I’ve never rated Batman. Could never take him seriously or respect his decision not to kill. Sorry, but the Joker cannot be rehabilitated Bruce, respectfully.
But Matt Reeves’ The Batman, has changed my mind. Here, we get a Batman (Robert Pattinson) that is only 2 years into vigilantism. He’s good but not always polished. Like, he’ll successfully drop a man from a building but he’ll crash land after the fact. He protects Gotham with an iron fist but that means that both criminals and the innocent alike fear him.
He is vengeance.
But even though his methods can be brutal, he’s giving everything to save Gotham. It’s been instilled in him by his father and later, Alfred, that working for the greater good is most important.
So when The Riddler begins murdering Gotham’s elite, claiming to be motivated by also helping the greater good, Batman has to take a look at himself. As a viewer, I found myself thinking quite early on, “they’re not that different”. (I mean, they are but both genuinely believe in their motivations). I really enjoyed watching Batman’s journey into becoming the hero that Gotham so desperately needs. And The Batman really paints Gotham as a horrible place to live. It’s rife with crime, immortality and genuinely just disgusting. Thoughts and prayers to the citizens.
You may have noticed that I’ve been writing Batman and not Bruce. He really is uncomfortable being Bruce; he seems unsure of himself, small even. Bruce Wayne is his alter ego. When he has to be Bruce for a funeral, I was almost uncomfortable as he was but when he’s in his squeaky leather, no one can tell him he’s not lit.
Pattinson does a fine job as the lead, he really sinks into the role of a tortured rich man. The rest of the case are solid as well, with the always amazing Jeffery Wright and Andy Serkis giving my favourite versions of the upstanding James Gordon and butler Alfred Pennyworth respectively. Zoe Kravitz is Selina Kyle/Catwoman and while she does a good job, I did not buy the chemistry between her and Batman. I believe that he is super attracted to her but when they flirt etc, I just don’t believe it at all. Anyway, Paul Dano is such a great actor and on form as The Riddler and I don’t know what this means, but I laughed so much when he was on-screen. I don’t mean it as an insult at all – like I said, Dano is really great – but his mannerisms, voice control and how completely deranged he is honestly had me cracking up. Finally, there’s Colin Farrell as The Penguin and he is buried under make-up and I mean that in the best possible way. He’s totally unrecognisable as the mobster and it really looks fantastic.
My favourite parts of The Batman were the cinematography (Greig Fraser), sound design (entire sound department because I don’t know who to single out!) and score (Michael Giacchino, legend) and when all three came together, it was ooh *chefs kiss*. The main colours of the film are black and red and aside from being brooding, it can be haunting. Shadows and silhouettes are used to perfection and the darkness is never so consuming that images are hard to make out. There’s a scene where Batman is kicking ass and taking names and it’s only illuminated by gun fire. Excellent. You can clearly hear the crack of fists connecting with jaws. It’s all very immersive.
My biggest problem with this film is its runtime. Yeah, I liked the film, I was interested, engaged but 176 minutes is unjustified. But that and the forced intimacy between Batman and Catwoman are my least favourite aspects about the film.
The Batman is intended to be the beginning of a shared universe and I would welcome another outing from the Bat but please, just not so long next time.
As much as I enjoyed the A Quiet Place, I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t want a sequel. It had a great ending that was really satisfying as a audience member; I was content.
Forget what I thought, this sequel is fantastic. Up there with Shrek 2 and The Winter Soldier. Levels.
Part 2 follows the Abbott family as they search for remaining survivors in a world where too much noise means death.
To me, a great sequel naturally expands its universe. We learn more about established characters, themes etc, whilst learning new things in a way that makes sense – not only to the viewer but the film world itself. Part 2 does that with us seeing how the Abbotts now navigate their lives, the introduction of Emmett (Murphy) and new ideas of the larger world outside our main characters.
And what a cast – everyone is perfect. Murphy is a fantastic addition and it even took me a while to realise it was him underneath the dirt and beard. Blunt is outstanding as per as well as the two younger leads, Simmonds and Jupe, who I was glad to see took on larger roles.
