Thursday, 16 April 2020

My Top 100: Films Of The 2010's

With 2019 now in the books, the decade is also complete. Constructing a top 100 list for the decade is never easy.
However, it can certainly paint a picture on how the film industry changed shape during these past 10 years.

In terms of box office, the majority of the charts was either owned by Disney or a superhero film. Further acquisitions by Disney has made them now own several major franchises including Marvel and Star Wars.
As for the superhero genre, they have become the modern equivalent of the Westerns in terms of regular circulation. This genre has revolutionised the way of constructing a franchise and have certainly created a large amount of pop culture for this decade.

How many made my top 100? Click on the video link below and find out. I hope you enjoy this list as I felt there was a nice mix of mainstream blockbusters and hidden gems that you have to check out. Let me know if any of your favourites made it, and what your list would be (doesn't have to be top 100). Enjoy.

Review: Dolittle

A lot of people may not know this, but this is actually the seventh Dr. Dolittle film.
You have the Rex Harrison one in 1967 which was decent enough.
Then it was the Eddie Murphy version in 1998. It was one of the first films I saw at the cinema, and remember having fun with it. As an adult, it has it's charm. But ultimately, it's a kids film.

Then came the four (yes, four) sequels where Murphy was only part of one of them. While I have only seen the second and third installments, I can only imagine Tail To The Chief and Million Dollar Mutts weren't any better.
Now comes a 2020 reimagining, with Robert Downey Jnr. playing the titular character in his first role since his eleven years tenure as Iron Man.

There was some early promise. I was fine with the set-up and the style and story it was going for. But I think once I heard the chosen accent of Downey Jnr. for Dolittle, I was beginning to lose faith. Robert Downey Jnr's randomly chosen Welsh accent was consistently off-putting. I think iit felt that way, as it sounded like it was dubbed. It just felt seperate to how Downey Jnr's mouth movements. Plus, I'm don't know the reasoning behind the Welsh accent. Either way, it wasn't good at all.

After that, almost every aspect was just getting progressively worse. The plot was getting rather dull and the jokes fell completely flat every time. Only positive from that is there is some humor that younger kids might get a kick out of.

Thankfully, there was one aspect that I think worked really well, and that was Michael Sheen's performance. He was by far the best part of the film and felt like the only one that knew exactly what the directors intentions were for the tone. It was that fine line of silliness, but fully committing to the spirit of the story, whilst also showing everyone how to actually do accents.

It's a shame this didn't work, as the source material can create some family magic. But not even the high calibre cast could save this, despite most of the voice-work being pretty solid. Honestly check the cast list, it's really impressive.

It's saving graces were Sheen, the voice performance, the pleasing production design and visual effects and the appeal I could see for younger kids. So while it was not quite complete trash, I cannot recommend this.

Rating: 6/10

Wednesday, 15 April 2020

Review: Birds Of Prey

The eighth film of a DC Extended Universe that I am still not feeling an actual vision of where it is heading.

The inconsistency and missed opportunities is there for all to see. But thankfully, there have been some successes such as Wonder Woman, Shazam! and partly Man Of Steel and Aquaman.
So I went in to the screening with everything firmly crossed hoping for a fun time.

Did I have fun? Yes. It's style and energy made it feel similar to a theme park. There's loud noises, colourful attractions and it has a few sugar rushes along the way.
I was enjoying how our heroes were being introduced, they gave enough development and understanding as to why they are there and I was impressed to see an antagonist that was more then a worthy adversary.

