Brats (2024)

Being a child of the '80s, I found myself really invested in this documentary. It's a fly on the wall journey, following actor Andrew McCarthy attempting to reunite with his old colleagues after thirty-some years. It opens up about their uncomfortable relationship with the term "brat pack" (coined in 1985 as a play on "rat pack") which stigmatized many of their careers (although Rob Lowe and Demi Moore escaped relatively unscathed). As an outsider who missed that phenomenon by a few years, I never looked down on the brat pack label. In fact, I purposely sought out all of those films. And after having watched this, I want to go back and see them all again. The 1980s are like comfort food to me. I kind of wish it had been a reunion for all of them, rather than just Andrew's story, but there is some catharsis in following that personal journey. Sad that Molly Ringwald declined and Judd Nelson didn't end up being a part of it, since he seemed to be the one who was most affected by it in older interviews.

3 scathing articles out of 5

Secret Window (2004)

If you're an author in a Stephen King story the chances are good that things either aren't going your way now, or very soon they won't be. In Secret Window, based on a novella in King's Four Past Midnight (1990) collection, the author is played by Johnny Depp. While not completely believable as such, he makes the comedic paranoid bitterness (coloured with a splash of school yard envy) that his character is wallowing in work in his favour.
Events revolve around a short story that Depp's character penned, the originality of which is being contested by a menacing John Turturro.
It has some very fine camerawork throughout, but the ending is too abrupt.

3 plagiarised pages out of 5

The Ghost (2010)

The 'ghost' of the title is of the writer variety, semi-reluctantly penning the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister at a time that coincides with a political and personal upheaval for the very public figure.
Polanski is a master of his craft and I feel that all the actors gave great performances with varying levels of subtlety, together achieving a believable kind of 'filmic harmony', but overall I just wasn't gripped by any of it. It's now a part of the 'watch once and pass onto someone else' stack of discs.
Strangely, what I'll remember most is the view through the PM's study window; the blustery beach environment with sporadic tufts of grass atop sandy dunes was in some way a kind of unspoken commentary on the life he was living.

2½ cures for insomnia out of 5

#HORROR [2015]

Conceptual artist & bit-part actress Tara Subkoff makes her directorial debut with the heavily stylized satirical slasher flick, #HORROR.
A group of over-privileged 12-year old mean girls get together for a sleepover that turns deadly when a seemingly harmless game of cyberbullying gets out of hand.
It's gorgeous looking film that unfortunately doesn't seem to gel together with it's narrative or pacing and instead comes off as messy and amateur.  Every single character is so obnoxious and cold it's hard to attach yourself to the film when all it's aesthetics are already testing your patience.  I don't know who this film is trying to talk to, when it's feels like The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants are getting their throats slashed, resulting in the alienation of both the older and younger crowd.    It's an interesting test and I like what it was trying to say but it seems like it's trying way too hard to be something it's not.

1½ pulsating egg faces out of 5

The Kovak Box (2006)

Having twenty-five novels under his belt means science fiction writer David Norton is pretty pleased with himself, until his real life begins to resemble a sequel to one of his own fiction stories. He’s a human rat in a difficult maze, unable to distinguish between the stimuli and the deterrents.
The story had a lot of potential, but there’s zero chemistry between the lead actors. With the exception of David Kelly, the protagonists lack of enthusiasm means it plods along when it really ought to be racing ahead.
The clever camera-movements offering glimpses of what’s at the edge of the frame but crucial to what’s within it are praiseworthy.

3 murder ballads out of 5

The Dark Half (1993)

Fiction writer Thad Beaumont pulls plots and scenarios for his gory trash novels from a repressed part of his adult mind. He attributes the ideas to a pseudonym he named George Stark. They say you can't kill an idea, but what if the place where it originates wants a similar kind of life to the host?
It’s ridiculous but it’s Stephen King magical realism so we accept it. It’s a shame then that the film never lives up to its own aspirations. It could've been told in half the time, and the ending is a feeble attempt at covering up a lack of resolution for the characters.

2 sparrows out of 5