December 2024 – The Film Ramble

The best films of 2024

December 31, 2024December 31, 2024Posted in ReviewTagged Film, Horror, Movie, Movies, newsLeave a comment

There are just no good films anymore

I hate that statement reader. I disagree with it hugely. I could talk about fifty good films that are out, but shall limit myself. In a scene which is dominated by an increasingly creatively bankrupt Hollywood, it’s important to realise that for every boring blockbuster, there are ten films which are created purely out of love of the medium and not every one is a winner, but so many are.

This list reflects my top thirty films of the year reader and before you continue, I must ask you not to abuse this list. Don’t just flick down to the films you recognise. Sure do that, but also look at the films you don’t. Most are streaming. Read them, watch the trailers, consider what you’d find interesting and watch them. I can’t promise you’ll like all thirty, but there should be one you will like. Take a chance on them, I hope you’ll find it rewarding.

Of course it goes without saying that there are great films which didn’t make this list. I could name another twenty or thirty films I saw which could have easily been found on here, but alas the decision was made. (Note I count the year as Boxing Day 23-Christmas 24, UK releases. Full ranking: https://letterboxd.com/thefilmramble/list/2024-ranked/)

30) Kensuke’s Kingdom

A fairly underappreciated animation film, Kensuke’s Kingdom is a retelling of Michael Morpurgo’s famous book about a boy who finds himself trapped on a desert island with his dog and the titular Kensuke, an old Japanese man who has taken to protecting the rainforest. Beautiful in its almost storybook like animation, and quietly moving with Kensuke’s character, it’s a really sweet family film to kick off this list.

29) Ama Gloria

George from work’s film of the year and the shortest movie on this list, Ama Gloria is a movie about a girl called Cleo and her relationship with her nanny Gloria. With Gloria needing to return to Cape Verde to help her children, she invites Cleo to join her for the summer. There Cleo meets Gloria’s pregnant daughter and her young son who is resentful of Cleo for having stolen his mother. A sweet, empathetic and simple movie, Ama Gloria really is an emotional powerhouse with a phenomenal lead performance from young Louise Mauroy-Panzani.

Ama Gloria is streaming on BFI Player

28) Anora

The winner of the Palme D’or in Cannes and a current front runner to win best picture as far as the bookies are concerned, it’s a testament to how good movies have been this year that this movie is coming up so early in this blog. An absolute crowd pleaser, Sean Baker’s new movie introduces us to Ani who is a sex worker who meets, falls in love with and marries the son of a Russian Billionaire tycoon , Vanya. When his family turn up to try and force an annulment, all chaos breaks loose in this comedic caper. Baker switches what would be real tension for comedy up to 11 and Mikey Maddison brings this in droves as the lead actress. A fun and pretty easy watch.

Anora is currently in cinemas

27) His Three Daughters

Far more of a stage play in its format, His Three Daughters kind of came and went without much fanfare, which is a shame because it was such an emotive and well acted movie. Three sisters come to spend their father’s final few days with him. Their relationships are strained, especially Carrie Coon’s uptight but absent Katie and Natashia Lyonne’s seemingly delinquent Rachel. As the movie carries on, we learn more about all the characters which challenges our early judgements and we watch these three talk through their differences. Well acted and with a really tight script, this movie is accessible and worth a watch.

His Three Daughters is streaming on Netflix

26) The Book of Clarence

In terms of bat shit crazy comedies, The Book of Clarence is at a solid #2 this year. Jeymes Samuel’s second film has LaKeith Stansfield playing Clarence, a swindler who always finds himself in trouble trying to pay off his debts. When Jesus comes to Rome with his desciples, Clarence decides he should do what Jesus does as a fellow fraudster in order to make power and money. Soon he has a set of followers and attracts the not so positive attention of Rome at the same time as Jesus. A religious satire, this movie has a good bite and easily passes the six laugh test. As always, comedy is subjective, but I liked it and this is my list.

