May 26, 2017

Welcome to TFCA Friday, a weekly round-up of film reviews by TFCA critics.

Opening this Week

Baywatch (dir. Seth Gordon)

“Another unnecessary big-screen adaptation of a vaguely remembered TV show” — NW

“A dumb, mildly gross-out comedy about the rivalry/between two muscular men” — LL

“A lightweight summer action comedy with aims to entertain and little else” — AP

“Nothing more than lots of special effects and slow motion shots of bodies running on the beach” — GS

“As it giggles away at its campy self, at least you can groan along with it” — KT

“Performs CPR on the lamest jokes” — RS

Pirates of the Caribbean:  Dead Men Tell No Tales (dirs. Joachim Ronning, Espen Sandberg)

“Hugely entertaining, full of the action and humour that made the first film such a standout” — LB

“You could get just as much enjoyment out of [this] as you would get from tying a $20 bill to a brick, chucking it in the ocean, and watching it sink to the bottom for two hours and fifteen minutes” — AP

“The unimpressive fifth instalment is boring from start to end” — GS

“Just as cluttered and exhausting as a Pirates sequel would be” — RS

“No matter how iconic the character, nobody involved in the project seems to have much faith left in the star power of the scandal-plagued Depp” — KT

“The shortest entry in the series, but still feels bulky and ungainly” — NW

Paris Can Wait (dir. Eleanor Coppola)

“An old school, chaste, ‘will they or won’t they’ romance blended together with a celebration of literally stopping to smell the roses every once in a while” — AP

“Coppola’s film of the idle rich indulging in shameful decadence is as boring as its characters” — GS

Population Zero (dirs. Julian T. Pinder, Adam Levins)

“I have no idea why this movie exists” — NW

“A good idea unconvincingly executed every step of the way” — AP

“Horrific concocted tale told in found footage documentary style achieves total credibility“ — GS

The Transfiguration (dir. Michael O’Shea)

“A stunning, chilling, and promising debut work” — AP

“A tragedy, but also a horror movie—and a very good one” — NW

“Modern day moody vampire pic fails to engage despite a few genuine creepy segments” — GS

War Machine (dir. David Michôd)

“Not enough sting as a satire, too goofy to take seriously” — RS

“With War Machine, and a strong presence at Cannes, Netflix is radically altering the movie landscape. Barry Hertz reports on Hollywood’s biggest disruptor, for better and for worse”

Reviews and features by: Norman Wilner (NW), Andrew Parker (AP), Gilbert Seah (GS), Barry Hertz (BH), Liz Braun (LB), Liam Lacey (LL) Radheyan Simonpillai (RS), Eli Glasner (EG).