In the Picture - The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part and Velvet Buzzsaw

movie reviews

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part struggles to match the inventiveness that made the original so enjoyable; Velvet Buzzsaw takes an interesting concept but pairs it with an underwhelming treatment

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, and Maya Rudolph

Directed by: Mike Mitchell

Tagline: They come in pieces.

With the bar set very high by its’ delightfully zany, wildly creative predecessor, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part attempts to recapture the 2014 adventure’s joyful silliness and witty magic but struggles to match the inventiveness that made the original so enjoyable.

The movie continues the tale of our animated heroes Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt), Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett) and their many friends. But as we return to their world, we quickly realize that everything is no longer awesome in the Lego universe. Bricksburg has become Apocalypseburg, no thanks to infantile intruders that have wreaked havoc – a reflection of the toys’ real world owners, Finn (portrayed by Jadon Sand) and his younger sister Bianca (Brooklynn Prince), failing to get along while playing with the Lego set, with the latter adding her own set of Duplo bricks to the game.

When Lucy, Benny (Charlie Day), MetalBeard (Nick Offerman), Unikitty (Alison Brie), and Batman are kidnapped by the invading forces of the shapeshifting Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi (Tiffany Haddish) of the Systar System who intends to marry the Caped Crusader, the sunny-dispositioned Emmet is forced to harden his attitude as he undertakes the quest to rescue his friends.

But things don’t unfold with quite the same level of excitement and amusement that wowed us the first time around. There is still a constant barrage of self-referential wit and pop culture riffing, but The Second Part leaves you feeling like writers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller – the masterminds behind the first instalment – are now bombarding us with frantic action and wit in order to try and distract us from the fact that they don’t really have a solid plot or an essential story to tell.

With a rambling storyline, the movie struggles to find its footing. Even its salient thematic elements – toys scared of being relegated to storage; the message of getting along – feel like they’ve already been delivered by better animated films.

That said, there is still quite a bit of fun to be had in the Legoverse, and the meta humour, colourful animation, and lively performances by the voice cast make sure that things remain pleasant from start to finish. Plus there is a lot more music in The Second Part. It may not match the splendour of the first film’s irresistible earworm ‘Everything Is Awesome’ (revisited here in the form of ‘Everything’s Not Awesome’), but much of it is still of the self-aware catchy pop variety; there is even a ditty that’s practically designed to “get stuck inside your head”, which it probably will for younger viewers.

All in all, The Lego Movie 2 tries too hard to capture its predecessor’s awesomeness but often lands merely on passable. Still, while it may not be as charming as the original, it does offer enough fun to ensure that its audience remains fairly entertained.

Rating: 3 out of 5

*****

Velvet Buzzsaw

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, Zawe Ashton, Tom Sturridge, Natalia Dyer, Daveed Diggs, Billy Magnussen, and John Malkovich

Directed by: Dan Gilroy

Tagline: All art is dangerous.

After the success of their 2014 film Nightcrawler, director Dan Gilroy and actor Jake Gyllenhaal team up once again for Velvet Buzzsaw, a satire of the contemporary art world that incongruously doubles as a slasher thriller.

Gyllenhaal plays influential art critic Morf Vandewalt who becomes embroiled in a shady project after his friend Josephina (Zawe Ashton) – who works for powerful gallery owner Rhodora Haze (Rene Russo, also a Nightcrawler alum) – steals the paintings made by a dead man, Vetril Dease, who wished for his art to be destroyed. 

As everyone starts profiteering off Dease’s work, a supernatural element creeps into the tale. The artworks start exacting revenge against those who are exploiting the paintings.

Velvet Buzzsaw takes an interesting concept but pairs it with an underwhelming treatment. There are moments when it hits the mark – Morf’s self-important pretentiousness; the aftermath of a death being inadvertently viewed as an art installation; the awesomely ridiculous character names – plus the cast is stellar. Along with Gyllenhall – who easily steals the show as a pompous art snob – and Russo, the roster also includes the terrific Toni Collette (in a memorable blonde bob wig) as an art curator and John Malkovich as an artist past his prime.

There is so much potential here for an amusing, intriguing romp. But all too often, the movie ends up struggling with its pacing and tone. Its takedown of the art world feels shallow, and while there are some inventive demises in the film, there isn’t much suspense here, mostly because it is fairly obvious which direction things are going in. (Also, the film’s trailer pretty much summarizes the entire movie, reveals nearly all the important scenes – including deaths – and completely spoils the film, so it might be wise to not see the trailer before watching Velvet Buzzsaw itself. Alternately, if you don’t think you want to see the movie at all, then just watch the three minute trailer and save nearly two hours of your life; you won’t be missing much.)