The Book of Clarence is streaming on Now Cinema (Also Available to rent online)

25) Emilia Perez

Another potential awards contender, and with best picture odds at 12/1 this is the one I’d stick a fiver on winning the best picture, Emilia Perez was a lot of things. A crime musical in which the cartel leader transitions to a woman, before trying to redeem her past crimes and also be close to her kids and wife who don’t recognise her, this movie could easily be accused of being messy. However, I found it a really entertaining romp, with catchy musical numbers, entertaining set pieces, engaging melodrama and some fantastic lead performances from Karla Sofia Gascon, Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez. There is a lot going on, but this movie has so much energy that it transports you along, once it gets going.

Emilia Perez is streaming on Netflix

24) Robot Dreams

The sort of film to make you go “Wow, there won’t be a better animated movie about a robot befriending an animal”. A silent animated movie, Robot Dreams is about a lonely dog who buys a robot friend. He gives the dog a lust for life, and all is grand until one day, Robot gets water in his circuits and is stuck on the beach for the winter. The movie then sees them try and re-unite while getting a brutal understanding of the world around them. The movie looks and sounds beautiful, and is made with such great heart that it keeps you smiling and caring for the characters throughout. It also has the best needle drop of the year, with a late “Earth Wind and Fire” scene.

Robot Dreams is streaming on MUBI

23) Daughters

Having really shorted documentaries in my last year list, I’m glad to be able to put a couple in this years’. It’s a testament to the power of Daughters that it had me crying while watching on my phone on the train. A group of incarcerated fathers start in a group therapy workshop in the lead up to a daddy-daughter dance. You hear their stories and see that the penal system has hurt their relationships. You also meet the daughters who all have different feelings about their fathers and their lives in general. It’s affecting stuff which leads to the emotional tipping point of the dance itself. A beautiful movie which shows a pure humanity.

Daughters is streaming on Netflix

22) Kneecap

Both Matt and James at works’ favourite movie of the year, Kneecap is the sort of film which made me realise I couldn’t just do a top 20, because it’s actually pretty damn good. Based on a true story, a couple of Irish speaking lads are getting in trouble with the brits in the 2010’s and following the arrest of one of them, their translator who is also a music teacher sees one of their lyrics, and encourages the three of them to create a rap group. With the members of Kneecap starring, this movie is just fun. It’s enjoyable, with a huge advocacy towards promoting native language. The acting at times is moving, and there is a strong sense of style and place. As an 18 rated movie, it’s not a family affair with its heavy drug use, but it’s the sort of movie that both you and your dad will enjoy.

Kneecap is streaming on Prime Video

21) Society of the Snow

Controversy alert, this is technically a 2023 movie, but as it came out during the amnesty period, it’s part of this years list. Another true story, SotS is about a rugby team in a plane crash in the Andes. Over the course of weeks and months, they aren’t found so have to learn to survive in the harshest environment. Well shot and acted, it can be tough to keep up with who is who, but it is an engrossing, inspiring and interesting movie.

Society of the Snow is streaming on Netflix

20) The Promised Land

When I was studying the money and banking side of economics at university, I hated it. It was dull. Wall Street wasn’t for me. When I had an exam, I actually learnt most of it through watching the Big Short. These days, I specialise in farms. Shamefully, I must say I referred to my watching of The Promised Land to attempt to sound like an expert in my day job. A Danish film starring Mads Mikkelsen (that one Danish actor you know), he plays Ludvig Kahlen, a poor officer who starts a farm in the worst conditions growing potatoes. He falls in love, tries to adopt a child and finds himself running in against the wealthy land owner who owns most of the other farms in the locale. A fairly standard drama, it’s intense and interesting with Mads giving the high calibre performances he always does.

The Promised Land is Streaming on BBC iPlayer

19) Monkey Man

A wham bam crashing action revenge movie on my top 20? This must be special. Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) stars in his own directing debut as a man who starts as a wrestler and learns to fight in order to get revenge against the people who killed his mother (I think, it was a while ago), by learning the arts of the Monkey Man. Plot wise, the first half is pretty standard, then the second half is all action with no holding back. Brilliantly shot and acted, this movie is expertly crafted with some of the most engaging and energetic action I’ve seen for a while, reminding me of Oldboy.

