Movie Review: Summer Camp (2024)

Genre: Comedy  

Director: Castille Landon  

Starring: Diane Keaton, Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard, Eugene Levy, Beverly D'Angelo  

Running Time: 92 minutes  

Synopsis: Tweens Nora, Ginny, and Mary meet at a summer camp, and forge a friendship that strengthens over the years. But 50 years later, they have drifted apart. Ginny (Kathy Bates) is a famous self-help guru, Nora (Diane Keaton) runs a medical research business, and Mary (Alfre Woodard) is a nurse. Ginny is the wealthiest, and insists that the three friends meet again at a week-long summer camp reunion.

What Works Well: The running time is mercifully short.

What Does Not Work As Well: This is as bland and predictable as comedy can get. The blame resides within a witless episodic script incapable of creating any coherent rhythms, instead fumbling around for cheap laughs that never arrive. Archery mis-haps, an error-prone errand boy, an intellectually challenged militaristic assistant manager, hapless attempts at romance (including with Eugene Levy), complaints about no access to cell phones, and - wait for it - a food fight, are sorry examples of failed humour. All this of course leads to cringey revelations about letting go of bad habits and becoming better women.

Key Quote:

Ginny: Can't you just spend time with us?

Nora: And do what?

Ginny: Just be present with us.

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Movie Review: Vertical Limit (2000)

Genre: Mountaineering Thriller  
Director: Martin Campbell  

Starring: Chris O'Donnell, Robin Tunney, Bill Paxton, Scott Glenn  

Running Time: 124 minutes  

Synopsis: Siblings and mountaineers Peter and Annie (Chris O'Donnell and Robin Tunney) grow apart after losing their father in a harrowing Monument Valley rock climbing incident. Three years later, Peter is wildlife photographer while Annie has become a celebrated climber. They meet again at the K2 basecamp, where Annie is joining the expedition of charismatic billionaire Elliot Vaughn (Bill Paxton). After bad weather traps the climbers, Peter teams up with grizzled veteran Montgomery Wick (Scott Glenn) to mount a rescue, but personal agendas will complicate an already hazardous operation. 

What Works Well: Whether in the Arizona desert for the opening sequence or on the unforgiving K2 mountain (but mostly filmed in New Zealand), the cinematography is a spectacular combination of breathless and awe-inspiring. The stunt performers earn their salaries in a series of near-death encounters, and the many intersecting backstories (Peter and Annie's trauma; Elliot and Montgomery's history; Elliot's disregard for safety; a couple of exceptionally laid-back Australian brothers) inject the thrills with sufficient human depth.

What Does Not Work As Well: The production carelessly disrespects its own subject matter, with many mountain climbing details just ignored, including basics like cold breath and essential clothing. The search for cheap thrills bends towards the ridiculous when nitroglycerine gets involved, and the never-ending avalanche of close calls, explosions, cliff face rescues, slides into danger, and death defying leaps quickly blend into too much of a good thing.

Key Quote:

Peter: My sister's dying up there, Mr. Wick.

Montgomery Wick: Up there, you're not dying, you're dead.

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Movie Review: Hanging Up (2000)

Genre: Dramedy  

Director: Diane Keaton  

Starring: Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton, Lisa Kudrow, Walter Matthau, Cloris Leachman  

Running Time: 94 minutes  

Synopsis: In Los Angeles, event planner Eve (Meg Ryan) is a working mom and leads a harried life. Her schedule gets more complicated when her father Lou (Walter Matthau), a retired Hollywood screenwriter who once met John Wayne, is hospitalized with worsening dementia. Eve's two sisters do little to share the care burden: driven businesswoman Georgia (Diane Keaton) owns and publishes a women's magazine, while self-absorbed Maddy (Lisa Kudrow) is a daytime soap actress. Lou's rapid deterioration interferes with a large event Eve is planning. 

What Works Well: The next-to-impossible pressures of juggling home, career, and aging parents are effectively represented through Eve's character. Her choppy relationships and strained bonds with her sisters add further texture, as the burden of care falls on the sibling most willing to say "yes" to every request. In his final screen role, Walter Matthau captures the agony of dementia, a fading life reduced to endless repetition and imposing an unmanageable burden on the one family member most willing to help. 

