Author: Ian D.

First of all, Snatched is a completely harmless, forgettable comedy that will have a long life on cable. It nabs a laugh here and there mostly on the backs of the very capable cast, but it’s little more than that. What’s incredible is Amy Schumer somehow got Goldie Hawn to come out of retirement. The Oscar-winning actress hasn’t worked since 2002’s The Banger Sisters and, although she’s underused here, I hope she continues.

I think it’s safe to say after two-decades we know what we have in Guy Ritchie. The man is a gifted filmmaker who’s been shaped by his contemporaries and not necessarily for the better. Contemporary Ritchie is a weird combination of Tarantino and Michael Bay churning out studio blockbusters with faint whiffs of his gangster movie past. He surprised everyone in 2015 by releasing The Man from U.N.C.L.E. that combined his schizophrenic style with a 60’s spy aesthetic that was charming and fun.

In 2014 Guardians of the Galaxy single handedly kept me interested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This, mind you, was no easy task. The well was by no means dry in the MCU just incredibly stale, with cookie cutter sequels and blue energy beams to outer space. Then, seemingly out of nowhere stepped a wild group of space misfits, thrust together for one reason or another to defend the universe against a blue Lee Pace with black goo dribbling down his chin. Let’s get weird Marvel!

“So much of life is a mystery” – says Charlie Hunnam’s Percy Fawcett – an early 20th century British explorer with a penchant for grand philosophical musings.  It’s the thesis of The Lost City of Z as well as the driving motivation for Fawcett’s Amazonian exploits.  Discovery and danger pulls him away from his family for years at a time while Fawcett believes he is moving closer and closer to a discovery that could “change the course of human history.”

When a movie is clearly borrowing heavily from a classic it can be a massive detriment and at the very least distracting.  Given the dearth of Tarantino imitators out there since his early-90’s rise to fame it’s obvious when another one hit’s the market – and is usually met with a healthy eye roll.  Initially this was my reaction when I saw the trailer for Free Fire – a single location shoot em up with an A-list cast and 70’s leisure suits.