Monkey Man is streaming on Now Cinema

18) Conclave

Old Men being Mean Girls. The plot of Conclave doesn’t sound engaging. Following the death of a pope, the Dean Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) must run the new election of the pope within his conclave of cardinals. However, as a politcal thriller, it feels incredibly timely and appropriately campy as every candidate has baggage and different views on the future of the church. Expertly told as a story with fantastic costumes and set designs, this movie is phenomenal, and that’s before we even mention Ralph Fiennes who is at his best as a troubled leader who has a crisis of faith in god and the catholic church. It sounds boring, but trust me, it’s actually really good.

Conclave is currently in Cinemas

17) Evil Does Not Exist

There are slow films, then there are films by Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car). The film awarded best film at the 2023 London Film Festival is an eco-parable about a group who want to build a campsite in the local forest, much to the disgust of the locals who are worried about the impact on their water supply. They look to teach the business their ways, while heads of the business want this campsite no matter what. An intriguing film, it breathes and reveals its characters to be more than we originally think them to be, with their true souls emerging throughout the film. Meditative and really interesting, Evil Does Not Exist is essential viewing

Evil Does Not Exist is Streaming on BFI Player

16) Thelma

Going back to more of a mainstream taste with this one, Thelma is a comedy about getting old. June Squibb plays the titular Thelma who has been scammed out of money following a scam call about her son being in jail. She finds the adress, then sets out on her electric scooter to get her money back along with Ben who has given up his lust for life. Directed by Josh Margolin, he based his character on his own grandmother, and this movie reminded me of mine. With the heart that a grand parent has, Squibb’s character was lovely and never annoying. She was also emotional to watch, as she saw those around her struggling at the end as well as herself. Really moving and full of soul, this comedy sees mission impossible meet octogenarians. Frankly, what more can you want.

Thelma is available to purchase online

15) The Boy and the Heron

The first movie I watched in 2024, who knew then that only fourteen would be better. Hayao Miyazaki’s alleged final movie was a personal one about a boy who lost his mother during the fire bombing at the end of the second world war. He follows a heron into a mysterious world to find her. This tale about grief and coming of age is confusing, however much like all the other Studio Ghibli films, it looks beautiful, has a wonderful score and a melancholy dream like film.

The Boy and the Heron is streaming on Netflix

14) Monster

We go east again for Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s return to Japanese film making following a successful Korea trip and less successful France on. Monster is a movie about a boy who appears to be unruly, fighting and out of hand. However, we soon learn about his friendship with another boy as we see this story from multiple perspectives in a Rashomon effect. Well made, full of heart and my favourite film score of the year, this movie is gentle, warm and ultimately full of hope, despite its chilling title.

Monster is streaming on BFI Player.

13) The Wild Robot

The better animated movie about a robot and animal unlikely duo is the best animated movie of the year. With Dreamworks in full force following the success of Puss In Boots 2, The Wild Robot takes all the concepts from that and makes it better. A Robot named “Roz” gets trapped on n abandoned island and looks to assist the animals whom are hostile towards her. When she accidentally destroys a duck nest, one egg remains which she decides to raise in order to get it ready for winter migration. A really touching movie, if a tad generic in plot, The Wild Robot is an animation tour de force, with each still looking beautiful and a wonderful score to boot. A real piece of art, this is the sort of film you need to watch with your family.

The Wild Robot is available for purchase on streaming services

12) The Holdovers

A rare modern Christmas film and one made for me. I love a melancholic Christmas movie, think It’s A Wonderful Life or The Apartment. These are the good ones, and the grainy eighties movie style with the cynicism of Alexander Payne’s writing are what makes this movie so great. Paul Hunman is a teacher who hates kids and is stuck supervising the young rebel Tully over Christmas, alongside Mary the cook. All three of them learn to love and understand eachother with each having their own fleshed out background and story. Fundamentally festive in a non-overly cheery way, but in a way that maintains heart, I really hope that the Holdovers with its three phenomenal performances becomes an all time great Christmas movie loved by the masses.

