Top Ten Films 2018

Another year and another "Top Ten" list. 2018 was a great year for film, both studio made, independent and everything in-between. It was actually relatively difficult making this top ten list because I had to leave so many great movies off. So to start I just want to list some honourable mentions that you should really check out if you haven't already: Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Upgrade, BlackKklansman, The Rider, Mandy, Shirkers and Shoplifters.

Now onto the big ten, the films that were my personal favourites of the year 2018. Read on and enjoy!

10. Dogman

This story of a dog groomer being reluctantly dragged into the crime world had me sitting on the edge of my seat. The main character, Marcello is one of this years most lovable characters whilst simultaneously being one of the most infuriating. Nearly every choice he makes is a bad one, setting him down a tragic path. It's not all doom and gloom, there's still a lot of humour to be had with the story that will really surprise you with the places it goes. Read my full review here.

9. A Quiet Place

John Krasinski's latest film is also his best. Every element of this film is so well done, every element of filmmaking working to tell a simple story of family and love. It was also the scariest film of the year, yes Hereditary was creepy but I've never heard a packed cinema crowd be so silent, every slight noise scaring the crap out of everyone in unison. It's a masterclass in how to build tension, my body exhausted after viewing it, every muscle tensed in anticipation of what was going to happen. Read my full review here.

8. Roma

Easily the most beautiful film of 2018. Every shot is a masterpiece, every camera movement used to tell the story and reveal more about the characters. It's a slow burn but it crescendos to a climax that feels like an outburst of emotion, even the coldest of people would have a hard time keeping a dry eye. It's a love letter to a person in the directors own life but also to cinema itself. Despite wanting to see it on the big screen, you will not be killing cinema if you see it on the small screen (it is a Netflix release.), I saw it at home and it still made it's way on to this list. Read my full review here.

7. Blindspotting

When the world is in political turmoil our art reacts but rarely does it react so thoughtfully and as well as it does in Blindspotting, a timely story that delivers a powerful message whilst traversing the the dark and gloomy with joy and humour. It will take you through the whole scale of emotions and leave you completely satisfied on the way out. It's creative, unique and totally original. It's one of the most poignant films of the year and a must see if you haven't gotten around to it yet! Read my full review here.

6. First Man

A somewhat overlooked gem of 2018 despite its wide release. To be fair Damien Chazelle taking on a biopic was a strange turn for the director who's last film was La La Land but he managed to take this epic tale and wittle it down to a singular emotional beat; grief. Not stopping at the story, the film is also incredibly shot, with its own look, taking it back in time. The space scenes were incredibly done, grounding the action within the spacecrafts, grounding the story and creating spectacle by surprising the audience rather than just going for the obvious; it's an incredible film. Read my full review here.

5. Sorry to Bother You

Boots Riley appeared as one of the freshest voices in cinema this year, debuting his feature film that was totally original, creative, unique and yes, absolutely bonkers. Sorry to Bother You holds a mirror to our own society and reflects an askew but familiar version of it back to us. It's rebellious and anarchistic and revels in the joy of its own creativity. No doubt it will split it's audience down the middle with its crazy twists but it's rewarding if you stay on board and I for one definitely had a hell of a time with it. Read my full review here.

4. Black Panther

2018 was the year I started (and finished) working in a cinema and the first big film of my new job was Black Panther. It was amazing to see how much joy this film brought to a lot of people but it was also amazing, as a fan, to see Wakanda brought to life on the big screen. It was a breath of fresh air in the superhero genre and sign of the future, to know that Marvel was learning from past mistakes and were pursuing a more diverse and unique future for their franchise. No film made a bigger stamp on the cultural landscape this year, and it helps that every element works so well together, creating an amazing story of power, race and family. Read my full review here.

3. Suspiria

I would never moan at the word "remake" if all remakes were treated with this much love, care and affection. Director Luca Guadagnino is speedily becoming one of my favourite filmmakers around, his eye for detail and love for the craft can be seen in every frame of this film. It's a love letter to the original film whilst also being it's own unique thing. This is how remakes should be done and there is no doubt that this film will be being studied in the years to come. Tantalising, breathtaking, creepy and beautiful, this film will lure you in and not let go. On a side note, Tilda Swinton deserves all the awards possible for her role(s) in this film, she won't, but she should. Read my full review here. 

2. First Reformed

This film came very close to being first... From the moment it started I was transfixed to the screen. The academy ratio draws you in and the crisp and clear imagery allows you to get up close and personal with the subject, studying their every move. The subject in question is Ethan Hawke, a lesser actor would not be able to pull off a performance quite so intimate and personal, the struggle between faith and environment so perfectly portrayed in every frame of the film. It's an incredible film that creates discussion, takes you on journey and then leaves you hanging on an ending that will definitely not please everyone but it left me thinking deeply about this film since the first time I saw it. It could have been the best film of the year but that fanboy in me got the better of me... Read my full review here.

