FilmGamer

2022 Oscars Review: Bad Company

“Did I miss anything?” comedian Amy Schumer said several minutes after Will Smith publicly assaulted Chris Rock on stage. That was the most direct acknowledgment of the incident. Anthony Hopkins recited Will Smith’s Oscar winning speech in a presentation saying we should move on with peace and love. Chris Rock declined to file a police…

Review: ‘Uncharted’ is Adaptable as a Gen Z Blockbuster

From the moment an Uncharted movie was announced over 10 years ago, I was half in the bag. I really enjoyed Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter (still his best performance) and the credibility of what a director like David O. Russell could bring to the table was exciting (see also Silver Linings Playbook) despite Wahlberg…

‘Ozark’, Everyone’s Favourite Mid-tier show returns for a Mid-season

It’s good now and then to take a break from highly acclaimed movies, television, and video games and focus on the nuts and bolts of what makes a show watchable. Ozark, by the grace of the Netflix algorithm, thought you’d like something more with your Breaking Bad and has provided 3 and a half seasons…

Resident Evil: Village Has a Ball Going ‘Back to Formula’

I don’t play a lot of Capcom games. The last one I played outside of Resident Evil was the Dead Rising series. Those games are driven by strong gameplay ideas, the ludicrous story turns filled with thin characters with tons of personality and labyrinthian navigation systems. That DNA carries over here with the Labyrinth navigation…

Jason Bourne Battles Kylo Ren in ‘The Last Duel’, One of Ridley Scott’s Best

The Last Duel has had an interesting critical climb. Its story flaws are present right upfront. Par for the course for director Ridley Scott whose movies often accompany questionable character logic. Here that uncertainty is utilized for strength in a joint screenplay by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Nicole Holofcener each writing their Rashomon-style parts. Damon…

For a Moment, The Hunger Games Set the World on Fire: Lost Review 103

I have been looking to write this review for some time. 8 years in fact. For reasons of a busy schedule, I was unable to write a review until now. Having rewatched it I see why it was such a difficult film to review. It is more product than film. When I wrote my final…

Squid Game Spoiler Wrap-Up

With the plot and pacing of Squid Game taking its time to get to the second game, it hasn’t let up since. Episode 6 is the first time it felt like the show breathed and ended my night of bingeing. People wonder how they’d fare in these games. Red Light, Green Light is easy enough….

In Midnight Mass, Mike Flanagan Builds A Faithful Congregation.. Then Burns It All To The Ground

This Netflix series tells the story of the well-regarded creator’s problems with a late-breaking story structure. Created by Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Hush, Gerald’s Game, Ouija: Origin of Evil, The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep) I remember the moment I knew Midnight Mass hit its peak. It is at the end of Proverbs, episode three. In…

‘You’ Confidently Strides Into Its Third Season

Read The Excellent Season One Review! Every storytelling mark You gracefully hits in its season three premiere is so clear and unfussy. This is a show made by an experienced and diverse group of people who have experience in other shows about serial killers (Think if Dexter had a Mindhunter Bookclub with Prodigal Son and…

Denis Villeneuve Offers a Rock-Solid ‘Dune’ to the Masses

It’s funny to me how much fear vibrated through the sands ever since the first frame of this movie was released. Dune is based on a 1965 book and subsequent book series. It has quite the fanbase. A 1984 film adaptation from David Lynch and Dino DeLaurentis failed critically and financially. This version’s distributor and…

In Episode II, ‘Squid Game’ Elevates its Premise Cementing Itself as an Unlikely Character Drama.

Not since HBO’s The Leftovers has a show so successfully managed to cloak and dagger its audience by revealing its high concept premise as a character drama. At the conclusion of episode one, you would not believe there would be any chance of escape. Revisiting this premise, audiences haven’t been given one before. In every…

Robbie to play Barbie. Gosling to play Ken. From the Writer of Marriage Story and the Director of Little Women.

Warner Bros. and Mattel production will shoot sometime in early 2020. This is a dream come true! Anyone will get onboard with a fun movie or a good story, especially when they adapt a well known property. But Warner Bros. went the extra mile taking someone from the indie scene with a reputation as an…