SilentLuminary Reviews

  Genre : Horror/Thriller Time: 1h 25mins Director:  Brad Sykes Quick Summary:  A savage but charismatic woman (Phoebe Dollar) leads two Goth teens on a dark journey fueled by drugs, violence and depravity. You're either going to love or hate this film, since I will start off by saying, you have to see how bad this movie is.  I don't really know what to say about this film, as really this is a rubbish pile set on fire, but you really can't help but watch it burn. The main reason if this is because the film takes itself very very seriously.  The script is horrible and it's dull. If someone told me some high school kids made this I would believe it. The characters of Chrissy & Boone are terrible, they spend virtually the entire film discussing how to get away from "Goth" yet do nothing. Everyone's motives are all over the place, and everyone changes their morals at the drop of a hat. There really isn't a story to this but it's just so entertaini...

  Genre: Musical/Romance  Time: 1h 25mins Director:  John Carney Quick Summary:  A girl meets a boy in Dublin and helps him put together a demo disc of his music performances. Later, they fall in love with each other and portray their love through their songs. Now, this does say this is a musical, but it's a film involving music not really a lot of dialogue. There is something really cool to note about this film, and that it was filmed in 17 days. Now I wouldn't call that impressive when comparing it to this film specifically as everything in this, seems like two people just going about their normal life.  What I liked about this film is that it felt real. The camera work and quality feel homemade, and the two main characters feel genuine in how they don't quite start off right, there isn't any flirting and they simply grow to love each other through getting to know each other as friends. They themselves feel real. I felt like I was actually intruding on two s...

  Genre: Drama/Comedy Time: 3h 9mins Director:  Damien Chazelle Quick Summary:  Decadence, depravity, and outrageous excess led to the rise and fall of several ambitious dreamers in 1920s Hollywood. There is something I love about Damien Chazelle, and it's his drive to give us characters that are so willing to reach their dreams even if they have to go through so many heartbreaking experiences. There are so many scenes in this that detail how much work goes into two seconds of film, down from people sitting around waiting for a camera, or the frustrations that began with the introduction of sound into movies. Those two excellent scenes remind us that none of this is easy, even if it all looks so much fun from the outside. That is what Damien Chazelle does, he rips away romanticism; In Whiplash he showed us that the music industry is brutal and can be soul-destroying; La La Land he showed us how romance can get in the way of people's dreams and how tough the Hollywood in...

  Genre : Musical/ Romance  Time: 2h Director : Jacques Demy Quick Summary:  Delphine and Solange, twin sisters, are in search of love. In the pursuit of their happiness and goals, they encounter interesting men and circumstances. Exploding with a beautiful pastel colour palette, this musical explores themes of regret and love and stretches the themes of musicals to their limit.  Everyone breaks into song seemingly whenever they want though, it never seems out of place. The songs are catchy, and the choreography that goes along is stunning. Everything and everyone is so full of joy, yet they are so dissatisfied with life. The juxtaposition works so well though, it doesn't ever clash. It creates a sense of hope and becomes dreamy as the characters prance around singing about what they wish for in life.  Where this film fails a bit is that it is predictable too quickly, you can see which characters will eventually end up together, or what will happen to...

  Genre: Drama/ Comedy Time: 2h 16mins Director:  Noah Baumbach Quick Summary:  College professor Jack Gladney and his family's comfortable suburban life is upended when a nearby chemical leak causes "The Airborne Toxic Event," releasing a noxious black cloud over the region that forces the Gladney family to evacuate. This was extremely messy from start to finish.  Everyone just seems to speak over each other leaving you no room to actually process what anyone is saying to add to this everyone talks in a monologue tone so it also becomes so boring to listen to this film.  As well, 90% of what anyone says is unrelated to anything that happens in the film, so It also becomes so confusing to even try to follow what's happening.  Visually this film is very nice to look at, really that's what kept my interest. Everything is very colourful and full of patterns. Both this and the vocal noise is very overstimulating, which yes I know is supposed to be the point o...

Genre: Action/Superhero Time: 2h  Director: Sam Rami Quick Summary : Peter Parker's life changes when he is bitten by a genetically altered spider and gains superpowers. He uses his powers to help people and finds himself facing the Green Goblin, an evil maniac. This is one of the most fun origin stories ever.  Unfortunately in a few scenes, the CGI looks really janky and unpolished. To add to this the script feels really unnatural and super cheesy. This does not make it a bad film at all, it's really well-written. The action scenes in this are amazing! Feeling extra tense, with lots of close shots of spiderman in action as we follow him swinging about. I did like that even though it deals with a lot of mature themes, it's still a super fun movie and it doesn't feel jarring at all to see them side by side. It could be serious and still have its campy nature added in. Toby Maguire was a brilliant pick! He's awkward and loveable but still has that hero material tha...

Genre: Horror/ Sci-Fi Time: 1h 42mins Director:  Gerard Johnstone Quick Summary:  A robotics engineer at a toy company builds a life-like doll that begins to take on a life of its own This has honestly set the bar for a horror film for 2023 for me. It may have silly and goofy moments but that just made me love it more. I was a bit sad for a start that pretty much all the kills happened off-screen, I would have loved for this movie to bump up the gore factor. Though I did really like that it put a refreshing spin on the same "Killer Doll" format, as it manages to be really entertaining throughout. I'm glad this movie doesn't take itself too seriously, as if it did I feel like it would of flopped. The silly nature of this doll like bursting out into the song 'titanium' as a bedtime song and doing weird noodle arm dances is what brings a lot of the charm to this. I can really see this becoming a cult classic.  While entertaining, it also touches on the risk of ...

