Flash Reviews: The Disaster Artist, Molly's Game, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle & The Greatest Showman

I’ve been a little behind with posting some of my film reviews lately, but you can blame Christmas and Disneyland Paris for that. Speaking of which, I’ll be posting on that magical experience in the next few days too. For now, check out some flash reviews from December, which takes us right up until the last film I saw in 2017, The Greatest Showman. And don’t forget to check out my podcasts too, where I’ve already reviewed all of the following.

Central Intelligence has plenty of Hart but not enough brains

I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in the cinema that I ended up having to discreetly pick popcorn from the hair of the person in front of me, although I did come close with three of my most favourite comedies in recent years: 2008’s Step Brothers, 2013’s Anchorman 2 and the highly-underrated This Is The End. A lot of it is personal taste, of course. But for the most part, comedy movies miss the bullseye, sometimes veering too far off-target altogether, with this year’s Zoolander and Bad Neighbours sequels being the most recent examples of unfunny and plain wrong standing in for concrete comedy writing. 

The Secret Life of Pets is no secret worth sharing

Ever since Toy Story broke new ground in 1995 with its computer-animated timeless storytelling, there has been a plethora of CGI movies. Of course, they’ve not all had the luxury of critical or box office success, but what is it about these movies that we love so much? Is it the bright colours, the wide-eyed characters and the total escapism? Partly, yes. But mostly, we’re drawn to the story. The animated world is just a beautiful and creative way to convey that story. Without one, it’s nothing more than eye candy.