The satire is too tepid and the horror far from scary. Things might have fared better had Gilroy chosen to either push both the satire and horror further, or focused on just one of the two aspects by either offering a sharp, scathing parody of the hollow, greedy art world or fully embracing the campy slasher concept.

Velvet Buzzsaw’s dry wit provides a handful of amusing one-liners and its cast delivers some impressive performances, but overall the film leaves you with the impression that it could have been so much more thrilling and/or incisive.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

- By Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 24th February, 2019 *

In the Picture - How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

movie reviews

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is sweet and charming; the Coens offer Western vignettes in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Starring (voices): Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Kit Harington, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Justin Rupple, Kristen Wiig, and F. Murray Abraham

Directed by: Dean DeBlois

Tagline: Fly on your own. Find your way home.

Hiccup and Toothless return for another big screen adventure in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, the third (and supposedly final) instalment in DreamWorks’ beloved animated series.

The movie arrives nearly a decade after the film that started the franchise, and its characters have come a long way since we first met them in 2010. Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) is now the leader of his tribe, and has helped build the world’s first dragon-Viking utopia by rescuing dragons with his fellow dragon riders and bringing them back to Berk.

But when an infamous dragon hunter, Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham), sets out to capture the protagonist’s beloved alpha Night Fury, Toothless, Hiccup decides to search for the “hidden world” – the ancestral home of all dragons, tucked away somewhere beyond the edge of the world – that his late father (Gerard Butler) told him about, in the hopes of moving both the dragons and the Vikings to safety.

The villain – always menacing but never layered enough to be interesting – sends a female Light Fury dragon to lure Toothless, and things slow down towards the middle as a love-struck Toothless chases his potential mate in what is probably not the most riveting arc of the film. We are led to a predictable climax and an ending that is warm but doesn’t quite deliver the emotional punch that it aims for.

Graced with some striking visual sequences, The Hidden World is a heart-warming chapter that is clearly targeted towards the younger audience, particularly those already invested in the tale of its young hero. The more jaded viewer will notice the film’s pacing issues and will see its inevitable conclusion coming from a distance. 

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is a sweet, engaging instalment that rather charmingly delivers the messages of self-belief, love, and letting go, but the movie doesn’t quite possess the excitement or inventiveness that could have made it exceptional. Still, the filmmakers do manage to create an amicable tale and the voice cast continues to get the job done. The film ultimately leaves us with a tender finale that fans of the franchise are very likely to enjoy.

Rating: 3 out of 5

*****

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Starring: Tim Blake Nelson, Liam Neeson, James Franco, Brendan Gleeson, Zoe Kazan, Tyne Daly, Harry Melling, and Tom Waits

Written and directed by: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Tagline: Stories live forever. People don’t.

Ruminations on death linger over the new Coen brothers film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a Western anthology featuring tales of violence and mortality in the Old West.

Six separate vignettes make up the over two hours long project, putting together song, dark wit, bleak drama, and an unforgiving backdrop for some offbeat storytelling.

A singing gunslinger (Tim Blake Nelson) merrily shoots his way through the musical ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’. A bank robber (James Franco) meets his comeuppance in ‘Near Algodones’. An aging impresario (Liam Neeson) and his limbless artist (Harry Melling) try to make a living as they travel from town to town in ‘Meal Ticket’. An elderly prospector (Tom Waits) looks for a pocket of gold on a hillside in ‘All Gold Canyon’. A young woman (Zoe Kazan) travels in a wagon train across the prairie in ‘The Gal Who Got Rattled’. And five very different people ride in a stagecoach in ‘The Mortal Remains’.

Happy endings are in scant supply and the destination is often bleak, but each journey is still worth taking in its own way. Some shorts may be more enjoyable than others, but each leaves its mark. The most impactful, perhaps, is ‘Meal Ticket’, which stands out with its brutal twist and the terrific acting of Liam Neeson and especially Harry Melling whose haunting performance stays with you long after the segment is over. Equally memorable is Tom Waits as a gold prospector; an old man conversing with a hillside has never been more fascinating. And Tim Blake Nelson is so amusing in the titular chapter that it would be hard to complain if the San Saba Songbird were to sing and shoot his way through a full-length movie.

