Many of the best films seem to be released in January Ready for Oscar Season, obviously there are still several contenders to see, and I am really looking forward to seeing The Theory of Everything and Foxcatcher in the coming days. Obviously I have not seen these films yet, but at the Moment my Front Runners for Oscar Glory are Benedict Cumberbatch for The Imitation Game, and Rosamund Pike for Gone Girl.
Other notable releases in the coming weeks include Disney's Big Hero 6, from the same people who brought us Frozen, Taken 3, which won't have to try hard to be better than Taken 2 and Whiplash, which looks quite interesting.
There are also two very different "Spy" films coming out in January, Mortdecai, Which based on what I have seen of the trailer is likely to be extremely Sexist, and Kingsman: The Secret Service, which stars Colin Firth and looks like it might be worth a watch.
Looking Further into the year, I am looking forward to Insurgent, the second part of the Divergent trilogy, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Definitely The Minions Movie will be the highlight of the summer.
Towards the End 2015 we Have Spectre, the latest James Bond film, Star wars 7, which I really hope isn't going to disappoint and of course the climax of the Hunger Games.
As always, I'm sure there will be many surprises along the way, and probably my Favourite Film of 2015 isn't even on my Radar Yet, that's the beauty of movies.
Friday, 2 January 2015
2014 in Review
At the start of the 2014, I had hoped to see 120 Films (10 a month) and work out a saving of £1000 with my cineworld unlimited card (120 films at £10 = £1200 less £200 cost of the card) as It turned out I didn't quite hit these targets managing 97 movies and a saving of around £750
Many of my highlights of the Year were the January round of Oscar releases, which technically are 2013 films, The Outstanding 12 Years a slave, The Wolf of Wall Street and Dallas Buyers Club were some of the best movies I saw in 2014.
The most surprising film of the year for me was the March Release of Divergent, the latest Young Adult dystopian Fiction to be dramatized for the big screen. I enjoyed Divergent so much, not only did I borrow the Books from the Library I also bought it on DVD, which for me is a rare thing.
The Best film of the summer was definitely Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy, which was a whole lot of fun and made a light hearted change from the usual run of superhero movies.
My Film of the year though was Pride, as I said on this blog at the time, it is a very rare film tat can take you from the edge of tears one minute to tears of Laughter the next. This was by far and away the best film of 2014.
At the other end of the spectrum my worst films of the year are ones that others seemed enjoyed. I thought The Muppets Most Wanted went to far in its characterisations of Russians/French/Irish and was actually offensive, I also thought that Spike Jonze's Her, whilst a brilliant idea, took its central relationship one step to far and then became just utterly ridiculous.
Worst Film of the year though for me, was definitely Dumb and Dumber To, As a fan of the original it seems like all they have done is recycled the same jokes, but 20 years out of date. It is the one film I walked out of, because I couldn't take any more.
Many of my highlights of the Year were the January round of Oscar releases, which technically are 2013 films, The Outstanding 12 Years a slave, The Wolf of Wall Street and Dallas Buyers Club were some of the best movies I saw in 2014.
The most surprising film of the year for me was the March Release of Divergent, the latest Young Adult dystopian Fiction to be dramatized for the big screen. I enjoyed Divergent so much, not only did I borrow the Books from the Library I also bought it on DVD, which for me is a rare thing.
The Best film of the summer was definitely Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy, which was a whole lot of fun and made a light hearted change from the usual run of superhero movies.
My Film of the year though was Pride, as I said on this blog at the time, it is a very rare film tat can take you from the edge of tears one minute to tears of Laughter the next. This was by far and away the best film of 2014.
At the other end of the spectrum my worst films of the year are ones that others seemed enjoyed. I thought The Muppets Most Wanted went to far in its characterisations of Russians/French/Irish and was actually offensive, I also thought that Spike Jonze's Her, whilst a brilliant idea, took its central relationship one step to far and then became just utterly ridiculous.
Worst Film of the year though for me, was definitely Dumb and Dumber To, As a fan of the original it seems like all they have done is recycled the same jokes, but 20 years out of date. It is the one film I walked out of, because I couldn't take any more.
Happy New Year
Happy New Year Everyone
I realise I have not posted a review since the Hunger Games back in November, so my new Years Resolution is to update this blog regularly. I'm of to see the Theory of Everything this evening so expect to see a review posted tonight or tomorrow.
In the meantime I will post a couple of year end posts looking back at 2014 and looking forward to 2015
I realise I have not posted a review since the Hunger Games back in November, so my new Years Resolution is to update this blog regularly. I'm of to see the Theory of Everything this evening so expect to see a review posted tonight or tomorrow.
In the meantime I will post a couple of year end posts looking back at 2014 and looking forward to 2015
Thursday, 20 November 2014
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
Having read the book I was a little concerned that Mockingjay Part 1 would struggle to meet the standard of the first 2 movies. It covers the period between the 75th Hunger Games quarter quell of Catching Fire, and the assault on the Capitol in Part 2, as such there is very little in the way of action and fighting.