1. Avengers: Infinity War 

The geek fanboy in me has seeped it's way into this top ten list and yes, Avengers: Infinity War is my number one film of the year. Many of you may close this page when finding this out but no other film brought me so much joy in the cinema. I could't believe what I was seeing, it was like a comic book come to life and it wasn't a mess. It baffles me how well this film is structured, edited and actually makes sense when there is so much going on with so many different weird and wonderful characters. This could have so easily fallen on its face but not only is it good, it's a downright masterpiece, delivering some of the most jaw dropping moments of the franchise yet, with real stakes and emotion. It's my favourite film of the MCU and yes, even with a lot of contemplation and multiple viewings, it definitely is my favourite film of 2018. You can read my full review here.

Not a bad list even if I do say so myself. If you want to know my ranking of every new release in 2018 then you can check out my list on Letterboxd here.

What were your favourite films of 2018? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy New Year and thanks for reading! 

Spider-Man VS Aquaman

Another day, another superhero movie, well actually two this time. It's Marvel VS DC, Spider-Man VS Aquaman. Who is going to win? Or are they both just good films? Read on and find out!

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Apart from Miles Morales, the comic books have never made me fall in love with another Spider-Man that wasn’t the original - Peter Parker. Although ‘love’ may still be too strong of a word for Into the Spider-Verse, I actually did want to spend more time with the crazy cast of characters the film put on the big screen. It was a Spider-Man fan’s dream: a film that gives a fresh take on the superhero whilst keeping true to what makes Spider-Man, Spider-Man and opening the character up to the whole world - anybody can be Spider-Man. It’s crazy to see an animated superhero film treated with such love and creative flair, balancing different and unique animated techniques with crazy characters, stylised action and a great story. Through all the weird multiverse stuff that goes on, the film still manages to adapt Miles’s origin relatively faithfully and continues to bring the story back to him and his place in the world as a new Spider-Man. I think it would have been cool to see even more Spider-People - even if just for brief cameos or jokes like the post credits scene (make sure you stay, it’s hilarious!). However, the film still works and is a lot of fun with just handful. It’s so strange to see this work, especially after reading similar comics come out over the past couple years where it hasn’t. We got Spider-Ham on the big screen and it actually worked and hell, this film might even get an Oscar. Between this, the PS4 game, Homecoming and the latest run of comics, Spider-Man really is making a resurgence after a bumpy few years! 

4/5

Aquaman

I think I need to apologise to director, James Wan and DC for being quite negative about this film up until its release. There was nothing in the marketing that made me think this film was going to any good and yet I was proven wrong when I finally sat down and watched the actual film. Aquaman is a weird, bombastic, all over the place, completely out there and absolutely tonnes of fun. Now for the first twenty minutes or so I thought I had been proven correct: the film was full of exposition dumps, melodramatic acting and contained every superhero trope in the book. I can’t pin point the exact moment this changed for me, but I settled into it and the ride the film took me on was one that never really let up. It’s like DC thought they might never get a chance to make an Aquaman film again so decided to make seven in one. There’s so much going on in this film that I’m surprised that it actually flows quite nicely - balancing all the action, story and world building so that it’s accessible and mesmerising all at the same time. The film could have very easily been thrown in with this year's Venom as yet another awful superhero film, yet somehow keeps itself afloat - despite the fact that it contains a slow-motion sequence of its leads walking out of the sea set to a cover of Africa by Pitbull. It’s bizarre that this film works at all really - every idea seems to have been thrown in and yet the bizarreness is endearing - I walked out of the cinema with a massive goofy grin. DC seem to be getting it now - the source material is weird, and we should embrace it, less Disney Channel show dialogue would have been great but the absolute balls to the wall craziness this film gets up to and relishes in is a joy to watch. 

4/5

It's good to see the studios finally grasping that if they want comic book movies to stick around then they need to make them completely unique. These two films came out on the same day, both center around superheroes and both are completely different to each other. Most importantly though, they are both good films. 

What did you think of either of the films? Agree or disagree with my opinion? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

Widows & Suspiria

A double bill for this post, with a review of both Widows and Suspiria. Enjoy!

Widows

Director Steve McQueen has taken an interesting route in his career, having started making films like Hunger and Shame before heading towards Oscar territory with 12 Years a Slave and now into genre filmmaking with Widows. The film was advertised as a heist movie, so be warned that - although the very basic premise is that four thieves wives finish of heist after their husbands are killed - this is not a heist movie. There’s a whole lot going on here: political tensions, class tensions, racial tensions, all set to the backdrop of Chicago. When the film first finished I was satisfied with the result, I had enjoyed the ride. Upon further thinking I realised that there was a lot of stuff in the film that either didn’t make sense, or just didn’t add anything to the story. This film almost has too much going on, it wants to say too much and in doing so, certain elements feel like they have been dropped in order to be topical rather than add anything to the story. We spend large chucks of time with characters only for them disappear for forty minutes and then reappear later. I felt like the widows themselves didn’t actually become the protagonists of the film until halfway through and even now I would argue this was presented more as an ensemble piece. Performances are fantastic; with the stand outs being Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Kaluuya and Colin Farrel. Though I feel like I rarely found out anything about the characters, Farrel seems to the only one with any sense of history. Debicki is the only character with an arc because we have no idea what kind of person Davis’s character was before the events of the film and despite how good Kaluuya is, his character just ends up being a footnote. McQueen obviously knows what he’s doing; there are shots and angles in this film that would never have been done by someone less artistically inclined with this kind of script. Despite the great cinematography and brilliant performances, this film just doesn’t hit all the high notes it sets out to reach.

