2017: A Year in Review

Hello dear reader. Well, when you start looking at back at 2017 you realise that when the dust settles, it more likely to be a cinematic year that is remembered as ‘hopefully’ a watershed moment for equality, rather than anything that happened in front of the cameras. There were, as per usual, the obligatory superhero films. All of them packed to the rafters with anti-heroes and more angst than you’d normally find in a Bruce Wayne therapy session. It was also, by recent standards a fairly quiet summer too. As usual, there were a few tent pole movies that were trying to compete for your hard-earned cash but none that really delivered on either the reputation of box office takings front. Pirates of the Caribbean came and went without much fanfare. As did The Mummy reboot, Alien: Covenant, Baywatch, Transformers: The Last Knight and War for The Planet of The Apes. I don’t know if the lackluster summer was more a sign that people are getting fed up with sequels or if screenwriters are getting fed up with writing them. The only blockbusters that seem to tick the good reviews and money taken boxes were Dunkirk, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Wonder Woman. Although I would imagine Christopher Nolan would disagree with the blockbuster tag for Dunkirk. There were other offerings throughout the year. Baby Driver arrived and proceeded to show La La Land what a real musical was, without ever actually being one. Kenneth Branagh put together a very impressive ensemble cast for his remake of Murder on the Orient Express, all of which were outshone by a moustache that not only defied gravity and imagination but possibly several building regulations as well. Beauty and the Beast continued the to push forward the Disney back catalogue live action remake bandwagon, that started rolling along a few years ago and will shortly be joined by Tim Burton’s Dumbo and Jungle Book, directed by Andy Serkis. Get Out ruffled a few feathers with its subject matter and Darren Aronofsky’s Mother is, I am reliably informed, the ultimate epitome of a Marmite Movie. You either love it, hate it or REALLY hate it. For a slightly less polarizing example of this effect, I would recommend watching The Last Jedi.

So, let’s get down to the meat and bones (vegetarian and vegan substitutes are available) of why you’re reading this. My do’s and don’ts, from the previous twelve months. As I alluded to earlier, there were plenty of ladies and gentlemen, running and in some cases flying around, trying to protect us from all sorts of nasty people and creatures, hell bent of planetary destruction and general naughty step behavior. My runner up for best superhero film of the year would have to be Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman. A great movie that delivered in numerous departments and as long as you’re happy to ignore the films spectacular ‘falling off a cliff’ ending, or ‘Prometheus effect’ as it should be referred to, then you’ll have a great time watching it. The gold medal winner or ‘bestest film that shows people doing stuff that people can’t really do’ type thingy, would have to go to Logan. It promised to be different and James Mangold didn’t disappoint. Not your typical superhero fare. It wasn’t heavy on cgi effects or visual overload. Instead the film concentrated the core of its story around family, doing the right thing and redemption. Hugh Jackman’s had stated prior to the film’s release that this would be his last outing as Wolverine and he left the franchise on a high. However, given that Disney have now purchased Fox and that they know a great cash cow when they see one, it will be interesting to see if the can coax Mr. Jackman back to the part. Especially as he’s given interviews in the past where he has stated that he’d love to see Wolverine and Iron Man on the screen together. It probably won’t happen but given Disney’s ability to add zeros to the end of cheques, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility. If Hugh isn’t for turning then current favorite to take over the ‘pointy claws’ role is Pablo Schreiber, who was last seen playing Mad Sweeny in American Gods and in a quirky twist of fate, is also the half-brother of Liev Schreiber who played Hugh Jackman’s Brother in X-Men Origins: Wolverine back in 2009. Small world eh. An honorable mention should also go to Taika Waititi’s Thor Ragnarok. Which showed that despite an oversaturated market, creative and innovative ideas are still possible and that funny equals money. Most of you will probably have seen Waititi’s, What We Do in Shadows, or at least heard of it. What you should do, if Ragnarok tickled your whimsical bone, is watch the film he made prior to Thor, called Hunt for the Wilderpeople. I can personally recommend it and don’t be surprised if you find it taking up residence in your own personal all time top ten. 