While I still believe Margot Robbie is the perfect choice to play Harley Quinn, I know she can do so much better then what I have currently seen in her two outings. It might more to do with the writing, but I am just not feeling the full package. The dialogue just does not seem smart enough to make me believe I am witnessing someone who is highly educated, but also a total nut-job.
Ewan McGregor fitted the tone well for the most part. His experience gave us a solid character with several memorable moments and overall a worthy antagonist.
Both Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Mary Elizabeth Winstead gave good physical performances and made me believe they were genuinely tough. They never felt like a liability and certainly made good use of their screen-time.
I don't often see Rosie Perez, but I feel this is the most screen-time she has been given. I felt she played to her strengths well and helped the younger colleagues well in certain scenes.
As for Ella Jay Basco, I have to give big props to this youngster who made her feature film debut. Her entrance was strong and her chemistry with Robbie was great throughout. Basco really showcased her talent and I look forward to see her future projects.

As mentioned before, I enjoyed the style. It felt ideal for the character of Harley Quinn. It felt unhinged, designed to unsettle you and a bit of a fever trip. In fact, the whole style had that craziness of Gotham that I have seen in previous guises that I am always up for.

Sadly, the executed of those aspects were not of a high quality in my opinion. It lacked that lasting impact that you want, it still left me somewhat disappointed and therefore never felt fully fledged to me. Much like Robbie's performance, I know this can be so much better.

So while I did feel it never reached its full potential, the film itself is still perfectly fine. There's plenty of positive aspects to get involved with. The story kept me engaged, McGregor plays a worthy antagonist, I liked its style, there is that sense of fun and it left me intrigued as to how they use this particular group in future films.

To rank it within the rest of the DCEU, I would probably put it somewhere in the middle. While I don't think the films best parts aren't quite up there with the biggest positives of the franchise, it's stability makes it much more held together.

There is only one other upcoming 2020 release within this franchise in the form of 'Wonder Woman 1984'. I'll be looking forward to that and like many others, I hope for the momentum to carry on from its predecessor.

Rating: 7/10

Sunday, 12 April 2020

The 2020 'DG Movies' Awards

A bit later than planned, but the 5th annual 'DG Movies' awards is finally going to be announced.

Once again, there are no new categories this year, as I still haven't felt the need to add another one that I have enough knowledge of to give my view on it.

As usual, my eligablility of films for a particular year is done how IMDB do it. Basically, that means the first release of a film anywhere in the world in 2019 that is accessible to the public. That includes premieres and film festivals.

Here is a full list of the winners and nominees (winners being in bold). Let me know what you think of them, and what yours would be:

BEST EDITING:
Bait
La Belle Epoque
Parasite
The Personal History Of David Copperfield
Uncut Gems

BEST COSTUME DESIGN & MAKEUP:
Aladdin
Little Women
Once Upon A Time ... In Hollywood
Rocketman
The Personal History Of David Copperfield

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:
1917
La Belle Epoque
Midsommar
Motherless Brooklyn
The Lighthouse


BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Avengers: Endgame
Blood Machines
Godzilla: King Of The Monsters
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
The Lion King

BEST SCORE & SOUNDTRACK:
Avengers: Endgame
Blood Machines
Frozen II
Once Upon A Time ... In Hollywood
Rocketman











BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
1917
A Hidden Life
Bait
Once Upon A Time ... In Hollywood
The Painted Bird

BEST SCREENPLAY:
Booksmart
La Belle Epoque
Little Women
Marriage Story
The Personal History Of David Copperfield

BEST POSTER:
Avengers: Endgame
Glass
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
Once Upon A Time ... In Hollywood
Us

BEST TRAILER:
Aladdin
Godzilla: King Of The Monsters
Rocketman
The Lion King
Us

BEST SCENE/MOMENT:
Entering Ecoust - 1917
Assemble - Avengers: Endgame
The Horde's Attempt To Escape - Glass
Knife Fight - John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
Taking Mr. Ford For A Spin - Le Mans' 66

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE:
Booksmart
La Belle Epoque
Little Women
The Personal History Of David Copperfield
Uncut Gems

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE:
Jennifer Lopez - Hustlers
Doria Tillier - La Belle Epoque
Florence Pugh - Little Women
Laura Dern - Marriage Story
Shuzhen Zhao - The Farewell