3.5.5

Suspiria

It’s been a few days since I saw this film and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, but I’ll try. It’s a remake of the 1977 Italian film of the same name - I liked the original but didn’t love it. I came to it late and although it looks gorgeous, certain elements felt dated and I had a hard time investing in any of the characters. The 2018 remake has the same basic premise but is more Suspiria in vibe and atmosphere than name. It completely sucks you in with its cold yet beautiful scenery, slow pace and hypnotic score composed by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. There’s no mistaking it as Suspiria; it might not be brightly coloured but the experimental camera movements that catch you off guard create that eerie vibe and the creativity that comes with the visual elements really go against everything you expect. It’s a horror film that really unsettles you, something feels off in every scene but not in a bad way. For the long running time I was completely enthralled, totally mesmerised. I only remember one or two moments when I wanted the film to hurry up a bit - not bad for the two-and-a-half-hour experience. My favourite addition to this film was the emphasis on the dance scenes, this time they are staples of the film. The witchcraft is fully on display as they usually depict two scenes at once - one mesmerising, one horrific - they are a marvel to watch and are the best moments in the film. It takes the original and makes it more polished, gives it more to say and leaves the audience with more to think about. You can tell everyone involved is working their hardest to make this film worthy of the original. Director Luca Guadagnino oozes creativity into the narrative whilst his cast work wonders on the performances. If you thought the Fifty Shades series would ruin Dakota Johnson then think again, she’s never been better than in this. Tilda Swinton better get some Academy recognition for playing what could have been most of the characters in this film and just being utterly incredible. The film is absolutely nuts at points but is an absolute blast to watch; it will leave you in a state of confusion as you try and process what you’ve just witnessed but I think I loved it...

5/5

What did you think of the films? Love them hate them, let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Quick Reviews #21

Earlier this week I had quite the few days of catching up on the new releases in cinema. Sunday I caught A Star is Born, Monday was First Man and Tuesday I was taken on a ride with Mandy. Three very different films and I've reviewed them all for you in another Quick Reviews post. So please read on and enjoy. 

A Star is Born

This is my first time seeing one of the many versions of A Star is Born and I can see the appeal. A drunk rocker living like there's no tomorrow, bringing a new musician into the world. What I didn't consider was that despite not seeing the original version, I feel like I've seen this before. I guess that's kind of ironic that the original premise now feels tired and clichéd. It runs a lot like a typical musical biopic; where the rise is a lot more enjoyable to watch than the fall. And there is no doubt that the first half of this film is great; a building crescendo of emotion until that powerful duet between Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper blows you away. Gaga really does have an incredible voice and now we know that she can act pretty darn well too. In fact, this whole film is full of powerful performances. They'd have to be as well because it's semi-obvious that this was directed by an actor as the camera rarely leaves a close-up position; it's all face and emotion. I don't blame first-time director Bradley Cooper for doing this - he's got hell of a cast to work with - but I would have appreciated a little more creativity at times. I had fun with this film, the second half feels a little too long and I wasn't as moved as I think the film wanted me to be. Overall though I liked it, even though nobody ever says that they’re “gaga” for Ally…

3.5/5

First Man

I wasn't particularly excited for this film: it felt like a strange route for Damien Chazelle to go from La La Land to a biopic about Neil Armstrong. I should never have doubted him though, as he takes a massive part of history and turns it into an intimate story of grief and achievement. Not only is this an interesting way to present the story, he also gets a lot more experimental behind the camera. The camera is shaky, the use of zooms and even the graininess of the footage gives you the sense you’re watching an old documentary at times. It's got such a human atmosphere, making something big feel very small and personal. There's even a sequence in the film, a mission to dock two ships together in space that shows the lift off from inside the rocket only. Inside a small pod, nuts and bolts shaking everywhere under the extreme thrust: it's very claustrophobic and I could barely breathe throughout the whole sequence. It was quite something. Ryan Gosling plays the stoic Neil Armstrong and Claire Foy plays his wife Janet; both incredible in their roles and no doubt will be getting some Oscar attention for it. At times I felt like I needed some more meat to their relationship, I was not as satisfied with their final scene together as I would have liked to have been. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of their scenes; the children running around the house and playing cut with NASA figuring out how to get to the moon - really hammered the point that they themselves were just playing, the game just costlier. Don't sleep on this one, Chazelle really knows what he's doing, a very powerful film.