The Holdovers is streaming on Now Cinema

11) No Other Land

A documentary almost breaching the top 10, it must be good. No Other Land focuses on small Palestinian villages which is being bulldozed and their citizens displaced by Israel and two journalists, one Palestinian and one Israeli who look to spread this story and the obstacles they face in the run up to the events of October 7th. A really tough watch at times, but incredibly important to watch, it’s a movie which will make you feel anger.

No Other Land is available to purchase for streaming

10) Crossing

A Georgian/Turkish movie the old and grumpy Lia goes to Istanbul to find her transgender niece following her sisters passing. She takes her old student Achi with her who is also lost and finding himself. There they find themselves in a fantastic city meeting a wide variety of people. Lia learns how to live and finds herself determinedly looking for her niece whatever it takes. There is also a B story about a transgender lawyer helping the homeless and vulnerable, which helps to make this city feel more alive. A warm, caring and enjoyable movie.

Crossing is available for streaming on MUBI

9) Hundreds of Beavers

Quite possibly the stupidest member of this top 30, HoB is a Chaplin-esque micro budget silent comedy you have to see to believe. An applejack needs to catch food, regularly stopped by the costumed animals. He soon meets a girl and to win her father’s permission for marriage, he needs to bring him the beavers who are terrorising the local community. With slapstick gags a plenty and phenomenally stupid animal costumes, HoB is a movie that is made by people who love movies for absolutely everyone. The comedy really is funny with regular callbacks to itself and jokes which build throughout the whole movie. It almost feels like a gag gift, but it’s such a clever one with so much heart.

Hundreds of Beavers is available to purchase for streaming

8) Didi

The late 2010’s trend of A24 coming of age movies seemed to be dying a bit, but Didi has brought it back. A late millenial film, a male version of Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade from Sean Wang, this film shows Chris, or Didi, depending on who refers to him have to get through the usual trials and tribulations of middle school in an MSN world. Sweet, but incredibly awkward, this film is full of heart as Chris balances his Chinese and American sides, as well as his shy side with a confident persona. The movie balances the memory of being a teenager with the feeling of relief that you aren’t a teenager to perfection, and with a scene stealing performance from Joan Chen as the mother, it is such a beautiful movie.

Didi is available to purchase on streaming

7) Slow

My first Lithuanian film, Slow is a beautiful understated independent romance with similar energy to movies such as Once. Elena is a dance teacher who meets Dovydas, a sign language interpreter, when he interprets for one of her classes. Not particularly subtle in how they both use their bodies to communicate feeling, but they start falling for eachother. There is a bump in the road though as Dovydas is asexual. This makes him worried he’s not good enough for her and her insecure as she fears there is something wrong with her. Sweet, sensual and made with feeling, this low budget indie film is a really sweet look at the connection between two souls.

Slow is available to stream on MUBI.

6) There’s Still Tomorrow

There’s a strangeness about There’s Still Tomorrow. The big Italian hit about post WWII Italy is about a wife of an abusive husband and her daughter looking to break free of a patriarchy with a mystery letter. The black and white film by director and star Paola Cortelessi is at times terrifying, but also funny and humane and most importantly an empowering story. Having made $50m on a $5m budget in Italy, this movie is deservedly one of the country’s most successful movies of all time.

5) La Chimera

Speaking of phenomenal Italian films, the best one this year was Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera. A moving, quiet and spiritual piece, it sees archaeologist Arthur return to his and his deceased wife’s home in Italy following a prison spell to search for treasures in a grave using his supernatural gift, while also somewhat searching for her spirit. Shot on film with a retro look and feel, the movie has a transcendent fable like existence, almost mythical more than surreal, much like Rohrwacher’s previous work Happy As Lazzaro. The whole cast is great with a career best performance from everyone’s favourite tennis boy Josh O’Connor.

