YESTERDAY
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Kate McKinnon, Ed Sheeran
Duration: 112 minutes
Class: 12A
KRS Releasing Ltd
Penned by rom-com wizard Richard Curtis (Bridget Jones, Notting Hill) and helmed by director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire), Yesterday is a jukebox fantasy comedy that takes us into a world suddenly bereft of the existence of the Fab Four.
Teacher Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) moonlights as a struggling artist, gigging in pubs at night trying to make it as a musician. After a bus accident and mysterious blackout knocks Jack out, he wakes into a world in which no one but himself remembers the existence of legendary rock band The Beatles. Faced with a unique opportunity, Jack reconstructs The Beatles’ songs from memory and takes credit for them as his star begins to rise. However, the charade has its limits: even as fame and fortune come to Jack, they come at the price of his honesty as well as his relationship with best friend Ellie (Lily James).
Critics were warm towards Yesterday, appreciating the charming undercurrents that could have been explored in more depth.
“It lacks the magic of discovery,” writes Owen Gleiberman for Variety.
“In Yesterday, the greatness of the Beatles is like a trump card that Jack, and the filmmakers, keep playing. They reduce the Beatles to the ultimate product by declaring, at every turn: ‘These songs are transcendent!’ And it’s the fact that they keep telling us, rather than showing us that makes Yesterday, for all the timeless songs in it, a cut-and-dried, rotely whimsical, prefab experience.”
“Maybe it shouldn’t be any sort of evaluative factor, but the simple fact of hearing Beatles songs, the simple thought experiment of pretending to hear them for the first time, does carry a charge,” says Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian.
“And, although this film can be a bit hokey and uncertain on narrative development, the puppyish zest and fun summoned up by Curtis and Boyle carry it along. It’s ridiculous and indulgent at all times.”
Ratings
IMDB: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%
Empire: 4 stars
TOY STORY 4
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
Directors: Josh Cooley
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele
Duration: 90 minutes
Class: U
KRS Releasing Ltd
Two years after Andy donated all his toys to Bonnie, the regular crew find themselves living comfortably in Bonnie’s toy box. Woody (Tom Hanks), who begins to realise he is not as important to Bonnie as he was to Andy, fears she will become overwhelmed as she begins attending kindergarten.
After a particularly industrious arts and crafts session, Bonnie brings home a new toy named Forky (Tony Hale), whom she created herself from scraps.
After Forky surprises everyone by coming to life, Woody takes it upon himself to show Forky what life truly should be like living as a toy, and maybe learn a few new lessons himself along the way.
Toy Story 4 has been getting a lot of love from critics, hailing it another perfect installment in the animated saga.
“The Toy Story series has always been just as satisfying for adults as for kids, but this might be the first film that actually feels more relatable to the grown-ups, offering a surprisingly nuanced tale of coping with change and moving on after loss,” writes Laura Prudom of IGN.
Peter Debruge of Variety says, “The brilliance of all the Toy Story films lies in the characters’ repeated demonstrations of loyalty and responsibility and the way they juggle that with their almost-human emotions”.
Ratings
IMDB: 8.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Empire: 4 stars
BRIGHTBURN
Genre: Horror
Director: David Yarovesky
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, Matt Jones, Meredith Hagner, Gregory Alan Williams
Duration: 91 minutes
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd
What would happen if earth’s most powerful heroes didn’t use their powers for good? This is the question the James Gunn-produced hero horror flick Brightburn seeks to answer. When a spaceship crashes on the Breyer’s farm in Brightburn, Kansas, Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle (David Denman) find a baby boy inside, whom they adopt as their own.
Twelve years later, the alien ship hidden in the Breyer’s basement begins transmitting messages to the boy, and young Brandon soon discovers he has superhuman strength and invulnerability.
As the craft continues whispering to Brandon, his more violent tendencies begin to emerge and the Breyers quickly begin to suspect that their unexpected blessing may very well be a curse.
Critics are split on Brightburn, citing an interesting premise with botched writing that stunts the execution.
“This is not a movie built to withstand even the flimsiest questions; it’s much too busy bringing on a series of escalating acts of R-rated violence to worry about logic,” says Peter Travers of Rolling Stone.
“Where does Brandon come from, and what motivates his shocking change in behaviour? Those answers belong in another, way better movie. Brightburn essentially devolves into a war between adoptive parents and their malevolent spawn. It’s predictable, plodding and dim-witted every step of the way.”
“As a gory, pulpy superhero horror story, Brightburn delivers exactly what it’s selling, so if you like what’s on the menu, you’ll probably enjoy the meal,” writes Haleigh Foutch of Collider.
“The story and character work is undeniably thin in ways that, at best, harken back to the shallow splatterfests of the 80s slasher heyday, and at worst, prevent the audience from fully investing.”
Ratings
IMDB: 6.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 57%
Empire: 2 stars