Now to the other end of the spandex scale of excellence. Or if you prefer, the ‘dear god, won’t somebody make it stop’ category. There’s no getting around it and it almost physically hurts to admit it, but the DCEU Justice League film is just a two-hour car crash that keeps on giving. I have always preferred ‘Team DC’ over team smelly pants ‘Marvel’ for one simple reason, Batman. But with the best will in the world, my loyalty is being severely tested. Even if you tilt your head, squint out of one eye and hop up and down on the spot, there’s still no getting away from the fact that the Justice League film is not only a mess, it should be held up as an example to all future generations, to show that you can have all the visual distractions in the world and spend money like you’ve just found Bill Gates wallet on Black Friday but ultimately without a good script, great character development and a story that even remotely comes close to making sense, then you’re dead in the water before you even start. DC and Warner’s need to stop what they are doing, go and sit in a cave together for three or four years, get an equivalent of Marvel’s Kevin Feige to oversee everything work out a story arc and then commission some Aaron Sorkin, Fran Walsh quality screenwriters to produce some material that doesn’t make my eyes bleed. Will this happen? Of course not, but if something doesn’t change, and change very soon, then team smelly pants will be ruling the roost for the considerable future. 

Another costumed ‘do-gooder’ film that I was deeply disappointed by was Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2. I was very impressed by Vol 1 and like Thor: Ragnarok, I thought I gave a breath of fresh air to what was becoming a very formulaic brand. However, Vol 2’s over reliance on toilet humour left me feeling like I’d just watched a Carry On film with an effects budget. It could just be me but I just didn’t bond with this film anywhere near as much as I did with the first. Like Justice League, it felt like the story was of secondary importance and that James Gunn’s mission statement was let’s confuse them with the shiny things and then when no bodies watching we’ll use some good old fashioned smoke and mirror techniques to make them forget that the story isn’t that satisfying. Oh, and just to clarify and to make sure no one accuses me of ageism, the shiny things I am referring to here are not the cameos from Sylvester Stallone or The Hoff. Even the inclusion of Kurt Russell couldn’t save this from being a mess but as sure as night follows day and Donald follows Twitter, I’m sure there will be a Vol 3 at some point in the not too distant future and let’s not forget the entire MCU gang will be on show in this year’s Avengers: Infinity War. Which has basically been what the last ten years and 18 films have been leading towards. So, no pressure there then…

So, what about the rest of the cinematic universe? As I mentioned earlier. There were films out last year that weren’t about truth, justice and the American way. IT was a movie that had a lot of people worried, prior to its release. Stephen Kings one-thousand-page book had already seen the light of day as a 1990 TV Miniseries and Tim Curry’s portrayal of Pennywise had become iconic and one of those rare roles that most people would consider untouchable. Thankfully no one told either the director Andy Mushietti or the new Pennywise, Bill Skarsgard, to leave well enough alone and IT has now begun to traumatise a completely new generation.  Luc Besson, twenty years after he unleashed The Fifth Element, came back with what he hoped would be another sci-fi classic, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Unfortunately, no one seemed to be that interested in going to see it and it found itself at the wrong end of the budget vs box office take equation. Or to put it another way, it bombed like a bomby thing on national bomb day in bomby land. Of course, not all science fiction films died on their bottom last year. Star Wars: The Last Jedi arrived in mid-December and blew the rest of the competition out of the water. At 152 minutes, it clocks in as the longest ‘sit down, watch & enjoy’ offering Lucas Film has ever produced. What’s really interesting about The Last Jedi is the reaction it got from everyone who went to see it. As I briefly mentioned early, it seems to have a very polarising effect on those who have seen it. My personal opinion on the film has my feet firmly planet in ‘the no so much’ camp. I didn’t like some of the decisions that were made regarding the story and there were plot holes so big that you could flown a Death Star through them. That said the director, Rian Johnson, has obviously delivered a film that has kept the powers that be at Disney, very happy. So much so that they’ve asked him to write, produce and direct a completely new Star Wars trilogy. As is the norm with secrecy and non-disclosure agreements in the Star Wars universe, not much is known about who or what these films will be about but given Johnson’s disregard for what has come before, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it turned out Darth Vader has a sister, Jar Jar Binks is Supreme Leader Snokes father and he throws in a smattering of Vulcans for good measure. Just to clarify any grey areas or misunderstandings, I am not a fan of what Mr. Johnson did with The Last Jedi. There was however a much better example of how to do science fiction well. In October Denis Villeneuve brought us Blade Runner 2049. A sequel to the Ridley Scott 1982 classic and what could well be my film of the year. Visually it was stunning and had a soundtrack that not only fitted perfectly with what you were watching but complimented the universe that Philip K Dick had created. Unlike The Last Jedi, its running time of nearly three hours, was a pleasure to sit through. Villeneuve has recently had somewhat of a Midas touch with everything he has worked on. His last three films Sicario, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 show how versatile he is when dealing with creating characters and the worlds they inhabit. If you haven’t seen any of these three films then I would urge you to do so. The next film on his schedule is apparently a remake of Dune and I strongly suspect that it will be a much better than the David Lynch version, released back in 1984.