La Chimera is streaming on MUBI

4) Poor Things

The Barbie Movie for sick freaks. Full of unlikeable characters and uncomfortable moments, Poor Things isn’t a kind film, but an intriguing one nonetheless. After a scientist known as god puts the brain of a baby into Bella Baxter’s body, she finds herself as an infant. At first content in God’s house, soon Bella wants to escape. She has various exploits with men and learns about the good and evil of the world with a keen interest in philosophy. Funny and disgusting at times, this movie is well made with good production design, costumes and cinematography making it a visual treat. It’s also one of Yorgos Lanthimos’ more accessible films, with me never having been a huge fan and it also has the phenomenal Emma Stone at her best

Poor Things is available on Disney+

3) Green Border

I try and rewatch most of my top 10 at the end of the year, but the one film I haven’t even considered starting was Green Border due to just how harrowing it is. In Belarus, they fly in Syrian refugees to use as political pawns as they send them over the border to Poland to gain access to Europe. Polish border forces agonisingly round them up and throw them back. This cycle continues with the refugees becoming ill, beaten and hopeless. Well shot and phenomenally acted, the movie is difficult to get through and had me crying at times. It’s shot from the perspective of refugees, activists and border guards to give a round view of the situation, and with director Agnieszka Holland getting in trouble with the Polish government for the film, it’s a current and urgent film which needs to be seen.

Green Border is streaming on MUBI.

2) The Substance

One of the biggest box office surprise wins, making $70m off a $12m budget, once I’d been to a preview of The Substance, I was desperate for the rest of the world to see it so we could finally talk about it and they did. A body horror which lacks subtlety and has both substance and style, the story is about a dance instructor, Elizabeth Sparkle, who has been fired from her tv celebrity job for turning 50 despite her looking as good as Demi Moore. She is soon told about this mysterious Substance which allows her to be young and beautiful, except she must switch back and forth every seven days between Elizabeth and Sue (Margaret Qualley) with the constant message that “you are one”. Full of style, sound and colour this movie screams about the treatment of older woman compared to young, beautiful women and modern day sexism and microaggressions. With some extreme imagery to boot which I can never do justice this is the sort of film that will make people listen. Get Out for women, the movie gives us Moore at her best, and director Coralie Fargeat pulls no punches. This is no holds barred, exhilarating and unpredictable film making at its best.

The Substance is streaming on MUBI

And the film of the year is

Over the last few years my film of the year has been a film I’ve seen and thought hey that’s pretty good, but never been sure whether I’d see anything better. That’s not to disrespect Rye Lane or the Banshees of Inisherin. However, this time I saw my film of the year pretty early in 2024, and even then I knew it would be the greatest.

Sometimes a film makes you feel strongly, however it’s very rare for a film to do so but also leave you feeling empty. Then comes All of Us Strangers a film about Adam (Andrew Scott), a gay man in his early forties who is living alone in an empty high rise in London. Writing about his parents, one day a neighbour Harry (Paul Mescal) comes along and asks to join him. Adam nervously refuses, then on a trip to his childhood home, he sees his mum and dad (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell) at the same age they were when they died in a car crash, now younger than him. They invite him in and over a few meetings get to know each other again. At the same time Adam and Harry’s relationship blossoms. A supernatural film which remains grounded, it’s not one you think about, almost in fear of it all (you kind of know it’s not real), but more one you feel. Adam remains grown up but retains a child like vulnerability, while the younger parents almost seem more mature and nurturing despite having not aged. It never feels weird, but sweet and vulnerable. As you learn more about Adam, you see him have conversations with them he never had the opportunity to as well as the hard truths. His naturally reserved side falls away as he grows, before the reality comes back and leaves you feeling empty.

The movie is a tapestry of beautiful shots, phenomenal lighting, a ten out of ten script and phenomenal performances from all four of them, especially Scott who’s eyes tell a story without words. The movie is a range of emotions, but I don’t think any show a quiet spiritual sadness as much. It really is a masterpiece which is worthy of the film of the year. As close to perfect as I’ve seen this decade.