I have to mention the sound design which was just so amazing. In a film where we have characters communicating in ASL and so much silence, the sound design really shines and is a joy to experience. Visual effects were also great – Part 2 has a much bigger budget and it was put to great use. We see the monsters more and they are horrific, made my cinema partner and I shiver, I’ll tell you that much.
I’ve said before that horror isn’t really my bag but this isn’t gory or anything like that. I jumped a lot which for me, is standard but I’d say it leans heavily into the thriller genre if that’s easier for you to take.
John Krasinki, the director, writer and producer is a gem within film. I can’t read to read the script when it’s released because what he did with this film, well I need to delve into it.
I really only have great things to say about this. If you haven’t already, watch this film. If you can’t tell, I liked it. A lot, a lot. I wouldn’t be mad at another one either John.
Starring: Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh Genres: Action, Adventure Watch on: Amazon Prime
Based on Robert Kirkman’s comic series of the same name, Invincible follows Mark Grayson, the teenage son of Omni-Man, the planet’s most powerful superhero.
Let me start off by saying how much I enjoyed this show from start to finish. The first episode of this show literally had my jaw dropped.
I knew nothing of the source material or the show but had seen the name floating around for a bit. So I checked it out – and watched it all in a day. I tend to not binge but in this case, I couldn’t help it. This show has such a fantastic pilot, there was no way I gonna stop the next episode from continuing.
First off, the cast. I love when screen actors really bring it when voicing a character and don’t just use their own voice and are bland about it. Yeun is such an amazing actor and is perfectly cast as the titular character (also he’s great in Tuca and Bertie). The rest are also fantastic, literally everyone is on point, with actors such as Kevin Michael Richardson, Walton Goggins, Zachary Quinto and Jason Mantzoukas in particular grew on me and made me actually laugh out loud, not just exhale through my nose.
I enjoyed the animation style and the title sequence and how bloody it gets from episode to episode. The fight scenes were excellently choreographed and let me warn you, this show is violent. Like seriously. It’s bloody and gory so if that’s not for you, then you’re going to have to skip through quite a bit. But if possible, don’t let that deter you from watching! That’s not all the show is and it actually does serve the story.
You see how in Marvel movies, there’s so much destruction and loss? I don’t know, sometimes it still feels as if the stakes aren’t that high – even though buildings get smashed and cars go flying, I know for the most part that civilians will be okay. Tony Stark has money to spare so the buildings will be fine too. But in Invincible, I was genuinely fearful for the characters – and that includes the superheroes. There’s loss, there’s consequences, there’s fear.
As a big fan of adult animation, Invincible is a welcome addition. A lot of people avoid watching animation because they associate it with children or something but it’s truly one of my favourite mediums to watch. Used properly, it can take a complex story and tell it in a way that live-action simply can’t.
The show takes something already so ingrained in our society – superhero movies – and still manages to somehow be unique. Bring on the next seasons boy.
If you know anything about the Joker, then you know that he’s sadistic, a psychopath, Batman’s arch-nemesis, a serial killer, evil personified. To name a few traits.
But in Todd Phillips’ Joker, we don’t meet that guy – at least, not at first. Instead, we’re introduced to Arthur Fleck, a meek, mentally challenged man living in Gotham City with his ailing mother and working as a party clown but aspiring to be a stand-up comic. Additionally, Arthur suffers from a neurological disorder that causes him to laugh at inappropriate times and he relies on seven different medications to get by.
Right off the bat, Arthur is a protagonist that we would traditionally sympathise with. He’s disrespected by others, considered weird and a freak and shunned by society. The opening scene illustrates this, showing him beaten ruthlessly by a group of teenagers, whilst just trying to do his job. Gotham is a place for the discarded: dirty, bleak, disgusting, riddled with crime and plagued with what the news calls ‘super rats’. Arthur is a victim and at this point, we are firmly on his side.
But then he starts to slowly unravel, and we start to see the Joker that we’ve come to know in popular culture. I’ll reference the ‘Train Scene’ for a key moment in his descent into villainy, I won’t spoil it but if you’ve seen it, then yeah, you’ll get my point.
