January 2019 Cinema Reviews

Bumblebee – I’m delighted to say that talk of this being the Transformers film we’d been waiting for were spot on. A film that succeeds where 5 previous instalments failed. It manages to be emotional, funny, nostalgic and it gives us the battle of Cybertron we’ve wanted to see since this franchise was rebooted all the way back in 2007. Oh and the soundtrack is awesome.

Ralph Breaks The Internet – A fine sequel to 2012’s surprise Disney hit Wreck It Ralph, but one that tries a little too hard to be bigger and better but never quite hits it’s lofty target. It’s not quite as heartwarming or charming as it’s predecessor, and unlike the first film, the soundtrack is a bit of a damp squib. Gone is Rhianna telling you to shut up and drive, and even Vanellope’s catchy Sugar Rush song can’t be matched. The film’s biggest failing is that it wants to have an important message, but it all gets a bit lost. The writers should have just kept it light and fun like the first one. Also, I get the whole “oh you broke the internet” thing, but shouldn’t it have been called Ralph Wrecks The Internet? Wouldn’t that have made more sense in the grand scheme of things? No? Just me then.

Colette – Such a delight from start to finish. Keira Knightley who can sometimes be a bit cloying, especially when she’s doing a period piece like this one, is actually engaging and feisty in her portrayal of real life writer Gabrielle Colette. I will admit ashamedly that although I proclaim to be a writer myself (and a woman to boot) I had never heard of Colette before I saw Knightley interviewed on The Graham Norton Show. And I almost didn’t see the movie as the clips I’d seen hadn’t exactly sparked my interest. It was only while discussing with a colleague what I might go and see at the cinema that night that she told me she had seen the film, and raved about how good it was. I’m so glad I saw it as it was a really interesting film, the sets and locations stunning, and the performances were fantastic. Knightley captures Colette beautifully; her frustrations, her anger, her inquisitive and adventurous sides, and by god her stubbornness. I’d watch this again in a heartbeat. Such a delicious story.

Stan and Ollie – While it’s not the most fascinating, most hilarious, or featuring the most lesbian sex of all the true stories out at the cinema right now, Steve Coogan and John C Reilly are both fantastic in Stan and Ollie. It’s a gentle film that ambles along at its own pace but it transports you into their world perfectly and they are both heartbreakingly wonderful. If neither of them at least get nominated by one of the major awards givers it’ll be a travesty. Shirley Henderson and Nina Arianda also put in stunning supporting performances as Ollie and Stan’s wives respectively, which gives the film even more heart. If the last shot of the wives in the theatre doesn’t make you cry then make sure you read the extra bits in the credits. If I’d not been surrounded by people I probably would have wailed. It’s completely down to the two of them and how much you bought into their friendship. Such a lovely movie.

Mary Queen Of Scots – Excellent performances from Saoirse Ronan and Margo Robbie lift this above standard Tudor era fare. The women stand strong and defiant and it’s lovely to see the women’s roles shine in a movie that is predominantly filled with men trying to tell them what to do. It doesn’t shy away from some of the harder to stomach truths of the Elizabethan reign, which I found refreshing even if my cinema buddy was less pleased. The costumes and locations are a sumptuous feast for the eyes, and I now want to go back to Edinburgh and learn all about Mary all over again.

Beautiful Boy – It was only after I saw this film that I saw Timothee Chalamet interviewed on The Graham Norton Show, where he described Beautiful Boy as a horror film. And while I don’t think that’s a very accurate description of the movie, I can see why he said that. The subject matter and scenes of what Nick’s drug use does to him and his family is certainly horrific. But this is definitely more of a drama than a horror. I also didn’t know until the end of the movie that this film is based on a true story. It’s definitely an important film, and I’m sure one that will speak to a great many people who have either been addicted to something, be it drugs or alcohol or something else, as well as the people their addiction ultimately hurts. I found the performances from both Chalamet and Carrell to be very affecting, but ultimately the film was overlong and felt very repetitive. That was probably intentional as it shows how repetitive recovery and relapse is, but it doesn’t really make for very interesting cinema. Also, not sure if Abbie from ER has had her lips done since her stint on that show, but I found her constant pouty fish expressions to be really distracting.

The Mule – Similar over pouting expressions from Diane Wiest in this movie were about the only fault I could levy upon this heartwarming tale of a 90 year old drug mule and the DEA agent sent to bring him in. Clint Eastwood puts in a believable and shockingly likeable turn as Earl Stone, a man on the verge of losing everything he ever loved, who is somewhat conned into becoming a drug mule. He accepts some work as a “driver” for a friend of his Granddaughter and unknowingly takes a package from point A to point B. He soon realises what it is he’s transporting, but by then he’s starting to like the money he’s earning, and the joy he’s able to bring to those he loves by spreading his wealth. There’s a side story about the drug cartel that’s neither here nor there really, as the main focus of the movie is Earl and his attempts to win back the family he’s lost. I have to admit that I was completely rooting for Earl to get away with it but I’m not going to tell you whether he did or not. You’ll have to see for yourself.