All of Us Strangers is streaming on Disney+

Am I Not Entertained? November 2024’s Movies

December 4, 2024December 4, 2024Posted in ReviewTagged Cinema, Film, Film Review, Movies, Netflix, ReviewLeave a comment

I’m almost there. At the end of 2023, I stated that I would write twelve articles, roughly one a month on this blog. We are now at the end of November, and this is article is number eleven. With my December article being my favourite films of the year, this feels an underwhelming introduction to the last monthly summary of films. Do I do a Frank Sinatra?

Regrets, I have a few, but then again, everyone regretted Uglies, Mean Girls and Joker 2.

Do we end with a that’s all folks, or a classic movie final line?

In case I don’t see you, Good Afternoon, Good Evening and Goodnight

Well, not that. Technically, it’s not the last line. That’s Scully from Brooklyn nine-nine saying “What else is on?”

Maybe, I just do an overly long introductory bit that most of the two readers will have skipped through by now to see what I think of the one film they’ve seen this month, purely ignoring my blood and sweat which has gone into the words, only looking for that futile star rating. Yeah, that sounds about right.

My month started with Juror #2, the Clint Eastwood film which is destined for a straight to streaming release, but awkwardly was in a couple of cinemas. Unfortunately, one of my local cinemas was one of the ones it was playing in.

We all like twelve angry men (unless we’re talking about the President elect and his team. Screw that guy). Now see what it looks like when one of the jurors actually did the crime. Nicholas Hoult plays said Juror who believed he hit a deer on his way home one night. Many months later, it turns out that there was a murder on the same night, that he is now a juror in. Contrived? Well, not as contrived as the rest of the plot. The hodge podge group of jurors all have coincidental skills, such as a doctor and an ex-detective who isn’t convinced something is right. There is a lack of suspense, with the only form of suspense being Juror’s incredible desire to make the wrong decision at every turn, decisions no person in the audience would make.

It’s your stereotypical dumb film made for dads that mine didn’t particularly like either. But, it was an evening out with him, so that was nice.

My next movie evening was a night out with Aunt to watch The Room Next Door. Having promised her this film, and watched Emilia Perez instead with mother, their bitter sibling rivalry meant a lot weighed on this film. Who would watch the better film with me? The answer was mum. Both aunt and I have seen both now, and I doubt she’d begrudgingly disagree.

Pablo Almodovar’s English debut is as stagy and melo-dramatic as his movies usually are, however The Room Next Door lacks the charm of some of his great predecessors (All About My Mother for example). Tilda Swinton plays a character who is ill and wants to die. Julianne Moore is a friend who has come back into her life. Both are a bit boring and pretentious and go to an AirBnB where Swinton will kill herself at some point. It’s the sort of film Swinton likes, that I don’t. I genuinely don’t consider her a bad actress. We just have different tastes in films, and she picks ones she likes. She’s good in this. Julianne Moore is, however, weepy and repetitive to the point that this film feels longer than its sub two hour run time. The screenplay is clunky at times, there were a couple of lines I actually found funny which weren’t meant to be. It’s okay arthouse snobbery at it’s most meandering form. Good if its your sort of film.

Netflix quietely released the documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin. About a Scandanavian boy called Mats, this movie starts by showing his life from his parents’ perspective. He lived with a degenerative muscular dystrophy. As he grew up, he became more hermitted, played video games and passed away. His family felt his life was wasted, until they found his blog and made one last post. Then floods of e-mails came in from his fellow World of Warcraft players.

The second half of the movie recreates the chat logs from world of warcraft, showing Mats’ character Ibelin interacting with others, changing their lives and falling in love with them, as well as tragically showing his own limitations and struggles far more than his parents could. It was a really interesting style of film, portraying a narrative well, intercutting it with real life footage of those who Mats played with.

As someone who has never been able to navigate the digital world, this story shows empathy for others who not only have done so as a comfort, but as a necessity. It’s their chance to be who they want to be, and while there is an older generation who don’t get it, I hope this film can be used to show what this is for people.

