Can’t believe this is my first movie review of the year. What a crazy three months it’s been.
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba
Director:sByron Howard (Tangled), Rich Moore, Jared Bush (Wreck-It Ralph) Rating:PG -◊-◊-◊-◊-
Well Disney, that’s five in a row.
The so-called “third golden age” of films from Disney’s main animated studio is still going – at least for another year or so – because Zootopia is pretty fantastic. A cocktail of painstakingly realised world-building packed with culturally relevant sight gags, Zootopiasells a vision of an idealised world with an all-too-familiar undercurrent of ugliness bubbling underneath. It’s one of the sharpest allegories for real-world social issues I’ve seen in an animated movie, and while occasionally a little overzealous in its desire to ensure its message gets across, Zootopia never halts its refreshingly-paced plot or sacrifices the believability of its colourful characters to do so, making it a quality movie for all kinds of audiences. Thanks to co-directors Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush alongside a suite of animators at the top of their game, the House of Mouse has extended its hot streak.
So another year of countdowns comes to an end, and inside the calendar year this time!
2015 was the first year this decade where movie-watching dropped low enough on my list of my priorities to ensure I didn’t once go out to the cinemas without knowing exactly what I wanted to see. As a result I saw fewer new releases than any other year in which I’ve written this list. It was pretty much just major blockbusters and films with word-of-mouth hype amongst my friends.
That still put me in pretty good stead, however. Looking back at what I missed in 2015 I can’t really complain too much, as I only really missed The Martian and maybe, at a stretch, Crimson Peak in terms of movies people really seemed to be talking about. And regardless of how much thinner the blockbuster offering of 2015 was compared to previous years, what does it matter when Star Wars was so good?
Let’s count down some movies.
time that . -◊-◊-◊-◊- VR BEST OF 2015 DISCLAIMER This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s weird. Cool, but definitely weird. Respectful disagreement is most welcome. -◊-◊-◊-◊-
.
10. Pitch Perfect 2
So Pitch Perfect was a thing. A fairly notable thing, as it turns out. Three years ago Hollywood darling Anna Kendrick sat down, put a cup on the ground and lit the internet on fire, drawing crowds to the movies to see a comedy musical for the first time in several years. The oddball movie about competitive college acapella singing was a fine example of what can happen when you electrocute a painfully cliched sports movie plot with a current of pure enthusiasm, witty, politically incorrect dialogue, spectacular all-vocal song arrangements and Rebel Wilson. Much like 2000’s Bring It On, Pitch Perfect challenged my own ability to judge a movie by its marketing. Unlike Bring It On, Pitch Perfect’s sequel doesn’t suck. In fact it may be even better, as it drops a lot of the necessary shackles by which it was bound as a new franchise and sets up some even more ridiculous – and hilarious – sequences, scattering cameos left and right as it does so. .
Even in a year when my free time was spent on more games than movies, this still remains my favourite list to write. 2015 delivered some genuinely amazing movie scenes that stayed long in my memory, and I know I’m not alone in feeling that way. From short-and-sweet bursts of stunning cinematography to long, drawn-out stretches of nerve-shredding cinema, this past year brought us plenty of moments worth talking about.
. -◊-◊-◊-◊- VR BEST OF 2015 DISCLAIMER This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s weird. Cool, but definitely weird. Respectful disagreement is most welcome.
SPOILERS DEFINITELY FOLLOW. -◊-◊-◊-◊-
.
10. Day of the Dead – Spectre
An entertaining opening action sequence in a James Bond movie is hardly unusual, even in the less popular movies from the franchise. The one that kicks off Spectre sticks with the trend, presenting the illusion of a single tracking shot that follows Bond and his local companion through the streets of Mexico City. Only diegetic sounds and a simple, steady percussion track score the build-up as Bond moves into a hotel room and out of his disguise, triggering a gloriously over-the-top sequence of explosions, falling buildings, an intense hand-to-hand battle inside an airborne helicopter, and a ludicrous moment involving a well-placed couch that sets the stage for the kind of 007 movie in store.
