Tag Archives: Matt Dillon

The Island (Haunted Heart/ Isla Perdida) – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – Some films are greater than the sum of their parts, and then we have today’s entry that has all the right ingredients, yet, like me, every time I try to make bread, nothing rises from it.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is an end-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

The Island

The Island Review –

So, to set the scene, it is Greece in 2001, and people are making their way around the many Greek islands. One of those is Álex (Aida Folch), who is making her way to a secluded restaurant to be their new hostess. It is the kind of restaurant full of fresh flavours that you could feel were pulled right from the sea that surrounds you. But because she is late, the restaurant owner, Max (Matt Dillon), demotes her to server. It is her dream job, dream location, and the boss is quite fine, which is why she does not see all the warning signs everywhere.

Continue reading →

American Dreamer – Movie Review

Posted on by
1

TL;DR – It was a profoundly odd film that was also surprisingly charming.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film

Peter Dinklage and Shirley MacLaine laugh in the sand.

American Dreamer Review –

There are times when you want a big, bombastic work of cinema, and then there are times when you want a smaller character work where an actor can really dig into a character. Today, we get to look at the latter, set in the odd world of academia, which I understand, and the stranger world of real estate, of which I do not.

So, to set the scene, Dr Phil Loder (Peter Dinklage) is an adjunct professor of economics, which means he is not high up on the academic totem pole. He is not well thought of and will never have the money for the house he wants [look … relatable]. As people say, “he is a dreamer, not a doer”. But one day, when looking at the houses he can’t afford, he comes across a listing for a home that is well out of his reach but with a ‘Live In’ option that cuts millions of dollars off the price. It seems too good to be true; the owner gets to stay there until they die, but she is old, so that shouldn’t be much of a wait. 

Continue reading →

Asteroid City – Movie Review

Posted on by
4

TL;DR – The framing device does not work, but that is not a significant issue, as it is still an entertaining romp even without it.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Mechanics.

Asteroid City Review –

Wes Anderson is one of those filmmakers with entirely his own style and can delight or confuse. Before I see one of his films, I am always wondering which way the pendulum will swing for me, and I think this is one of his works that will hit people differently. As I have heard people gushing over it and others bringing a more meh response. But it is finally time for the film in Australia, and it is time for us to check it out.

So to set the scene, we are introduced to a Host (Bryan Cranston) that introduces us to an anthology TV series that is showing the story behind the stage play Asteroid City by noted playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton), which is then presented to us as the movie proper. In a small out of the way town of Asteroid City in the middle of the American desert, there is a crater, an inn, a research centre, and an unfinished overpass. Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman), a noted war photojournalist, has arrived officially because his son Woodrow (Jake Ryan)  is a Junior Stargazer. Still, unofficially because their mother is dead, and he is about to dump his kids on their grandfather Stanley (Tom Hanks). But things change when he meets Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson), and oh, the world changes.  

Continue reading →