The inspired moments in Buster Scruggs and the thought provoking arcs in the proceedings are testament to the Coen brothers’ filmmaking talent. But there are also parts of the film that feel overlong. Plus these six stories of life and death in the Old West put together start to feel a bit too morbid. And while the Coens give you a thematic connection between the tales in the final instalment, they retain the loose episodic structure till the end; the vignettes don’t ever converge and the viewers don’t get the satisfaction of watching the individual strings cleverly tying together for a comprehensive finale.

Still, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs makes for an intriguing viewing experience, thanks to the Coens’ astute storytelling as well as the film’s dark wit, stunning visuals, and unusual structure, and the remarkable performances by the cast.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

- By Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 10th February, 2019 *

Escape Room - not the smartest movie but it does deliver some thrills

movie review

Escape Room

Starring: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, Tyler Labine, Jay Ellis, and Nik Dodani

Directed by: Adam Robitel

Tagline: You're invited to play for your life.

The excitement of the escape room has captivated people around the globe, including celebrities like Ariana Grande and Barack Obama, and it’s easy to see why the trend has become so popular – it must surely be fun to unravel mysteries, solve puzzles, and find your way out of the room(s) by completing the adventure game.

But what if someone deliberately made the adventure deadly? That’s the idea behind the film Escape Room, a horror thriller in which a group of strangers find themselves trapped in a lethal maze and must fight for survival.

Shy student Zoey (Taylor Russell), ambitious executive Jason (Jay Ellis), struggling backroom worker Ben (Logan Miller), war veteran Amanda (Deborah Ann Woll), escape room enthusiast Danny (Nik Dodani), and truck driver Mike (Tyler Labine) all receive a puzzle box, each containing an invitation to an escape room facility with the chance to win $10,000 if they succeed in finding their way out.

When these individuals arrive at the facility, they quickly realize they are trapped together in a challenging game and that the dangers are very real.

As they try to make their way through the series of escape rooms, questions arise about why they were all chosen to participate in this mortal game. Who sent them the invites and why? What do they have in common? Who is behind all this? And will anyone manage to make it out alive?

There is enough suspense here to keep you watching and guessing, as Escape Room makes its way through different deadly setups. The rooms are fairly imaginative and well made, and some – like an upside down bar – are both visually and thematically impressive. The puzzles are fun but not particularly engaging; there generally aren’t enough clues for the viewer to play along, which feels like a missed opportunity. And there are more than a few clunky bits along the way that leave you thinking the arcs could have been more clever; a twist towards the end is especially questionable.

But you don’t generally watch a horror thriller for its smarts, and as far as thrills go, Escape Room mostly delivers. Director Adam Robitel may not have made full use of the rather intriguing premise but he has still managed to make the film somewhat exciting. Sure there is a general predictability to such movies, but there are enough mysteries here to keep you interested as things unfold. The focus of the proceedings mostly remains on the harried quests, and while there is death in the movie, there isn’t a lot of gore; you’ll be safe if you don’t enjoy watching the overly gruesome outcomes of the more gory thrillers.

The acting is serviceable. The characters might not be very original, but all the roles are appropriately cast.

Escape Room may be a rather typical thriller – it surely isn’t a masterpiece and it’s in absolutely no danger of winning a Best Picture Oscar – but it’s a fun ride nonetheless and interesting enough to keep you involved till the end. It’s not the smartest movie you’ll ever watch, but if you’re a fan of such horror thriller, then this film will keep you fairly entertained even if it won’t quite dazzle you with inventiveness.

Rating: 3 out of 5

- Sameen Amer

The Express Tribune Blog - 28th January, 2019 *

In the Picture - Instant Family and Night School

movie reviews 

The challenges and joys of adoption fuel Instant Family; Night School has its moments, but for the most part, the film struggles

Instant Family

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Rose Byrne, Isabela Moner, Gustavo Quiroz, Julianna Gamiz, Margo Martindale, Julie Hagerty, Octavia Spencer, and Tig Notaro
Directed by: Sean Anders
Tagline: Just add chaos laughter awkwardness mistakes love.

The challenges and joys of adoption fuel Instant Family, a comedy drama inspired in part by director (and co-writer) Sean Anders own experiences.