The Favourite – After waiting sooooooo long to watch this I’m sad to say I wasn’t much of a fan. Yes the central three performances are spectacular. Olivia Coleman brought me to tears when she talked about her babies, Rachel Weisz was an excellent scorned woman, and Emma Stone’s innocent little girl routine was perfect for her character. However these three brilliant women were all overshadowed by weird circular camera lenses that made my eyes hurt, a score that sounds like an alarm is going off, and an overlong and boring story. I’ve seen movies like this before where there’s multiple back stabbers and the audience isn’t even sure who the real villain of the piece is. But there was no such delicious intrigue in this movie, you just watch the events unfold with relatively little interest. It’s a shame as I was really looking forward to it and then I couldn’t really wait for it to be over, if just so I would stop feeling sick from all of those weird circular camera angles and that never-ending alarm of a score.

Vice – Definitely NOT the best film of the year, in my opinion. I’ve already seen about half a dozen that are better than this and it’s only January! I will concede that it WAS interesting, especially as someone who lived through the Bush Jr administration but who was too young to really take interest in politics, or understand that he was massively controlled by his team, headed up by Vice President Chaney. But I definitely felt it needed to be more stringently edited as it was quite long, and some of it just didn’t seem to work (the weird Shakespeare bit and the part where it pretended it was ending half way through the film). Then there were other bits where it just cut off mid way through someone speaking. More and more frequently with movies like this with big directors and big name actors, I often feel they are given a little too much free reign and there aren’t enough people around them to say ‘that didn’t work’, or ‘that could be a shorter scene’. I felt that way about The Favourite too. Although in the case of this film it certainly didn’t help matters that snow was imminent and my friend fell asleep, which made me very aware of how long the film was on both counts. I will say however that Amy Adams was her usual amazing self, and Christian Bale has surely got to be doing serious damage to his body at this point from all the weight he puts on for roles which he then loses, but as usual he impressed. I wished Sam Rockwell had more to do as I think he’s a wonderful and massively underrated actor, but I understand this was a movie about Chaney and not Bush, and so the size of his role had to reflect that. Steve Carrell also continues to impress in another dramatic role, but the film overall was long, and Chaney’s story, while he was devious and villainous, it just wasn’t fascinating enough to make this a good film.

Getting My House In Order

I recently heard that Google's Blogger was closing. Whether it's true, and whether it means old blogs will disappear or not remains to be seen. To be on the safe side, and to not lose YEARS worth of posts, I made the decision to move everything to my old Wordpress blog that I've had for years and done virtually nothing with.

And when I say move everything, I really do mean EVERYTHING. Because I also decided that this blog would contain all of my previous blogger blogs, as well as any book reviews that I also post to my Goodreads account.

That might mean that you get a bit of an odd amalgamation of personal posts, random stuff to do with writing, film reviews, book reviews, theatre reviews and possibly my beauty product reviews too. I haven't decided if I'm including them or not yet.

I hope that means you get an interesting mix of content rather than it feeling disjointed but to be honest I really don't know how it will work yet.

Whatever brought you here I hope you will continue to follow me on the Wordpress platform and enjoy what will be forthcoming, and as always I am very grateful that you have decided to spend a little bit of your valuable time in my strange little world.

As long as Blogger is here I will endeavour to post updates here too but as I don't know how long that will be for I'm giving you all a heads up.

Much love Lady K

Bohemian Rhapsody

One of my earliest memories is of my sister Tracey watching Live Aid on TV. I don’t remember watching it myself, I was five at the time, and probably doing much more important things like playing with Barbies. But I remember her watching it and I remember it being a big deal. I knew it mattered even then.

Fast forward to about 5 or so years later and the beginnings of my Queen phase. I had posters, I had every album on cassette and vinyl, I had videos of their concerts. I was not cool. But then I was never destined to be. I’ve always embraced the things I loved, no matter how uncool they made me. I didn't know another teenager who's favourite band was Queen, and who's favourite TV show was Star Trek The Next Generation. But if I can’t be true to myself it doesn’t matter how much fake me fits in, she’s not the real me.

I know right now you’re probably thinking, jeez just get on with the review already. I’m prefacing the review with my earliest account of fandom because not only did loving Queen make up a very important part of what made me me at an early age, but it also probably indicates the expectations I had for this film. The first time that Freddie’s story had been told to the masses, and a lot of people will take this movie as gospel.