I entered this year’s run of countdowns resigned to the somewhat depressing knowledge that my schedule would prevent me from watching any Boxing Day films, but at the very least that allows for one positive: I no longer have anything stopping me from spreading out my movie-themed countdowns throughout the ten day period, rather than bunching them up towards the post-December 26th half. So I’m going to cling to that positive, and show you my favourite movie characters from 2015.
This isn’t a lengthy or particularly competitive list – Out of what I watched this year I could only come up with one honorable mention – but I do think it’s a strong list nonetheless. Hollywood put some pretty magnetic characters onto the big screen in 2015, and it’s good to see that for once, it wasn’t just the villains that got all the good moments and lines. There are more “good guys” and morally ambiguous folk on my character list this year than any previous edition, so take that how you will.
Also, give that I’m talking about what makes characters memorable, mild spoilers will come up.
. -◊-◊-◊-◊- VR BEST OF 2015 DISCLAIMER This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s weird. Cool, but definitely weird. Respectful disagreement is most welcome.
SPOILERS FOLLOW. -◊-◊-◊-◊-
.
10. M – Spectre
Ralph Fiennes is one of those actors who tends to improve the quality of most movies he’s in, which made him a fine choice to replace Dame Judi Dench in a role that she had well and truly made her own for almost two decades. Fiennes’ M is just as visibly affected by outside pressures in Spectre as Dench’s ever was, but his penchant for keeping up appearances is more prominent, making his seething rage at both his political situation and the cocky young upstart at its head tremendous fun to watch. He bares his troubles through gritted teeth and then, when he finally gets to take action, the catharsis is palpable.
Let’s get this 100-mile-an-hour time of year started with some good old fashioned negativity, shall we?
It doesn’t really feel like 2015 was a particularly disappointing year in entertainment media, at least not in terms of things that weren’t my own fault (such as the fact that I barely saw any movies this year due to the relative lack of gigantic blockbusters). I can’t really think of too many releases that fell far below my own expectations quality-wise, but there was enough ancillary stuff going on around those releases to fill a list. The list is very heavily skewed towards videogames this year, but when there were so very many big ones released, you might say such a trend was inevitable. Maybe. Anyway, here we go.
. -◊-◊-◊-◊- VR BEST OF 2015 DISCLAIMER This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s weird. Cool, but definitely weird. Respectful disagreement is most welcome. -◊-◊-◊-◊-
.
10. The Order’s Beautiful Failure
After a 2014 that saw Microsoft’s lead console trounce Sony’s in the exclusive games department – despite lagging behind in sales – 2015 looked set to be the year that Sony hit back. And it was going to hit back very early. February saw the release of The Order: 1886, quite simply the best-looking game that had come out on either major console at the time. The story was intriguing, the weapons looked cool, and the game received a ton of marketing support. And it was over very, very quickly. A game with a largely repetitive combat loop that I finished in a single day – something very rare indeed – The critical consensus on The Order: 1886 was not particularly kind. The general internet reaction was, predictably, much worse. I don’t think it was a bad game per se – The story and gunplay were decent enough to pull me through the whole game, after all – but no replay value or extra content to speak of is pretty hard to justify with a full-priced retail game in today’s climate. The Order: 1886 certainly failed to live up to its billing as the PS4’s first exceptional exclusive title – nope, apparently that came a month later with Bloodborne. Continue reading →
It’s a bit difficult to review a movie with this much weight riding on it, so soon after seeing it. The gap between the midnight screenings and the ideal start time for my year-end countdown posts is mere days, so I had to get cracking. But believe me, I’ve been mulling this movie over in my mind almost every second of that short time.
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Starring: Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac
Director:JJ Abrams (Star Trek, Super 8) Rating:M -◊-◊-◊-◊-
Say whatever you want about 2015 in movies – If Star Wars was good, the year was always going to be remembered fondly. In fact you might even argue that it didn’t have to be good, only better than those endlessly panned prequel films. The carefully timed, Disney engineered hype cycle for Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been lengthy, intense and omnipresent, and the, ahem, force of that hype has been looming over the movie, waiting to crush it like it did The Phantom Menace way back in 1999.
Within that unenviable context, what director/superfan JJ Abrams has done with this mega-franchise is astounding.