I’ll be honest, at the start of the film, I found it weird that I was sympathising with Arthur because I knew what his character would become. But then I realised, that I needed to just focus on who Arthur was in the moment; I couldn’t judge him on actions he hadn’t yet made. Like I’ve said, he’s easy to be sorry for and I really did. There’s a scene where he performs his material at a comedy club and honestly, I was so emotional watching it because I just wanted Arthur to get a win. So, when he did finally emerge as a man pushed to his limit, one who now made immoral choices, that I did not agree with, I’d be lying if my original empathy for him, still wasn’t lurking somewhere in the back of my mind.
I don’t really have anything negative to say about Joker, it’s a film that thoroughly captivated me and is superbly made. Asking your audience to sympathise with a well-known super villain is an incredible feat that actually pays off. The only thing that I wasn’t too keen on was the ending; I found the penultimate scene to be a breathtaking place to end the film and adding another scene afterwards just felt like too much. But it’s not anything too distracting that makes me like the film any less.
There’s a great beauty in Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of Arthur Fleck and it’s been a while since I truly believed that every single choice that an actor made, was as their character. He’s an outstanding physical actor, his gait, his run, his dance moves – all mesmerising. The preparation that he did in service of believably portraying the character bleeds out onto the screen and I don’t believe that anyone else could have played the role as well as him. The rest of the cast are great, with Frances Conroy as Penny Fleck, Zazie Beetz (unfortunately underused) as Arthur’s neighbour, Sophie Dumond and Robert De Niro as Arthur’s hero, talkshow host Murray Franklin.
Phillips, best known for his comedies including The Hangover trilogy and War Dogs, serves as a fantastic director and cinematographer Lawrence Sher, beautifully puts together the bleakness and harshness of Gotham. I have to mention my second favourite part of the film (after Phoenix’s performance) – the sound. Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir delivers the most breathtaking score that is haunting, hypnotising and tells a story in itself. It makes the film what it is.
This film isn’t for everyone, it’s polarised critics and audiences, the protagonist is unreliable, some say the film glorifies violence, a point I disagree with. But ultimately, Joker is a film that attempts to bring humanity to a character who is routinely portrayed as having none. How you decide to see the character – Arthur Fleck, the abused; Joker, the abuser or an amalgamation of the two – is up to you.
Us sees a family – Adelaide, Gabe and their two children, Zora and Jason – confronted by their evil doppelgängers when they travel to their beach house for the summer.
A film has never had me reaching for the Bible in the cinema but Us did just that when it kept referring to Jeremiah 11:11, which reads “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them”. After reading that, I just leaned back and said “okay” because at least I understood the wild ride I was now in for.
Us sees a family – Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o), Gabe (Winston Duke) and their two children, Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex) – travel to their beach house for the summer. They’re a black, regular, middle class family; a slightly overprotective mother, a dad who kind of tries too hard with his jokes, a witty teenage girl and a weird brother with an affinity for wearing masks. Adelaide had gone missing at the same beach back in 1986 and encountered her own doppelgänger – an event that left her traumatised and unable to speak for a while.
The film opens with this flashback and honestly, it’s a bit of a slow burn. I watched the movie with my sister who loves to comment on what she sees and about ten minutes into the opening, she said “this is a bit of a slow one”. And she was right, I was getting a bit restless because maybe the first half hour or so really takes its time. Even when we get to present day, we still have to watch the setup of the family so it’s although necessary, it’s quite tiring. But all of a sudden, Jason says “there’s a weird family in the driveway” and suddenly we meet them – their evil doppelgängers and the film kicks into overdrive.
The doppelgängers are essentially the family’s dark opposites: Red is Adelaide’s, who speaks in a terrifying, breathy fashion and leads her family in their home invasion, Abraham is Gabe’s, a grunting tower of violent strength, Umbrae is Zora’s, nimble with a sinister smile and unquestionable thirst for murder and Pluto is Jason’s, unable to speak, animalistic, with a face covered by a mask.
