SilentLuminary Reviews

  Genre: Family/ Sci-fi Time: 1h 40mins Director:  Simon Wincer Quick Summary:  A seemingly normal young boy is found abandoned on a mountain road and adopted by a family who are increasingly amazed by his abilities before discovering the secret behind his real identity. You know what, I liked this. It's such a safe kids film and that's a good thing! Genuine heart and morals are put into this with a cute little adventure. The '80s did produce some really good mature films for kids, and this one I guess went under the radar. This isn't anything as good as E.T. or The Neverending Story, but it's okay and watchable. All the kids were pretty adorable to watch, none of them annoyed me or got on my nerves which is a first.  As an adult who has seen many films, I did admittedly find this a little boring in places, but to my surprise, there were also epic car chase scenes with helicopters crashing into the ground which brought my attention right back. The film literall...

  Genre: Musical/ Thriller Time: 2h 18mins Director: Todd Phillips Quick Summary:  Arthur Fleck is institutionalized at Arkham, awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that's always been inside him. Apparently, in Arkham, nobody can go two minutes without a cigarette  I went into this knowing that people hated it, and came out understanding why. For something that is labelled as a musical, it is so afraid to be a musical. I was expecting more of a dramatic change when it came to the delusions which were usually the musical numbers aside from one or two moments. More of a contrast was needed during the more serious side of the film which would be Gritty and dark, like Gotham usually is. Compared to the delusions which I assumed were going to be more colourful, extra and extravagant. What we actually get are really long and painful segments of Arthur and/or Harley si...

  Genre: Thriller/ Romance Time: 1h 35mins Director:  Victor Sjöström Quick Summary:  Paul Beaumont, a genius scientist, is cheated by his wife, Marie, and fellow scientist, Baron. Soon, fed up with his life, he decides to take up a job at a circus in Paris as a clown. I went into this assuming it was going to be funny since the guy is a clown, but I was met with one of the saddest stories I've seen in a while. I mean the guy takes such a traumatic and terrible experience and turns it into a way that he knows how to process it. Laughter. It's such a twisted masochistic recreation of the event, but it's in his control and he can actually laugh with the crowd, so they're not just laughing at him. He remains a prisoner to himself and his internal struggle and it is all masked over by makeup and pain inflicting gags. Honestly, it's quite sad because you realise that it broke the poor guy and the only way he knows how to do anything is to be a clown to people. Repe...

  Genre: Comedy Time: 1h 20mins Director:  Ryan Martin Brown Quick Summary: Approaching the end of his twenties and his relative youth, a man decides to quit his cushy desk job and embrace life, only to realize he has no idea what to do with this newfound freedom. This was actually so painful to watch. In fact, it reminded me of those cringe Millenial TikTok humour videos. They're so unfunny it hurts me. Imagine those put into a film. I found the occasional moment funny, and by funny I mean a little chuckle came out of me. Am I supposed to find two people walking around in silence funny? Sure, when it's done right.  I think the main fault is the main guy. He was such a loser, and honestly an asshole. I found it so hard to sympathise with this guy because he was trying so hard to be seen, like a little child. Either moping around, ringing literally everyone he knows because he's bored, or playing over the top his entire band and then throwing an adult tantrum expecting pe...

  Genre: Thriller/ Drama Time: 1h 40mins Directors:  Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon Ping Quick Summary:  Follows Jules, who is targeted in a horrific homophobic attack, destroying his life and career. Sometime after that event he encounters Preston, one of his attackers, in a gay sauna. He wants revenge. Am I supposed to feel bad for Jules? Preston was the real victim here, I was almost crying for him at the end. No seriously, by the end of this, I had no idea who to actually feel bad for. Should I feel bad for the person who got attacked or the person who got lured into a false relationship? Even if it was for the sake of revenge it's an equally horrible thing to do. Both people were terrible people. I was a little uncomfortable with how they presented the Gay Community in a slightly bad light too. It's tense from the get-go and I was internally screaming right until the end because I was terrified for both people. I barely had a minute to breathe since at any moment either p...

  Genre: Horror/ Mystery  Time: 1h 30mins Director:  Michael Mohan Quick Summary:  Cecilia, a woman of devout faith, is warmly welcomed to the picture-perfect Italian countryside where she is offered a new role at an illustrious convent. But it becomes clear to Cecilia that her new home harbors dark and horrifying secrets. So Syndey we want you to brutally scream into the camera for almost a minute straight. Make sure you stare it down too My bad for expecting a horror film about a convent to be good. Genuinely it was okay, I did enjoy watching this, but not much goes on. It's the same Religious horror imagery and imagery that most films revolve around Christianity. Also, even though one jumpscare got me really good, mostly they're cheap and basically loud noises. It's 2024 I thought we were past this. If it wasn't for the ending being so out there and insane I wouldn't have liked it as much. Cover someone in blood and get them to scream in the camera; I'm sold...

  Genre: Superhero/ Action Time: 2h 28mins Director:   Jon Watts Quick Summary:  With Spider-Man's identity now revealed, Peter asks Doctor Strange for help. When a spell goes wrong, dangerous foes from other worlds start to appear. Here's a fun fact about me: this film got me into Marvel. To this day, I still never emotionally recovered from it either. There is always something so heartbreaking about watching this Peter Parker constantly failing because of things out of his hands, no matter what he does. He's the spiderman who wants to save everyone, but can't. There are so many extreme choices he has to make throughout this and he always ends up picking the wrong one. Well, except at the end. As sad as that was, he had to make the choice he did for everyone's sake. He has is own personal troubles and constantly has to put them on hold to be a superhero, but that ends up ruining other people's lives. The poor boy can't catch a break. This guy is literally...