy nature. It is very obvious the filmmakers knew their source material very well and that they equally love Garfield as much as the fans going to see this. This really was a film for the fans. Just like the comic strips only we can see/hear Garfield's thoughts an...