What Does Not Work As Well: The attempt to balance drama and comedy does not quite work. Humour is wedged in mostly through Eve's frazzled mannerisms, while the material cries out for an overall more sombre tone. Too many scenes feature phone calls and other phone calls interrupting phone calls, resulting in repetitive and quite tiresome "gotta go" non-conversations. The ending rushes to resolutions through over-simplification and juvenile antics.

Key Quote:

Doctor (from the hospital, on the phone to Eve): Your father is missing.

Eve: Check in the bed of every single female patient!

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Movie Review: Wonder Wheel (2017)

Genre: Drama  

Director: Woody Allen  

Starring: Kate Winslet, Jim Belushi, Juno Temple, Justin Timberlake  

Running Time: 101 minutes  

Synopsis: Coney Island, New York, the 1950s. Failed actress Ginny (Kate Winslet) is unhappily married to Humpty (Jim Belushi), and they live in the noisy shadow of the wonder wheel. Ginny's young son from a previous marriage is a budding pyromaniac. Humpty's grown daughter Carolina (Juno Temple) suddenly shows up, having left her mobster husband on bad terms. She is now marked for death by the mob. Ginny is having an affair with toyboy lifeguard and aspiring writer Mickey (Justin Timberlake), imagining that he can be her white knight. But when Mickey sets eyes on Carolina, Ginny's dreams are threatened.

What Works Well: Kate Winslet's layered performance is well above the material, with Ginny a worthwhile (if irritatingly self-destructive) character carrying the burden of guilt from a first failed marriage and now engaged in another affair. The only other positive is Vittorio Storaro's sparkling cinematography, capturing a 1950s postcard aesthetic.

What Does Not Work As Well: Woody Allen's attempt to channel Tennessee Williams falls emotionally flat. The dialogue is mostly cringey and shouty, the characters attached to stereotypical derivatives, their motivations superficial and repetitively articulated. The staging leans far towards theatricality as Coney Island Washboard on the soundtrack is replayed endlessly. Jim Belushi and Justin Timberlake are hopelessly miscast, lacking depth and taking shelter in obvious mannerisms.

Key Quote:

Carolina: You've been round the world.

Mickey: Yeah, but you've been around the block. 

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Movie Review: Unabomber (2026)

Genre: Biographical Psychological Crime Thriller  

Director: Janus Metz Pederson  

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Russell Crowe, Jacob Tremblay, Annabelle Wallis  

Running Time: 100 minutes  

Synopsis: In the mid-1990s, a team of FBI Agents including linguistics expert Joanne Miller (Shailene Woodley) attempt to track down the elusive Unabomber, who has been sending parcel bombs to educational and industrial targets for 17 years. Joanne studies the Unabomber's recently published manifesto for clues. Flashbacks to 1958 reveal the college experiences of Theodore "Ted" Kaczynski (Jacob Tremblay), the son of Polish immigrants attending Harvard University. Intellectually brilliant, Ted joins a debating experiment run by psychology Professor Henry Murray (Russell Crowe), leading to social isolation and radicalization.

What Works Well: Based on actual events, this is a taut and brisk thriller with a focus on two aspects of the Unabomber case: the manifesto that led to family members identifying Ted to the FBI as a potential suspect, and the Harvard years when Ted participated in a CIA-funded experiment of psychological resilience. The flashback scenes are more impactful, Russell Crowe as a haughty professor overestimating his relevance and Jacob Tremblay as a highly strung and socially awkward young man both bringing studious intensity to the two key roles. 

What Does Not Work As Well: While Shailene Woodley is never less than competent, the fictionalization of the FBI investigation descends to television levels of immature personality clashes and agents going rogue, not helped by the sidelining of key real-life characters.

Key Quote:

Ted (in 1957): When I look around in our society, seems to me like it needs to change.