In true Jordan Peele fashion, this is a film that you need to focus on lest you miss anything. There’s mirror imagery, key lines that only make sense after the film is over or repeat viewings and a black cast and for me, it’s still a marvel to see because it’s all just so normal. Us is a film that left me genuinely afraid, completely engrossed and mesmerised. The score by Michael Abels is sensational, it crept up on me and whenever I heard “I Got 5 On It”, I shivered because it meant something insane was about to happen. There are so many beautiful shots and for me, the lighting is of particular note during the opening flashback scene. The cast is fantastic; Duke brings the majority of the humour, Joseph and Alex hold their own as their spunky children but Nyong’o… my good sis Lupita is breathtaking. The scene where the two sets of families(?) meet and Red talks about how she suffered as Adelaide’s opposite, is a showcase of masterful acting and performance. Her consideration for the next awards season if you will.
Watching this in a cinema that wasn’t at all packed but full of black people was a hilarious and great experience. It was an immersive experience that we were able to share in fear and laughter and relate to. The idea that one day watching a film with an all-black cast that isn’t relation to slavery and just normal is a Godsend to me and if Jordan Peele is a part of leading that charge, then considered me tethered.
Nothing to get you out of a writing rut like seeing a film so bad, you have to rant about it. I’ll be straight with you lot – Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald is an incredibly terrible film. And I saw Ocean’s 8 this year.
Set in 1927, the film follows Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) on a mission by Dumbledore – who can we just acknowledge has always been quite a prick – (Jude Law) to defeat the infamous dark wizard, Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp). Grindelwald, on the other hand, has taken to finding the powerful but troubled Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) in order to use him as a pawn to take down Dumbledore.
Spoilers ahead.
If you’re wondering from my description how the titular fantastic beasts factor into the film, then join the club. The film barely even touches on the crimes of Grindelwald either and that leads me to one of the main issues with the film – it’s so bloated with numerous stories that it doesn’t give any of them the depth or attention they deserve. Take Grindelwald for example, his name is in the title for goodness sake but so much time passes between his appearances that I genuinely forgot he was in the film.
Unfortunately and confusingly, Newt is still the main character and this isn’t a knock on Redmayne’s performance but his story was already told in the first film, so I didn’t want to see too much of him again. Katherine Waterston’s Tina Goldstein is no longer the career-driven, strong woman she was but is bafflingly now almost completely centred around Newt. Queenie (Alison Sudol) is no longer charmingly sweet but has put a love curse on her fiancé, Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogle) and get this: TURNS OVER TO THE DARK SIDE. Can you read my annoyance and bewilderment because I promise you it’s all in my face as I type. I had a massive smile on my face when Kowalski came on-screen but alas, it faded as my favourite part of the first instalment, isn’t given a chance to shine.
There are a number of new additions, one being Leta Lestrange (Zoë Kravitz), whose character didn’t even really make any sense to me and when she exclaims her big secret about killing her brother, I wanted to laugh at the absurdity and when she sacrificed herself at the end, I did laugh at the absurdity because it was so. unnecessary. Oh yeah, and she’s in a love triangle with Newt and his brother (???), Theseus Scamander (Callum Turner), who I have nothing to say about. Then there’s Yusuf Kama (William Nadylam) whose character had a promising and mysterious introduction which didn’t really hold up and Nagini (Claudia Kim) in nothing more than a cameo whose agency revolves around Credence, who by the way, is apparently a Dumbledore now.
Ore turned to me nearly two hours in and stated that we haven’t really hit the climax and when it finally came, my goodness, it was a disappointment for the ages. The good guys battled some CGI blue dragons that Grindelwald had sent out. Guys. That’s it. Sigh. Let’s wrap this up.
The cast were all actually really good but they were given next to nothing to work with. This is the only good thing I can honestly say about the film. The whole idea of the franchise being based on a little textbook that is a speck of dust in the vastness of the HP universe didn’t and still doesn’t make sense to me and I couldn’t believe that the film essentially boiled down to finding out the true identity of Credence Barebone. I left the screening worked up because plot points just didn’t make any sense and the film’s execution was just so bad that I couldn’t fathom the fact that JK Rowling wrote it. I believe she’s doing her fans and the Harry Potter universe a great disservice by her constant retconning; she’s just greatly reducing the quality of her already established work. And the fact that she’s threatening us with three more films to come… my goodness, maybe this franchise will become the crimes of Rowling.