Nothing like a few gigantic rapid-fire movie releases to get you blogging again. I couldn’t let this series go without a lengthy review, of course.
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Julianne Moore, Natalie Dormer
Director:Francis Lawrence (Constantine, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1) Rating:M -◊-◊-◊-◊-
I feel a little conflicted when it comes to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II. Every movie adaptation mega-saga has to end, and now The Hunger Games has joined that club. The second half of Suzanne Collins‘ bestselling finale novel Mockingjay has completed its transition to the big screen, and I have a funny feeling the lasting impact of this film will divide opinions just as much, if not more, than that sucker punch of a book did back in 2010.
Filmgoers who haven’t delved into Collins‘ vehemently anti-war pages will likely find themselves a little shocked at how depressing this final chapter can get, even despite the film’s much higher action emphasis than that of its predecessor, Mockingjay Part I. Meanwhile those who have read the trilogy may find that, despite some crucial scenes that don’t quite land in the same way they did on paper, Francis Lawrence‘s closing vision for this wildly popular series successfully achieves what it needs to.
We’re nearing the end of the year in movies, and that means my personal “big four” most hyped films are just about on screens. The first of these is 007’s latest outing. Let’s go.
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes
Director:Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) Rating:M -◊-◊-◊-◊-
.
In my experience watching and discussing movies, I’ve come to realise that modern James Bond fans, diverse as they are, fall into two major categories: Those who like the movies despite their tendency to hit similar notes each time, and those who like the movies BECAUSE of their tendency to hit similar notes each time. The Daniel Craig era of Bond films has certainly courted the former type more than the latter, sporting a more rustic, sombre edge than the 007 movies of old, not to mention a tendency to draw inspiration more from Bourne and Batman than former incarnations of the suave super-spy.
In 2012 this trend arguably reached its peak with Sam Mendes’ Skyfall, my personal favourite Bond movie, and having achieved something quite surprising given his decidedly non-action back catalogue, Mendes and his crew have returned to make a very different kind of James Bond movie – one for the traditionalists. Spectre is sillier, grander in scope, packs more characters and “ticks more Bond movie boxes” than any of the other three Craig outings, which pretty much means that depending on what kind of Bond fan you are, there’s probably no avoiding either a palpable sense of disappointment or a refreshing sigh of relief. Either way, however, Spectre is a pretty fun time at the movies.
It’s a bit more difficult to see and review movies these days. Here’s a good one though.
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Starring: Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling Directors:Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen (Monsters Inc, Up) Rating:PG -◊-◊-◊-◊-
It’s probably safe to say that the dwindling reputation of Pixar has been one of the most widely discussed trends, in one way or another, of cinema this decade. Following the superlative Toy Story 3in 2010, the relatively run-of-the-mill (though masterfully animated) Braveattracted far more negativity than it deserved, simply because it wasn’t quite as memorable as any of Pixar’s previous non-Cars output. When Monsters’ Universityhit a couple of years ago, it’s comparative lack of originality hurt its perception, though I really liked it. The wonderfully original likes of Up, WALL-E, The Incrediblesand Finding Nemoseemed like the product of a different Pixar era, particularly as Disney Animation Studios’ run of stellar recent films began to take over the animation spotlight. So it is shaking out as somewhat of a surprise (though it really shouldn’t be) that Inside Out is exactly the kind of film that Pixar fans have been waiting for. It ticks all the boxes – Unique, visually arresting, and above all emotionally resonant. Continue reading →
Yes, this one’s kinda late, and kinda short. Also, a bit of background: I have not seen the first three Mad Max movies, but you really don’t need to if you’re interested in this new one.
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult Director:George Miller (Mad Max, Happy Feet) Rating:MA15+ -◊-◊-◊-◊-
OK, wow.
If there’s been a bigger example of late hype pulling me into a film over the last several years, I can’t remember it. With next to no knowledge of Aussie director George Miller‘s acclaimed 30 year old Mad Max trilogy, other than the fact that it was kind of a big thing once, I went to see Mad Max: Fury Road based on pretty much word-of-mouth groundswell alone. And goodness, gracious, what a ride.
