Silver Screen Queens

Reviewing movies and the culture that surrounds them.

This podcast is no longer in production.

164: Warcraft

Published 6 July 2016 • 34 minutes, 34 seconds

The popular and enduring strategy game finally gets a film. It’s at the hands of the always-interesting Duncan Jones (Moon), so we were intrigued. Reviews of this film have been universally terrible, except among hardcore gamers, but despite not being Warcraft players, we found soaring ambition and technical excellence beneath the clear problems with script and story. Non-fans will find it difficult to follow, but if you are into Warcraft, it’s probably worth your time.

163: Finding Dory

Published 29 June 2016 • 35 minutes, 6 seconds

13 years after the release of the classic Finding Nemo, Pixar has made a sequel focusing on the film’s most interesting character, the forgetful blue tang fish Dory. As expected, it’s beautiful, funny and has a great message. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of the original film, but it’s certainly charming and sweet.

162: Now You See Me 2

Published 22 June 2016 • 33 minutes, 9 seconds

The surprise hit of 2013 is back, and the four horseman are recruited into the wacky schemes of an eccentric billionaire. A few new faces have come along for the ride, namely Daniel Radcliffe and Lizzy Caplan, and it’s pretty fun, if a little overlong and flimsy of plot.

161: Money Monster

Published 15 June 2016 • 33 minutes, 19 seconds

Jodie Foster is back behind the camera and Julia Roberts is back in front of it, playing, er, the woman behind the camera for George Clooney’s wacky cable money show host. Production is held up when a young man burned by the show’s financial advice takes the host hostage. The film has some serious points to make about the collapse of institutions and the role of the 1%, but suffers from some confused storytelling and feels like the world’s longest 90 minute movie.

160: The Nice Guys

Published 8 June 2016 • 30 minutes, 54 seconds

We’ve been big fans of Shane Black for a while, so we went to see his latest film, a wannabe 70s noir about a pair of (private) dicks played by Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. While the plot is not dissimilar to the wonderful Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and there are a few funny one-liners, it lacks the charm and wit of the earlier film, and falls into the trap of doing the very thing it’s apparently trying to satirise.

159: Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Published 1 June 2016 • 36 minutes, 47 seconds

Rising star New Zealand director Taika Waititi has been tapped to direct the next Thor movie, but he has a great body of work behind him, including this new gem. This story of a young boy from the city and his reluctant foster uncle, and the manhunt that ensues when they get stuck in the bush is full of all the things we love: diverse characters, solid storytelling and a great absurd sense of humour. While we have some quibbles with the realism of the premise, it’s impossible to ignore the real emotion at its heart.

158: X-Men: Apocalypse

Published 25 May 2016 • 36 minutes, 10 seconds

The latest of the new old X-Men movies has been released and like its predecessors, it’s pretty good fun. Welcome to 1983, where no-one has aged much since 1962, but the ur-mutant has awakened from a 5,00-year sleep. Charles and Eric still love one another despite Eric’s temper and this universe still contains the best Quicksilver. A new crop of young mutants starts to make a name for themselves.

157: Bastille Day

Published 18 May 2016 • 33 minutes, 52 seconds

Idris Elba and Richard Madden headline this tight little action movie, playing a grizzled CIA agent and an ace pickpocket caught up in a terrorist manhunt in Paris. A little bit “Die Hard in Paris” and a little bit British gangster flick, Bastille Day is well-made, gritty and has a solid story. It’s just a shame it was so hard for us to find a screening. Watch it yourself before you listen to us.

156: Allegiant

Published 11 May 2016 • 33 minutes, 14 seconds

In the third movie of the Divergent series, Tris and her friends escape beyond the wall, only to find themselves trapped once more. We really want to like girl-led YA franchises, so we’re sticking with this one despite its many flaws. Its young cast is trying its best, even if the writing and production values feel derivative and sometimes downright problematic.

155: Captain America: Civil War

Published 4 May 2016 • 50 minutes, 10 seconds

Marvel’s latest offering has arrived, after a publicity tour of…a year or more. The Avengers (including a few new faces) hijack Captain America’s third movie, and after the triumph of The Winter Soldier, it’s a high bar to clear. Civil War is action-packed, musclebound adventure and it’s not a bad way to spend two hours, because even an average Marvel movie is ten times more fun than its nearest competitors.