BEST SUPPORTING MALE:
Christian Bale - Le Mans' 66
Brad Pitt - Once Upon A Time ... In Hollywood
Albrecht Schuch - System Crasher
Al Pacino - The Irishman
Willem Dafoe - The Lighthouse

BEST LEADING FEMALE:
Beanie Feldstein - Booksmart
Kaitlyn Dever - Booksmart
Glenda Jackson - Elizabeth Is Missing
Sally Hawkins - Eternal Beauty
Helena Zengel - System Crasher


BEST LEADING MALE:
Lorn Macdonald - Beats
Cosmo Jarvis - Calm With Horses
James McAvoy - Glass
Adam Driver - Marriage Story
Adam Sandler - Uncut Gems

BEST DIRECTOR:
Anthony Russo & Joe Russo - Avengers: Endgame
Olivia Wilde - Booksmart
Bong Joon Ho - Parasite
Robert Eggers - The Lighthouse
Benny & Josh Safdie - Uncut Gems


BEST FILM:
1917
Apollo 11
Avengers: Endgame
Beats
Booksmart
Klaus
Marriage Story
Shazam!
Toy Story 4
Uncut Gems

Total list of winners
3 - Once Upon A Time ... In Hollywood
2 - Booksmart
     The Lighthouse
1 - Avengers: Endgame
     Glass
     Godzilla: King Of Monsters
     La Belle Epoque
     Parasite
     System Crasher
     The Farewell
     The Lion King
     Toy Story 4
     Us

Total list of nominations
6   - Avengers: Endgame
       Booksmart
5   - La Belle Epoque
       Little Women
       Once Upon A Time ... In Hollywood
       Uncut Gems
4   - 1917
       Marriage Story
       The Personal History Of David Copperfield
3   - Glass
       Rocketman
       The Lighthouse
2   - Aladdin
       Bait
       Beats
       Blood Machines
       Godzilla: King Of The Monsters
       John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
       Le Mans '66
       Parasite
       System Crasher
       The Lion King
       Us
1   - A Hidden Life
       Apollo 11
       Calm With Horses
       Eternal Beauty
       Frozen II
       Hustlers
       Klaus
       Midsommar
       Motherless Brooklyn
       Shazam!
       Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
       The Farewell
       The Irishman
       The Painted Bird
       Toy Story 4

Saturday, 11 April 2020

My Top 10: Films Of 2019

2019 was a year that continued to show us that you can get high-quality films from all sorts of angles. From the big budget blockbusters, to cheap indies, there has been something for everyone.

While work commitments has prevented my tenure as an usher at my local community cinema, I have still managed to check out a large amount of films within the final twelve months of the 2010's decade.

Trying to my separate most of my favourites of the year has been tougher than most years. There has been almost 40 films that had a valid reason to make my top 10 of the year. So if you feel agrieved at my top 10, if the films you loved in 2019 narrowly missed out, rest assure that massively I enjoyed it.

I feel pleased with my top 10 as it may be one of my most varied of any year.
As for the rest of the films I saw this year, I still have ranked all of them as you can see below. But I have given a quick review of each of my top 10. My list is as follows:

212) Black Christmas
211) Cave Rescue
210) Lucy In The Sky
209) Fire Will Come
208) The Souvenir
207) Synonyms
206) Anna
205) X-Men: Dark Phoenix
204) Cats
203) The Curse Of La Llorona
202) Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw
201) Crawl
200) First Love
199) The Aftermath
198) Hellboy
197) Dumbo
196) The Dead Don't Die
195) Men In Black: International
194) Terminator: Dark Fate
193) Matthias & Maxime
192) One Day In The Life Of Noah Piugattuk
191) Anhedonia
190) Zombieland: Double Tap
189) Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil
188) Abominable
187) Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love
186) The Dating List
185) Alita: Battle Angel
184) Children Of The Sea
183) Dora And The Lost City Of Gold
182) Lady And The Tramp
181) Last Christmas
180) Brightburn
179) How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
178) Pet Sematary
177) White Snake
176) Midway
175) Mr. Jones
174) Monos
173) About Endlessness
172) Little Monsters
171) High Flying Bird
170) Proxima
169) Blood Machines
168) The Art Of Self Defense
167) Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth
166) Missing Link
165) Tolkien
164) Captain Marvel
163) Fanny Lye Deliver'd
162) Godzilla: King Of The Monsters
161) The Lion King
160) The Arctic Camels
159) Human Nature
158) On The President's Orders
157) Annabelle Comes Home
156) Jumanji: The Next Level
155) The Aeronauts
154) Ad Astra
153) Lost Lives
152) Everything: The Real Thing Story
151) Moffie
150) The Wild Goose Lake
149) Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer
148) Waves
147) Atlantics
146) I Am Mother
145) Monsoon
144) Liam Gallagher: As It Was
143) The Art Of Racing In The Rain
142) Blinded By The Light
141) Mystify: Michael Hutchence
140) The King
139) Midnight Family
138) The Whistlers
137) 2040
136) You Don't Nomi
135) The Edge
134) It Chapter Two
133) Monster
132) Gully Boy
131) How To Build A Girl
130) Late Night
129) Fighting With My Family
128) Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark
127) 21 Bridges
126) Brittany Runs A Marathon
125) Mind The Gap
124) Aladdin
123) Us
122) The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
121) Spider-Man: Far From Home
120) Togo
119) Ema
118) The Professor And The Madman
117) Beanpole
116) Away
115) The Vast Of Night
114) Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile
113) Rocks
112) Two Of Us
111) Pokemon Detective Pikachu
110) Midsommar
109) Yesterday
108) Miles Davis: Birth Of The Cool
107) Pain And Glory
106) The Runaways
105) Hustlers
104) Judy
103) Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
102) 8 Days: To The Moon And Back
101) True History Of The Kelly Gang
100) Synchronic
99) Harriet
98) Article 15
97) The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind
96) A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
95) Diego Maradona
94) Bad Education
93) The Gentlemen
92) Motherless Brooklyn
91) Savage
90) Eternal Beauty
89) First Cow
88) Scandalous: The Untold Story Of The National Enquirer
87) The Last Black Man In San Francisco
86) Bombshell
85) Spies In Disguise
84) Official Secrets
83) Richard Jewell
82) Weathering With You
81) Honey Boy
80) Advocate
79) Clemency
78) Red Penguins
77) Dirty God
76) Memory: The Origins Of Alien
75) Team Marco
74) The Lift Boy
73) Babyteeth
72) Saint Maud
71) John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
70) Ready Or Not
69) The Kingmaker
68) Judy & Punch
67) Collective
66) Harry Birrell: Films Of Love And War
65) Romy's Salon
64) Bacurau
63) One Child Nation
62) Driveways
61) The Climb
60) The Painted Bird
59) Paddleton
58) Just Mercy
56) Queen & Slim
56) The Two Popes
55) And Then We Danced
54) The Wolf's Call
53) The Farewell
52) Long Shot
51) Bait
50) Shaun The Sheep: Farmageddon
49) Andy Murray: Resurfacing
48) Dolemite Is My Name
47) Sorry We Missed You
46) A Hidden Life
45) Once Upon A Time ... In Hollywood
44) The Lighthouse
43) Frozen II
42) Hope
41) Doctor Sleep
40) Knives Out
39) I Lost My Body
38) Ordinary Love
37) The Irishman
36) Sound Of Metal
35) The Bears' Famous Invasion Of Sicily
34) Australian Dream
33) Dark Waters
32) Jojo Rabbit
31) The Peanut Butter Falcon
30) Ride Your Wave
29) Joker
28) Le Mans '66
27) The Personal History Of David Copperfield
26) Calm With Horses
25) The Report
24) System Crasher
23) For Sama
22) Portrait Of A Lady On Fire
21) Invisible Life
20) Jellykettu
19) Promare
18) Little Women
17) Parasite
16) La Belle Epoque
15) Rocketman
14) Luce
13) Glass
12) The Cave
11) Elizabeth Is Missing

10) Beats - Set during the rave scene of the mid 1990's, two Scottish teenagers risk everything to attend an illegal rave hoping to the best night of their lives.