Those of us who have followed Queen for a long time however, those of us who’ve read up on the band, we know that this movie is not showing the full story. And in some instances has jumbled up some very important events in the Queen timeline.

If like me you’ve read any of the reviews for this movie you’ll know that amongst fans of the band, there have been a lot of less than favourable write ups. Even knowing this I still wanted to see the film and make up my own mind, as I quite often do. So that you don’t lose faith and stop reading, I will say now that I’m glad I did.

If you’re a fan of Queen there is still a lot here for you. Firstly the performances. Rami Malek really does put his heart and soul into becoming Freddie. It’s an impossible task but my god does he put everything into it. It doesn’t feel like he’s “doing” Freddie, it doesn’t feel like a caricature based on what we know of Freddie, it’s not a performance that’s all in the teeth. He’s not Freddie and he doesn’t quite have Freddie’s flamboyance, but he gives it his all and he’s believable.

Gwilym Lee and Joe Mazzello playing Brian and John respectably are incredible. They are so like them that it’s like you’re watching the real people. I was flabbergasted at how good they were and how true to Brian and John they were. Roger I never quite got. Ben Hardy was as good as the other guys performance wise, but I never fully believed him as Roger.

Lucy Boynton who first impressed in the fabulous Sing Street also does a believable and rather heartbreaking turn as Freddie’s longtime friend and lover Mary Austin. And as someone who is aware of the significant part that Mary played in Freddie’s life, I’m really happy to see that neither she nor Freddie’s bisexuality were erased in this movie.

The main problems I had with the film I already knew about going in, and as such I think I was probably the right level of prepared that they didn’t annoy me as much as if I’d not known about them going in. The first is how the film paints the remaining members of Queen as innocent little choir boys compared with bad influence Freddie. It also downplayed Freddie’s lifestyle too, which considering the story they are telling here seems kinda detrimental to the finished product? The second inaccuracy is that Freddie received his AIDS diagnosis prior to Live Aid.

This is my biggest bugbear for two reasons. 1) a whole new generation of Queen fans that this film will create will be massively misinformed. 2) It undermines not only one of Freddie’s best performances, but the live performance voted the best of all time, by anybody.

He didn’t give that performance because he knew he was going to die. He gave it because he was just that fucking good. To suggest otherwise just detracts from how fantastic that performance was.

However, those annoyances aside, I still found that I enjoyed the film overall. I felt giddy every time they came up with a new song that we already know and love, and the recreation of the Live Aid concert cannot fail to be enjoyed on a big screen. Hearing Freddie in surround sound certainly didn’t hurt. Some of the members of the audience that I was in were clapping along to Radio Ga Ga and that couldn't fail to warm my heart.

The dubbing isn’t always done that well, but the alternative of not having Freddie’s voice in the movie could only have been disastrous. Therefore my complaints here are minimal.

I’m not ashamed to say I blubbed like a baby at the end of the film, and upon hearing the opening strains of one of my favourite Queen songs in the credits I resolved to stay to the end, and give Freddie my utmost respects for being the artist who tells me when I’m feeling down, the show must go on.

8/10

The Not So Magnificent Seven

After such a good start to October I somehow managed to while away the rest of the month without seeing another film, and even worse, without making use of my trusty Cineworld Card.

Desperately trying to catch up with what I'd missed, and make use of my card, I somehow managed to cram 7 films into 3 days.

I'm not going to say a great deal on all of them but I thought a brief run down of my thoughts was required.

We shall start with the first film I saw - The Hate U Give



Incredibly important film about the current Black Lives Matter movement in the US, and the frequency with which unarmed black men are being killed by white police officers. This isn't based on a true story but it could so easily be based on any number of accounts of exactly the same situation as what happens in this film.

A strong central performance from Amanda Stenberg makes this film stand out from the crowd. It's both eye opening and incredibly moving in parts. Definitely worth a watch if it's still on near you. 7/10

Film 2 was the rather lacklustre Venom. 

Disappointingly neither Tom Hardy or Riz Ahmed are at their best here. And is it just me or is Michelle Williams acting actually getting worse (and is she becoming more breathy sounding) with each passing year? The effects are kinda ropey in places, and ultimately it leaves you wondering ‘did this film need to be made’? The end credits glimpse at the new Animated Spider-Man feature film looks great though it has to be said. 5/10

The third film I saw was Bohemian Rhapsody. I have a LOT to say about this one so it’s getting a separate review. Keep your eyes peeled for that!

Film four was the overlong and incredibly boring First Man. 

If Ryan Gosling can’t make your lead character interesting and charismatic then I think your film has problems. If this film is genuinely based on truth then I’m sorry to say that Neil Armstrong is a very dull man. The director needed reining in on the running time of this beast, and I think other characters should have been given more of a chance to shine. We know he gets to the moon so why did it take so damn long to show it?