  Genre: Family/Adventure Time: 1h 26mins Director:   Brad Bird Quick Summary:  A boy befriends an innocent alien, who resembles a gigantic robot. A paranoid governmental agent, however, desires to obliterate the alien. I was so surprised at how mature this is. Especially since it is a kid's film. It explores many complex themes and emotions all whilst being lighthearted and genuinely funny. All the characters are likeable in their own ways and feel fully fleshed out.  A lesson that is incredibly important to kids is friendship, and it teaches this to them in a way that doesn't appear condescending or force it down their throats. And another one I liked is that was completely Anti-Gun and actually explained why you should be, even explaining it to kids without becoming scary or upsetting. It approaches these messages with maturity and that is amazing for a kid's movie. I really enjoyed the humour in this, it was a nice balance of sophisticated and simple so th...

  Genre: Action/Superhero Time : 2h 17mins Director:  Richard Lester Quick Summary:  Superman decides to give up his superpowers for the sake of his true love, Lois Lane. At the same time, three criminals from his home planet of Krypton land on Earth and try to conquer the world. This film tries to pick up what the previous movie left and attempts to run on equal ground. It, unfortunately, doesn't quite get there.  A lot more of the practical effects feel less magical and are clunkier. I found out this is because the film has two directors, the previous being Richard Donner had been fired halfway through. So there are clashes spread throughout the film, being two different styles are mashed up. Though I didn't think it was that bad, as they weren't that different. One thing I liked that the first didn't do was It actually had good villains. As well as that they're seemingly stronger than Superman! This makes for a really entertaining challenge as they don't res...

    Genre: Action/ Superhero  Time: 2h 38mins Director:  Richard Donner Quick Summary:  Scientist Jor-El rockets his infant son, Kal-El, to safety on Earth. Kal is raised as Clark Kent and develops unusual abilities and powers to become Superman who fights for truth and justice. I absolutely adore the amount of effort and care that went into this film. The colours pop with intensity and are so vibrant, it really gives off comic book vibes. It's so entrancing to watch the colours explode throughout. The practical effects are amazing as well, but unfortunately, it does date the film. Although I don't think it ruins the film for me, it adds to the charm.  Margot Kidder is brilliant. She brings a ton of charisma and feels so genuine in her role as Louis Lane, and her chemistry with Christopher Reeve which is really what matters. Gene Hackman is also brilliant, he has such a great demeanour and the way he plays off other characters was really fun to watch. Lea...

  Genre: Sci-fi/Adventure Time: 3h 12m Director:  James Cameron Quick Summary:  Jake Sully and Ney'tiri have formed a family and are doing everything to stay together. However, they must leave their home and explore the regions of Pandora. When an ancient threat resurfaces, Jake must fight a difficult war against the humans. If you haven't seen this yet, I very strongly suggest you do. Let me first absolutely praise this film for its CGI. It's visually stunning and immersive, you honestly forget it's CGI within 10 minutes. The landscapes are absolutely breathtaking and there is always something to look at in awe. Especially the underwater scenes. It's dreamy, full of vibrancy and life. I fully forgot I was watching a movie nearly enough entirely done in CGI, that's how much of a treat it was to look at.   The film tells us an important message about the environment and our responsibility to protect it through our viewing experience. The Navi need it to survive, ...

Genre: Romance/Drama Time : 2h Director: Sam Mendes Quick Summary : A romance develops in a beautiful old cinema on the south coast of England in the 1980s. This was very messy, and nothing really mattered in the end. The cinematography is what held up this film mostly as well as Olivia Colman. It really knows how to frame its shots and give us a wide view of our landscapes, all with warm tones of orange, yellow and brown. Overall it was a very pretty film to look at, and it knew what it was doing that way. Olivia Colman even though she was given personally an awful script and character to play, she really brought her all to it. There was one scene where she goes on an intense angry rant and she expresses so much raw anger it, I was very much impressed. I do wish they developed her characters properly and showed the downfall more because honestly I was extremely disappointed and confused by it. The score as well was also something I really enjoyed. A lot of instrumental and splashes ...

  Genre: Comedy                               Time: 1h 26mins                    Director:   Roman Coppola Quick Summary:   A graphic designer (Charlie Sheen) plays out unusual fantasies in his head as a way of coping with the departure of his longtime lover. This film shows what happens when you prioritise style over substance and feels like a bit of a waste of talent overall.  The fantasy sections are great fun, from a tomahawk-wielding raiding party of scantily clad female “Indians,” to a sci-fi-ish semi-military organization run by ladies in garters, to a rescue fantasy in which Charles smoothly dispatches an evil Nazi, they are all charming renderings of the daydreams of a man who has never grown up. And as much as they are excuses for a lot of gorgeous women to wear fantastic costumes, they work best as the titular g...

  Genre: Romance/Drama                         Time: 2hrs                              Director:  Céline Sciamma Quick Summary: France, 1770. Marianne, a painter, is commissioned to do the wedding portrait of Héloïse, a young woman who has just left the convent. Héloïse is a reluctant bride-to-be and Marianne must paint her without her knowing. She observes her by day, to paint her secretly. For a start, this has minimal dialogue but focuses on the plot moving forward through prolonged scenes of longing and subtle expression, though this means it can be extremely slow, but depending on the type of films you may enjoy it. I didn't find it dull, and the slowness of this didn't bother me, as the romance in this is very much a slow burner with a lot of tension. It is full of expression, from painting to music, to love ...