Films Revisited Archives - Cinematic Insights

Why THE HOLIDAY Is The Perfect Embodiment Of The Christmas Rom-Com Craze

After 12 years, Nancy Meyers’ frothy escapist film remains the golden Christmas rom-com benchmark that others attempt to emulate.

In recent years, Christmas-themed love stories have increasingly proliferated on the small screen, mostly from the likes of Hallmark and Lifetime during November and December. With streaming giant Netflix now throwing their Santa hat into the ring with a slew of romantic comedy offerings such as The Holiday Calendarand A Christmas Prince, the question of why this type of predictable, cookie-cutter story is so popular with viewers naturally arises.

One has to look no further than 2006’s The Holiday to understand why this genre has grown exponentially over the last few years.

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The Neon Demon Revisited

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In light of the soon to be released remake of giallo horror classic Suspiria, it seems as good a time as ever to reexamine a film that heavily nodded to the themes and aesthetic of that particular story. The Neon Demon had its wide release in the Summer of 2016 after receiving a medley of cheers and jeers during its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Despite possessing the name recognition from being helmed by Nicolas Winding Refn, the director responsible for every thinking man’s favourite action flick, Drive, the film barely made a dent at the box office and quickly fell into obscurity aside from a small cult following.

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Ant-Man Review

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(3 / 4)

In continued anticipation for The Avengers: Infinity War as well as the upcoming sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp, it seemed logical that Marvel’s Ant-Man was worth analyzing again. Although I hadn’t seen the film in several years, I remember enjoying the film a lot during its initial release and I’m happy to report that it holds up well upon a re-watch, however, I did come away with some new insights. With the slew of other films in the MCU portfolio, it would have been easy for Ant-Man to have been overshadowed by its more epic predecessors. Coming off the heels of the release of Age of Ultron during the Summer of 2015, Ant-Man was jarringly simple in scope as the stakes were nowhere near the grandiose peril demonstrated by its MCU predecessor. However, this simplicity is the film’s greatest strength and despite being less ambitious in some ways Ant-Man provides an oddly fresh experience that sets the film apart from the other MCU films.

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Thor: The Dark World Review

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(2 / 4)

With the release of Avengers: Infinity War nearing closer and Thor: Ragnarok being one of the most recent Marvel Cinematic Universe releases it seems appropriate to revisit Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World directed by Alan Taylor. As this movie was released several years ago now I will be discussing some light spoilers in this review. Although it’s been some time since I last saw The Dark World I recall enjoying the film, but even during that time being aware that this was far from the best the MCU had to offer. I see now that during the time of its release I was still desperately chasing a high to replicate an experience resembling the first time I saw The Avengers and examining the film now I see that The Dark World is the worst film in the MCU to date.

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Where the Wild Things Are Review

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(3.5 / 4)

Where the Wild Things Are is a bold film in almost every sense of the word. This film could have easily played it safe and utilized traditional animation ala Disney or Dreamworks pictures and produced a kid focused film with little depth and some moral lessons sprinkled in. However, through director Spike Jonze’s unique vision along with collaborative work from the author of the original 1963 picture book (Maurice Sendak), Where the Wild Things Are instead unflinchingly depicts the ways in which children manage emotions in relation to burgeoning adulthood through the use of their imagination. I can safely say that the film provides a unique viewing experience that is unlike any film I have ever seen, especially for the coming of age film genre.

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