Quick Reviews #13

I'm doing something a little different with today's Quick Reviews. I like to log all my films down with a rating so I can see how much I have seen every year. Now most of you probably know about this site as I am a little late to the game, but this year I have started to log them on Letterboxd. Recently it's been difficult to write big posts for my blog so I have decided to take a few of the short reviews I wrote over on the site and put them on here for you to see. Don't worry this isn't going to happen all the time now, I just wanted to tide you guys over until the next big thing, and I definitely do have some great things planned for the blog this year! So read on and have a look at some of the films I have been watching in January.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

A thought provoking film about love, life, sex and finding one's self. Despite it's 70's setting it's a story that is just as relevant today, captivating and uncomfortable at the same time.

4/5

Sleeping With Other People

There's some fun and laughs to be had here, especially from excellent comedic performances of Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie. The biggest problem with the film is that it suffers from an identity crisis. Is it a rom-com? Is it a sex comedy? Is it a serious insight into the lives of sex addicts? It's a bit of all three...

3/5

The End of Tour

A quietly brilliant film about two closed individuals who open up to each other and embark on a kind of friendship that reveals more about their characters as the film progresses. Its excellent script is made even better by the two lead performances and their captivating chemistry. Based on real people who I knew nothing about before the film, I now wish to find out more about each of them.

4/5

Straight Outta Compton

What a film! If I had seen this last year it would have made my top ten list. It’s powerful, moving, extremely topical and features outstanding performances from everyone involved. Believe the hype, this film is great!

Loved it.

5/5

Amy

A tragic and harrowing film about a truly talented, yet very vulnerable human being. It’s unbelievably powerful and really captures a personal account of Amy Winehouse’s life that I had never seen before. It’s a film about ethics, of our culture’s addiction to celebrity and the price that others have to pay for that. It’s a shame that this unique perspective into her troubling life was only brought about after her death. The film is enlightening, touching and is an extremely powerful message to society.

5/5

So there you have it, some films I have seen over the last few weeks rated and reviewed. I have seen more than these 5, of which you can go check out on my account here. I'm going to try write something for each film I see, so make sure to follow if you also have an account! 

I hope you have had a great film viewing start to 2016! 

Thanks for reading!

Muppets Most Wanted

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssss! The Muppets are back and better than ever, or are they? After 2011's brilliant reboot to the franchise the Muppets return for a sequel, where this time they go on a world tour. The only problem is that they are being scammed by the evil frog Constantine who replaces Kermit and hilarity ensues.

I loved the previous film, it was brilliantly created in a way that brought a fresh new take on the Muppets as well as being nostalgic to the past popularity of the franchise. The second film, although great, seems to be missing that certain care and affection that I felt Jason Segel brought to the film that he wrote and starred in. The sequel doesn't feel fully like a cash grab but there are aspects of the previous film that don't seem to have resonated as much in this one. The Muppets however are very self aware and even they announce in their opening song that 'the sequel is never quite as good'.

Unfortunately Jason Segel and Amy Adams didn't return for the sequel and that does leave a bit of hole for this film. However the new players include Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell and Tina Fey and they each do great in their roles as do the whole lot of cameos that take place constantly throughout the film. It's always great to see actors and celebrities not take themselves too seriously.

A lot of the film sees Kermit trapped at a gulag in Siberia and although these scenes are some of the best in the film, it doesn't help the fact that a part of The Muppets is missing when he is not with them. His doppelganger, Constantine, however provides some of the best laughs with his awful impersonation of the famous frog.

Returning behind the scenes is composer Brett McKenzie. His work on the last film won him an Oscar and the songs on Muppets Most Wanted are just as brilliant this time round as they were last but never really touching the heights of the excellent 'Man or Muppet'.

The best thing about Muppets Most Wanted is its humour. It's stupid and bonkers and it knows it. I don't think I stopped smiling throughout the whole film. It's very self aware and constantly referencing to different films making it a film students dream, especially when they reference The Seventh Seal in their opening song. It's just brilliantly stupid and even when the story starts to slow the laughs never do.

It had a lot to live up to after it's previous film and although it doesn't get it fully right there is enough here to satisfy a big Muppets fan like me. I have no doubt that I will be watching this film multiple times because it's too much fun not to. I am rating Muppets Most Wanted a 3/5.

What did you think of Muppets Most Wanted? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!