NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on April 8, 2021
Turning Red (2022) – It’s Pan-tastic
Released: 11th March
Seen: 13th March
Writing about a Pixar film feels a little bit like writing about a Marvel film at this point, the odds are good that it’s going to be somewhere around the great range and the compliments that you can throw its way all feel very similar because they’ve managed to hone in on a formula that works so well that it’s hard to pick holes in it. Turning Red is one of those films that really shows Pixar at its best in terms of how it tells these stories and while a lot of it would fit into what a regular high-quality Pixar film normally shows, there are a few elements to this that elevate it into something genuinely special… plus, it has a lot of adorable giant red pandas which means it’s the best movie to come out in a long time because how can you deny the cuteness of giant red pandas?
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CODA (2021) – Hilariously Touching
Released: 13th August 2021
Seen: 12th March 2022
When it comes to the history of film, one of the groups that has been heavily underrepresented is the deaf community. When stories about them have been told, often the deaf character is played by a non-deaf actor who isn’t even part of the community but recently we’ve seen that change and be openly praised. Films like A Quiet Place featured Millicent Simmonds who is a young deaf actress and Sound of Metal had Paul Raci, the hearing child of deaf adults.
Now, speaking of Children of Deaf Adults, we have CODA which is a heartwarming dramedy about a deaf family with a hearing daughter who can also sing and it’s up for 3 Oscars this year… which is the only reason I would dare use Apple Plus to see it because damn that site will always annoy me.
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Attica (2022) – Powerful
Released: 27th January
Seen: 11th March
Attica, the documentary, details the story of the Attica Prison Riot, or as it’s alternatively known “The Attica Prison Massacre”. On September 9, 1971, the Attica prison riot began. Tension had been building in the New York prison for quite some time, due to the overcrowding and violence from the guards who regularly engaged in what can best be described as “Casual racism combined with the torture of the inmates they were charged to protect”.
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The Batman (2022) – It’s A Riddle
Released: 3rd March
Seen: 10th March
When it comes to DC, they really seem to have a problem when it comes to this whole cinematic universe thing. Actors don’t want to stick around (in some cases, understandably considering how they’re treated), stories don’t line up and their big attempt to do “Marvel, but edgy” blew up so badly that it’s going to necessitate The Flash movie to effectively wipe the slate clean so they can try again.
Of course, that movie’s been delayed several times but they have decided to make a thing out of letting auteur directors do darker one-off stories with some of their characters. They did this previously with Joker, now they’re doing it with The Batman and of the two I have to say, this Batman does a lot better than his clown prince counterpart did.
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Almost 20 Years Later and Halloween: Resurrection (2002) Should’ve Stayed Dead
NOTE: Here is my review from Soda & Telepaths that was posted back on March 31, 2021
Cyrano (2022) – Cyra-Yes
Released: 24th February
Seen: 6th March
In 1897, playwright Edmond Rostand wrote Cyrano de Bergerac which would supposedly tell the life story of the real Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac. This play has been adapted several times since its creation, not only straight forward adaptations but even inspiring films such as The Ugly Truth or Sierra Burgess Is A Loser. Throughout the years there have also been several attempts to adapt this play into a stage musical, including one in 2019 that starred Peter Dinklage in the title role. It’s that adaptation that was turned into Cyrano, a film that was stunningly only nominated for one Oscar this year (but we’ll get to why that’s stunning in a little bit).
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The Retreat (2022) – Bloody Interesting
Seen as part of the Mardi Gras Film Festival
When it comes to queer horror stories, it’s sad to say there aren’t as many as there probably should be. What ones there are either have queer subtext without actual gay characters (Hi Nightmare on Elm Street 2), are problematic as hell (Hi Sleepaway Camp) or actually feature gay characters in a gay storyline (Hi Hellbent). That last one is a lot rarer but can be interesting if done right. Enter The Retreat, a film that uses the horrors of homophobia to tell a story that works on occasion, but also really fumbles the great idea it has.
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Rebel Dykes (2022) – Queen’s Of My World
Seen as part of the Mardi Gras Film Festival
Britain in the 1980s was not exactly the best place to be openly gay, indeed it was one fraught with difficulty that would culminate in the introduction of Section 28 in 1988, a law that banned the “Promotion of homosexuality” which is basically legal jargon for “Get back in the closet, you queers!”. One group that was not about to take this lying down was a commune of leather-clad lesbians known as Rebel Dykes. They were already a group that was at the forefront of sexual liberation and self-expression but when the time came to fight for their rights, the Rebel Dykes got on their bikes and showed the world that they weren’t going to let something like Section 28 hold them back. This film is all about their gloriously hilarious and dramatic story.
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No Straight Lines: The History of Queer Comics (2022) – Line Up
Seen as part of the Mardi Gras Film Festival
The history of Comic books is long and strange and full of fascinating stories. Sure most people think of comics and jump straight to the Superhero genre that has overtaken popular culture lately but there’s also the stories of Horror comics and how the industry tried to regulate them out of existence, or the stories of underground comics that embraced the weird and the drug-induced. Well, in the documentary No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics, the story being focused on is… well, the history of queer comics, it’s right there in the title.
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Movie Meister Reviews 