Seen 22nd November
The final film that was shown at Lift Off was also the only feature-length film in the schedule that was completely Australian and was possibly the funniest film of the entire festival just by virtue of the talent leading it.
The Babysitter
Released 13th October
Seen 14th November
Directed by McG
Written by Brian Duffield
Produced by Boies/Schiller Film Group, New Line Cinema & Wonderland Sound and Vision
Starring Judah Lewis, Samara Weaving, Robbie Amell, Hana Mae Lee, Bella Thorne & Andrew Bachelor
The character of the babysitter in a horror film is one of the more common tropes. Usually, the babysitter is the victim of the crazy man going around the town killing people. This was the case in the classics like Halloween or When A Stranger Calls where the main protagonist of the film was a babysitter. The Babysitter asks a very simple question, “What would happen if the babysitter was the antagonist instead of the protagonist?”. Turns out the answer, much like an overused Facebook status, is “It’s complicated”
Snatched
Released 11th May (Australia)
Seen 12th November
Directed by Jonathan Levine
Written by Katie Dippold
Produced by Chernin Entertainment, Feigco Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox
Starring Amy Schumer & Goldie Hawn
Between the years 1970 and 2000, one of the biggest film comedy stars was Goldie Hawn. She hasn’t been in a major motion picture since The Banger Sisters in 2002 so seeing her back in a film is one hell of a treat… and thank God because she saved this movie.
The Lego Batman Movie
Released 30th March (Australia)
Seen 11th November
Directed by Chris McKay
Written by Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stern & John Whittington
Produced by DC Entertainment, Lego System A/S, Lin Pictures, Lord Miller, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Vertigo Entertainment, Warner Animation Group, Warner Bros. Animation & Warner Bros
Starring Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson & Ralph Fiennes
Earlier this year I saw Lego Ninjago, a movie that was clearly spewed out to capitalize on the cinematic success that was The Lego Movie. At the start of that review, I mentioned that “Lego Batman… showed you could play around in multiple established universes and still tell your own story”. I knew this because my younger brother told me the basic storyline of the Lego Batman movie and, at that point, I hadn’t seen Lego Batman. I’ve now rectified that and somehow, it makes me think Lego Ninjago was actually worse.
Monster Trucks
Released 12th January
Seen 10th November
Directed by Chris Wedge
Written by Derek Connolly
Produced by Disruption Entertainment, FortyFour Studios, Nickelodeon Movies & Paramount Pictures
Starring Lucas Till, Jane Levy, Thomas Lennon, Danny Glover & Rob Lowe
One of the classic film tropes that have been a major part of cinema is known as the “A Boy and His Dog” trope. The idea is that the story revolves the bond between the boy (Usually our main character) and his dog (Though this can vary). Monster Trucks is absolutely a Boy and his Dog kind of film… it’s just that I don’t care about either the boy or his dog/giant-alien-truck-controlling-creature.
Thor: Ragnarok
Released 26th October
Seen 8th November
Directed by Taika Waititi
Written by Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost
Produced by Marvel Entertainment & Walt Disney Pictures
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston & Cate Blanchett
Every Marvel film since the start of the MCU has had a very specific format. When you break it down to its core component they all have this “World is ending, main character only one who can stop it” narrative and all you have to do is change the name of the character and possibly the severity of the threat, but they all have that same basic idea. For Marvel to really take a risk and break out of that strict mould would take a lot. Thor: Ragnarok might not break that mould, but it’s worn the edges of it down considerably and that’s enough of a welcome change for me.
The Boss Baby
Date Released: 31st March 2017
Date Seen: 4th November 2017
In 1999 the movie Baby Geniuses was released, a film about a bunch of babies who have superhuman intelligence who were kidnapped by a bunch of scientists who were trying to understand just how intelligent babies are. It was not a good movie. Boss Baby takes the “Hyper-intelligent baby” aspect and animated it. The results are… well, interesting would be the kind term.
Fist Fight
Date Released: 17th February 2017
Date Seen: 3rd November 2017
When a film is pitched to a studio, it is normally done with something called a “Treatment” where the main points of the storyline are laid out in order to give executives an idea of just what they are going to invest in. Sometimes that treatment is several pages long, sometimes it’s just one page. I’m convinced the treatment for this film was “Charlie from It’s Always Sunny and Captain Dixon get in a fight” and that was literally it.
CHiPS
Date Released: 6th April 2017 (Australian release date)
Date Seen: 31st October 2017
Written and Directed by Dax Shepard
Produced by Primate Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment & Warner Bros.
A trend has emerged recently of big budget comedies based on classic TV series. We had the excellent 21 Jump Street movies, we had the mediocre Baywatch movie… naturally, we need the awful movie adaptation to round out the trilogy and lucky us, we got it.
A Dog’s Purpose
Date Released: 4th May 2017 (Australian release date)
Date Seen: 30th October 2017
I have two dogs in my home right now as I type this… the stuff that they leave in large dark brown clumps that I occasionally step in is more inviting/interesting/decent than this movie.
Movie Meister Reviews 