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Movie Review: Friday The 13th (1980)

Genre: Slasher Horror  

Director: Sean S, Cunningham  

Starring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Kevin Bacon  

Running Time: 95 minutes  

Synopsis: In 1958, two teenaged counsellors at New Jersey's Camp Crystal Lake are murdered while making out. In the present, the camp's owner Steve Christie brings together a group of teenagers, including budding artist Alice (Adrienne King), to ready the camp for re-opening. Creepy old codger Crazy Ralph warns everyone of a bad fate. With Steve running errands in a nearby town, the horny teens frolic, although Alice remains reserved. As a violent storm moves in, an assailant stalks the teens and embarks on a violent killing spree.

What Works Well: The film that launched countless lessor sequels and forgettable imitators. Director Dean S. Cunningham tweaks the Halloween template by stripping out story elements, ignoring character depth, and just upping blood and gore levels, with Tom Savini delivering the excellent special effects. In the process the mechanical slasher sub-genre is invented, where the body count and murder methods - the ickier the better - are the only measures of impact. Several jump scares (including the ending) are shockingly good, and the young cast members are surprisingly not bad, although only Kevin Bacon subsequently built a career. Henri Manfredini's CHE-che-che-che-HA-ha-ha-ha music score is iconic, and complements directorial touches full of patient tracking shots and long takes.

What Does Not Work As Well: The villain enter the story late, by which point the sequential murders by axe, knife, and arrow have crossed from scary to soullessly repetitive. Most of the horny teenagers are interchangeable victims-in-waiting, full of sex drive but devoid of personality. The final confrontation is over-extended and too reliant on the not-dead-yet trick.

Key Quote:

Crazy Ralph: You're doomed! You're all doomed!

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Movie Review: Feast Of Love (2007)

Genre: Romantic Drama  

Director: Robert Benton  

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear, Jane Alexander, Selma Blair, Radha Mitchell, Alexa Davalos, Fred Ward, Margo Martindale  
Running Time: 97 minutes  

Synopsis: Portland is the setting for a series of loosely connected adventures in love and heartache. Coffee shop owner Bradley (Greg Kinnear) is devastated when his wife Kathryn (Selma Blair) leaves him for another woman. He seeks advice from his mentor Professor Harry Stevenson (Morgan Freeman, also narrating), who is still traumatized by the sudden loss of his son. Bradley's employee Oscar (Toby Hemingway), a recovering addict with a violent father (Fred Ward), starts a romance with Chloe (Alexa Davalos), and although they have little, they dream of a better life. Bradley finds a new love with real estate agent Diane (Radha Mitchell), who is also having an affair with a married man (Billy Burke).

What Works Well: The adaptation of Charles Baxter's book provides thoughtful and mature perspectives on the ups and downs of love, lust, loss, dreams, hopes, and physical attachment. Allison Burnett's screenplay features flawed but likeable characters navigating shifting emotions, saddled with life's luggage, and buffeted by surprises. Director Robert Benton rarely dawdles on any one couple, and finds moments of levity to lighten the mood. A stellar cast adds a spark even in minor roles.

What Does Not Work As Well: The ambition to explore several worthwhile stories bumps against the reality of a modest running time, resulting in several characters disappearing for long periods and a general under-development of themes. Fred Ward's angry-at-the-world father is a stock villain, and the trauma of loss suffered by Professor Stevenson and his wife (Jane Alexander) is covered in the broadest of strokes.

Key Quote:

Bradley (to Harry): God doesn't hate us, Harry. If he did, he wouldn't have made our hearts so brave.

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Movie Review: Normal (2025)

Genre: Crime Action Comedy  

Director: Ben Wheatley  

Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Lena Headey, Henry Winkler  

Running Time: 91 minutes  

Synopsis: Two Yakuza underlings are assigned the unglamorous work of guarding crime proceeds in sleepy and frigid Normal, Minnesota. Around the same time, jaded law enforcement officer Ulysses (Bob Odenkirk) is appointed the town's Interim Sheriff. He finds the locals quirky, with an unusual amount of weaponry and unexplained wealth. When two hapless robbers unintentionally expose the Yakuza's haul at the local bank, Ulysses realizes that the whole town is corrupt, starting with the Mayor (Henry Winkler). A bloody war ensues.