~
You may or may not be able to tell but I’ve struggled with this website and where to take it or maybe even just leave it but a real big up to God for a burst of inspiration to write. I love doing this and aim to continue, xxxx
Do you ever feel triggered that someone doesn’t share the same opinion on a film as you?
I do, occasionally. And on this occasion, it happened after the lights came up after Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. But we’ll get to that in a minute.
Set three years after the first film’s events, the dinosaurs are alone on Isla Nublar but find their existence threatened (again) by a volcanic eruption, leaving the government to vote on whether to leave them to perish due to this ‘act of God’ or take action and rescue them. Now the head of the Dinosaur Protection Group, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) along with Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) are recruited by Eli Mills (Rafe Spall), to conduct a rescue op for the dinosaurs at the request of John Hammond’s former partner, Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell).
*roughly a movie minute later*
Listen, I’ll be honest, I absolutely enjoyed this movie. Like, I knew I would enjoy it but not this much. Let me count the ways- actually I’ll just give you the main reason, then we’ll roll from there:
The visuals in this film were EVERYTHING to me. I mean, wow. I was consistently floored by the eye for awesome scenes, sequences and shots that the director J.A. Bayona and cinematographer Óscar Faura possess. Early on, there’s a shot of a dinosaur (I think it was a Tyrannosaurus Rex but don’t quote me please) roaring in the night, when a flash of lightning illuminates the background.
And then an underwater scene that is so tense and gripping that I might not even have been breathing as I gripped the hand of my mate next to me. I had zero issues suspending my disbelief – I was genuinely unsure if the characters would be okay. And that wasn’t the only time I felt like that.
I’ll stop gushing about the visuals and point out other aspects I enjoyed. Namely, Chris Pratt, who portrays Grady with a confidence and power that further solidifies him as a leading man. Plus, I didn’t realise he was such a great physical actor (see the lava scene for reference). The score either creeps up on you or shocks, it’s mostly dark and suspenseful but is so good at setting the tone. There’s also laughs, especially from stereotypically nerdy and frightened IT technician, Franklin Webb (Justice Smith) who grew on me and left me genuinely laughing at his shrieks of terror.
Alas, there were a few flaws but nothing that I found to be overwhelming, such as the score that was frequently over-dramatic. I’m talking to the point where I rolled my eyes when it played at the start of the movie. Some plot points aren’t adequately explained either, they’re just dropped in and you’re expected to roll with it.
Quite a few characters were exaggerated, just a caricature that was kind of hard to take seriously (Toby Jones I’m looking at you). Then there’s Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire Dearing.*Sigh* She’s not bad but I couldn’t help but wonder, even from the first film, if she was the best actress for the role. And thanks to all the people who complained about her character wearing heels in the first film, we get way too many foot shots of her – bordering on a fetish to be honest.
Ultimately, despite its few faults, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom manages to be one of the most exciting, gripping and thrilling blockbusters this year – so you can imagine why I was so triggered when as soon as the lights went up, one of my movie buddies proclaimed “That was dead”. Listen, like the tag line says, life finds a way, and Bayona certainly found a way to revive the franchise in an explosive way. If this is the way for all sequels, then sign me up.
Love this pic so much, I had to use it twice.
~
The Emmy nominations are out and they’re looking black and beautiful! Plus, it’s been confirmed that Joaquin Pheonix will play the Joker. I think he’ll be sick.
Okay , so I’ve had a couple people ask me some things about Marvel since Infinity War’s release date was close enough to talk about, like:
“Does it matter if I haven’t seen all the other Marvel films?” or “Do I have to see them in order?”
So I decided to write a summary of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) so far. They’re pretty general but I’ll add a spoiler alert because post-credit scenes will be included.
PHASE 1
Iron Man (2008)
Summary: Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is captured by terrorists and in order to escape, build a suit of armour. When he returns home, he utilises the suit and becomes Iron Man, fighting to protect the world from evil.