It’s worth mentioning that Both Amazon & Netflix, both synonymous with producing their own high-end television series, are now starting to create and release films too. Will Smith and Joel Edgerton starred in Netflix’s Bright. An odd film, who’s premise is a world where fantasy creatures live and work side by side with each other. Directed by David Ayer, who is also responsible bring End of Watch and Suicide Squad to the screen, was given the responsibility and a rather large amount of money to direct Bright. The results are a bit of a mixed bag. The idea is a great premise, unfortunately some of its execution is somewhat lacking. The script seemed a little formulaic at times and as a buddy movie there are better examples of genre. Netflix on the other hand loved it. So much so that they have given the green light for a sequel, which should be streaming to a device near you is approximately two years’ time. 

As I mentioned earlier, 2017 is not going to be remembered for its quality of product but more for the tidal wave of people, who decided to say enough is enough, who stood up to be counted and proclaimed with one voice that the male abuse of power, that had been treated as the norm for so long, was not going to be tolerated anymore. Harvey Weinstein became the flash point for this movement and almost instantly other members of Hollywood’s elite were finding themselves under a very bright and demanding spotlight. In an unprecedented move and because of multiple allegations made by numerous people, Ridley Scott replaced Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer in All the Money in the World. Now, it’s not that unusual for actors to be replaced, once a film has started filming. Michael J Fox replaced Eric Stoltz in Back to the Future and Viggo Mortensen took over from Stuart Townsend in The Lord of the Rings. However, to go back and replace an actor and reshoot all their scenes with less than two months before its release, is unheard of. To say nothing of the financial costs to do so. Rough estimates have the final amount coming in at over twelve million dollars. The aftershocks from the last four months will continue to be felt in the film and television industry for a very long time and hopefully we’ve seen the start of a movement that will give everyone the breaks and opportunities they all deserve.

So, all in all 2017 wasn’t what you’d call a great year. It was entertaining in places but towards the end it seemed to feel like we’d just spent twelve months suffering from Déjà vu. There were exceptions to the ‘been there, bought the t-shirt’ doldrums that Hollywood seems fit to inflict on us but not many of them. If you do like your films with a hint of superhero about them, then last year was business as usual and you’ll be happy to learn the Marvel’s current schedule has films penciled in all the way to the end of 2020. If you like your silver screen entertainment to be a bit more cerebral then I suspect that you’ll spend a lot of 2018 avoiding cinema multiplexes and hunting out local independent picture houses more and more. I do hope that the big studios haven’t forgotten that above all else, story is king and despite what you can do with a computer these days, it isn’t always necessary to achieve the best results with a mouse and editing software. The pen is always mightier than the sword. Especially when the sword is composed of polygons and processor power…      

2016: My Year in Review (plus a couple of films i haven't blogged about)

 

Hello dear reader, well it’s time to play catch up on 2016. Below you’ll find my top five films of the year and also five films that I managed to miss. I’ll also be taking the time to tell you about two films I saw towards the end of the year and didn’t have time to blog about, including the excuses why I didn't as well.

