SilentLuminary Reviews

  Genre: Drama Time : 2h 17mins Director: Kenneth Lonergan Quick Summary:  A depressed uncle is asked to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies. Going into this you can tell this is gonna be a sad film and it really is what you sign up for.  Something I wasn't sure if I liked personally or not, but I understand what this was doing, was mostly every scene felt awkward or not of the actors felt like they were "acting." This feels like real people and you're just peaking into a moment of their life. It's supposed to be raw and realistic, so I get why they did this with all the slightly dull dialogue or conversations that never seemed right or "Pre-Planned" I wasn't fully sure about this, because yes it's true to what the tone of the film is, but made it feel boring for me and felt very very slow a lot of the time.  The main lead, Casey Affleck at first I strongly disliked. I found him arrogant, uncaring and honestly a dick,

  Genre: Horror Time: 2hr Director:  Parker Finn Quick Summary:  After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, a psychiatrist becomes increasingly convinced she is being threatened by an uncanny entity. I really liked how uneasy this film makes you and full of dread.  There is an overall theme of trauma that will consume you if you don't face it, which I found really interesting as it shows a few different versions of it and how it could "affect" you. Our main character catches her case of the "spooks"; someone kills themselves in front of her, bringing up a lot of unsolved trauma for her and sending her down a manic spiral. I wouldn't say she is a perfectly developed character, she couldn't end up with any development upwards since she had become frantic to escape her fate, but I will say her actions and reactions to things are justified since she is on such high alert and is desperate to get away.  I personally didn't like a

  Genre: Action/Adventure Time: 1h 44mins Director:  Chris McKay Quick Summary:  A cooler-than-ever Bruce Wayne must deal with the usual suspects as they plan to rule Gotham City while discovering that he has accidentally adopted a teenage orphan who wishes to become his sidekick. Who would have thought Batman worked perfectly within the Lego format. Sounds crazy, but honestly it works.  This was so funny, especially watching this as an adult. Absolutely full of big jokes that always land. They cram so much into this, even if it is just psychical comedy in reaction to some things. Each joke they make in this is 100% funny. The fact that this is lego too brings a new platform for this comedy, mostly anything can be done without issue. Batman flopping around saying "no" multiple times because he doesn't want to do something? Done. Batman doing a flashy costume-changing montage? Done. Batman and Joker are perceived as having a love-hate/One sided relationship? Done.  What I

  Genre: Musical/Romance Time: 1h 42mins Director:  Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen Quick Summary:  A silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his delusionally jealous screen partner are trying to make the difficult transition to talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood. Pure fun and enjoyment. This is all this wanted to be, and that's all it is.  Now, this isn't the best musical I've seen, the moments between a song and normal talking scenes are a struggle. As well, it lost my attention a few times throughout this in the more boring quieter scenes. The colours in this are absolutely gorgeous! They pop right off the scene and everything is so pleasing to look at, bold and bright. Nothing clashes and works perfectly aesthetically. The set pieces are so well done too, everything looks so warm and cheery and that really fits well with this film. It wanted to be something that people could be happy about in such bad times, and it worked.  As fun as this film is, It is ver

  Genre : Horror/Thriller Time: 1h 30mins Director : James Wan Quick Summary:  A young widower returns to his hometown to search for answers to his wife's murder, which may be linked to the ghost of a deceased ventriloquist. This is nightmare fuel, 100%. It isn't that scary, but it is creepy and can really play with your imagination.  A lot of this is particularly average, to be honest. Though I did think the story was interesting and how they twisted a lot of the common cliches. It is hard now to think of something fully original, but this did pretty well considering the time it was made in was the peak for horror films like this.  The acting from the majority of the cast was really solid, though nothing really stood out. I felt like they were a little let down by the script, as it felt really bare and lifeless. The protagonist was unlikeable to me, as a lot of his actions were either jumping to conclusions or just plain stupidity. I was very confused on how he survived so lo

