Average Mike

Magic Mike (2012)

Directed by Steven Soderbergh this film stars Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Cody Horn and Matthe McConaughey. An aspiring entrepreneur working as a male stripper takes a younger man under his wing and introduces him to the world of stripping.

This is a pretty familiar cautionary tale about living a hedonistic life style with the only “fresh” element being that the film is about male strippers. I did not find the film had much of interest to say about the world it is set in but is a decently enough made effort. While it is disappointing that there is not more to the film beyond the surface elements it still has more than a steady hand walking us through proceedings.

3/5

Bizarre brothers

Being Bhaijaan (2014)

Directed by Shabani Hassanwalia & Samreen Farooqui this is a documentary from India. We follow two super fans of Bollywood star Salman Khan.

What starts off as a pretty innocent look at those obsessed with a film star takes a turn when it reveals some of bizarre/darker views the subjects have on women and sex. While the subject matter of the film is narrow and the run time short this film does give a good window into both modern India and cult of cinematic masculinity there. I found this to be a really interesting lens to look at life in India through.

4/5

The problems with time travel

Project Almanac (2015)

Directed by Dean Israelite this film stars Jonny Weston, Sofia Black D'Elia, Sam Lerner, Allen Evangelista and Virginia Gardner. A high school student that wants to go to MIT discovers plans his father left for a time machine and time travels with his friends.

There is a lot of promise in the premise of this film but it falls far short of doing anything interesting. Events become a bit of a jumble thanks to all the time travel and I do not think this is an intentional affect like in Primer (2004). The worst part is presenting the whole film as found footage which is seems to be an excuse for some really annoying camera work that constantly took me out of the film.

2/5

A bit of leg leads to trouble

The Gay Shoe Clerk (1903)

Directed by Edwin S. Porter this short film of the silent era stars Edward Boulden. A young lady shows some leg to the clerk fitting her for a new shoe, he kisses her and the lady's escort hits him with an umbrella.

There is not a huge amount to this film and it barely lasts more than a minute. The plot is pretty much as described above and might raise a momentary chuckle at most. It is hard to expect much more from these early shorts but I suppose for the era this is a well made film.

3/5

Wacky heroes of cinema

Supermen of Malegaon (2012)

Directed by Faiza Ahmad Khan this this is some where between a making of documentary and an exploration of a sub-culture. Impoverished Muslims in an industrial Indian city make near zero budget parodies of Bollywood and Hollywood films they love.

This is a fun look at the love of cinema and the way it inspires people to create themselves. Despite having few resources pretty impressive results are achieved by those working on the fan film which is a real inspiration. The film manages to capture something universal even though it is looking at a very unique situation.

4/5

Too British

The Theory of Everything (2014)

Directed by James Marsh this film based on the story of Stephen Hawking and his first wife stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones. One of the great minds of our time finds himself trapped in a body which he is slowly losing control of.

There is something quintessentially British about the gentle and reserved nature of this film but I think it does the film's subjects a disservice by not being a warts and all piece. At times the film's agenda is just a little too clear, straying from history too much for my taste. Clearly the highlight is Redmayne's performance in the main role and he does a great job physically transforming himself.

4/5

Delusions not taken seriously

Lovesick (2014)

Directed by Luke Matheny this film stars Matt LeBlanc, Ali Larter and Adam Rodriguez. The principle of an elementary school becomes delusional every time he falls in love.

This film's big mistake is trying to make a cute romantic comedy out of what is a pretty serious mental health problem and would result in dangerous behaviour in real life. Unfortunately it's hard to get passed that major misstep and see much more here. The cast do their best but to be honest there isn't a lot to work with anyway in terms of humour.

2/5