It's thrilling, hilarious, surprising and has showstopping performances from two very fresh actors.

Even people who didn't live through this period will get a huge kick out of this.

9) Apollo 11 - A mesmirising documentary showing never before seen footage of the moon landing in amazing picture quality that has to be seen on the biggest screen possible.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of this momentous event, this for me is the definitive version and should be essential viewing for any living human.

8) Shazam! - A big surprise and by far the best film within the DC Extended Universe.

With the effective comedy, strong characters, unexpected family themes, this was a superhero film that caught me off guard.

Fingers crossed, this is the beginning of DC finally becoming a worthy rival to Marvel.


7) Klaus - They managed to save the best Christmas film of the decade till the very end.

When a young postman is relocated to a remote town in the midst of a feud, an encounter with an elderly toy-maker changes everything.

It's moving, the storytelling is spot on and there is a lot of heart to it.

Also, the animation made to look it was hand-drawn is a nice touch for fans of traditional animation.

6) 1917 - A wonderfully made and constantly tense drama about an astonishing true story from World War I.

Made to look like one single take, this is a powerful piece of work that will have you on the edge throughout.

Helped by two strong performances, the technical aspects involved have to be seen to be believed.

5) Uncut Gems - An exhilarating thrill ride with a career best Adam Sandler performance.

It might not be for everyone. But it certainly needs to be experienced.

The characters may not be ones that you want to hang around with.
But the story and rampant pace kept my interest pulled me in more and more. By the time the credits rolled, I felt exhausted and shocked.

4) Marriage Story - A very funny and highly emotional drama that really moved me in so many ways.

In a nutshell, this is a modern day Kramer vs. Kramer with a screwball comedy edge. The performances by Adam Driver, Scarlet Johansson and Laura Dern are terrific.

The first scene perfectly gets you into the film and the ending could very well make you a blubbering wreck.

3) Avengers: Endgame - After 11 years, the end of an era for the Marvel Cinematic Universe came in what was a fitting finale for so many beloved characters. It also landed them the title of highest grossing film of all-time.

The almost 3hrs runtime sees the Avengers attempt to correct the mistakes they made in Infinity War, as they battle Thanos and restore balance to the universe.

2) Booksmart - An extremely funny yet heart-warming coming-of-age story that sees two smart girls looking for one night of fun and craziness on their last night of high school before graduating.

The strong performances by the young cast and sharp writing makes this an generation defining film.

1) Toy Story 4 - My worries were soon quashed as Pixar's most precious franchise gave us another wonderful installment.

When a new toy arrives and a road-trip is on the way, Woody and the gang see how big the world can be for a toy.

It went places that I thought would be too much to appeal to a general audiences. It left me in tears and is one of the best films I have seen for some time.

Review: Dark Waters

I knew the true story going into this film after seeing a documentary from 2018 called The Devil We Know, which was perfectly fine in its execution.

But I knew there was more to this story that needed to be told. So I was hoping this would do it. With Todd Haynes directing this, I was certainly up for this.

Haynes who also did Velvet Goldmine, Carol and Wonderstruck and a few others has always had an immaculate touch in the pacing and editing of his films. I've always admired his work as I can always feel his dedication to his works in all of his films.

This ended up being as impactful as it could have been, and I'm glad it was. Hayes' vintage methodical pacing makes the shock value gradually creep up on you. It also gives you time to work out what is happening underneath the surface of this film and to get that sense of what this leading character is having to do to succeed.