  Genre: Thriller/ Mystery  Time: 1h 40mins Director:  Stephen Sommers Quick Summary : In a California desert town, a short-order cook with clairvoyant abilities encounters a mysterious man with a link to dark, threatening forces. I'll start by saying I didn't mind the CGI in this, it looked extremely weird but I think that's what made it work so much. These creatures are supposed to be invisible, out of this world, unknown beings that nobody is supposed to know what they look like. I liked that they felt out of place and moved strangely. They look horrifying, which is good. They're supposed to be which really adds to the scenes when our main character is looking at them. I could already tell this was a film made for teens, it felt very naive. Our main character is likeable and charming, and everything just seems to go perfectly for him. What I thought was really strange was that he had such a good relationship with the police to get away with a lot of the things he d

  Genre: Drama/ Musical Time: 2h Director: Bob Fosse Quick Summary : A female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them. This is very unique I'll give it that. It's a musical that uses its songs more as little comments into the story than actual parts of the story. I liked them initially, but as the film went on I found them distracting and sometimes ruined moments for me. The songs themselves were usually really silly, and I enjoyed them. One is a song about a guy talking about the joys of living as a three-some couple. One thing I picked up on, was that most if not all commented on the rise of the nazi party since this film is set around that time in Germany. But What makes that interesting, is the story itself barely comments on the nazis, sure it shows little snippets of stuff to do with it, nazi characters exist within the shots but nobody interacts with them. They're spoken about plenty of

  Genre: Horror/Sci-fi Time: 1h 36mins Director:  David Cronenberg EXPLICIT IMAGES Quick Summary:  A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong. The special effects are really what holds this film up. I really liked that it slowly got grosser over time, and it also pushes it to the extreme.  An interesting take which really paid off, in the end, is that it focuses on the romance plot between the two main characters. I liked this because it really makes you care for them. The Main character (Jeff Goldblum and his wonderful bug eye stare he had in this) goes through a horrible transformation that also has a lot of emotional depth to it. Another interesting thing, the gore factor isn't really ramped up until the end and a few small scenes throughout the movie, otherwise it's actually really restrained. I liked this as well as that made the ending much more stomach-turning. There is one scene

  Genre: Comedy/Horror Time: 1h 40mins Director: Brian Yuzna Explicit images Quick Summary:  An ordinary teenage boy discovers his family is part of a gruesome orgy cult for the social elite. Initially, I found this to be boring and very slow. It seemed like a terrible '80s film that was leading up to nothing. Very cheesy, and throws a lot of curve balls at you. The dialogue is very corny, and the humour is a bit odd to me. It was over the top and didn't really sit right. But once you get to the end, it all fits perfectly. This story has more to it and that shows in the subtle dialogue that all seem to come together perfectly. On second viewing, you would easily pick up on these hints within the script. It is a shame you can't really pick up on it the first time as it does make it a slow watch but it keeps you entertained by constantly getting to guess what is happening and if it is real or not. The added part of a psychiatrist works really well for this as it's soli

 Genre: Superhero/ Action Time: 2hours Director:  Richard Lester Quick Summary:  Synthetic kryptonite laced with tar splits Superman in two: good Clark Kent and bad Man of Steel. Though I do think this one isn't as good as the first two, it's still really fun.  Christopher Reeve is still really good as superman, and for the tone of these films, I do think he fits them. It was sad to see Margot Kidder only have a very very tiny role in this and get replaced as the love interest, which I wasn't too keen on. Yes, she is more caring for him, but I feel like I needed more time to watch their romance develop. What I found interesting about this was that this explores Superman's "Good" hero side and "Bad" mortal human alter ego. There is even a scene where he is fighting himself, which honestly was really good and one of the better action scenes in this. The special effects in this were pretty good too, a bit outdated now but really that is the charm of t

  Genre: Fantasy/ Comedy Time: 1h 32mins Director: Tim Burton Quick Summary:  When the deceased couple Adam and Barbara are unsuccessful in scaring away a family that has moved into their old home, they seek the help of bio-exorcist Betelgeuse. Overly Charming and witty, this is a classic that I really love. I feel like this film will never feel outdated, or "of its time".  Of course, Micheal Keaton steals every scene with no ounce of shame, and I love it. He is so fascinating and entertaining to watch, his slapstick comedy is pretty much perfect. Every time you see him, he's frantic and slamming you with one-liners. Even in the background of scenes, he is always doing something funny. He was a perfect fit for Beetlejuice. The soundtrack done by Danny Elfman was also the perfect fit. He knows how to make the most fun soundtracks and this film really needed that. Each song fits perfectly, from spooky little jingles to upbeat tunes that make you want to dance around a ta