Post-credits scene: Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) makes his first appearance and introduces the Avengers Initiative.
Grace’s thoughts: The OG Marvel film that I will always hold close to my heart and have watched countless times but is sadly the only really good Iron Man film.. 12 yearold me had the biggest crush on RDJ and also didn’t know about the whole post-credit thing so it was years before I realised that it was a staple in the MCU.
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Summary: Exposure to gamma radiation enables Dr Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) to periodically turn into the Hulk – a massive, green humanoid. Banner attempts to cure himself but is forced to go on the run from General Thaddeus Ross who wants to weaponise the Hulk.
Post-credits scene: Tony Stark makes an appearance, mentioning the Avengers.
Grace’s thoughts: I don’t even consider this part of the MCU.
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Summary: Set 6 months after the first film, Tony Stark has since revealed himself to be Iron Man and the US government demands that he hands over his Iron Man technology. Ivan Vanko, a rogue Russian scientist, develops his own tech, using it to create weaponry to target Stark. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and a newly casted War Machine (Don Cheadle) make their first appearances.
Post-credits scene: Agent Phil Coulson reports the discovery of a large hammer.
Grace’s thoughts: The most forgettable film in the MCU; I always struggle to recall my memories of it.
Thor (2011)
Summary: Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the crown prince of Asgard, is banished to Earth and stripped of his powers by his father, Odin, after restarting a long-dead war. Meanwhile, his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), attempts to claim the throne.
Post-credits scene: The Tesseract is introduced.
Grace’s thoughts: An okay film, don’t have much of an opinion on it. Makes for an okay viewing but leans on the boring side.
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Summary: Mostly set during World War 2, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a sickly man from New York, is transformed into a super-soldier, thus adopting the alias, Captain America. He must then stop the Red Skull from harnessing the power of the Tesseract to take over the world.
Post-credits scene: Fury meets with Rogers to talk about saving the world.
Grace’s thoughts: A fine entry to the Captain America trilogy, not the best but not a bad film. Kept me entertained and the big reveal left me shook.
The Avengers (2012)
Summary: Nick Fury recruits Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor, Hulk, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow and Clint Barton/Hawkeye to come together and save the world from Loki’s plan to take control.
Post-credits scene: First there is a mid credit scene with Thanos stating that he has underestimated Earth. The post credit scene has the Avengers eating shawarma in silence.
Grace’s thoughts: Wow, revolutionary. Had never seen anything like it and it still holds up as a fantastic film.
PHASE 2
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Summary: Stark is suffering from PTSD caused by the events of the previous film whilst having to deal with a brutal terrorist, the Mandarin.
Post-credits scene: Tony has been telling the film’s story to Bruce Banner who has fallen asleep.
Grace’s thoughts: This was the film that let me know that the powers that be at Marvel were a bunch of jokers. An unserious film.
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Summary: Thor and Loki band together to protect the Nine Realms from being destroyed by the Dark Elves.
Post-credits scene: In the mid credit scene, the Aether is given to the Collector (Benicio del Toro) as they do not want to keep two Infinity Stones close together, as they already have the Tesseract. In the post-credits scene, Thor and Jane reunite whilst a monster runs amok.
Grace’s thoughts: Again, nothing special, quite boring really. I only watched the first two films because the third looked alright.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Summary: Captain America teams up with Black Widow and Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to take down a new enemy – the mysterious Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan).
Post-credits scene: First in the mid-credits, Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver are teased and then in the post-credits, the Winter Soldier visits the Bucky memorial.
Grace’s thoughts: This has long been my favourite Marvel film, can’t praise it enough. Sen-say-shun-nall.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Summary: A group of intergalactic criminals – lead by Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) – reluctantly come together after stealing a powerful artefact.
Post-credits scene: The Collector sits with two of his living exhibitions.
Grace’s thoughts: I really enjoyed this, a surprise hit. Visually stunning, funny and really well acted and written. A little bit unserious but not enough that it was distracting.
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Summary: The Avengers come together again, this time to defeat Ultron, an artificial intelligence set on causing human extinction.
Post-credits scene: A mid-credits scene where Thanos vows to get the Infinity Stones himself.
