Review + Response: The Imitation Game

Okay, okay... I know that this film has been out for weeks so it's a little late for a review but I'd not written one for a while and I had some thoughts on the film that I wanted to share.

The Imitation Game had been recommended to me so many times in the past few weeks so I had to carve out time to see it. As a member of the LGBTQ community I had to see it. I loved how naturally they depicted Turing's sexuality without making it a huge plot point, it was definitely treated as a respectful sub plot. I felt things were a little rushed and I would have really liked them to tastefully depict Turing's suicide as it remains one of the most beautiful and poetic suicides I've ever heard of.

This was a real character piece and Cumberbatch most definitely stole the spotlight. His portrayal of Alan Turing was strong, possibly his strongest yet. The rest of the film, however, fell a bit flat. We went through this whole journey of Turing joining the team and building a machine and yes, suddenly it works. We see it working and then are thrown a brief bit of information about how they used the information before Turing, in a most blasé fashion, tells us how the war dragged on for two years and was over. This was incredibly anti-climactic. Were it not for the strength of Benedict Cumberbatch and his portrayal of Alan Turing, this film would have fallen flat because the plot moves so hurriedly and without care for dramatic tension. Things are not adequately brought to a dramatic ground. Cumberbatch brings the laughs and the tears and really makes you feel. The rest of the cast give a decent enough performance (with Keira Knightley playing Keira Knightley as per usual) but this feels like a good enough film that certainly entertained. I feel that this could call for an Oscar nomination for Cumberbatch, that's for sure...

Chef: Review + Response

So recently I went to see the film Chef about a chef who is given a 2 out of five star rating and a career-ruining review by a renowned food critic. This pushes him to get back to his roots and open up a Cubanos food truck.


That said, the film itself only pulls 2 out of 5 stars.
What could have been a heart warming, foodie comedy fell very flat and seemed to focus more about the power of social media than the mending of a broken family or, you know, food. I was expecting food porn. I wanted to see and experience the food even more than we got to. I wanted more of a relationship to develop between the father and son. It took so long for us to get to the part where the protagonist even acquires the food truck and then they rush through the actual road trip where they could have really had fun with it and explored different regional/state foods and flavours even more. Basic synopsis: Man loses jobs and makes sandwiches for a bit. Miraculously fixes all his problems.


Sofia Vergara was charming and Scarlett Johansson, whose character was totally irrelevant and gratuitous, really suited her short brunette bob. This was an uneventful flick that glossed over the meat in favour of a few flicks of spice. I find it hard to believe that a simple tweet or two could honestly conjure up enough business. Sure, Carl the chef became a meme but memes die fast. Elements of the film just seem unrealistic. I'm sure the petrol/gas prices involved in driving across state and around America would have totally eaten up all of their earnings. This film was slow, like a meal that's flavourless and hard to digest.

Review + Response: Maleficent (2014)

After the success of hit musical 'Wicked' we've become hugely interested in hearing the villain's side of the story that sheds light on their actions. We like our villains motivated and well rounded. We try to find some sympathy for them. This is true with Disney's latest effort, Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie in the titular role and Elle Fanning as a young Princess Aurora. It's a dark family film and felt like something Tim Burton wishes he could have pulled off. It's colourful and vibrant with darker scenes to contrast as Maleficent develops as a character. The film acts as a sort of feminist/revisionist back story that somewhat corrects the original Sleeping Beauty film that Disney had previously released to create a new narrative that steps aside from the cocoon of the previous movie.

My main criticism would be that it felt a little too short. I wanted more. I wanted to see The Moors. I wanted to see more of Maleficent as she grew from child to darker, wingless adult. I'm not sure if she was given as much of a voice as I'd have liked. Basically more Angelina Jolie please. Jolie gave a truly stunning performance, even using some of the original character dialogue, and executed a perfect performance. I loved the costumes and some of the changes from the original Sleeping Beauty tale. I'll keep this spoiler free but I can tell you there's a moment where queer women everywhere will want to cheer a little bit in the movie theater. The brevity of the film was their only downfall. otherwise this was an enchanting film.

Camp Takota Review + Response!

So, I just bought the movie Camp Takota.
If you don't know what Camp Takota is then you clearly don't spend enough time on YouTube.

Camp Takota is a movie put together by a bunch of YouTubers starring Hannah Hart, Grace Helbig, Mamrie Hart, Chester See, Sawyer Hartman and more. It was co-written by Mamrie Hart and follows the character of Elise who gets dumped and loses her job in a terrible day and has to return to the only place that will welcome her at this point - her childhood summer camp.

Here's the trailer:

So I just watched Camp Takota tonight and I am filled with all the feels. I'm a big YouTube fan and I totally love the Holy Trinity that is Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart and Mamrie Hart. I feel a sense of pride as this is a project that was a real labour of love. It was a passion project put together by YouTubers to the best of their ability and with the resources available to them and it turned out to be a damn good movie. It's a real feel good flick that makes me lament the fact that summer camps aren't really a big thing here in England. If you like feel good movies that make your day feel just a little bit better then go to CampTakota.com to order it OR you can download it from iTunes. I'm so proud of Mamrie for writing it, starring in it and producing it. I feel she had such a large part to play in the creation of this film that it inspires me to continue with my own script work. The film was put together in such a short amount of time and with a modest budget and it just goes to show that you can make something good even without a big Hollywood budget behind it. It's cute, heartfelt and humorous though out and a really good lazy day movie. The thee leading characters, played big Hart/Hart/Helbig, were actually really great performances. I was particularly surprised to see how good Mamrie is as an actor. She's known for more comedic portrayals of characters but pulled out a lot of heart (or, should I say, Hart) for this film. I hope that this is just the beginning for the trio and that more exciting projects come in the future.