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Cherry Pop

Released 22nd September

Seen 30th November

Cherry Pops.jpg

Directed by Assaad Yacoub
Written by Nick Landa
Produced by Wolfe Releasing
Starring Lars Berge, Mayhem Miller, Detox Icunt, Bob The Drag Queen, Allusia, Tempest DuJour & Latrice Royale

There is a very small genre of films that revolve around a drag queen. Classics like The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert or Too Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Numar are big high points in the genre but there are other great films like Victor Victoria, The Birdcage, Some Like It Hot or Tootsie. Drag is a great topic for a film but you know who very rarely get’s to star in these kinds of movies? Actual drag queens. Since we now live in a post-Drag Race world, someone decided to fix that and god bless them for it.

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Goodbye Christopher Robin

Released 23rd November (Australia)

Seen 29th November

Goodbye Christopher Robin.jpg

Directed by Simon Curtis
Written by Frank Cottrell Boyce & Simon Vaughan
Produced by DJ Films & Fox Searchlight Pictures
Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, Will Tilston & Kelly Macdonald

A few days ago I reviewed The Man Who Invented Christmas which took the story of how Charles Dickens wrote one of the most beloved stories of all time and intercut it with the very story he wrote to create a comedic exploration of how a writer creates his story. Goodbye Christopher Robin has a slightly different idea in mind… namely, it want’s to rip your still beating heart from your chest and make you suffer from a serious case of the feels.

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Daddy’s Home 2

Released 23rd November (Australia)

Seen 27th November

Daddy's Home 2

Directed by Sean Anders
Written by Sean Anders, Brian Burns & John Morris
Produced by Paramount Pictures, Gary Sanchez Productions & Huahua Media
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Will Farrell, Mel Gibson & John Lithgow

According to Merriam Webster the term ‘Patricide’, derived from the latin patricisa, means “One who murders his or her own father” or “The murder of one’s own father”… just a suggestion that every character in this film might like to take on board.

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The Man Who Invented Christmas

Released 22nd November

Seen 26th November 

The Man Who Invented Christmas.jpg

Directed by Bharat Nalluri
Written by Susan Coyne, Les Standiford
Produced by Mazur/Kaplan Company, Mob Film Company, Parallel Films, Rhombus Media
Starring Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer, Jonathan Pryce & Miriam Margolyes

Adaptations of A Christmas Carol were dead to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of their burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Studios signed it: Those adaptations were as dead as a door-nail.

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Wonder

Released 30th November (Australia)

Seen 25th November (Preview Screening)

Wonder.jpg

Directed by Steven Chbosky
Written by Steven Chbosky, Steven Conrad, Jack Thorne
Produced by Lionsgate, Mandeville Films, Participant Media & Walden Media
Starring Jacob Tremblay, Owen Wilson, Julia Roberts

Every generation get’s a movie that could best be described as “Guy with facial deformity tries to assimilate into society”. Our grandparent’s got The Elephant Man, our parent’s got Mask… we get Wonder, because God has decided we are not worthy of the earlier two films.

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The Ones That Stay

Seen 21st November

The Ones That Stays.jpg

The second day of the Lift Off film festival was by far the busiest with two features and several featurettes. This French film is one whose title I’m unsure if I have right because I’ve seen it as “The Ones That Stay” and “The Ones That Stays“, which is the only version of the poster I can find so for this review I’m going to be calling it “The Ones That Stay” because that title makes more sense. You got that? Good, let’s go onto this tale of a man, his father and a hooker.

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Caina

Seen 20th November

Caina.jpg

This year I had the honour of being an official reviewer for the Lift-Off Film Festival. Over three days I saw four feature films and dozens of shorts, grading them all as I watched them and I genuinely enjoyed the experience. I’ve been to film festivals before but never in any form of official capacity and I hope to do it again. Now, a few days later, I present my reflections on each film that I saw. Specifically the features. If I did a review for every short I’d be writing 20 of them and I still have to have time to review Daddy’s Home 2 at some point because I hate myself.

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Chris Brown: Welcome To My Life

Released 8th June 

Seen 17th November

chris-brown-welcome-to-my-life-poster-ftr.jpg

Directed by Andrew Sandler
Produced by Riveting Entertainment
Starring Chris Brown

On February 8th 2009 Chris Brown and Rihanna were driving together when, allegedly, Rihanna found a text on Chris Brown’s phone from a woman who, allegedly, Chris Brown had been sleeping with. After reading the 3-page text message an argument ensued and Chris Brown attempted to push Rihanna out of the car, shoving her head against the window, striking her multiple times, biting her and putting her in a headlock until she almost lost consciousness. Then, he punched her some more in the face with his right hand while still keeping his left hand on the steering wheel (Because, you know, he’s a responsible driver). Rihanna attempted to protect herself from the blows that were repeatedly coming to her face and body by Chris Brown, who also took her phone off her when she tried to call for help and threw the phone out of the window of the moving vehicle. Chris Brown would serve no actual jail time for this but instead 5 years of probation, 1 year of domestic violence counselling and 6 months of community service… and now Chris Brown want’s to tell you how he was hurt and wounded by the fallout of when he almost beat a woman to death with his bare hands because she caught him cheating on her… allegedly.

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