 

The first film I failed to tell the world about was Arrival. This was one of those odd films that crept up on me and that I didn’t know much about until about two months before its release date. However, once I had heard of it, it seemed to be everywhere. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, who was responsible for 2015’s Sicario and who has been given the big chair for this year’s Blade Runner sequel, it tells the tale of a potentially non-hostile alien race that ‘arrive’ on earth. Their arrival comes in the form of twelve spaceships that take up positions over various locations all over the globe and then just hover there, exactly that same way that cars don’t. The U.S. government decides that communication, not conflict is the way forward and hires the best Linguistics Professor they can get their hands on. Louise Banks, played by Amy Adams, is the Professor in question and with the help of a Theoretical Physicist Ian Donnelly, played by Jeremy Renner, they set about trying to make sure things don’t deteriorate with other governments and the ships that they are dealing with. Throw in a military operation run by Forest Whitaker, a few flash backs and some wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff and that’s basically Arrival in a nut shell. I can’t really get into the story any further without getting heavily into spoiler territory but I would say that it’s a film that’s worth watching.

Arrival is an odd film. A lot of reviews I’ve read for it have tagged it with the ‘thinking man’s’ Sci-Fi film label. That’s a little unfair to be honest. It certainly isn’t a film that is full of flashy special effects and alien’s hell bent on world domination, like Independence Day for example. It is however a film that is character and story driven. It doesn’t waste money on frivolous things like an extensive colour pallet or creating huge sound stages that get used only once. Instead it uses rolling fields and oceans as its back drop and is also a film that doesn’t seem to be in any rush to tell its story. It will almost certainly garner Amy Adams an Oscar nod although from what I’ve read she’s ultimately likely to lose out to Natalie Portman for Jackie. To sum Arrival up I’d say that you will never have watched a Sci-fi film like it before and it will stimulate the little grey cells when you watch it. It’s also one of those rare films that almost certainly won’t get a sequel, not because it didn’t make enough money but simply because it’s a completely self-contained story. Make time to see it. You’ll be glad you did.

The second film on my tardy correspondence list is Fantastic Profits and Where to Find Them, or something like along those lines. For those of you how don’t know or for that matter don’t care. This is a film that is set in the same universe as the previous forty seven Harry Potter films. Now, I should say for the record that it may look like, given that preceding introduction, I’m not the biggest fan of J.K. Rowling and all things Voldemort, Muggle and Magic. This could not be further from the truth. I own all of the forty seven previous aforementioned films on Blu ray and not one of them is currently doubling as a coaster. My problem with these films although I consider them to be good, I just don’t see them as great. Yes I know I’m not really the demographic they’re aimed at and there’s as much chance as me jumping on the HP merchandising bandwagon as there is me being used a Vidal Sassoon model but as films judged on their own merits, they’re all three or four star films at best.
Fantastic Beasts follows the main character Newt (not the one from Aliens) Scamander and his trip to New York. Armed only with his trusted wand and with a suitcase that could quite easily give the Tardis a run for its money in the ‘open plan’ stakes, Newt finds himself very quickly embroiled in the local wizard vs No-Majs secrecy battles and before you can say “I hope nothing escapes from that case of his” lots of things, well three to be exact, have escaped and disappeared faster than a rat up an aqueduct. The film then follows Newt’s attempts to recapture these beasts and not let the general public in on the fact that there are is also some fairly dark and evil magic roaming around the Manhattan. As per usual with these films they have a great cast. To start we have Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne as the aforementioned Newt. Add to this Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, Samantha Morton, Ron Pearlman, an almost unrecognisable Ezra Miller and Johnny Depp (although I wouldn’t be at all surprised if his part is recast for the next film and other sequels that have already been green lit) and you have the makings of a great ensemble cast. My main problem with this film is its running time. Two hours and thirteen minutes isn’t exactly what you call a long film. That’s precisely the same time Rogue One had. However, Rogue one didn’t feel like twenty minutes could have been lifted out of its second act without it having any detrimental effect on its story or characters, Fantastic Beasts did. It is Rowling’s first foray into screenwriting and you’d expect her to be able to write these characters better than anyone else available, given that she created them in the first place but it did feel at times as though something was missing. Redmayne seems to spend the majority of the movie trying to do his best Hugh Grant ‘bumbling but loveable’ impression that Mr Grant had down pat for most of the previous twenty years and Colin Farrell just seems to be acting by numbers during certain parts. For those of you who are interested in this film universe I suspect you will have already parted with your hard earnt pennies and taken yourself off to your nearest multiplex to watch this film. I for one would have probably waited for the dvd release but I think seeing it on the big screen was probably a good thing. The third act is crammed with more special effects than you’d find at an Industrial Light & Magic convention and although the film wasn’t scored by John Williams, James Newton Howard had baton duties this time, it certainly filled the room I was sat in without any problems at all.