Speaking of the leading character, that is played by Mark Ruffalo. He wonderfully portrays a determined man helping the little guys and girls against one of the worlds biggest corporations that are aiming on completely breaking him in every way possible. His performance will instantly remind you about how good he was in Spotlight a few years ago. You can really his drive as well as his pain and anguish.
Anne Hathaway has solid support with Ruffalo, and gave the story great family value to it. Bill Camp was a nice surprise and was a crucial addition to basically representation the suffering town folk.
From the corporate side of the story, Tim Robbins, Victor Garber and Bill Pullman all were as good as you would expect in their minor roles.

My only negative, is purely personal. While I do enjoy Haynes' films, the pacing can get too slow for me and Dark Waters had this in small portions.

While it also may suffer in re-watchability, this is a wonderfully made legal thriller about an extraordinary true story. It's hard to call this enjoyable and entertaining, as it is such a shocking and heartbreaking story. But it is most definitely gripping, eye-opening and executed in the right way to make it as accessible to the largest possible audience.

In another year or in a parallel universe, I honestly feel it could easily be an Oscar contender. It didn't seem to fit bracket of 2019 awards films for some reason. But nevertheless, this is a must-see.

Rating: 8/10

Friday, 10 April 2020

Review: Uncut Gems

It's not every day you hear a large amount of positive buzz over an upcoming film starring Adam Sandler.

I would say apart from the Hotel Transylvania films which are decent, the rest of his films for well over 10 years have not being that good to say the least.

Also with this not being billed as a comedy, many people including me were hoping for maybe a another moment in his career that would be similar to his performance in Punch Drunk Love. For so many people, that film showed the world that Sandler can be a great actor instead of making worthless comedies that are anything but funny.

I did go in with caution as I was hearing recent remarks from the general audience being a bit underwhelmed. But I'm happy to say that it was one of the most thrilling and captivating viewing experiences that had me on the edge from start to finish.

So much of it is thanks to Adam Sandler. While his character may not be the type of person you would hang around with and being constantly infuriated by, Sandler managed to make him totally engaging and made me constantly anxious throughout the duration. When you feel his predicament, you just want his character to succeed and then just stop and not take anymore risks. That same feeling of always being optimistic reminded of a recent underrated film called Mississippi Grind and with Ben Mendehlson's character.

He might not be likable, but Sandler's character manages to grab you tighter and tighter until you are at bursting point. By the time the final act came round, I don't recall coming up for air. I was just in a motionless state by the finale and didn't know want to do with myself by the time the credits rolled.
I must briefly mention the ending, as it is rare when a film makes me gasp out pretty loudly. This film managed to do it in a sad yet satisfying way.

There were a couple of breakthroughs that came out of nowhere from Julia Fox and Kevin Garnett. Fox really shone in the second half, fitted the tone really well and had solid support with Sandler.
As for Garnett, I was surprised as to how good he was. I loved him as a professional Basketball player, and now it turns out he can act. Yes he may be playing himself. But it felt convincing, engaging and I enjoyed his chemistry with Sandler.

I was happy to see Lakeith Stanfield in this, and he nicely added his talent into this story. As did Idina Menzel, who I was not expecting at all. It was something different for her, and her transition felt seamless.

From Josh and Benny Safdie, the same directors as 2017 indie favourite Good Time, it has the same sort of thrill ride. Also, the rampant electronic music from Daniel Lopatin is back, and once again it enhances the tension so so well.

I got such a rush after seeing this. I am so happy that the directors finally got their wish and acquire Sandler for the leading role to make the film a magical fully fledged piece of work. I could easily back on the saddle with this if I ever wanted to reignite that same energy.

It amazed me as to how they managed to keep my interest with a character that was just creating one disaster after another. I think as well as the performance, the frenetic rhythm and pacing of this movie was a key contributor. There were many scenes with people talking over themselves that gave me a sense of panic and frustration, which resulted in a lot of good anxiety that you can't help but want more of it.

I think whether you like this or not, this is certainly one of those films that needs to be experienced.

Rating: 8/10