Simon's Movie Reviews

It took the storytelling skills of British director Christopher Nolan to finally get Batman right. The 1960s TV show, starring the late great Adam West, had a lot of action, but was overly campy. The Tim Burton films felt very much like comic books come to life, but the villains stole the spotlight. Then there was Joel Schumacher who nearly killed the franchise by turning it into a live-action cartoon and by putting nipples on the suit. However with Batman Begins (2005) the spotlight was firmly placed on the character of Bruce Wayne as he becomes a vigilante, the villains were much less campy, and the action sequences seemed to be set in our world. Like many people my expectations for Batman Begins were pretty low for what would be chronologically the fifth theatrical Batman movie. I had watched Batman Forever many times on VHS, but Batman & Robin , the last Schumacher entry, had left a very bad taste in my mouth. Going into theatres in Quebec City in the summer of 2005 al...

Watching a lesser film by Hayao Miyazaki is like listening to the worst song by The Beatles: it’s not as good but it’s still The Beatles. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) has many of the Japanese master filmmaker’s trademarks, from the gorgeous hand-drawn animation to the magical creatures, and a strong female protagonist. Yet the story is not as enticing and one particular character comes off as underwhelming. On the plus side the titular castle looks great and it does do a lot of moving. My first experiences with Miyazaki’s films were watching some of his best work at a film club at the University of Sherbrooke. I got around to seeing this one while looking for my first job after graduating from Sheridan College in 2011. In between jobs, low on cash, and staying at home in Quebec City, I was not spending a lot of money of movies. Good news for me, my brother buys as many movies as I do and he likes Japanese animation. He was very enthusiastic about it, saying the animation of Howl...

Christopher Nolan, easily one of the best directors working today, likes to play with his audience’s perception. In “Memento” the audience follows a character whose memory should never be trusted as it vanishes after 10 minutes. In “Inception” the characters navigate through a world that is an illusion within an illusion within another illusion. Even Batman in his Dark Knight trilogy has a flair for the theatrics. Hence it makes perfect sense for Nolan to have made “The Prestige” (2006) a movie about feuding magicians. In a film where two rivals try to outwit each other with the world’s best magic trick, don’t be surprised if the ending has fooled you. Released one year after “Batman Begins” and two years before “The Dark Knight,” “The Prestige” showed Nolan had more than one trick up his sleeve. I saw it during my first year at the University of Sherbrooke while spending one of my holidays with my mom in Quebec City. You know you have a good movie when audience members are disc...