Kubo and the Two Strings film review

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dir. by Travis Knight
Laika's work in stop motion has always been fairly prestigious. Films like Coraline and ParaNorman received no shortage of critical acclaim, their unconventional form of craft often being placed among such great studios as Ghibli and Pixar. In films like the aforementioned, the studio's craft often complemented the films' disturbing visuals, creating films which, while not strictly horror, were able to construct a fairly unsettling tone in the former and an effective genre homage in the latter. Kubo is in some ways a departure, taking the form of a sweeping epic journey more akin to a fantasy film than their earlier works, but this change in tone is revelatory, because Kubo and the Two Strings is the surest realization of their craft to date and stands a good chance of going down as their masterpiece.

Star Trek Beyond movie review

dir. by Justin Lin
The latest entry in the popular-but-divisive Star Trek reboot film series has been praised as a return to form after 2013's controversial Star Trek Into Darkness, and in many ways it's the closest these films have come to the tone and format of the original TV show. However, despite its many charming character moments and thoughtful tangents, Star Trek Beyond continues down the action-oriented route that this reboot series has become notorious for, and for all its moments-and there are plenty-its by-the-numbers plot and poorly-shot action never make this latest entry exciting enough to justify the wasted potential of its deeper elements.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople movie review

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dir. by Taika Waititi
Fresh off of his acclaimed 2015 feature What We Do in the Shadows, New Zealand director Taika Waititi premiered his latest film, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Boasting a well-deserved 8.4 on IMDb, this latest film is equal parts hilarious, adventurous, and deceptively deep, its delightful characters and fantastic script building up to one of the best films of the year.

Ghostbusters (2016) movie review

dir. by Paul Feig
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Paul Feig's reboot of Ghostbusters was destined to be controversial from its very inception, not only because of Feig's already divisive style but also because of the expectations brought about by such a popular brand name, not to mention a smorgasbord of other factors, the worst of which being Sony's subpar trailers for the film. Thankfully, although it's not without its flaws, this new Ghostbusters, subtitled in some media as Answer the Call, is highly entertaining on its own merits, even if it doesn't quite meet the bar set by the franchise's legacy.

Love & Friendship movie review

dir. by Whit Stillman

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Jane Austen's popular bibliography has long been a staple of cinema, with Pride & Prejudice in particular receiving no fewer than 10 screen adaptations. As such, it seems inevitable that filmmakers would eventually reach to the darkest corners of her catalogue, pulling out the early novella Lady Susan, a minor Austen work by all accounts, and expanding it to a full hour-and-a-half feature film. This adaptation, Whit Stillman's Love & Friendship, has received universal critical acclaim, boasting an impressive 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the best-reviewed film of the summer so far excluding a handful of smaller releases. It's a testament to how weak this summer has been that Love & Friendship doesn't even come close to earlier title holders such as Boyhood and Mad Max: Fury Road, but at the same time, Stillman's film is an absolute delight from start to finish.

Finding Dory movie review

dir. by Andrew Stanton

After a long period of declining critical reception, Pixar made a massive comeback last year with the excellent Inside Out. Their latest effort, Finding Dory, is one of a few planned sequels to their most popular films. The film is too fun and charming to break their recent winning streak, but it's far from one of the studio's most inspired efforts, and especially after Inside Out, it seems especially lightweight and formulaic, delightful in the moment but not likely to be remembered in a week's time.

The Nice Guys movie review

dir. by Shane Black
Shane Black's third directorial effort, following cult hit Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and blockbuster Iron Man 3, and his first not starring Robert Downey Jr., built up a wave of anticipation off the backs of a few very promising trailers. The duo of Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, alongside an irreverent tone, immediately sold The Nice Guys as a delightful action-comedy for the summer season. While the film certainly has its fair share of humour and charm, and while it gets more entertaining as it goes on, its jokes are disappointingly uneven, and a frustratingly high number of elements in the film aren't fully realised, up to and including its lead characters.