I adore Melissa McCarthy. In 2011, she accomplished a wonderfully rare and spectacular feat – she managed to give an amazing comedic performance in a straight-out comedy, and ride her brilliance to an Oscar nomination. Her performance in Bridesmaids was just the very beginning for Melissa, because since then, she has just been on a…
Category: comedy
What We Do in the Shadows (2015)
Vampires – is there another brand of movie monster that have a more fascinating history? From Max Schreck and Bela Lugosi to…Wesley Snipes and Robert Pattinson, vampires have been around for the entire extent of what we call cinema. Then how is it, after nearly 100 years of vampire movies, that a film like What…
Listen Up Philip (2014)
Give me an independent comedy starring Jason Schwartzman and you will encounter a very happy film lover. I seriously have nothing but admiration for the chap, and I think he is one of the most flawlessly entertaining comedic actors currently working today. I will not venture into all the reasons why Schwartzman is brilliant, but…
Inherent Vice (2014)
Oh boy, am I tired of defending Inherent Vice. I have been anticipating this film since it was announced years ago. I adore Thomas Pynchon, I adore Paul Thomas Anderson and I adore Joaquin Phoenix. They are my cinematic dream team. There was no way I would be disappointed with a film involving these three…
Wolf (1994)
If you follow Movies Unchained regularly, you’ll know I consider Jack Nicholson to be one of the finest actors of all time, and perhaps the greatest living actor, and it breaks my heart when I remember that he hasn’t made a film since 2010. Of course, we all know Jack for his masterful performances in…
Wild Tales (2014)
Anthology films are so rare these days, which is a shame because they are such an interesting concept – short films with a loosely common theme, telling different stories in a confined space. It is a refreshing way to tell a story, because no longer does a writer and director have ninety minutes to tell…
Song for Marion (2012)
Every year, without a doubt, comes a few films that are a rare combination of comedy and drama. They may address subject matter inherently saddening, but the film in itself, through story and intention, is the epitome of that taut phrase “feel-good”. Whether they are good or bad is irrelevant, as a film’s true worth…
Night Shift (1982)
Hey, remembers the ’80s? I don’t, because I wasn’t around then. But I still get my fair share of the culture of the iconic decade through two mediums – music, and of course film. The 1980s were a time where romantic comedies were smart and funny, where there were songs by Burt Bacharach, and while…
This Is the End (2013)
The end of the world (or more notably known by the ominous title “the apocalypse”) has always been something we, as humanity, have feared, never knowing when it will come, or if it will actually come, and if there is an end in the books. Every few years, some loon comes out of the woodwork,…
Julie & Julia (2009)
Its been a while since I reviewed a truly feel-good film. All the reviews over the last few weeks have all been excellent, but had the shadows of intense social issues hovering over them – losing religion, racism, bullying, crime, the failing of the education system and, well…whatever Nightcrawler was. Therefore, it was really an…