This is by no means a bad film. The acting is top notch and I can certainly see Oscar nominations rocketing towards this one, but it's incredibly long and tediously, and just boring, and therefore I can only give it 4/10.

The fifth film I saw was the first of a horror triple bill - Slaughterhouse Rulez.

I will admit that from the trailer I was fully expecting this to be a slight step up from a Goosebumps type movie but it fell somewhere between that and a real gore fest. I enjoyed it, even if the acting isn’t always top notch, it was a fun ride and a perfect post Halloween movie. 6/10

The penultimate movie of the triple (and indeed the not-always-so-magnificent 7) was Goosebumps 2. 

I know I saw the last Goosebumps movie but I’ll be honest, I don’t remember much about it. This one was loads of fun. The possessed dummy was just the right amount of creepy for a kids film, and considering this definitely WAS made for kids (it’s a PG cert) I thought it was more engaging than Slaughterhouse. I found myself enjoying it a lot more and just generally having a blast. Definitely recommend for those with kids looking for a spooky film this autumn. 7/10

Finally that leads me to him. He came home. And what a bloody and fitting end to the Halloween franchise this is (providing the powers that be don’t decide to make another one).



Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode from the original 1978 Halloween (that's right kids, that's before even I was born) returns for this sequel which effectively erases every Halloween movie that has followed in the last 40 years (including Halloween 2, H20 and Resurrection which all also featured Curtis as Laurie Strode). Forget those movies exist because this is the definitive sequel. Strode has spent the last 40 years dealing with PTSD over what happened on that fateful Halloween night, and my god has she got her Sarah Conner on.

Strode has always known the day would come when Michael Myers would again escape the mental facility that houses him, and she has prepared for the day when she would once again face him.

I won't give any spoilers away but I will say that for fans of the original this is an absolute must see. I will admit that I am nowhere near as hardcore horror as I used to be and I was scared to see this on my own, which is why I waited to see it until someone could come with me. But it's not wall to wall horror as some would have you believe.

Sure there are jump scares, and to bring the franchise bang up to date there are some scenes that are truly gruesome and horrific, but this is a Halloween movie, would you really expect anything less? Curtis and co act their socks off. It's great to see so many strong women in this movie, rather than them just being the screaming victim all the time, and for a woman in her 60s, Jamie Lee Curtis is as bad ass as they come.

As a huge fan of the original I honestly can't recommend Halloween highly enough to fellow fans. See it before it finishes in cinemas. 9/10

Three Films, Three Days, Three Cinemas

As the title of this blog suggests, last weekend I unintentionally saw three different films over three days at three different cinemas.

I'll start with the first film A Star Is Born which I saw on Friday at The Connaught Theatre in Worthing.

A Star Is Born is the fourth incarnation of this apparently timeless story, previous versions having starred Kris Kristofferson and Barbara Streisand, James Mason and Judy Garland and Fredric March and Janet Gaynor. None of which I am ashamed to say I have seen.

In some ways it probably helped to see this version having not seen any of the previous ones as it puts less expectation on the new version, which by all accounts of Director Bradley Cooper, only has certain elements in common with the previous films anyway.

The story this time focuses on established Rock star Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) who is clearly struggling with alcohol and drug addiction when we meet him at the start of the film. After a gig he stops at a bar where he meets Ally (Lady Gaga), a waitress who has a natural talent for singing and song writing. Jackson finds himself drawn to this woman who has such a unique outlook on him, and on the world around her, and he finds himself falling for her, and her for him. But of course, with addiction thrown into the mix, it's never going to be plain sailing for the two.

A Star Is Born had me gripped from start to finish, mainly because of the performances of the two leads. I bought into their love affair from the off, even though on reflection, it did seem to happen very fast. I found the chemistry between Cooper and Gaga to be electrifying. They bounced off each other so well, and when they sang together it was a thing of beauty (I've already purchased the soundtrack).

The only negatives I can say are that the film is quite long, and does feel it. Not that that is especially bad. At no point was I not enjoying it, but I did feel it could have benefitted from being a few minutes shorter. And the shocking scene at the end of the movie I felt unprepared for. I knew it was going to be sad. People had told me it would be sad. And it was one of those movies that you could tell was going to be tragic in some way, but I was not at all prepared for what did happen, and I felt duped somewhat that I hadn't been prepared.

Having said all of that, the film is stunningly directed by first timer Cooper, and I  was definitely not expecting Gaga to be as good as she was. Yes it wasn't a big stretch to play a girl from New York who has natural talent and makes it in the music industry - if not quite being herself - but she was still fantastic and nothing can take that away from her.