4.5/5

Mandy

Having gone in blind I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this film, except that it was going to take me on quite the ride. The film follows Nicholas Cage as Red Miller and his wife Mandy played by Andrea Riseborough, whose haven is destroyed by a cult led by the sadistic Jeramiah Sand played by Linus Roache. You may not have heard of this film and - unless you’re ready for a gore filled psychedelic revenge thriller - you might not want to either! If that sounds like your thing then you’re in luck, this film is quite something. It’s a slow burn, completely capturing you with its synth-y soundtrack and gorgeous visuals. The atmosphere is almost dreamlike: the slowness is rarely a problem as you are almost put into a trance throughout the running time. I did think some trimming could have been done to tighten things up but the first-time experience of seeing this was unlike anything else. As things heat up in the second half, it almost turns into a different film. Cage is unleashed and allowed to do what he does best; creating some terrifying and hilarious moments of badassery. You could freeze frame the film at any moment and make an awesome metal vinyl from it and stick on the side of van. The revenge story is one that has been done before but never in this approach. This is cinema at its best; knowing the experience is one unlike any other you will have again. Striking both visually and audibly: this is easily the most insane film of the year.

4/5

What did you think of any of these films? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Venom

There’s been a lot of negative reviews for Venom, the new comic book film based off of the villain of Spider-Man, but is it as bad as everyone is saying? NO, YOU’RE ALL WRONG IT’S A MASTERPIECE!!!

Who am I kidding, it’s bad, like really bad. Read on a find out why.

Venom follows Eddie Brock, an investigative journalist who’s trying to take down the head of the Life Foundation, Carlton Drake. While investigating one of Drake’s experiments, Eddie’s body merges with an alien symbiote – Venom - leaving him with superhuman powers and a twisted alter ego.

The film was produced by Sony who have had a bit of trouble with making Spider-Man films over the last few years. With Spider-Man now semi back with Marvel Studios, the company have now gone down the route of making money from the villains of the superhero instead. Now producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach have had a boner for the character of Venom for a long time, trying to greenlight a movie since the 90’s and shoe horning him into Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 despite the director’s doubts. I’m going to assume that the producers are like most people who say they “like” Venom but they don’t actually know that much about the character - instead just like how cool he looks. Personally, I don’t think Venom is that good of a character, I find him quite boring. His origin is pretty cool and is well done in the Raimi films but overall he’s not that interesting. He’s just a bit of a zombie Spider-Man and it wasn’t until recent times in the comics with new hosts that his stories became less repetitive. So, as you can imagine, I’ve not been that excited for this film.

Despite my lack of excitement for the character or the film, my interest was piqued by the cast. Tom Hardy plays Eddie Brock/Venom, he’s joined by Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed and Jenny Slate. That’s a pretty stellar cast and if you’re into your films you might be suckered into thinking that there must be something in Venom that grabbed these high-class actors’ interest. Well let’s just say there must have been a lot of money on the table for this one… Michelle Williams especially looks like she’s so bored with the film and her chemistry with Tom Hardy is so non-existent. It’s uncomfortable to watch. Only Tom Hardy looks like he’s having any fun with character and you can tell that he definitely puts his all into the character - it’s enjoyable to watch and despite the lack of comic book accuracy to the Eddie Brock character. He is actually a solid choice and it would be good to see in a more thought out film. I don’t blame the cast, they all have done and will do better.

So, the film is bad you get that but unfortunately, it’s not even one of those films that’s so bad it’s good. The whole thing just feels so uninspired and dull: the story is choppy and the heroes/villains seem to have little to no motivation for their actions. It takes way too long for Venom to actually come into play and although the film perks up a little when he does, the character just feels messy and incomplete. His powers are all over the place and his changing intentions come out of nowhere. The film feels like it was made in the early noughties, when studios weren’t as sold on superhero films and we got dumps like Daredevil and Catwoman. This film even comes complete with dodgy CGI and messy visuals that disorientate you during action scenes. It’s crazy to think that the producers - having wanted this film made since the 90’s - did not give any reason as to why this film should be made other that it being a cash grab for the suckers who think Venom looks cool and believe they’re in for a more adult take on the character. It’s dark alright but I’m talking more in terms of the lighting.

This film frustrates me because it feels like uninspired and lazy filmmaking personified. No offence to the crew that no doubt worked their butts off to try and make something out of this but it was tainted from the get go. I think it deserves this scathing review because it gives superhero films a bad name. When made with love and effort superhero films can soar - look at Black Panther - but when these films are made with no other thought than greed, well they look like Venom. As a fan of comic books and Spider-Man in particular, I should be the prime target for this film; but I couldn’t care less. I also really don’t care for the Spider-Man Villain universe without Spider-Man that Sony are trying to set up, leave the characters alone.

Venom is not a film, it’s a product. A product that looks cool but when you bite into it, it’s mouldy and makes you ill. So yeah, I’m rating it a 1.5/5. Give it a miss.

So what did you think of the film? Am I right or am I wrong? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Mission: Impossible: All: Of: Them

Despite sharing the main character's last name, I had never seen a Mission: Impossible film up until a few weeks ago. When Fallout was released to very positive reviews I knew I had to do a speedy catch up on this franchise. So what follows are my thoughts on each of the films, written after I saw them, with little to know knowledge of what was ahead. So please enjoy my first steps into this series and my musings on each of the films - the good and the bad.

Mission: Impossible

This first one is a good spy film: walking the line of serious and goofy surprisingly well for the most part. I enjoyed the action and the twists but I did, at times, struggle keeping up with who was who in the pretty sizeable cast. Now the basic structure has been set up I look forward to seeing what comes next.