The current frontrunner for the Oscar best picture was next. Anora is the new film from Sean Baker who made the okay Tangerine, the not so okay Red Rocket, and the downright masterpiece The Florida Project, a movie which should have won best picture. The director who usually focuses on slice of life instead brings in a plot in this audience hit which is one not to watch with the grandparents if you don’t fancy an awkward Christmas.

Anora (Mikey Maddison) is a sex worker who doesn’t have much going on in life. One day a Russian man of mystery called Ivan asks for her as she speaks the lingo. They have a mad rush few weeks where they appear to fall in love. They marry. News reaches home, and his family send henchmen to get Anora and Ivan annulled, against their wishes.

When I was watching the film, I was really enjoying it. It’s far more comedic than the trailers suggest. Maddison and Mark Eidelstein have so much chemistry as the titular characters that their first hour is a romp. The henchmen each bring their own humour and personalities to the characters, with Yuri Borisov as Igor a standout. The script is tight, with plenty of enjoyable moments, and the film feels shorter than its two and a half hour run time. I think what stopped it being great is that we don’t get to know Anora well enough. The plot gets in the way of the characters, not letting them breathe as much as in The Florida Project. Since I watched the film, I’ve felt less enamoured as I thought about it more. However, it is a fun evening out.

If you had Lego George Floyd Protests on your 2024 film bingo card, you might want to call the line as the new Pharell documentary came out last month. Piece By Piece is an animated lego style movie telling Pharell Williams’ story. It is interesting, watching such a big producer becoming a household name. It was full of energy and generally fun. There are some enjoyable gags, such as a PG Spray being sprayed when Snoop Dogg is smoking.

The film does feel unchallenging and very much playing into Pharell’s ego, with the lego not adding as much. Being Mr Despicable Me, I would’ve found it funnier if they made his biopic but he and everyone else were minions. I’m being silly. It’s a fine movie.

Three documentaries in a week Joe? Three? That’s more than you’ve watched for the rest of the year, surely. Well, yeah, sometimes I just don’t have time to watch them, and sometimes some can catch my eye. The best documentary of the year so far is No Other Land. A co-production between Palestinian Basil Adra and Israeli Yuval Abraham, the documentary shows them as activists and the danger they put themselves in during the years prior to the events of October 7th 2023.

The movie particularly focuses on the illegal destruction of the Masafa Yatter community on the West Bank by Israeli forces, forcing Palestinians to live in caves or in increasingly crowded cities. It shows the impact on these two as well as the Palestinian locals. It’s a really distressing, but essential watch, showing what is happening when the media won’t do so. If there were one film you should urgently watch this year, this is the one.

The Piano Lesson was the latest August Wilson play to be adapted into a movie. The third in the last ten years after Denzel Washington and Viola Davis starred in Fences, and the late Chadwick Boseman starred in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, TPL stars John David Washington, formerly of Blackkklansman fame and Danielle Deadwyler of Till as a couple of siblings who have a piano in their childhood home. One wants to sell it, the other wants to keep it.

Adam saw this a few months ago, and did warn me it was pretty naff. I should have heeded (hed?) his warning, because it was naff. While Deadwyler is great, Washington just lacks that extra bit of spark that Boseman had in Ma Rainey. His character is a grifter, but you don’t really care. The stage play still feels jaunty, not flowing as one hopes. Maybe there was a lack of thematic tightness. The scenes just felt dull and uninspiring. It was such a slow mover that just wouldn’t end. You knew how it would as well. Just a disappointing movie.

Anyway, once I’d seen that movie, I walked from Victoria to Soho to watch Bird which was a much better film. Bailey is a young teenager living in poverty with her dad (Barry Keoghan) who is getting married soon and hoping to get money from a drug frog. She meets the mysterious Bird (ASBO winner Franz Ragowski) whom she looks to help find his family, while learning about herself at the same time.