8/10

On Saturday I saw A House With A Clock In It's Walls at Odeon Brighton. What an adventure that was.

Sadly that adventure had more to do with the awful experience my friend and I had at the Odeon than the film itself. Which I am sure when watched uninterrupted by several fire alarms and a restart that came with sound but no picture, would have been a perfectly adequate family romp but which would have been otherwise rather unremarkable.

A House... tells the story of an orphaned boy Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) going to live with his uncle (Jack Black) who it turns out is a warlock (boy witch), and who's neighbour (the always stylish and stunning Cate Blanchett) is also a witch. 

During the course of the movie we discover, along with Lewis, that the magnificent house his uncle lives in was cursed by the former resident, an evil warlock (Kyle MacLachlan) and the three of them must work together to break the spell he placed on the house, before it changes the course of history.

Unfortunately, it feels like I will remember A House... for all of the wrong reasons, and that my overriding thoughts on the movie will be tainted by the truly awful experience of a cinema where no-one working there knew what was happening, how to communicate with the cinema goers, let alone with each other, and where I would think twice before going to watch another movie, EVER AGAIN.

A House gets 6/10 and I think that's me being quite generous.

On Sunday I went to see The Wife at my favourite of the Brighton cinema's Dukes at Komedia.

I'd seen the trailer for this twice at said cinema, and was then shocked to see it wasn't showing there on the first week of the movie being released. It was instead only showing at The Duke Of Yorks, which if it's possible to, I despise more than the Odeon.

I don't think I have ever had a pleasant experience at the DoY's which is a real shame as I love to support independent cinema, and yet I hate to go there with every fibre of my being.

I was saddened to think that I would have to break my 'no DoY's' rule and go there to see The Wife, when to my surprise, in it's second week of release went to Dukes at Komedia. Phew.

The Wife tells the story of Joan Castleman (Glenn Close), wife of Author Joseph Castleman (Jonathan Pryce) who is about to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. You can tell from the trailer that he's going to be a bit of a shit, but to what extent it's unclear. Well, without spoiling the movie I couldn't possibly say but let's just say that he's more of a shit than the trailer would have you believe. 

The performances are fantastic from Close and Pryce, and I must say it was a lovely surprise to see Christian Slater in a mainstream movie where he's actually really good and working with really great actors again.

Regrettably, although the calibre of acting here is way above par, the story is still a little slow in places, and the end is not as punchy as I had hoped it would be from the trailer. Still an intriguing and superbly acted film that I would highly recommend, but definitely more of a slow burner.

7/10

American Animals

I really didn't know what to expect from American Animals. I'd seen the trailer and was suitably intrigued, but when people asked me what it was about I could never really hold it in my head. A heist/robbery was all I could mutter, but it looks really good. 

I was even more intrigued when my friend and trusted reviewer of Thursday Night At The Movies gave the film 4.5/5 which is high praise indeed. Seriously, sign up to her blog because her reviews are fantastic and way more frequent than mine.

I missed the film at Cineworld but I was determined to see it and boy am I glad I did! Part heist movie, part documentary, the film follows two college friends who decide to steal some rare, and highly valued books from the college library rare books room. It's guarded by one lowly librarian (played by The Handmaid's Tale's Aunt Lydia) so how hard can it be?

It turns out very, as the boys have to enlist the help of two other students before attempting the robbery.

This film is one of the most interesting I have seen this year. Much like Searching, this film is uniquely filmed, but this time it's in the way it seamlessly goes between interview footage from the real people that the movie is based on, to film footage of the actors playing these people. It's a fascinating story even if all you saw was the actors (who embody their characters perfectly) but to see the real people and find out what happened to them and how it affected those closest to them takes it up a whole other level.

I don't think I breathed during the robbery scenes and actually had my hands on my head for some of it, it's super tense and stylishly shot, but never feels anything other than gritty and true to life. 

Evan Peters completely stole the show for me, playing the charismatic Warren, but similarly all of the actors were faultless. I'd only seen Barry Keoghan in Dunkirk, and I don't think I've seen anything that Blake Jenner or Jared Abrahamson have done before but they were all the complete embodiment of their characters as far as I was concerned. 

If you can find this movie in cinemas I urge you to go and experience it. It's a ride you won't forget. 

9/10

The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Call Me By Your Name

My main reason for reviewing these two films together is that they cover a similar subject matter, and I saw them on the same day. But I wanted to show you the two posters for these films side by side, because it wasn't until I searched for the posters that I realised how eerily similar they are. Same colour blue, same wistful look up to the sky from one of the main characters, same colour and similar font of the titles. Weird.

