Every Sunday, Gill delves into his archive of over 800 movie reviews and randomly selects three for your enjoyment! Here are this week’s…
Movie 43
This is an absolute trainwreck of a film that manages to be both terrible and remarkable at the same time. Movie 43 is nothing more than a series of unrelated comedy sketches which are only about as funny as the stupidest Saturday Night Live skits, but are strangely packed top to bottom with celebrity talent. There are multiple Academy Award winning actors in this movie! And yet they’ve been handed some of the lamest attempts at R-rated humour you’ll ever hear. This isn’t even bad on a so-bad-it’s-good level, it’s just bad all the way through. The only reason to watch Movie 43 is to take sick satisfaction in seeing so many A-listers debasing themselves (Hugh Jackman has balls on his chin – I’m not kidding), and even then, you’ll feel like your brain has begun oozing out your years by the time the end arrives.
1 out of 5
Searching for Sugar Man
This is a gorgeous and fascinating documentary about an unsung music legend. The musician called Rodriguez was never a hit in North America, but he achieved a Bob Dylan level of fame in South Africa…completely unbeknownst to him! After hearing many wild rumours of how Rodriguez killed himself on stage in front of a live audience, the filmmaker behind Searching for Sugar Man undertakes a hunt to track Rodriguez down. The result is a beautifully composed, awesome-sounding movie that proves truth really is stranger than fiction. You’ll become an instant Rodriguez fan after watching this film.
4 out of 5
This is 40
I’m normally a big fan of Paul Rudd playing the straight man in comedies, but This is 40 is just an overlong, bitter movie that failed to make me laugh even a little. This is 40 doesn’t have much of a plot to speak of, playing out more like a laundry list of complaints over what it’s like to be 40 years old, established and with a family. Every plot-related conflict feels forced, and the conflicts that aren’t plot-related just make the characters seem like petty, hateful people. There honestly isn’t much to say beyond that – the movie is so long, dull and unfunny that I turned it off 100 minutes in and read the plot summary on Wikipedia to see what happened. And the answer? Nothing significant. You’ll feel 40 years older by the time this movie is over.
2 out of 5
See you next Sunday for three more thrilling short reviews!