He’s a Tornado Alley Cat. He’s the…
Vidiot
Week of August 4, 2017
Tornadoes are God's vacuum. First up…
Going in Style
The most stylish way for an old man to
depart this world is in a pinstriped zoot suit.
The chaps in this comedy, however, chose to
wear Halloween masks instead.
After losing his house and pension to the
bank, Joe (Michael Caine) must find a way to support his granddaughter (Joey
King), so he proposes that he and his friends (Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin) rob
the aforementioned bank.
With help from some neighbourhood crooks,
the trio gleans enough knowledge to stage a successful stickup, but not enough
to evade the FBI (Matt Dillon).
A tepid remake of the 1979 heist spoof
starring George Burns, this Zach Braff directed ensemble does have some
outstanding chemistry between its elderly leads, but little in the way of big
laughs. The sappy script and predictable outcome don’t help either.
Besides, retirees would have more money if
they’d stopped giving out their credit card numbers. Red Light
The Circle
The downside to working for an innovative
tech company is being the first killed by sentient machines.
Luckily, the gadgets in this thriller are
not nearly as nefarious as their creators.
As the newest hire at tech giant The
Circle, Mae (Emma Watson) makes quite the impression on the company’s
co-founders (Tom Hanks, Patton Oswalt) by becoming a lab rat for their latest
spy-cam technology.
Being online all the time, however, takes
its toll on Mae, her family (Bill Paxton, Glenne Headly) and her friends (Karen
Gillan, Ellar Coltrane) as all of their lives are also televised for public
consumption.
While it is a timely piece on the loss of
privacy, the power of online mob mentality and the digitization of our data,
this paranoid Orwellian analogy is tactlessly encrypted with bad acting,
outdated discoveries and stock villains.
Moreover, facial recognition cameras can’t
find you if you’re wearing a Burqa. Red
Light
Colossal
The best thing about giant monsters is that
they never attack landlocked cities.
However, the damage done by the kaiju in
this dramedy is affecting Middle America.
Twenty-five years after a colossal reptile
attacked Seoul, an alcoholic writer, Gloria (Anne Hathaway), heads back home to
her small-town to detox. Unfortunately, her childhood friend Oscar (Jason
Sudeikis) owns a bar where he and his friends (Tim Blake Nelson, Austin
Stowell) congregate.
After a night off the wagon, Gloria wakes
to news that the monster has returned to terrorize Korea. Later, she realizes
its rampaging mirrors her every movement.
Giant monster movie ethos mixed with the
intimate character studies, depressing themes and subtle performances of an
Independent film, this unique hybrid balances a bizarre line between dark
humour and senseless destruction with aplomb. Never favoring one strange
narrative over the other.
Incidentally, an alcoholic controlling a
giant monster means more pee breaks.
Green Light
***Impersonal Data***
EDtv
The upside to being on TV 24/7 is that you
can watch reruns to find your misplaced keys.
Conversely, as this comedy confirms, live
streaming can cost you your family.
To boast ratings, producer Cynthia (Ellen
DeGeneres) proposes following around blue-collar Ed (Matthew McConaughey) with
a camera.
While the first episodes flop, once Ed’s
family (Woody Harrelson, Martin Landau, Sally Kirkland) is introduced
viewership goes up. But when a romance starts blossoming between Ed and his
brother’s girlfriend (Jenna Elfman), Cynthia introduces a supermodel (Elizabeth
Hurley) to up the ante.
Spawned from late 21st Century paranoia
over the threat of reality TV, this 1999 satire based on a French-Canadian film
and directed by Ron Howard doesn’t delve deep enough in to the technology it is
trying to lampoon to make it funny or memorable.
Besides, if people really wanted to watch
others all-day then human zoos would be more popular.
He’s a Scripted Drama Queen. He’s the…
Vidiot
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