Anyway, allow me to start with Cameron Post as that was the film I watched first. A film set in the 90s about a girl - Cameron Post (played brilliantly by Chloe Grace Moretz who impresses me more and more each time I see her) - who is discovered to be a lesbian by her religious family and promptly sent off to God's Promise, a camp for troubled teens, in the hope of converting her into a straight and God fearing member of society.

This might not be a true story, but the fact that this did happen to many kids and is still happening around the world today makes me really fucking angry. The story is well told and has lighter and also incredibly dark moments too but it handles everything with sensitivity and the acting on show is top notch.

I definitely felt like they could have done more to set the time period for film, as although it's a 90s set movie, there were only a few moments where my brain remembered that fact. For the most part I felt like this could have been set in the present day. I don't know if that's because the 90s doesn't feel that long ago to me, or because I know things like the conversion camp still happen, but I felt more like it was because the filmmakers hadn't done enough to make it feel like a period piece. 

Having said that, I didn't feel like this detracted from the film, more that I would have just liked to have seen more 90s references in there and had it feel more like a 90s set film. 

The acting as I said is all top notch. This is Chloe Grace Moretz's film, make no mistake, and she is fantastic in the lead role. But she is ably supported by Forrest Goodluck and Sasha Lane who play two of Cameron's alley's in the camp, whilst Jennifer Ehle (remember her? Where has she been for the last 20 years) and John Gallagher Jr are both great as the leaders of the camp.

I think it's an important film on many levels, it continues the conversation around the importance of mental health in young adults, and that they should have a safe space to express themselves, as well as adults that they can trust. It also does a great job of not talking down to the audience it's aimed at, and doesn't shy away from showing them sex scenes and pretty horrifying scenes too, but at no point do those scenes seem gratuitous or unnecessary. 

8/10

Call Me By Your Name is a film I'd wanted to see since it was released last summer but I'd somehow missed it at the cinema. It was shown on an open air screening this summer but I happened to be in London on the night it was on and so missed it again. 

Now that I've seen it I'm quite glad I didn't go out of my way to pay to see it in the cinema as I don't think anything would have been gained by seeing the film on the big screen.

I've heard such wonderful things about Call Me By Your Name, but unlike Cameron Post which is also a period set film and about a young person coming to terms with their sexuality, the sex scenes in this do feel slightly gratuitous and unnecessary. 

Maybe it's because of the way the film is shot like some art history experiment that the sex scenes just feel really out of place. Yes it's got stunning scenery, yes it's got a rousing score that would impress the harshest of critics, but where is the film's heart?

I found the film over long, and quite dull until it came to Elio and Oliver actually getting together and then everything seemed rushed. I assume this was intentional, because the characters waste their summer together by denying how they both feel, and then when they realise they want to be together the summer is over. It's a great metaphor but it doesn't really make for a very interesting film.

I felt like this film also suffered from the same time period setting issues as Cameron Post, but not quite on the same scale. Yes this does feel like a period piece, but not necessarily an 80s set film. Maybe because it's set in rural Italy so you don't have the same pop culture references that would be available in movies set in the USA for example? I'm not sure but I know that again there were only moments when I remembered it was set in the 80s, and those moments were few and far between. 

I also had trouble buying into the relationship between Oliver and Elio. I could see why Elio would fall for Oliver, I mean who wouldn't fall for Armie Hammer? But I really struggled to see why Oliver would feel anything for scrawny and underage Elio who if anything, seemed to act even more childishly than his age would allow. From what the film showed you they barely spent any time together too, so it's not even plausible that they fell in love with each other's personalities over time. It just didn't work for me.

I really wanted to like it, and I didn't think that was something I'd need to work on, I assumed it was a given. How wrong I was.

5/10

Searching & The Children Act

On this gloriously sunny Sunday in September, with absolutely nothing to do, I decided last minute to take myself on a double movie date. Most people would think this was a crazy idea but as the cinema is my second home this doesn't strike me as a weird way to spend my day.

First film of the double bill was Searching. A film I'd only recently heard of and which probably wouldn't have been at the top of my list of films to see, had it not starred John Cho. Cho is someone I always enjoy watching, whether it's in a stupid role (Harold and Kumar/American Pie films), turning an iconic sci-fi character on his head (Star Trek Reboots), or in a more serious role (usually on some ill fated TV series - Kitchen Confidential/Flashforward).

The fact that Searching had Cho as the lead character immediately piqued my interest and I am so glad it did. Not only is he fantastic in this film, easily captivating the audience, it's also a really good film. I might even go so far as to say one of my favourites of the year so far. 

