We're not just killing time this week as we discuss the best murderers in movies, but what exactly does that mean: memorable murderers, murderers who can't remember, most kills, actors who murder a lot? Why yes, all that and more.
Having attempted to tackle the rom-com with the vapid LOOK BOTH WAYS we thought we'd try again with genre heavyweight Richard Curtis's ABOUT TIME (2013). The night after a disappointing New Year’s Eve Party, unlucky in love Tim (Domnhall Gleeson) learns that part of his paternal inheritance is the ability to time travel and uses his new skill in the one way any 21-year-old would: by trying to get laid. Bill Nighy perfects his bumbling non sequitur routine as Tim's dad alongside Lindsey Duncan's charmingly stoic mother, Lydia Wilson as free-spirited sister Kit-Kat does as much as she can with a by the numbers sub-plot added only to increase the dramatic stakes and Rachel McAdams is endearing as love interest Mary and what starts as a fairly standard romantic comedy evolves into a film about family and love and the death of the people you love most, with a beautiful message about taking the chance to be present each day which profoundly changed me for at least half an hour I have to say.
Not everyone felt the same however; the ethics of Tim's time travel is never discussed, neither are the existential implications for them both in that they don't share common memories of meeting or making love for the first time. It's a movie about a controlling narcissist then who gets to create a perfect life for himself by manipulating women as at least one of us implies, and features a plot which makes less and less sense the more you think about it and which seems to introduce and then break key rules of its world just for the purposes of drama.
Based on the work of Brazilian author and artist Ziraldo, THE NUTTY BOY is adapted from the popular "O Menino Maluquinho" comic and sees pan-headed Nutty's dad promise him an afternoon of foosball and hot dog pizza. A well-meaning attempt to stop the unethical imprisonment of school mascot Lazarus, a frog, threatens his perfect day. Visually reminiscent of the work of Charles M. Schultz, we enjoyed the fusion of relatable storyline (kids first day) and crazy antics (laser babies with terminator eyes).
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Until next time, we remain...
Bad Dads