3.5/5

Mission: Impossible II

This was quite the struggle to get through but it’s all good from here on, right? It was weird, John Woo’s style did not mix well at all: it almost felt too different to the first film whilst also containing double the amount of mask reveals. The action is cool at the end but after you’ve had to slog through the boring plot, forced romance and casual sexism it’s doesn’t really matter, the film could not be saved.
1.5/5

Mission: Impossible III

The opening of this film is more tense than the previous two films put together. Each of these films feel like a bit of a reboot with a new cast of characters, new back-stories and relationships that you need to get up to speed with. It's not all a bad thing though - I had a lot of fun with this film. The action is at its best and the stakes feel high, despite giving away so much at the start. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is an amazing and intimidating villain, God I miss him. He and Cruise are delight to watch bounce off of each other. It's all good stuff. Although going through these I find it hard to get a grip on who Ethan Hunt is, his defining character trait seems to just be; he's good at things. I don't know maybe that's just me.
3.5/5

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Although it lacks Phillip Seymour Hoffman, this film fires on all cylinders. It has the best characters yet, the more interesting plot developments and some of the best action set pieces. I loved the way the tension was amped up in every scene, even with things as small as jumping into a slow moving train. This is definitely the best of series I've seen so far, which is quite something from the 4th film in a franchise.
4/5

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

This is the first instalment that actually feels like a sequel to it's predecessor. However, the women are still unfortunately replaceable in this franchise, with none making it across from the last. It follows the same kind of beats as Ghost Protocol but never reaches the same heights. It's still a solid film but that car/motorbike chase in the middle is great but the rest is a little more forgettable. Just an observation but is Ethan Hunt on the run from his own country/people in every film in this series apart from 2? IMF are not the greatest employers...
3.5/5

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Fallout was everything I wanted from this series. Finally on the sixth outing we get some character development for Ethan Hunt; the story pushes him to his limit, trying hard to break him into someone or something he doesn’t want to be. It also brought back female characters from the previous films therefore driving the plot and being essential to the emotion of some of the scenes. The story - although not breaking loads of new ground - works really well, delivering on loads of exhilarating action and actual shocking twists that change the whole feel of certain scenes. For the first time I actually felt emotionally invested in the stakes for the team and I never wanted the film to stop. I’d heard good things about this one and it's one of the reasons I’ve watched the whole series in quick succession. I’m so glad I did, it’s one of the best action movies in a long time and easily the best Mission: Impossible film. 
4.5/5

So there you have it, my thoughts on Mission: Impossible franchise as an absolute newcomer. I feel like these later films have definitely found their place now, creating a recognisable look and style with an emphasis on action and stunts. Fallout feels like a culmination of all six films and would even be a satisfying ending to the franchise, though now that it is so good I just want to see more! I recommend anyone going through these films, they're solid spy action films and have a great payoff when you get towards the final few. 

What do you think of the franchise? Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to comment below and let me know.

Thanks for reading!

GUEST POST: The Miseducation of Cameron Post

So today I have a guest post coming to you from my friend and work colleague Giordana Russo, who was lucky enough to see The Miseducation of Cameron Post at an early screening and write about for the blog.

Giordana Russo is an aspiring storyteller and screenwriter. She’s a proud geek with a love for films, video games, graphic novels and books; as long as it has an intriguing story and interesting characters. Representation is very important to her, one of her main interests and a strong theme throughout her creative content.

I hope you enjoy her review!

The Miseducation of Cameron Post will be out in UK cinemas August 31^st, but I had the pleasure to attend a preview screening at The Watershed in Bristol, which has ultimately lead to this review, so here we go:

Directed by Desiree Akhavan, the film is set in the early 90s and follows Cameron (Chloe Moretz), a teenager who gets caught kissing another girl, Coley Taylor (Quinn Shephard), at the prom. The aftermath sees Cameron being sent to God’s Promise, a conversion therapy centre, by her very Catholic Aunt (Kerry Butler).

The film is an adaptation of the book written by Emily M. Danforth, it follows Cameron’s sexuality exploration from her early teenage years; the film mostly covers the third act of the book focusing on the conversion therapy, with a few flashbacks here and there to provide context.

The first point I want to highlight is how despite the intense nature of this subject, the film surprisingly manages to create several light hearted and comedic moments throughout its run. This plays positively for the portrayal of the characters, even though they’re in conversion therapy, they are still very much teens and behave as such. I appreciate this element for different reasons: one is that it doesn’t let the film fall into a cliché, it’s not uncommon to see LGBT+ films be overwhelmingly tragic, and although this film has its fair share of drama and tragedy, it’s cleverly balanced by its more light-hearted side. It also adds layers to the characters; the way Cameron deals with this situation changes throughout the films and causes several of these comedic moments.

