★★★
‘Choose kind’ might sound like the awkward cousin of everyone’s favourite Trainspotting quote but it is, in fact, the fundamental precept of R. J. Palacio’s bestselling book – and now Stephen Chbosky’s film adaptation – Wonder. Cinema’s answer to positive-affirmation woodblocks (‘You can’t blend in when you were born to stand out’), the new film might not live up to the promise of its name and premise but no one could ever deny that its heart is in absolutely the right place.
★★★
Those under the impression that the meta hip-horror genre had crawled back into the grave with Scream 4 might find themselves experiencing déjà vu on watching Christopher B. Landon’s Happy Death Day. Mind, they won’t be alone in the feeling. If you’ve ever watched: Groundhog Day, Mean Girls, Halloween, Scooby-Doo, Clue, American Pie, A Nightmare on Elm Street, or, indeed, Screams 1 to 4, this one’ll resurrect familiarity. As a chirpy take on the slasher genre – more playful than the Wes Craven send-ups – there’s a lot of fun to be had here but a feature of slightly less eclectic genre pickings would have been welcome.
Just one in the latest batch of names in the entertainment industry to be felled by their hitherto unknown depravities is the two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey. Horrific that it is to find an actor you’ve admired has ruined the lives of others – and, to a much lesser extent, tainted the memory of some terrific films – it is best to leave analysis to the opinion columns in such matters.
Continue reading Cut and paste casting: replacing Kevin Spacey
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