Grace’s thoughts: Couldn’t stand this the first time around, but upon second viewing I really enjoyed it. Plus, it set up Infinity War so I can never be mad at that.
Ant-Man (2015)
Summary: Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), a petty criminal, is approached by Hank Pym, to pull off a heist, using a suit that can increase and decrease in size to that of, well, an ant.
Post-credits scene: Pym shows his daughter Diane, a Wasp suit. In the post-credits, Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson have Bucky Barnes in their custody.
Grace’s thoughts: A decent film and Paul Rudd is his usable likeable self. Wish Edgar Wright had directed though.
PHASE 3
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Summary: Disagreement over the Accords set by the UN cause the Avengers to split into two sides – one led by Rogers, the other by Stark.
Post-credits scene: In the mid-credits, Barnes is offered recovery in Wakanda by T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and the post-credits sees Peter Parker (Tom Holland) revealing a gadget made for him by Stark.
Grace’s thoughts: Another legendary Captain America film, too sick and rounds off my top 3 Marvel films.
Doctor Strange (2016)
Summary: Top surgeon Doctor Steven Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) begins learning the mystic arts after a devastating car crash.
Post-credits scene: Mordo removes from Pangborn, the mystical energy that allows him to walk.
Grace’s thoughts: A decent film, visually amazing with a very interesting and unique climax.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Summary: The Guardians help Peter uncover the truth about his mysterious parentage.
Post-credits scene: Multiple scenes – Kraglin uses Yondu’s arrow, Ravager leader Stakar Ogord gathers his old team together, Ayesha creates a Sovereign named Adam, Groot is a teenager and an informer (Stan Lee) talks with the Watchers.
Grace’s thoughts: Can’t fault the film, absolutely loved it. Laughed out loud so many times, emphasised with Quill and generally had feels.
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Summary: Peter Parker attempts to balance school and being a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man whilst facing the Vulture.
Post-credits scene: In prison, Toomes denies knowing Spider-Man’s true identity. Captain America makes some cheeky announcements.
Grace’s thoughts: An entertaining, fun film that gets extra points because it didn’t rehash everything the other versions had already told us. I was also genuinely left shook at a particular reveal.
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Summary: Thor attempts to stop the impending apocalyptic Ragnorok whilst battling his evil sister, Hela (Cate Blanchett), the goddess of Hel.
Post-credits scene: Thor’s ship is met by Thanos and in the post-credits, the Grandmaster encounters some rebels.
Grace’s thoughts: Unserious but entertaining. Visually stunning with some great scenes. The best Thor film, which actually isn’t a feat that’s hard to achieve.
Black Panther (2018)
Summary: T’Challa returns home to Wakanda to find that his title has been challenged.
Post-credits scene: Shuri speaks with Bucky who has been recovering.
Grace’s thoughts: Never been more gutted to not have thoroughly enjoyed a film, sigh. It was fine but didn’t blow my mind or anything. There were engaging action scenes, great acting and stunning visuals but something was very lacking. Hoping that it was the okay entry into a series of amazing films.
Avengers Infinity War (2018)
Summary: All the characters we have previously met – the Avengers, Guardians and more – try to stop Thanos from collecting all of the Infinity Stones.
Post-credits scenes: There is one at the very end that I will not spoil for you.
Grace’s thoughts: This film broke me. Goodnight.
Omds Cap’s beard.
~
If you want to watch the films in chronological order, here’s a list:
Tonya Harding. An American figure skater notorious for her connection to an attack on fellow skater, Nancy Kerrigan. I remember reading about her story as a child and I thought that she was pretty much a bad woman. So when I heard that there would be a biopic about her, I just didn’t really understand why.
But surprisingly, I found that the film looked quite interesting and had a buzz surrounding it, so I was pretty happy to be able to see a preview of the film.
As a child, Tonya (Margot Robbie) is made to skate by her cruel and abusive mother, LaVona (Allison Janney). As she grows, Tonya quickly becomes one of the best figure skaters there is, competing in the Olympics. Along the way, she falls in love with and marries Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan) who carries on the violence that Harding has known all her life.
