Tag: Laurence Fishburne

Movie Review: THE SIGNAL – Sci Fi with a story too ambitious for its budget

On By ANDREW HOPEIn Movie ReviewsLeave a comment

thesignal

After watching The Signal, I was left with much the same feeling of frustration I had with Shane Carruth’s Upstream Color, with the only real difference being that I didn’t hate the latter.  What these movies had in common for me was a self-indulgent disregard for the audience.  I’ve been watching movies long enough to understand and appreciate filmmakers that don’t spoonfeed the audience what their movies are about, and I think I have a good nose for self-indulgence in movies, which I define as movies that throw a lot of disparate elements into the screenwriting blender, except for a payoff that’s either meaningful or logical.

Continue reading “Movie Review: THE SIGNAL – Sci Fi with a story too ambitious for its budget” →

Movie Review: ARRIVAL – Sci Fi with a strong emotional core, and satisfying payoff at the end.

On By ANDREW HOPEIn Movie Reviews2 Comments

arrival

This year’s Hopes Thanksgiving Movie was markedly different to last year’s choice – Spectre – and more enjoyable for a variety of reasons, but not entirely successful.  I’ll start by saying that I’m a huge Denis Velleneuve fan – his last four movies (including Arrival) have shown a real sense of diversity both in content and tone, and I consider that to be the mark of a confident director.  I’m eagerly anticipating his Bladerunner sequel – as I said in my reviews of Enemy and Sicario, I can’t think of many directors out there right now that I’d be as excited to see directing it.

Continue reading “Movie Review: ARRIVAL – Sci Fi with a strong emotional core, and satisfying payoff at the end.” →