I needn't have worried, despite the lack of action, Mockingjay Part 1 is an intense psychological thriller, full of propaganda from both the capitol and the rebels, and a fight for power. The District 8 scene in particular was deeply emotional.
Jennifer Lawrence puts in a decent performance, but for me Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket steals every scene she is in.
All in all this is far better than I had feared going in, yes it lacks the action of the games from the other movies, but more than holds its own compared to Hunger Games and Catching fire 9.5/10
I needn't have worried, despite the lack of action, Mockingjay Part 1 is an intense psychological thriller, full of propaganda from both the capitol and the rebels, and a fight for power. The District 8 scene in particular was deeply emotional.
Jennifer Lawrence puts in a decent performance, but for me Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket steals every scene she is in.
All in all this is far better than I had feared going in, yes it lacks the action of the games from the other movies, but more than holds its own compared to Hunger Games and Catching fire 9.5/10
Saturday, 15 November 2014
The Imitation Game
Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing in this biopic of the man who broke Enigma and shortened the second world war.
Turing is a very complex character, and Cumberbatch puts in a masterful performance, doing justice to a man who to modern eyes is a genius and war hero, but who at the time was seen as something of an eccentric. Whilst parts of Turing's story are widely known, there is much in this film that I did not know, and I left the cinema with a much better understanding of the man and what happened to him.
The film jumps between 3 time periods, his school days, his work at Bletchley Park and his arrest for Indecency, but it works this very well and it doesn't feel unnatural in its chronology.
This is a superb biopic with a very intriguing subject, and I highly recommend it 9.5/10
Turing is a very complex character, and Cumberbatch puts in a masterful performance, doing justice to a man who to modern eyes is a genius and war hero, but who at the time was seen as something of an eccentric. Whilst parts of Turing's story are widely known, there is much in this film that I did not know, and I left the cinema with a much better understanding of the man and what happened to him.
The film jumps between 3 time periods, his school days, his work at Bletchley Park and his arrest for Indecency, but it works this very well and it doesn't feel unnatural in its chronology.
This is a superb biopic with a very intriguing subject, and I highly recommend it 9.5/10
Mr Turner
Timothy Spall won the best actor award at this years Canne film festival for his portrayal of the artist J M W Turner in this period biopic, it is undoubtedly a fine acting performance by Spall however his portrayal of Mr Turner is not a man with whom I would choose to spend time, and especially not 2 and a half hours.
The film lacks a cohesive narrative arc, with little sense of the passage of time, and many of the scenes could almost be put in any order as they do not bear any relevance to the scene they precede. By the two hour mark, with Turner now ill, I found myself wishing he would die quickly so that the film would be over.
This film is far to long (refer to previous post regarding length of films, that is code for boring) many of the scenes could be removed and the film would probably make more narrative sense. Whilst Spalls acting may be worthy of an award, the screenwriting is most certainly not 4/10
The film lacks a cohesive narrative arc, with little sense of the passage of time, and many of the scenes could almost be put in any order as they do not bear any relevance to the scene they precede. By the two hour mark, with Turner now ill, I found myself wishing he would die quickly so that the film would be over.
This film is far to long (refer to previous post regarding length of films, that is code for boring) many of the scenes could be removed and the film would probably make more narrative sense. Whilst Spalls acting may be worthy of an award, the screenwriting is most certainly not 4/10
Monday, 10 November 2014
Interstellar
Ever since I first heard about Interstellar I was excited, this was one of my most anticipated films of 2014, arguably one of the best directors of our time, Christopher Nolan, directs last years best actor Oscar winner, what's not to like?
Interstellar is a very good film, but given my level of anticipation I was a little disappointed, it lacks that extra something that turns a very good film, into an outstanding one.
Interstellar also proves he point I made I a recent blog post about films being to long, It is nearly 3 hours in length, but I was so engrossed in the storyline that not once did I check my watch, and upon leaving the cinema I was extremely surprised by just how late it was, this is not a "long" film.
For all it's scale and size, this film lacks something, the plotline is ridiculous, especially in the 3rd act, early on in the film, much of the story is believable, however without posting plot spoilers, the final resolution of the movie and explanation of certain key elements leaves behind the realms of believable science, and strays very much toward the Fiction in Science Fiction.
On the whole though this is a very good film, with some great acting performances, and beautiful cinematography, however it's final resolution left me a little underwhelmed 8/10
Interstellar is a very good film, but given my level of anticipation I was a little disappointed, it lacks that extra something that turns a very good film, into an outstanding one.
Interstellar also proves he point I made I a recent blog post about films being to long, It is nearly 3 hours in length, but I was so engrossed in the storyline that not once did I check my watch, and upon leaving the cinema I was extremely surprised by just how late it was, this is not a "long" film.
For all it's scale and size, this film lacks something, the plotline is ridiculous, especially in the 3rd act, early on in the film, much of the story is believable, however without posting plot spoilers, the final resolution of the movie and explanation of certain key elements leaves behind the realms of believable science, and strays very much toward the Fiction in Science Fiction.
On the whole though this is a very good film, with some great acting performances, and beautiful cinematography, however it's final resolution left me a little underwhelmed 8/10
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