It’s a simple enough premise but the story, written by Steven Rogers and directed by Craig Gillespie is told with serious style and peppered with amazing dialogue like “If your mind is blank no one can pick up on your vibe”. I was surprised to learn that aside from essentially being a mockumentary, the film breaks the fourth wall and is actually very funny.
I, Tonya is interesting in that, although Tonya is our protagonist, the viewer still may not like or side with her. She’s raw, crude, flawed and an unreliable narrator – a present day Tonya and Jeff both dispel what one says about the other – but she’s also unapologetically herself. She doesn’t always take responsibility but she also never claims to be perfect. She’s not liked by skating officials because her redneck persona doesn’t fit into the grace and beauty that’s typically expected – even if she is a damn excellent skater. I was quite shocked to find myself kind of on her side, especially as in my opinion, she gets hit (my bad) with the worst of the punishment for the attack.
I have to shout out what has to be one of the best casts I’ve seen in a while. Robbie proper encapsulates all of Harding, the good, bad and the ugly. As a stan of Stan, he is a chameleon as Gillooly, somehow perfecting a mild mannered abuser. Paul Walter Hauser is hilarious and a scene-stealer as Tonya’s ‘bodyguard’ Shawn Eckhardt, who gets some of the film’s best lines. Bobby Cannavale who plays sleazy exceptionally well and had skin so tanned, I had to double check that it wasn’t a brown-skinned actor instead. And Janney, my longtime fave, is incomparable as a mother who can casually tell her daughter that she ‘skates like a graceless bulldyke’.
If you couldn’t tell, I just really flipping enjoyed this movie. Despite frequent humour, so many moments were dark and left me quiet. Like Jeff manipulating his wife emotionally, lashing out at her physically, her doing the same back to him, LaVona routinely failing her daughter since childhood but still receiving umpteen chances from her or Tonya staring at herself in the mirror and desperately trying and failing to hold a smile.
By the end of I, Tonya I was reminded of my younger self who thought Harding to be a bad person. And I’m glad to have been given a chance to learn more about who Tonya Harding was and in turn receive one of the year’s best films.
Number one in a series on the shows and films that I’m watching on Netflix.
Bright is set in an alternate present where humans live alongside fantastical creatures such as elves, orcs, dwarves and centaurs. LAPD officer Daryl Ward (Will Smith) is partnered with the nation’s first orcish police officer, Nick Jakoby (Joel Edgerton, unrecognisable under layers of makeup) who is disliked by humans and his fellow orcs (who consider him a traitor), only Ward is indifferent towards him.
I’ll admit, I saw the trailer and especially the part where Ward says “fairy lives don’t matter today” and had to ask no one in particular: “What is this?” “What is going on, Will Smith?” My brother assured me that it was a great film and a few days later, I sat (really laid) down to watch the film. And I enjoyed the film. In a time where sequels and remakes populate the cinema, I was intrigued to see an original premise, especially one with social commentary. The elves are the upper class, humans are middle class or just regular and the orcs are the underclass and frequently discriminated against.
One night, Ward and Jakoby comes across an elf Tikka, in possession of a wand, which you’d be forgiven for thinking is a good thing. Because it’s a really bad thing in this world, where it can be used as a weapon of mass destruction and can only be held by a Bright, who is someone that has the ultra-rare ability to use magic. Phew, got that?
Bright isn’t perfect, the plot was a bit holey and convenient at times, the dialogue not always great (see the aforementioned play on ‘Black Lives Matter’) and Noomi Rapace and Édgar Ramírez were greatly underused. Like I said, I didn’t expect to like this film at all really, but it was honestly a breath of fresh air. Smith is of course, a very engaging lead but I was more drawn to Edgerton, who even when buried under layers of orc, is able to give quite a touching and soft performance.
Critics generally ripped the film apart but I, along with the majority of audiences were able to appreciate Bright for being original, fresh and entertaining. If that’s what more movies are going for in 2018, then I can’t wait.
~
What I’m Watching:
House Party – A YouTube miniseries I had the pleasure of working on.
They found a way.
The Grace Film. 