Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Crisp Criticism - "Solo: A Star Wars Story", "Deadpool 2", "Life of the Party", "Tully"


by
Julien Faddoul














Solo: A Star Wars Story

Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his mighty future co-pilot Chewbacca and encounters the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian.
Woeful from beginning to end, offering nothing new in regards to either aesthetic or subtext. Like the previous prequel in the franchise, this was designed merely to regurgitate scantly explored ideas in an exercise of referential ascertainment that for some reason people find gratifying. Like a well of water that will never run out. In the past, I have spent a great deal of ink on here explaining why this saddens me. By all means, enjoy your garbage.

d – Ron Howard
w – Jonathan Kasdan, Lawrence Kasdan (Based on the Characters by George Lucas)
ph – Bradford Young
pd – Neil Lamont
m – John Powell
ed – Pietro Scalia
cos – David Crossman Glyn Dillon

p – Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Allison Shearmur

Cast: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, Paul Bettany, Jon Favreau, Linda Hunt














Deadpool 2

Wisecracking mercenary Deadpool battles the evil and powerful Cable and other bad guys to save a boy’s life.
More of the same: Far too long and relying heavily on self-referential humour. It becomes tired instantly.

d – David Leitch
w – Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Ryan Reynolds
ph – Jonathan Sela
pd – David Scheunemann
m – Tyler Bates
ed – Michael McCusker
cos – Kurt and Bart

p – Simon Kinberg, Ryan Reynolds

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, TJ Miller, Karan Soni, Brianna Hildebrand, Stefan Kapičić, Andre Tricoteux, Leslie Uggams, Jack Kesy, Shiori Kutsuna, Eddie Marsan, Terry Crews, Lewis Tan, Bill Skarsgård, Rob Delaney, Luke Roessler, Robert Maillet, Scott Vickaryous, Hayley Sales













Life of the Party

After her husband abruptly asks for a divorce, a middle-aged mother returns to college in order to complete her degree.
The third film now by its married creators who have yet to understand what aspects of its star’s persona are appealing. Much of the humour is infrequent and annoyingly unscripted.

d – Ben Falcone
w – Ben Falcone, Melissa McCarthy
ph – Julio Macat
pd – Rusty Smith
m – Fil Eisler
ed – Brian Scott Olds

p – Ben Falcone, Melissa McCarthy

Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Gillian Jacobs, Maya Rudolph, Julie Bowen, Matt Walsh, Jacki Weaver, Christina Aguilera, Debby Ryan, Chris Parnell, Shannon Purser, Adria Arjona, Luke Benward













Tully *

A mother of three hires a night nanny to help with her newborn.
Cody’s script relies so heavily on a third-act plot twist (one that is both inane and incredibly obvious the second the title character is introduced on screen) that any attempt at maternal examination liquefies into nothing. Reitman’s typically clumsy direction doesn't help. It’s Theron who carries it.

d – Jason Reitman
w – Diablo Cody
ph – Eric Steelberg
pd – Anastasia Masaro
m – Rob Simonsen
ed – Stefan Grube
cos – Aieisha Li

p – Jason Reitman, Charlize Theron, Diablo Cody, Aaron L. Gilbert, AJ Dix, Helen Estabrook, Beth Kono, Mason Novick

Cast: Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Mark Duplass, Ron Livingston, Colleen Wheeler, Elaine Tan, Maddie Dixon-Poirier, Asher Miles Fallica, Lia Frankland





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