Talking about characters, they are both a strength and weakness of this film. A range of very interesting characters is presented: Cameron is our protagonist, a girl in the middle of figuring out her sexuality and struggling to do so due to her repressive environment, she ultimately goes along with things even if she doesn’t agree with them. Then there’s Adam Red Eagle (Forrest Goodluck), a fellow disciple (a term given to God’s Promise students). Adam is a Lakota, a Native American Tribe, and his character gives a bit of insight into this culture and how they may view people like him. Then there’s Erin (Emily Skeggs), another very intriguing character, who deals with sexuality and gender identity but is fully committed to changing, she truly believes she’s capable of conversion. God’s Promise founders are themselves interesting, particularly Rick (John Gallagher Jr.), an “ex-gay” who’s now trying to help people who’re going through the same struggles as he did, as he was helped by his sister Lydia (Jennifer Ehle).

So we have a good list of characters, each with their own unique background and personalities, and here’s where the weakness of the film is: unfortunately none of them are explored beyond that initial introduction, least of them is Jane (Sasha Lane), another disciple with dry humour and what seems to be a tough background, but while we know why everyone else got sent to God’s Promise, we never quite grasp why she’s there too, all we can do is guess but if the other characters didn’t get much development, she got even less. I call this a weakness, but it can be debatable as it’s not fully the film’s fault, it is hard enough to adapt a book (or a section of it) in a film that is only 90 mins long, and The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a particularly rich book, as we can see from the amount of characters the film alone has.

Briefly, a few other positive points that I want to mention but won’t dwell on are the cast’s performances, each actor shined in their role, doing their best to bring to life their characters and their complexities and the fact that the film didn’t portray the Catholic characters as caricatures. What I mean is that it’s easy to paint such characters as evil, but in fact these type of people often do believe that what they’re doing is good, something that is taken into consideration in this film and so we get to see them as vulnerable people too, instead of seeing just one side of them. Music is not often used but is strategically placed in significant moments for emphasis and as for cinematography, nothing particularly stood out to me, but it serves the story well with hand held movements used for the same reasons as the music is, together with cold colours to elevate the bleakness of the situation.

The end is quite abrupt; it’s preceded by a few poignant events and what could be called the climax of the film. The problem is that it doesn’t feel much like a climax but more like part of the events that are building up to it. Therefore, when the end comes, it feels quite underwhelming and as if more was meant to come after. So far, I’ve tried not to compare this film to the book, it is an unfair comparison but as both end similarly, I do have to at least say that the book handles the end much better, an end that would’ve worked well even in the film.

Overall, The Miseducation of Cameron Post provides a good point of view of some terrible situations, representation that was long awaited and very welcome, and does so through a balanced use of drama and light-heartedness which subverts a few tropes seen in similar content. It is a very solid film with great performances and witty writing, I personally do recommend this film to anyone and I also recommend the book which contains an even larger and richer world.

Rating: 3.5/5

I hope you enjoyed this guest review from Giordana. If you want to check out more of her work then head over to her YouTube page Nameless Planet. 

Thanks for reading!

Solo: A Star Wars Story

A troubled production, a box office flop (kind of) and mixed reviews…. Solo: A Star Wars Story must be a pretty bad film right? Not at all really. It’s a lot of fun, a good Star Wars story and a lot better than we’ve been led to believe. Read on to find out my thoughts on the film or listen to them on the Cinebois2Cinemen podcast which you can find embedded at the bottom of this review!

Solo: A Star Wars Story is directed by Ron Howard after original directors Chris Lord and Phil Miller were fired off the project- sparking a tonne of reshoots and allowing Howard to take sole credit for the film. It follows the origins of Han Solo when he joins a gang of galactic smugglers. Indebted to the gangster Dryden Vos, the crew devises a daring plan to travel to the mining planet Kessel to steal a batch of valuable coaxium. The film stars Alden Ehrenreich in the role of young Han Solo, he doesn’t do a complete Harrison Ford impression but easily holds the film with his charm and wit. Donald Glover plays young Lando Calrissian, donning more of a Billy Dee Williams impersonation but absolutely nailing it and - with his limited amount of screen time - leaves you wanting more. There a whole host of new characters including Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Paul Bettany. They’re all doing great things and - unlike the Star Wars universe’s first anthology film, Rogue One - the new characters are all very interesting, layered and have a level of mystery to them.

With this being a prequel film, it has its slightly more cringey moments; as you learn how Han got his name and his blaster and that line etc… but you also get to see some cool scenes like how he first met Chewbacca, now played by Joonas Suotamo, and he very nearly steals the whole film. Thankfully a lot of these moments are played out near the beginning, allowing the story to just become its own thing, a fun heist film set in the Star Wars universe. In fact I would argue that this film could be enjoyed by anybody who hadn’t seen any of the other Star Wars films. I reckon it would probably get a lot more critical acclaim if it didn’t have the Han Solo name attached to it. Did we need it? No. But I enjoyed it quite a lot as a fun sci-fi film. Despite knowing the outcome for the lead, there are still a lot of stakes for everyone around him and the film manages to have a lot of surprises up its sleeve.