The story revolves around married couple Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne), who – motivated by the emptiness in their lives as well as the spirit to do something good – decide to adopt a child. But when they enthusiastically end up bring home three siblings – rebellious teenager Lizzie (Isabela Moner), her sensitive younger brother Juan (Gustavo Quiroz), and difficult young sister Lita (Julianna Gamiz) – their lives (and house) soon turn upside down.

The duo experience both the difficulties and the rewards of fostering the children, as Anders brings authenticity to the underlying sentiments. Instant Family is competently made, well-acted, clearly well-intentioned, and surprisingly heart-warming, although its emotional impact isn’t quite as strong as the film would have hoped. The feel-good moments often seem forced as the movie settles for pleasing the audience instead of exploring the complexities of the conflicts it generates, keeping it from going down roads that could have been more rewarding.

To its credit though, the film is fairly successful at shedding light on the value of adoption and has some fun satirising the pitfalls of childrearing, but the project does struggle with contrivances as things go along, and the overall journey feels very predictable. Even when the movie is taking fairly obvious turns, however, its impressive cast keeps the proceedings enjoyable. Byrne is terrific as the female lead. The underused Margo Martindale, who plays Pete’s overbearing mother, steals the show whenever she is onscreen and leaves you wishing she had been given more scenes bonding with the children. And Moner brings empathy to her moody teenage character.

For the most part, Anders does a fairly good job tugging at the heartstrings while trying to navigate a complicated topic, and Instant Family certainly has some moments of mirth and revelation. But on the whole, the movie is quite predictable and too saccharine to make the best use of its affecting topic. In the end, Instant Family is sweet and pleasant but its commercial earnestness makes the film less interesting and less impactful than it could have been.

Rating: 3 out of 5

*****

Night School

Starring: Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, Taran Killam, Ben Schwartz, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Rob Riggle, Romany Malco, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Al Madrigal, Anne Winters, and Fat Joe
Directed by: Malcolm D. Lee

When a film stars two of the most popular comedians of the moment, then it has no right to be nearly as dull as Night School is. The movie pairs Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish but burdens them with an unexceptional script which fails to make the most of their comedic talents.

The story revolves around a high school dropout, portrayed by Hart, who must pass the GED exam in order to get a job he desperately needs.

The protagonist is Teddy (Hart), a barbecue grill salesman, who has successful maintained the illusion of wealth while dating the beautiful and successful Lisa (Megalyn Echikunwoke) who by all measures seems to be out of his league. But when an accident leaves him jobless, Teddy is left with no option but to get his GED so that he can potentially join a firm where his best friend (Ben Schwartz) works and keep impressing Lisa with his financial success.

When he goes back to his old high school, hoping to simply charm the principal into giving him the degree, he is dismayed to find his former classmate Stewart (Taran Killam) – who Teddy used to bully when they were young – in charge of the institute. Unable to get what he wants via shortcuts, Teddy ends up in the night school class of unorthodox teacher Carrie (Haddish), and joins a group of other misfits on their quest to get their high school qualifications.

The premise, though promising, isn’t very original, and director Malcolm D. Lee’s execution isn’t very inventive. There is the occasional turn that is interesting – like the film’s exploration of learning disabilities, for instance (although even that eventually takes an odd turn) – but for the most part the project suffers from its inability to be creative and bold.

There are times when Night School is amusing, but there are hardly any laugh-out-loud moments in the movie. Even Hart and Haddish’s comedic timing and delivery can’t keep the proceedings from becoming weary, especially when the slender plot is stretched into a film with a nearly two hour long running time. And the Hart-Haddish pairing doesn’t quite pay the dividends you’d expect; they are gifted performers, but here they are being smothered by the mediocrity of the material they have to work with. Likewise, the impressive supporting cast is mostly given stock roles and over the top personas, squandering their considerable talents.

Night School has its moments, but for the most part, the film struggles to generate laughs, mostly because the script just isn’t that funny, and for a movie that purports to be a comedy, that’s quite a big failing.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

- Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 27th January, 2019 *

Glass - disappointingly anticlimactic

movie review 

Glass

Starring: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan

Tagline:  The world of superheroes will be shattered.

The worlds of Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016) collide in Glass, the final chapter in writer-director M. Night Shyamalan’s Eastrail 177 Trilogy.

David Dunn (Bruce Willis), the plane crash survivor with superhuman abilities from Unbreakable, is now a vigilante known as The Overseer, who is taking down criminals with the help of his now-grown son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark). The superhero finds himself on the trail of Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), the kidnapper with dissociative identity disorder from Split who has been given the nickname The Horde.

