Picoreview: Step Up: Better than your average Wrong Side Of The Tracks Dance Movie. I have an unashamed love for Wrong Side Of The Tracks dance movies while being perfectly capable of recognising that their usual range of quality falls somewhere between “not good” and “excrutiating”. Most feature at least one lead who cannot. act. at. all. Some feature two. In the real humdingers, not only can neither of the leads act but neither can any of the supporting cast, either. However, they can all dance, which is really all…
Tag: picoreviews
Picoreview: Jupiter Rising
Picoreview: Jupiter Rising: I’m putting my money down now: Channing Tatum is not going to be the problem with the Gambit movie. This is not to say there will not be innumerable problems with it, because it would take a miracle of untold proportions for it to be any good, but what Jupiter Ascending did was convince me that Tatum could actually do a damn fine job playing the Ragin’ Cajun. My current expectation is that it’s going to be the equivalent of Catwoman, in which I maintain poor Halle…
Picoreview: Into the Woods
Picoreview: Into the Woods: Not bad. Not *nearly* as bad as it could have been, which sounds damning with faint praise and isn’t intended to. It may even verge on satisfying, although it’s not entirely satisfying, because I’m too familiar with the stage play. Many of the performances are very, very good. Most, even. Chris Pine is terrific as Cinderella’s Prince, Shatnering it up way more than he does in Star Trek, and, as everybody has said, the Princes’ Agony is very funny indeed. Meryl Streep is–well, she’s Meryl Streep.…
Picoreview: Birdman
Picoreview: Birdman: So, wow. That was, so that was a movie. I’m. Wow. Virtuoso performances from the whole cast. Emma Stone eats the screen alive when she’s on screen, and Edward Norton–it’s always fun to watch actors playing actors, but he’s especially good (I shall detail why behind the spoiler cut). Coming from the theatre background that I do, it was a…it was…it rang true in the same way Noises Off does, except without the farce. Mostly. It was…wow. And technically, also, wow. The scene changes, the camera shots, the…wow.…
Picoreview: Big Hero Six
Picoreview: Big Hero Six: well that was wonderful. I cried about four times because I’m a big sap, so if you’re at all sappy, bring tissues. And whether you’re sappy or not, stay through the credits, because the post-credit sting was a zinger. “I love San Fransokyo,” I said to Ted. “Well, you like San Francisco,” he said in a perfectly reasonable tone. Which is true. I do. But San Fransokyo was even cooler. THE WIND FARMS!!! It is perhaps slightly unfortunate (in retrospect; I didn’t notice it while watching)…