 

So, now we’ve played catch up, I can get down the best films I’ve seen this year. I thought long and hard about this, placed ads stating that I’d be willing to take bribes to include certain titles and even considered just pulling names out of a hat but In the long run I decided that honesty was the best policy and so, without further ado, I present to you my top five movies of 2016 that I thought were bestest.

 

1: Spotlight
2: Victoria
3: Arrival
4: The Big Short
5: Captain America: Civil War

 

Civil War was one of those films that shouldn’t have worked. Far too many characters to keep interesting and way to much visually to fit in, even with a running time of about two and a half hours. However not only does work, it showed that Marvel were and are leaps and bounds ahead of what DC are trying to do. If you’ve seen Batman v Superman or Suicide Squad, you’ll understand precisely what I mean. The reboot of Spider-man not only worked but pretty much stole the show and the script was sharper than a sharp thing, on national sharp day in sharp land.
The Big Short is a story about capitalism at its finest. If you can get past the fact that Christian Bale is playing the smartest person in the room, gets his hair styled at supercuts and has some pretty serious commitment issues when it comes to shoes, then you’ll probably enjoy this film. Based around the financial recession that hit back in 2008 and the subsequent collapse that followed. It tells the story of how, to quote Gordon Gekko “Greed works” and what lengths people will go to in order to make money, even when that comes at the detriment of others.
Next is Arrival and as I mentioned earlier it’s a Science Fiction film that doesn’t really like conforming to the genre it’s sitting in. It also proves that any passing aliens that do turn up on our door step should be just as scared of us as we are of them.
At number two we find Victoria, which I blogged about last year. In short it’s a two hour film about a Spanish woman who’s recently moved to Berlin. Now, that may not sound like a film you’d want to invest over one hundred and twenty minutes of your life in but when I tell you that the entire film is just one single shot and includes a night club, a bank robbery and a shootout with the police, you should change your mind. Seriously, go and watch it. It’s simple, it’s unique and it’s a piece of film making brilliance. This leads me to my film of the year.
Spotlight is a film that does something that shouldn’t really be possible. It takes a subject matter that shouldn’t be watchable, not only watchable but also compelling. The Boston Globes ‘Spotlight’ team look into allegations of child abuse in the Catholic Church. The further they look into these allegations the more apparent it becomes that there has been an extensive cover up, going back decades, in order to keep these accusations from ever seeing the light of day. Along with Keaton the cast also includes, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Live Schreiber, John Slattery and Stanley Tucci. If you’re not keen on plot driven stories and acting of the highest calibre then this film probably isn’t for you.  If you like your films to be a bit more ‘bang for your buck’ the closest this film comes to an action scene is when someone does some photocopying. Despite the very heavy tone and subject matter of Spotlight it’s a film that should be watched, it’s a film that should be praised and it’s a film that should be championed as much a humanly possible. It’s also worth noting that for the second year in a row Michael Keaton  has found himself playing a major part in the Best Picture Oscar winner, the first being Birdman. After several years in the wilderness it looks like Hollywood may have actually realised that Keaton can not only act but he can cat very well. Long may this revival continue…

 