The story is a simple one, and if you've seen the trailer you'll know it's about a father of a missing girl. The question is, what happened to Margot Kim? Did she run away, was she kidnapped, murdered? And if she was kidnapped or murdered, who the hell did it? This is a great whodunit thriller and keeps you guessing right to the end. There are plenty of twists that I didn't see coming, and best of all, it's whole premise is something I had never seen before on film.

So if you're looking for something a bit different, something that will keep you hooked til the last reel, definitely go and see Searching. 

9/10

The second film of the day was The Children Act, starring Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci, based on the novel by Ian McEwan.

I was not familiar with the novel on going to see the movie, and in fact I knew next to nothing about it. I based my decision to see it purely on the talent involved. I mean who wouldn't want to see Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci on screen together? It's an acting powerhouse.

The story revolves around High Court judge Fiona May (Thompson) and the two big events unfolding in her life as we come into her story. One is the breakdown of her marriage to husband Jack (Tucci), and the other is the case she is presiding over regarding the life of 17 year old Jehovah's Witness Adam. Adam is in need of a blood transfusion to save his life, but on religious grounds he is refusing the transfusion. As he is a minor, the hospital seek an injunction to save the boy's life. 

For the most part this felt like a BBC drama, particularly from the point where Adam's story really started to present itself. The actors playing the roles of Adam and his family felt very much like the kind you'd see in a BBC drama. A good one, but still not quite movie worthy. Having Emma and Stanley in the film however was always going to raise it to another level. The sad thing is that I feel like the film wasn't really worthy of them. And without them it probably wouldn't have even had a theatrical release.

That's not to say that they are not both fantastic. I doubt either of them knows how to be anything but that, but sadly even Queen Emma and Superb Lord Stanley have their work cut out with such a dull storyline and bland support. It's a shame because when they are on screen together I could feel so much potential but it just wasn't realised. 

It did make me realise just how much I adore Stanley Tucci though. He's just so damn cool. 

If you're a big fan of the actors you should see it for their performances, but just don't expect to see a life changing film. 

5/10 for film 10/10 for Emma and Stanley (😍)

Why The Justice League Movie Didn’t Work... For Me

Isn’t it ironic that I was both listening to Ironic today (because I could hear my neighbour singing it really out of tune) and that my last film review over a year ago was for Wonder Woman. Which was by no means a perfect film, but which was so much better than Justice League. 

Now I’m aware that Justice League had issues from the start. Director Zack Snyder having to abandon the production for personal reasons and Joss Whedon taking over. Production that massively overran due to said unforeseen issues. And then extensive reshoots as if the production schedule wasn’t long enough. 

All of these are evident in the film, not least because of Henry Cavill’s face having been very badly CGI’d in almost EVERY scene he’s in. I mean he basically had to reshoot all of his scenes bar one it seems. That’s excessive even for a film with this many problems. 

Of course I don’t need to talk about my feelings towards Zack Snyder or Joss Whedon as I think my reviews of both Man Of Steel and Avengers: Age of Ultron speak for themselves on that front. But I do feel I have to address the elephant in the room, which is that this is basically Avengers but in the DC universe? Alien army invasion, team of heroes need to be brought together to fight the army, they don’t get on, but then (spoiler alert) they come together anyway to save mankind. There’s even a line in the movie about the team’s billionaire Tony Sta... sorry, Bruce Wayne “finally playing well with others”. Mmm where have I heard that before? 

I know it was written by the same man who wrote Avengers but come ON. That’s no excuse for him seemingly having only one idea and re-working it for a different group of heroes. 

But the main reason it didn’t work for me is the complete lack of care I felt for the characters. Not wishing to sound like a stuck record (because I’m pretty sure I said that I didn’t care about Clark/Superman in my lengthy Man of Steel review), but one of the reasons Avengers Assemble works is that you have already established most of the heroes in their own movie (not bitter about Hawkeye AT ALL). Even Black Widow, who might not have had a stand alone film, had a huge role in Iron Man 2, establishing her character straight off the bat. 

With Justice League we’ve had a Superman movie that turned the beloved character of Clark Kent into an afterthought, Batman V Superman in which the only likeable character was Wonder Woman, and a Wonder Woman movie that was basically a female version of Captain America: The First Avenger. Hardly a basis for getting to know the team before they become a team. 

In Justice League they try (and fail) to cram three other characters back stories into about half an hour of screen time (woo 10 mins each!), then the big bad shows up, Bruce tries to rally the troops but Superman is dead and everyone else apart from Barry (whom I love) hates him, then they somehow overcome their obstacles really quickly and form the team, but then the end still manages to drag on for another hour. 

They waste the Thimyscirans, they objectify Diana far too much, they underdevelop every single character, so you just don’t care what happens. At the end of the film if the world had blown up I would have just rolled my glazed over eyes and turned off the TV. 

