Need a bit of a distraction from *gestures at everything*…? Well, here’s another half dozen movies to take a gamble on…
Injustice (2021)
I enjoyed the original video games this is based on but this animated film only strengthens the poor reputation these sorts of adaptations have.
I’ve never read the comics version of this so I can’t comment on whether the movie follows the game or said comics but if it’s the latter… hmmm, I dunno.
I didn’t completely hate it because I find the “What if?”-like premise a fascinating one (you sort of have to see it that way because Clark would never become this) but the way in which the story unfolds seems to be series of cool moments strung together rather than a story that’s properly told. No real build ups or clever set ups, things just happen from one scene to the next. This is made even more egregious as it’s not ever feature-length as it only clocks in at 78-minutes long.
You could argue that the original games were “gritty for the sake of gritty” but even with the graphic violence depicted here it’s narratively so watered down you have to wonder what the point was?
Now available on Netflix
Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022)
It’s obvious that we’re in an era where a lot of media is about directly tapping into the “remember this?” vein but sometimes when the audience is in on the joke it can work remarkably well.
While there have been plenty of other films that rely solely on nostalgia-bait (the soulless Ready Player One for example), Chip ‘n Dale combines a healthy dose of that from across all of animation with a self-awareness and a fun action-adventure that really makes this the contemporary Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.
It does linger a little too long on a few gags and I wouldn’t spend too much time thinking about the ramifications presented (cartoons are real but are shot just like regular movies, etc). Ultimately, it’s charming, it’s a lot of fun, plenty of laughs, and it does seem to have a broad appeal not only to fans from back in the day but potentially a new young audience too.
Now available on Disney+
Any Questions for Ben? (2012)
The third film from Working Dog productions (the folks behind the excellent films The Castle and The Dish) this comedy came out 10 years ago and for some reason I never got around to it until now.
Working Dog have always had a penchant for recognising talent and this film is full of Aussie performers you’d be familiar with at the time but also the two leads, Josh Lawson and Rachel Taylor seem perfect for this “millennial rom-com”. Unfortunately, I think the filmmakers themselves may have been 20 years too old for the style and subject matter. There is an attempt at making something that fit the high-energy style of film of the early 2010s but it doesn’t quite work because it’s not as slick as it wants to be.
The cinematography doesn’t quite match the then-contemporary style it’s aiming for, every scene change is accompanied by a brand new and familiar licensed bit of music that ends up being far too distracting, and the quirkier side characters stick out just a little too much. While overall there is a charm to this movie that appeals to how I remember that time in my life (I was 29 when this film was released) the story sort of loses its focus in depicting Lawson’s quarter-life-crisis to the point where you no longer sympathise with him or anyone else.
It felt like a sincere attempt at this style of film but also felt as though it was trying its best to suppress their more familiar instincts to make it into a parody of such films, a desire they probably should have gone with.
Now available on Netflix
BuyBust (2018)
Once again I’m drawn to an action film from South-East Asia as I’m always fascinated by the way films outside of the US handle typical Hollywood tropes and boy howdy this was is a brutal mess!
I’m not sure I can call this one “good” but I’m fascinated by the premise: a special forces team are trapped when a mission to arrest a drug lord goes bad in the maze-like slums of Manilla.
It’s a spectacular and great looking movie, the slums look like a festival at night and are appropriately claustrophobic, and action scenes are insane and brutal as fuck! Sadly, the great ideas and action are let down but some inconsistent writing and a few issues with audio (some moments they appear to use the in-camera audio or forgot to do ADR before release). It’s also not as lean as a film like this should be with certain scenes dragging out and the plot being slightly more complex than it is capable of portraying.
But honestly, despite its shortcomings I could recommend it to anyone who just wants to see random extras get fucked up.
Now available on Netflix
Looking for Alibrandi (2000)
This film came out in my final year of high school and is, coincidentally, about a teenager in her final year. Yes, it’s taken me 22 years to finally watch this.
I recall someone telling me that the 1992 book this is based on was part of the English curriculum at another school (possibly in another state?). And you can see why – based on the backdrop of ethnic and multicultural Sydney (in this case Italian immigrants) and being about teen angst and all that comes with being divided between two cultures.
There is an early attempt at a quirky visual style and a tone that seems to just disappear halfway through and because it’s based on a novel there’s an inordinate amount of narrating. Having not read the actual book myself (we did The Great Gatsby of all bloody things) I’m not sure how faithful this adaptation is but it does feel like there’s a lot shaven from the story to fit an entire school year into 90-something minutes. I also suspect some of the drama is undermined by the streamlining too. Despite this it’s still a compelling and sometimes amusing story about finding oneself.
There’s something about Aussie films, or actors trying to be teenagers maybe, that more than reminds me of the classic Puberty Blues. For me most of the charm is the nostalgia factor but unlike many recent throwbacks this is literally from the time I’m feeling nostalgic for.
Now available on Netflix
Fire Island (2022)
Something much more recent and I may not have even found out about this gem had it not been for a reviewer on Twitter being an accidental racist about it.
There is a lot I’m not familiar with in the LGBTQIA community (but also willing to learn – and the narrator helps this time) yet this is a hilarious and heartfelt rom-com which is elevated by being framed specifically through the lens of queerness and also especially around how Asian men are perceived in the gay community.
Written by Joel Kim Booster, who is also the lead, it’s surprisingly not a vanity project but a sincere and rather nuanced story that deals with class, race, and societal expectations (it literally opens with a Jane Austen quote) and despite the “spring break” vibes and occasional bit of raunchiness it rarely descends into that sort of juvenility without reason. There are a few convenient moments and resolutions but they work for the sake of narrative, it uses a few rom-com tropes but they don’t ever completely fall into boring cliché, and overall I was invested by this wonderful found-family of best friends trying to find something on this week away.
This apparently had a slightly turbulent early production history back in 2019 (making the Quibi gag even funnier) but I am so glad this made it to release and that it’s being so well received too!
Now available on Disney+/STAR
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