Now, its excuses time. There were films that were released last year that for various reasons, namely lack of time, three week holidays to the other side of the planet and having a boat load of good TV to get through first (Game of Thrones, West World, Stranger Things, Home Under The Hammer etc) that I never got around to watching. There is of course no way I can put these in any particular order of preference but I have heard from people, whose opinion that I hold in very high regard, that some of these are simply brilliant. I do plan on rectifying the whole ‘not having seen them’ issue pronto quick but if you do have a spare evening and are at a loose end as to what to watch, may I put forth the following five films as genuine bona-fide recommendations. 
Firstly we have Hateful Eight, which is the second in a promised trilogy of westerns from Quentin Tarantino. The first of course being Django Unchained. I could speculate about the plot of Hateful Eight but having not seen it I’d just be shooting in the dark. I think I’m safe in saying it doesn’t have anything to do with the Fantastic 4 fighting their own evil clones in the middle of a Wyoming winter. I do know that as per usual, for a QT film, its cast is abounding with A-list talent. Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Samuel L Jackson, Tim Roth and Bruce Dern, to name but a few.  It’s a shade over three hours long and has an eighteen certificate so I’d expect there to be quite a lot of the red stuff splattered around the screen and probably best avoided by the squeamish.
Next we have Hacksaw Ridge. Directed by Mel Gibson, which I’m sure will automatically make it a no-show for some people but if you can past the politics and religion issues then I am told that as war movies go it’s found itself nestling in quite a few well regarded critics all-time top ten in the film genre. Staring Andrew Garfield it tells the tale of U.S. army medic Desmond T Doss who served during the battle of Okinawa and refused to kill anyone. Thus becoming the first American soldier in history to win the medal of honour without firing a single shot.
Option three is Hunt for the Wilderpeople. This is a film that caught many by surprise and probably slipped past most people’s radars completely. Written and  Directed by Taika Waititi, who also took on both duties for What We Do in the Shadows, it’s a story about a rebellious kid and his foster uncle, who go missing in the New Zealand bush. These two characters, played by Julian Dennison and Sam Neil respectively have won over pretty much every reviewer that’s gone to see it and it has been repeatedly mentioned as the feel good movie of the year. It’s also worth noting that Waititi has been given the directorial reigns over Thor: Ragnarok, which is due to arrive in cinemas at the end of October. It seems like he’s building up quite the CV and it will be interesting to see what he takes on next.
Fourthly come Room. A story about a mother and son who are locked in a room. She creates a whole universe for him inside the confines of the four walled prison that they find themselves trapped in and is steadfast in her unwillingness to let that stop her from raising him to the best of her ability. They plan an escape and this brings them face-to-face with what may turn out to be the scariest thing yet: the real world. The mother is played by Brie Larson and it won her last year’s Oscar for best performance by an actress in a leading role. It also may have helped her land the part of Carol Danvers or Captain Marvel as she’s also known in the self-titled MCU film that’s due in 2019.
Lastly on my list of shame for not watching is Hell or High Water. Now I suspect I’d be right in saying that of the five films I’ve listed here, this is almost certainly going to be the one that most people will know little about or nothing about. Staring Chris Pine and Jeff Bridges, it’s a story about two brothers, one of which has just been released from prison and their struggles to raise enough money to save their ranch and pay off the mortgage attached to it. Their struggles come in the form of bank robberies and this brings them to the attention of Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton (Bridges). On a quick side note, should you ever be offered a choice between hell or high water, always go for the high water. It has to be by far the more preferable choice. Unless of course your particular skillset doesn’t yet include floating. The more astute of you will have noticed that four out of five of those movies all start with the letter H. I can assure you that it’s all purely coincidental and that I didn’t spend all of 2016 being overtly hostile to anything that started with the letter H. I am not H’ist in any way at all.

 

So that concludes 2016 and my trips to the local picture house. I hope you enjoy these little written reviews and I also hope they entertain and occasionally raise the odd smile. I do try and keep these blogs light hearted and I don’t pretend to think that at the end of the day it’s anything other than my opinion. There will be more over the course of 2017 and I’m sure they will cover the good the bad and the indifferent. Thanks for your time and attention and as for my next blog. Keep watching the skies…