Dan Says its Alright

 Ticket to Paradise feels like something of a throwback. Its been a while since a studio got two A-listers together for a big budget, cinema release rom com. Anyone hankering for a dose of classic movie star romance is likely to leave happy. The set up for the film could be a rom com plot on its own, college graduate goes to Bali for a break before starting work and meets a guy who she decides to marry and live a simple life with instead of becoming a hotshot lawyer. Thats all taken care of in the first few minutes and the movie focuses on her estranged parents, played by Julie Roberts and George Clooney, who put their differences aside to try and sabotage the wedding.  The backdrop is stunning (the characters will point this out every five minutes in case you hadn't noticed) and gives the movie a luxurious feel, although I suspect the representation of Balinese culture and traditions are somewhat inaccurate. The leads are as good as you would expect, Roberts is as charming as...

 The Banshees of Inasherin stakes a claim to being Martin McDonagh's best film, and that is saying something. The Island of Inashirin is a picturesque, sleepy community off the coast of Ireland whose inhabitants are scarcely concerned with the civil war engulfing the mainland. Much bigger news is the fact that local fiddle player Colm (Brendan Gleeson) has decided to stop talking to best friend Padraic (Colin Farell). What follows begins as a hilarious Father Ted esqe story of a smart (in his own mind anyway) mans exasperation with his dim witted companion and decends into a melancholy story of stubbornness, mental illness and a man left behind, although the laugh out loud humour remains throughout. You will sympathise and be infuriated with both men but mostly you will just be enthralled by their unfolding story.  Pretty much everything in the film is outstanding. The Irish landscape looks stunning, the score is miraculous, the script is meticulous and the cast are perfect. G...

  Netflix original Mr Harrigan's Phone is a somewhat different film to the one shown in the trailers. While the advertising leant into the notion of a spookfest about a vengeful mentor returned from the grave the actual film is more of an exploration of the grieving process with a heavy dose of "smartphones bad kids". This wouldn't necessarily be a problem but there is a lack of direction in the plot and the passage of time is unclear leading to boredom rather than suspense. The straight out of a kids TV movie idea of having a schools entire social structure based around which phone you own severely undercuts the movies sombre tone and any message the film is trying to impart falls flat Like Mr Harrigan's Phone, 2019 's The Lodge also features IT alumni Jaeden Martell. This time he is one half of a brother and sister duo who are hit with the double whammy of their mum committing suicide and there dad planning to remarry a mysterious cult survivor. The film is...

You can't accuse the makers of this new Halloween trilogy of playing it safe. After the crowd pleasing beats of Halloween 2018 and the carnage of last years Halloween Kills things here begin much more sedately, shelving Micheal entirely for the first part of the movie and building up a new antagonist. After the opening scene Halloween Ends picks up four years later then the events of the last two films and focuses on the impact Micheal Myers' (who hasn't been seen since) rampage has had on the town of Hadenfield and its inhabitants. This is a bold change of pace and the idea it sets up is interesting but the movie struggles to pull it off, largely due to lackluster characters. Allyson in particular seems to have become an idiot over the intervening years in order ti help drive the plot forward. Had they spread the developments of the film over a longer time frame rather than a couple of days it might have been more successful. As it is, vague allusions to the nature of ev...