September 2019 – The Film Ramble

Review: Booksmart

September 30, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged BooksmartLeave a comment

This is a posting of an old, unpolished review which hasn’t been fully checked over. Please forgive any grammatical errors.

There has been a trend over the last couple of years of first time directors dabbling with coming of age films. Greta Gerwig knocked it out of the park with Ladybird, Bo Burnham had a strong effort with eighth grade and Jonah Hill gave it a go with Mid90s. Now Olivia Wildehas become the latest on the bandwagon with Booksmart.

This was a film I was looking to avoid. The trailer looked crass and there was nothing there that made me want to watch it. However, listening to Mark Kermode on Radio 5 Live and all the viewers, he said “The trailer doesn’t do the film justice, go and watch it”, so as I had time at half eight on a cold, wet evening, I decided to take the plunge and let me tell you…

Call Malala

Review: Bait

September 16, 2019September 17, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Bait, Edward Rowe, Mark Jenkins, Mary WoodvineLeave a comment

It truly is the traditionalist motif of Bait which dreamily returns us to a simpler quiet world, one without modern technology or large scale screaming drama with big explosions. This place of a different era is Cornwall.

In our small Cornish village, Martin (Edward Rowe) is trying to get by as a fisherman. However, he can’t afford a boat, so can only catch what comes in with the tide. He is saving some money in his tin, but not much. He and his brother recently sold their parents’ home to Sandra and Tim Leigh (Mary Woodvine and Simon Sheperd). The Leighs have bought up the whole street for tourism and Martin feels he and his lifestyle are being pushed aside. This sentiment grows as his van is clamped and his brother uses his boat for cruise tours of the harbour. The traditionalist feels a great sense of shame for his town and clashes with the Leighs.

Catch Up

The Hunger Games is not a copy of Battle Royale…

September 10, 2019September 12, 2019Posted in FilmTagged Battle Royale, Hunger Games3 Comments

Obvious Spoiler Alert

Having watched Battle Royale for the first time the other day, it shocked me to find that some people consider Hunger Games (HG) to have ripped off Battle Royale (BR). What blasphemy. They are totally different films and I can show you why. First of all, BR ends with our heroes on a boat while HG ends in a train.

Let The Games Begin

Twenty Eight Films of Summer

September 6, 2019Posted in Film, Look BackTagged Animation, Anime, Batman, Beyonce, Bollywood, Bradley Cooper, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chris Pratt, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Citizen Kane, Coen Brothers, Cold War, Cuba Gooding Jr., Danny Boyle, Di Caprio, Donald Glover, Fargo, Foreign Film, Frances McDormand, Green Book, Guardians, Guillemo Del Toro, Inception, Jack Nicholson, John Oliver, John Travolta, Liam Neeson, Lion King, Mahershala Ali, Marvel, Masaan, Matrix, Michael Shannon, Moon, Octavia Spencer, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, Orson Wells, Pavel Pawolski, Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino, Regina King, Sally Hawkins, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Shape of Water, Space Movie, Spiderman into the Spiderverse, Spirited Away, Studio Ghibli, Superhero, The Guilty, Tsotsi, Uma Thurman, Viggo Mortensen, William Macy, YesterdayLeave a comment

While the summer months should be spent outside enjoying the sun and getting a tan, others like watching movies. Anyhow, here is a brief review and ranking of all of the films I have watched this summer. It’s worth noting that such a variety of films are difficult to compare, so this is a blunt instrument. On a different day, they would’ve been ranked differently. Also, most of the films I watched were of high calibre and I’d have no trouble recommending at least the top 20 of them. If your favourite film isn’t near the top of the list, that’s more to the testament of the other films that anything against yours. There are some early summer films that I didn’t add to the list as I only started it in Mid June/ Early July (Sorry Toy Story 4) and some Summer Films I haven’t yet seen (Sorry OUATIH).

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