But just as they clash, both men are arrested and sent to a mental health facility which also houses Dunn’s nemesis Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson). The three become the patients of psychiatrist Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) who specializes in people exhibiting delusions of grandeur and tries to persuade the men that they are normal humans who mistakenly believe they have super powers.

Things eventually come to a head as a supposed twist leads us to an ending that is about as anticlimactic as a climax can be. Shyamalan is no stranger to controversial endings; even Glass’s parent project Unbreakable had one. But this time you’re just offered a conclusion that leaves you thinking “this can’t be it?” as you keep waiting for something more interesting to happen, although that satisfying finale never arrives.

There are some intriguing parts along the journey; there is significant tension at points as you try to figure out which side is more convincing and who will, in one way or another, emerge victorious. But the overall pace is too slow to maintain the intrigue and interest. And when things derail towards the end, the whole thing becomes a convoluted mess that doesn’t do justice to the significantly better original projects that inspired this final chapter.

It does not feel like Glass was masterfully thought up nearly two decades ago (even though it supposedly was) and you aren’t left with the impression that the worlds of Unbreakable and Split have been seamlessly put together here. This feel like a rather forced marriage, disappointingly less than the sum of its disparate parts.

For all its many pitfalls though, the film does make fairly good use of its absolutely stellar cast, especially the wonderful McAvoy who is terrific throughout the film and makes the movie worth the watch as he displays his acting range while skilfully switching between his character’s many personalities. Jackson too is impressive, as is Willis despite being relegated to a secondary slot for a large chunk of the movie. Paulson is good in her role as well, and it is nice to see the grownup Clark reprise the part he played as a child 19 years ago.

Visually, the film is competently made and grips you with its ominous atmosphere, but Shyamalan can’t make full use of the potential this project inherently possesses. The movie begins promisingly, but Glass ultimately suffers because of issues with its pacing, coherence, and how its story unfolds.

Viewers are likely to enjoy watching the performances of the actors and be intrigued by the overall concept of the movie, but its underwhelming, polarizing conclusion will probably leave you wishing the filmmaker had made better use of the fascinating characters he inherited from his previous films.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

- Sameen Amer

The Express Tribune Blogs - 25th January, 2019 *

In the Picture - Won't You Be My Neighbor? and Three Identical Strangers

documentary reviews

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? takes a look at the life and legacy of Fred Rogers, the beloved American children’s television presenter; Three Identical Strangers does justice to its extraordinary real-life tale of three brothers

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Starring: Fred Rogers, François Clemmons, Yo-Yo Ma, Joe Negri, David Newell, Tom Junod, and Joanne Rogers

Directed by: Morgan Neville

Tagline: A little kindness makes a world of difference.

Morgan Neville takes us on a stroll down memory lane in Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, a look at the life, work, and legacy of Fred Rogers, the beloved American children’s television presenter who educated and entertained kids for decades.

As affable as the man himself, the documentary sheds light on the events and ideas that inspired the Presbyterian minister to pursue a career in broadcasting and how it led to the creation and development of the unconventional Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood which went on to become one of the most iconic kids’ shows of all time.

We find out why Rogers gravitated towards children’s television and the impact he had on his audience as well as the (ridiculous) criticism he received from his detractors.

The film weaves archive footage of the late presenter – including clips from his shows and snippets from conversations – with interviews of his family members, co-workers, and journalists while employing the occasional creative touch – like beautiful animated sequences – to relay the thoughts and philosophies of the remarkable man who gently taught kindness, love, compassion, patience, and self-acceptance to kids, and who did not shy away from having sincere, earnest discussions about difficult topics with his young viewers.

This isn’t exactly an all-encompassing look at his life. Those expecting a more personal slant – like thorough details about his family and upbringing, for instance – will not find what they are looking for here. The documentary touches upon Rogers’ background and life as it explores his television career, but the focus primarily remains on his work and ideas.

Those who grew up watching Neighborhood will bask in the warmth of the nostalgia this film invokes. But even those who weren’t lucky enough to experience Fred Rogers’s charm when they were children will still find the documentary engrossing simply because it’s hard not to find its one-of-a-kind, peculiar, wonderful subject interesting.

As far as documentaries go, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is fairly straightforward and doesn’t reveal any surprises. But there is no resisting the emotional response this film will draw from you. There are parts that will make you smile; there are parts that will make you tear up; and in the end you will be left with a reminder of the power of kindness and love, much needed in our divisive times. Ultimately, this revisit to the world of Fred Rogers will make your day special, because surely there was no person in the whole world quite like him.

