October 2019 – The Film Ramble

Review: Monos

October 29, 2019October 30, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged A+ Films, Alejandro Landes, Julianne Nicholson, Moises Arias, Monos2 Comments

[Language: Spanish (Colombian)]

There were times when I needed to remind myself to breathe as Monos reached its climax. Long gone was a film about looking after a cow. We had descended into absolute chaos. This was what I wanted Joker to be like. The film took you out of the cinema onto a very surreal journey from which there may well be no return as Monos sticks its claws in your brain.

“The Monos” are a group of child guerrillas who work for “The Organisation”. They sit on a mountain guarding an American prisoner of war. You don’t know when or where this is. Neither do you know who is good and who is evil. But that just adds to the mystery and starts every character on a blank canvas. As the film goes on, the isolation up in the mountains and in the middle of the jungle starts to have an effect on this group as they transition from hallucinogenic freedom to Lord of the Flies. The whole plot is difficult to put forward in words. Monos is more of an experience than a story. This is in a similar way to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it’s faster moving.

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Review: The Peanut Butter Falcon

October 27, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Comedy, Dakota Johnson, Independent Film, Peanut Butter Falcon, Shia LaBeouf, Zack Gottsagen3 Comments

I originally didn’t plan to see Peanut Butter Falcon. I was planning out some upcoming cinema trips and sure this one seemed okay, but in the same week “Monos” and “The Last Black Man In San Francisco” were having a small-scale release, this was kicked down the chain. Come Friday evening. I’m in the car home with mum, preparing for a weekend in Portsmouth and discussing this film I’d seen advertised while sat on the train which I thought she’d have liked to see. Immediately she was sold and agreed to travel to Southampton (*cough* 0-9 *cough*) for an 11:00AM Saturday morning screening. Immediately, I was worried. When you recommend a film, lest one you haven’t seen, your reputation as a recommend-er is put on the line, especially if the concept excites the other person. When we came out of the cinema, I asked mum what she thought of the film? Her reply: “Probably my favourite film I’ve ever seen. The film felt like it was made for me” and you know what: I enjoyed it to.

Take A Journey To The Saltwater Redneck

Review: Joker

October 25, 2019October 26, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged DC, Joaquin Phoenix, JokerLeave a comment

Spoiler Free

Some of my favourite films have been about people who are on their journey to insanity. Furthermore, the Dark Knight is my favourite super hero film, mainly thanks to Heath Ledger’s incredible performance. Therefore my hopes were high going into Joker. I believed that the divisive film had bad reviews from the pretentious snobs or the “woke snowflakes” who can’t stand any sort of violence that deviates from their hand holding dancing in circle perception of the world. When I came out of the film, three questions went across my mind: Am I pretentious? (Probably) Am I a snowflake? (Possibly) Was the film just not that great? (Yes).

Bring In The Clowns

Review: Hustlers

October 20, 2019October 20, 2019Posted in ReviewTagged Constance Wu, Hustlers, Jennifer LopezLeave a comment

Very few films have screamed out more “Gal Pal*” than Hustlers. Yet I decided to go to this on my own on a Monday after work because, well an allegedly good film is an allegedly good film. There certainly were moments where the target demographic would’ve screamed “YES QUEEN**” Amongst this was the seeds of a promising story that just didn’t quite deliver.

Based on a true story, Dorothy (Constance Wu) has moved to New York and is struggling to get by as a stripper. She meets Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) who teaches her how to get better at her job. At this point they become best friends, work together and make a lot of money from the sleazy wall street men and life is good. However, the next year, the financial crisis happens and this affects Dorothy’s income. With a baby on the way, desperate times call for desperate measures. Therefore, Ramona and Dorothy start to meet these men in bars, get them drunk, drug them with Ketamine and MDMA , get them to the club and max out their credit cards. Obviously, cracks begin to show in their business plan and the film goes in predictable directions.

Review: Rebel Without A Cause (1955)

October 15, 2019October 20, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged 1955, James Dean, Natalie Wood, Rebel Without A Cause, Sal MineoLeave a comment

This film review starts spoiler free. Spoilers further down are hidden

When a cinema offers £3 film tickets, you say “Yes, I’ll take that!” with little regard for the film. As far as I was aware Rebel Without A Cause was an old film and that was pretty much it, so I wrestled my way out of work through a “God Save The Queen” singing Brexit protest and the latest wave of Extinction Rebellion [Insert Rebel Without A Cause Joke here] and arrived to the film 7 minutes late, took my seat and tried to catch up*.

See Me Say One Thing Then Another Then Go Back To Where We Started

Review: The Farewell

October 13, 2019October 13, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Awkwafina, Chinese Film, Shuzhen Zhao, The Farewell2 Comments

“Based on an actual lie” are the first words you see when The Farewell begins. The lie in question is rather large. Chinese grandmother Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhao) has been for a scan as she has been coughing a bit to much. Her sister goes to get the news and tells Nai Nai that there are benign shadows that will sort themselves out soon. The truth however, is that Nai Nai is terminally ill. Nai Nai’s family all learn the secret and decide to set up a fake wedding. All of them are supportive of the lie apart from her granddaughter Billi (Awkwafina). As somebody who was raised in America, the idea of lying to her beloved Grandmother seems terrible. Yet, she still goes to the family fake wedding, which is an oppotunity for everybody to really get together and say their goodbyes to Nai Nai.

Hear The Last Words

Review: Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood

October 1, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time, Quentin Tarantino1 Comment

And then there were nine. With only one more film to come from Quentin Tarantino, the scarcity of these seems to only add to the sacrilege that his films provide. Number nine provides a homage to seventies Hollywood, a lost world of Western films.

Rick Dalton (Leonardo Di Caprio) is a has been actor. On the last whim of his career, Dalton is only getting through bit parts drinking his life away thinking back to pastures old. Meanwhile, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) is Rick’s stunt double and is also struggling to find work, but is mainly doing odd jobs for his closest friend.

Become A Has Been

Review: The Last Tree

October 1, 2019October 1, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged British Film, Independent Film, Shola Amoo, The Last Tree1 Comment

When I watch a film, the one thing I look for more than anything else is some form of passion, a level of care from within that says I will tell this story and you will listen. Such a thing is difficult to describe and can come in many forms, but whatever this enigmatic quality is, Shola Amoo’s The Last Tree has it in buckets.

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