To sum up, I definitely won’t be switching allegiance any time soon. And I certainly won’t be adding Justice League to my DVD collection. 

Also, the poster is ugly AF. 

Wonder Woman and Transformers: The Last Knight

http://wonderwomanfilm.com

I wasn’t going to write a review for Wonder Woman. It came out weeks ago, and since then lots of people have reviewed it in much more eloquent terms than I am able. However, I do have things to say, and after seeing the latest Transformers movie last night (haha - the last knight, last night) I felt it was about time I stopped hiding behind other people’s opinions and once again voiced my own. 

Wonder Woman first as that’s the older of the two films…

So much was riding on it. As a woman who is a fan of the superhero genre I know more than most how important this film was. And how important it was that it be good. 

Between Marvel and DC I’d certainly say that Marvel has had more success of late when it comes to the movie side of the business. DC’s films on the other hand have wavered for years. Batman has seen some great successes and some epic failures. In my opinion Man of Steel was a big steaming pile of shite, and Batman Vs Superman’s only saving grace was the introduction of Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman - Diana Prince. 

The buzz for her own movie soon overtook the mumbles about how shoddy BvS was and even put Suicide Squad in the shade.

After all of that anticipation I’m sad to say I didn’t love it. However, much like the female Ghostbusters movie, I can still see it’s value in terms of finally giving us a female lead superhero movie. 

And I want to state off the bat that my underwhelming response to Wonder Woman had nothing to do with Gal Gadot who I thought was perfectly cast as Diana, nor did it have anything to do with the opening sequences on Themyscira which were glorious. 

In all honestly I just thought it was too similar to Captain America: The First Avenger. Once we got out of Themyscira she took on a secret identity, brought a bunch of drunk rapscallions together in a pub to go on a dangerous mission to the front lines of the first world war, lost someone she loved, defeated the bad guy and ended up in the present day looking exactly the same as she did 70 years ago.

I’ve seen that movie. I liked that movie. But I’ve definitely seen it. 

As such, and as much as I hate to say this, I was a little bored by Wonder Woman.

Now, before you all lynch me, I’ve read the excerpts of the Joss Whedon Wonder Woman script and I know that everyone involved in the film, as well as the audience of millions around the world who made Wonder Woman a box office smash, dodged a massive bullet there. Wonder Woman deflected it nicely off her indestructible bracelets if you will.

I’m not saying that the movie was bad. I’m just saying it’s not the Wonder Woman story I’d have chosen to tell. 

But am I glad it was made? Yes. Am I glad it was directed by a woman? Of course I am. Will I go and see another Wonder Woman movie. Bet your god damn ass I will. 

The cast was fantastic. The costumes were divine. The sets spectacular. Everything was right with this film except the storyline, and that’s only in my one opinion. I am still so glad that the movie was made, that it has done brilliantly at the box office, and I genuinely hope it paves the way for more female superhero movies, more female directors and writers, and just more women in general. Doing what we do best*.

*For anyone in doubt, what women do best is showing men how it should be done.

http://www.transformersmovie.com

That leads me perfectly into Transformers: The Last Knight. AKA men doing everything wrong yet again. 

I have two questions for you. 1) how does Michael Bay keep getting funding to make movies? 2) why does Hollywood keep hiring Akiva fucking Goldsman?

This has to be one of the worst movies I have ever seen. And that’s saying something when the above review mentioned Man of Steel. 

I can honestly say that there is nothing I like about this film. Not a single god dammed thing. 

So shall we talk about what I didn’t like? Get comfy: 

The overly sexualised 14 year old. Did she need to be pouty and crying in EVERY scene? Did she need to be running in slow motion in a low cut vest top? She is supposed to be 14 remember.  What’s worse is that I don’t know why any actress, especially knowing the sexism that Megan Fox endured on the first and second Transformers movies, would read the script for this and think yes, that is a film I want to do. Jesus girls, aim way fucking higher if only for your own self worth. 

Excusing my language there that is another gripe I have. The unnecessary amount of language in the movie. It serves no purpose whatsoever to have a sweary robot butler. In fact the robot butler in general served no purpose and I honestly have no idea why it was ever included, let alone why it made the final cut of the movie. 

It’s too long, like all of the Transformers movies before it. By the time it got to the point I’d already taken my time going for a pee because I knew I wasn’t going to miss anything. And I didn’t. The plot’s culmination was obvious from the outset and so full of holes you could have played golf on it. Add in the return of Agent Simmons, a character who was annoying in the first movie, a bunch of great actors who are totally wasted, and a sub-plot involving a woman who must be the scourge of existence because she doesn’t have a man (spoiler alert - she does by the end of the movie wink wink); and there you have the whole sorry mess that is The Last Knight. I can only hope it is the last Transformers movie too.