daily stream: snappy cinematic junk food to distract from terrible reality
2001’s Ocean’s Eleven leaves UK Prime soon; on Prime and Apple TV in the US.
Ocean’s Eleven
Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves movie review: dudgeon and draggin’
A high-fantasy action comedy of tedious slapstick and obvious punchlines you scry the instant a wannabe medieval wag opens their mouth. It’s all borderline incoherent, sketched in cheap-looking CGI.
weekend watchlist: a sci-fi mood piece of eeriness, ookiness, and dread
Plus a snarky heist, a two-century-old energy crisis, and more. (First published August 27th, 2022, on Substack and Patreon.)
Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw movie review: everything wrong with the world today
A stew of “hilarious” toxic masculinity and nonstop violence as the solution to all problems. Sexist, stupid nonsense, tediously familiar and wholly predictable. Even the cartoonish action falls flat.
Ocean’s Eight movie review: revenge of the women
Breezy fun that sticks a shiv into Hollywood’s — and the larger culture’s — disdain for women. Wonderfully subtle comic performances from a great cast having a ball make for a perfectly suitable light diversion from the world right now.
Unsane movie review: is she or isn’t she?
As a piece of craft, this is a smack in the face to Hollywood’s bloated blockbusters. As a piece of pulp, it brings a sharp, smart feminist twist to familiar tropes of cinematic paranoia.
Logan Lucky movie review: a waste of a heist
Fun enough and diverting enough while you’re in the middle of it, but hints of something much richer and more satisfying dangle just out of its reach.
Overdrive movie review: dumb and dubious
More plot holes than plot, this overly convoluted, deeply stupid Fast and Furious wannabe is crammed with clichés and memorable only when it’s laughable.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 movie review: stupor hero
Hard to believe, I know, but this is a real movie that real people have unashamedly put their names to. Because a sweet paycheck trumps human dignity.
The Art of the Steal review: steal from the best
One of the most fun heist movies ever, bursting with snappy humor and a twisty cleverness that knows that you know that you are getting conned, too…