Rating: 5 out of 5

*****

Three Identical Strangers

Starring: Edward Galland, David Kellman, and Robert Shafran

Directed by: Tim Wardle

Tagline: The most amazing, incredible, remarkable true story ever told.

Three Identical Strangers starts off with a series of remarkable coincidences.

On his first day of college, Bobby Shafran is bewildered by the overly warm welcome he is receiving from his fellow students. What’s bewildering him even more though is the fact that everyone keeps calling him “Eddy”. The realization that he has a doppelgänger leads to the reunion of the identical brothers, a story that generates considerable media interest. And then things get even more bizarre when David Kellman and his family and friends come across a newspaper article about Bobby and Eddy and are shocked by David’s undeniable resemblance to the recently united brothers.

That’s how Bobby, Eddy, and David – American triplets separated at birth – incredibly find their way back to each other at the age of 19.

But just when you think you’re about to get a feel-good tale, things take a disturbingly sinister turn.

Why were the boys separated as infants? Why were their adoptive parents not told about the split? How did they end up with families at three different economic levels? As the triplets and their adoptive parents try to unravel the mystery behind the brothers’ separation, they are shocked by what they uncover.

The film has to work around a couple of constraints but it does so quite well. And while it can’t answer all the questions that come up, that is simply because it does not have access to all the answers; but this never feels like a shortcoming and only helps to illustrate the frustration its subjects must feel.

There is joy and wit and anguish and utter devastation at the various stages of the documentary, all captured beautifully by Tim Wardle. The brothers recount their strange experience with the help of close friends and family members, and the presence of actual footage from their lives makes for a riveting viewing experience.

The less you know about the events behind the documentary, the more you’ll be intrigued by the proceedings as the pieces fall together. But the film even remains compelling on repeat viewing, and its heartbreak remains just as affecting.

Built around what is quite possibly the most surreal story you’ll ever hear, the very engaging and thought-provoking Three Identical Strangers does justice to its extraordinary real-life tale and effortlessly proves that reality sure can be stranger – and perhaps even more disturbing – than fiction.

Rating: 5 out of 5

- Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 20th January, 2018 *

What Men Want - yet another gender-flipped remake

trailer review

Thanks to Hollywood’s never-ending fondness for recycling ideas, we are now getting a new film inspired by the very mediocre Mel Gibson-starring romantic comedy What Women Want. Because everything in existence must be remade, obviously.

Director Adam Shankman and co. have taken the concept behind the 2000 Nancy Meyers film and flipped the gender to come up with – you guessed it! – What Men Want, a (hopefully amusing) look at what would happen if a woman could hear men’s inner thoughts.

The terrific Taraji P. Henson plays the lead role, portraying a sports agent who is passed up for a promotion and told it’s because she “doesn’t connect with men”. An encounter with a peculiar psychic leaves her with the ability to hear what men are thinking. She quickly realizes that she can use her new powers to her advantage in order to get ahead in a "man's world".

It appears the project aims to take a dated movie and update it for the #MeToo era. The filmmakers have the opportunity to ride the current waves of change and take a look at what it’s like for a woman to get ahead in a corporate career while exploring how men think about and objectify women. How well and sensitively the film tackles these subjects, of course, remains to be seen.

It is great to see Henson – who seems charming and feisty in the clip – as the protagonist of the movie. The supporting cast – which includes Tracy Morgan, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Josh Brener, Tamala Jones, Phoebe Robinson, Max Greenfield, Jason Jones, Brian Bosworth, Erykah Badu, Pete Davidson, and even features cameos by Shaquille O'Neal and Mark Cuban – is also extremely impressive. (And there is no Mel Gibson is sight, which is always a good thing.)

There is nothing particularly exceptional or inventive about the trailer though, and it doesn’t ever go in a very exciting, unexpected direction. Plus the movie clearly targets fans of raunchy comedies, and seems reliant on lots of swearing and adult humour, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Still, if you enjoy wacky, raunchy wit, then this gender-flipped revisit might be worth checking out. It could potentially be fun to get a female perspective on the idea. We do hope Shankman can give the concept a fresh spin and make good use of Henson and her co-stars’ considerable acting talent.

When Men Want arrives in cinemas on 8th February this year.

- Sameen Amer

The Express Tribune Blogs - 15th January, 2019 *