Tonally wise this feels like Star Wars, specifically the original trilogy; groups of characters sneaking around, going undercover and fighting for themselves and the little guy. As a huge Star Wars fan this makes me happy. As a film fan though, there is no doubt that I wanted more from this anthology series, rather than the one off prequels for characters we’ve already seen before. We need to expand the universe: there’s more to this world than Luke Skywalker and friends. I personally would love to see Lucasfilm give out $20 million to several up and coming diverse directors and see let them make a film set within the world. Nothing epic, just small stuff like “Hey, here’s a horror film.”, “a comedy film” or “a romcom” set in the Star Wars universe. I thought that we might have been getting something like that from Lord and Miller’s version of the Solo film. As much as I enjoyed this version of the film, I would love to know if I would have enjoyed their version as much. The film definitely has less comedic moments than you’d expect and is more of an adventure film. However, I still believe Ron Howard was a great choice to have take over the ship.

Another great choice in this film was the music. It wasn’t afraid to use the classic Star Wars fanfare when needed but composer John Powell added his own original scores as well which really fit into the world and sounded amazing when loud on the big screen. He’s be a great choice for future instalments as John Williams has already said that Episode 9 would be his last film. As much as I loved the sound, the visuals to accompany it were not always as good as we’ve seen from recent Star Wars films. Don’t get me wrong, most of it is great but the first half an hour or so is so weirdly dark that you can barely make out some details on the characters face, I felt myself squinting a lot. I thought this might have been a projection problem from my screening but I’ve heard similar complaints from other people. So if anything, don’t go see it in 3D.

Despite the worry and low expectations, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It’s not the masterpiece that The Last Jedi was (screw you haters) but it is a good fun ride none the less. The great moments outweigh the slightly cringe prequel moments. Star Wars isn’t dead people, it’s very much alive. This film even teases further connections to the expanded universe as well as a thread which might link all these spin off films together. Go watch it this weekend, you won’t be disappointed. I’m rating Solo: A Star Wars Story a 3.5/5.

What did you think of the film? Let me know in the comments below.

And now for the listening section. Thanks again to Danny and Alfie for having me back on the podcast and allowing me to get all nerdy over Star Wars. 

Thanks for reading/listening!

Deadpool 2

Couple of late reviews heading towards you, Deadpool 2 today and Solo: A Star Wars Story coming in a few days (hopefully). Sorry for the delay with these ones, the likelihood is many of you have seen them already but I've been busy, for one I just got engaged! I think that's a good enough excuse... Now please enjoy my review of the Deadpool 2.

I enjoyed the first Deadpool film but I did not love it. It was comedic and I enjoyed the adult take on the superhero genre. However, as much as it tried to be subversive it fell flat on the execution, since its own story followed the basic superhero tropes and rarely diverted from the tired template. I didn’t have high hopes for Deadpool 2, the trailers looked interesting but I just wasn’t completely hooked or invested in seeing another outing from the character. Maybe that’s why I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the sequel when I saw it the other evening.

Deadpool 2 follows the titular character as he brings together a team of mutant rogues to protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from the brutal, time travelling cyborg, Cable. There’s a lot more story in this one than the last and - although it doesn’t break any tropes - it is definitely a lot more interesting to watch play out. Deadpool himself points this out within the film and although that’s not as smart as actually breaking away from those tropes; it is quite funny to see him literally try and force an arc for his loud mouthed and annoying character throughout the film. New cast members, Josh Brolin, Zazie Beetz and Julian Denninso as Cable, Domino and Firefist are also very welcome additions to the sequel, all killing it in their roles and practically stealing the show.

Comedy is subjective so it’s difficult to talk about the comedy in Deadpool 2 as if my opinion of it is the only one that matters. There were many times throughout where the audience were in hysterics and I was sat their stony-faced and vice versa. I personally thought the hit rates of jokes were quite high in this film, I found it a lot funnier than the first. For me, this seemed to be because they scaled back on the amount of ‘dick’ jokes, making way for some smarter and more thought out writing. There’s still a lot of misses but there’s always going to be with the high amount of jokes in the film to begin with. I did find that the so called ‘subversive’ jokes or meta commentary to be the weakest ones though, with the jokes that play out as part of the story being stronger overall.

When it comes to the comic-book-y-ness of the film, there’s a lot to love. I particularly love how this franchise just completely disregards the X-Men universe it’s supposed to be a part of and just has fun in the sandbox of the world. There’s some great characters in here and some surprising ones as well that, if you can look past the dodgy CGI for, then you can have a lot of fun with.

It’s difficult to really talk about Deadpool 2; firstly, because what plays out should be left to be discovered by the audience but also secondly because I just enjoyed it, nothing more, nothing less. It hasn’t left a lasting impression on me but I had fun in the cinema. I enjoyed the action scenes which were done so much better this time round; possibly due to half of the John Wick directors, David Leitch taking the helm. You’re not going to have the same experience you might have had with Infinity War earlier this year but you are going to get a couple hours of escapism and some laughs along the way. I like what Ryan Reynolds is doing with character and I actually left this film looking forward to seeing what he gets up to next; whether that be a threequel or as a supporting character in another film.

This film made its audience in the first instalment and if you liked that one then you’ll probably like this one (possibly even more like me). But if you hated it then this is definitely more of the same; slightly better done but it’s not going to change your mind. Now we’ve got this sequel out of the way I’d like to see Deadpool go in a different direction and actually make a subversive film with a story to match instead of the smug wink and knowing nod that these two films like to delve into. I enjoyed you Deadpool 2, I laughed quite a lot and it made me want to see more, but next time deliver on what you’re fighting for; something different. I’m rating the film a 3.5/5.