What Works Well: Bob Odenkirk finds the necessary caustic but laidback spirit as a lawman rediscovering his passion just in time to improvise survival in an impossible situation. The overall premise leans far into ridiculous territory to find plenty of laughs, and several characters meet unexpected - and always ultraviolent - endings.

What Does Not Work As Well: The murky and muddy washed-out visuals are simply horrid. While the action is entertaining, nothing here is memorable, and the Tarantinoesque ambitions for gore overload lack artistry, ultimately achieving numbness.

Key Quote:

Ulysses: Calm cleans messy.

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Movie Review: Animals (2026)

Genre: Crime Drama Thriller  

Director: Ben Affleck  

Starring: Ben Affleck, Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson  

Running Time: 106 minutes  

Synopsis: Mark Kimball (Ben Affleck) is an independent candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles. With election day approaching, he navigates financial pressures with campaign manager Sam (Steven Yuen). Meanwhile, Mark's wife Abigail (Kerry Washington) is having a secret affair. Their child Denny is cared for by housekeeper Cecilia (Adriana Paz), whose partner Ramon (Luis Geraldo Mendez) is a proud handyman but an illegal alien in the US. Mark's world is upended when Denny is kidnapped and held for a $7 million ransom. Sam calls upon shadowy high-priced fixer Dayle Burton (Gillian Anderson) to resolve the crisis, but many unexpected twists await.

What Works Well: This slick thriller builds tension with taut pacing, several surprises, and an icy Gillian Anderson performance. The foundational cracks in the relationship between Mark and Abigail (he is keeping money secrets, she is cheating) provide a crackle in the pair's reaction to the kidnapping, while Dayle's all-business approach to crisis management adds a riveting core of emotionless efficiency. Housekeeper Cecilia and her partner Ramon grow in prominence as the clock ticks down.

What Does Not Work As Well: The limited information about the kidnapper leaves the drama short of a worthwhile villain. A couple of scenes hint at budget limitations, notably an under-staged but supposedly pivotal public campaign event. The plot is overburdened with sub-themes, including the status of immigrants, the class divide, campaign finance, a fractured marriage, and corruption embedded in money-fueled power. Unsurprisingly, the resolutions fall short, and the postscript to the kidnapping ordeal is particularly unconvincing.

Key Quote:

Dayle: Power creates leverage, and leverage dictates outcomes.

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Movie Review: Project Hail Mary (2026)

Genre: Science Fiction Adventure  

Directors: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller  

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Sandra Hüller  

Running Time: 156 minutes  

Synopsis: Middle school science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up disoriented on a spaceship deep in space. Flashbacks reveal his mission: he was recruited by scientist Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller) to join a team frantically attempting to save the Sun - and therefore life on Earth - from a microorganism depleting its power. Grace's mission is to approach a star that appears immune to the microbic alien threat and uncover its resiliency. As he approaches his target, Grace connects with another being on a similar mission.

What Works Well: The adaptation of Andy Weir's book mixes themes from E.T. The Extra-terrestrial and The Martian, with nods towards Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and Arrival. The cinematography and special effects are often spectacular, and Ryan Gosling, largely on his own, provides the necessary heart and soul as the reluctant space traveler improvising multiple concurrent rescues. The alien Rocky, on a similar mission to Grace and evolving into his unlikely scientific partner, is an innovative presence and lands - marginally - on the tolerable side of cutesy. The dialogue exchanges between Grace and Rocky provide rich grounds for quotable dry humour.

What Does Not Work As Well: Nowhere near as good as its various sources of inspiration, this science fiction tale shortchanges the science to condescending levels and leaves large blanks whenever rigour and complexity are required. The running time is excessive, and the pacing noticeably drags on several occasions. As the adventure trudges along and repeatedly aims for simple messages, huggy emotions, and faux moments of sentimentality, the target audience narrows towards children and collectible chasers.

Key Quote:

Rocky: Amaze. Amaze. Amaze.

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