What did you think of The Merc With a Mouth’s second (kind of third) outing? Loved it or hated it, let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Podcasting: Rampage & Infinity War

Very recently I was lucky enough to be asked to join my friends on their podcast Cinebois2Cinemen. I've always been a big fan of podcasts and always wondered what it would be like to be on one, so I jumped at the chance to give it a go. I recorded an episode reviewing Rampage with them and an episode when we get down and nerdy with Avengers: Infinity War. I really enjoyed chatting films with these guys, they really have a good thing going with this podcast and I would recommend it to anyone even if I wasn't on it! That being said, I have embedded the two episodes I featured on below and would really appreciate the support if you would give them listen. Warning, we do go into spoilers on Infinity War!




Recording these podcast really got me motivated to do more when it comes to talking film... maybe even get my own podcast started... who knows. Watch this space!

Thanks for reading/listening!

Avengers: Infinity War

Big Marvel fan boy here and although I may have been critical of some of the films in the past, this review will no doubt be full of bias but most importantly: it will be SPOILER FREE. We’re just going to jump straight into things, if you’re a fan you already know the basic premise, if you’re not then a bad space guy is coming and it’s going to take all the superheroes to stop him. It’s 10 years and 18 films in the making… So, what did I think of Avengers: Infinity War?

This is not a film. It is a comic book come to life on the big screen. Everything about it, the tone, the structure and the fantastical mythology made me feel like a child again. It reminded me of the first time I saw Iron Man in the cinemas - the awe of seeing the Nick Fury even tease The Avengers - I never expected this would happen ten years later. I was so blown away by it all, it makes me a tad emotional just thinking about it.

And breathe…

It’s important to recognise that, just because this film blew my little nerd mind, does not mean that it will for everyone else. It’s very long and if you’re not invested by the time the Marvel logo rolls then you’re going to find it exhausting. It breaks so many of the ‘usual’ parameters of what a film should be, it’s pure entertainment made for the one audience that Marvel has spent ten years building. This is not like The Avengers where you could jump in fresh and still understand everything going on, this is a film with 18 prequels, some more essential than others but all hold something that rewards us fanboys in the endgame.

This film is an epic, its story sprawls through the galaxy; the Marvel universe has never felt so big and comic-book-y. And boy does it feel like a comic book. Our heroes are split into different groupings across the galaxy and each group has quite a lot of time at once given to them, to the point where one group may not be seen again for another thirty minutes. To some this may be jarring. To me it felt like each segment was an issue of a comic book, each book bringing the characters closer and closer together until they are all impacting the story at once. The glue of this particular story; Thanos.

Marvel have had their problems with villains before but here they give more time to him than most of our villains. His plan may be typically evil sounding but you really get the sense that he has to do this, rather than just wanting to. Thanos takes his mission as a burden but ultimately sees himself as the good guy. And unlike most fully CG villains, you believe it. This was helped by the fact that he looks incredible, he’s imposing and you really feel like he’s a threat to your heroes whenever he appears on screen. He may not be as charismatic or make us feel as empathetic as others but he truly is one of Marvels best villains. The stakes feel pretty real in this one.

This the first film by Marvel to be fully filmed on IMAX cameras and it shows. IMAX cameras are super high quality and the end result in Infinity War is a really crisp and clear picture, where the colours pop and the CG work (for the most part) is very photorealistic. Added with iconic Avengers score from Alan Silvestri, the sense of scale is truly represented and really makes this film feel like the event it is.

Unless this is the first time reading you’re reading this blog, you know I’m a massive Spider-Man fan; so I’d thought I’d say something about his presence in the film. Marvel continues to make decisions with Spider-Man that don’t always sit well with me. He should have been my favourite character in this film by default but he was not. I enjoyed his part to play but he is still not ‘my’ Spider-Man and yes that Iron Spider suit is still ugly. He has his moments, there’s some great action beats with him and few lines that definitely felt like Peter Parker but the characters I enjoyed most in this film were probably Thanos, Thor, Rocket, Bruce Banner, Gamora and Doctor Strange. That being said, every character gets a moment - even if it’s one action beat or a cool line of dialogue - your favourite character gets something cool to do. The character interactions are great and the unlikely pairings are amazing to behold, even if there aren’t as many quiet moments where we can just see our characters relaxing together like in previous team up films.

As you can tell I was very blown away by this film, not just at the characters coming together but for the sheer scale, scope and awesomeness of the story. I recognise it’s not for everyone but it wasn’t made for a general audience. It was made for people like me and it is not ashamed to be that; a big nerdy comic book movie. This felt like the first time a comic book had been properly visually represented on the big screen and I could not have been happier with the results. I had high expectations and they were exceeded. Marvel have made a film I never thought I would see and it made me so happy, I cannot stop thinking about it. It’s pure enjoyment and I’m rating Avengers: Infinity War a 5/5.

Make mine Marvel.

Let me know what you thought of this film in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!