A welcome mix of small scale social realism and fantastical elements, with a proper warm humour, there are plenty of elements to like. Both Keoghan and Rogowski support well, while the young leads all do their bits. The script feels tight and tender, with some wonderful needle drops, and a humorous fourth wall break about a certain song, which was one of the funniest moments of film this year. The production design is well done and frankly everything feels really smartly put together. It’s not some great magnus opus, but a small, simple film which is worth searching out about finding who you are in the world.

I fell asleep during Small Things Like These so don’t feel able to comment on it, so I won’t, but it did make me fall asleep.

One film which did keep me awake however, was Blitz, the new Steve McQueen film featuring a set of big name British stars, including Saoirse Ronan. George, a young mixed-race boy is sent away from London as part of the WWII evacuations, decides to jump off the train and go and find his mum. In this time, he’ll encounter a variety of good and bad characters straight out of a kid’s movie, as well as almost drowning in an underground station, running from bombs and racism.

If that sounds a rather haphazard description, that is because it kind of is. The movie feels at times like a kids film, much like a Dickens or a Railway Children. It then switches to a grown up film in other scenes. It doesn’t know its audience, which leads to frustration. However, there are some good things as well. Ronan is great, the child acting is questionably early Harry Potter standard, and there are a couple of great scenes, including one in a dance hall. There is heart at times, but the film seems disjointed and simple in others. Compared to other movies Steve McQueen has done, this one feels comparatively weak. It’s on Apple TV+ where it will probably spend an eternity.

This month I watched both Gladiator and Gladiator 2 for the first time on the big screen. In both, a character fights in a war, their spouse dies, they’re captured and they both become accomplished gladiators in a bid for their freedom and to overturn the corrupt villains. So yeah, they’re pretty similar, except that this time Paul Mescal plays Russel Crowe’s son and there are two emperors.

There are some good things happening in this film. While there are ridiculous CGI monkeys and flooded coliseums, these action scenes are entertaining enough if you suspend your disbelief. Paul Mescal, while no Crowe, is perfectly fine bringing his sad man instead of Crowe’s angry man. Denzel Washington particularly stands out as Mescal’s owner and the emperor’s advisor. If anything gets an oscar nod non-technically, it will be Washington’s performance.

However, this film wasn’t as good as the original for a good few reasons. As well as not adding anything tangible, the most nefarious downgrade was replacing Joaquin Pheonix’s fearsome leader with the loud and annoying Weasley twins (Not actually played by the Weasley twins), characters so annoyingly stupid that it doesn’t make sense for them to be emperors.

I actually did enjoy Gladiator 2. It was an easy piece of entertainment, even if it didn’t live up to the original. It’s by no means Ridley Scott’s worst film about an Italian Dynasty falling apart because of a semi-related outsider.

Four boofs out of five

British independent films current favourite topics seem to be a middle class person making a film about poor people (see Souvenir or whatever else Ken Loach made) or lost young gay people finding themselves (See Unicorn or Femme or Pretty Red Dress for just the last 12 months), so when another one comes out you hope it will do something unique. Unfortunately, Layla really fails to do so.

A young drag artist finds a boy they like, they date but aren’t compatible. You realise this early on and have to watch two hours of back and forth, wont they wont they. Layla also has to deal with their own demons around being from a British Asian family and having not come out to them. The whole film is rather paint by numbers standard British Indie-faire and the two leads don’t have chemistry. I’m getting tired and still have to write about Conclave and Wicked.

Everything about Conclave sounds like it would be theoretically boring. A pope dies, so a bunch of middle aged blokes need to vote for a new one. That’s pretty much it. However, it’s one of the most entertaining political thrillers in many a year. Ralph Fiennes plays Cardinal Lawrence, the dean of the Conclave, meaning he has to run the election which is mainly between a few parties. Todesco is a bad mf who likes to drop a vape at only the best moments. He’s more conservative and wants to bring the church back to where it was. Bellinni (Stanley Tucci) wants to take it into the future, while John Lithigow’s Tremblay seems to have a dodgy secret about him. However, soon Lawrence, who is currently in a crisis of faith with the church, realises that nobody is what they seem and that everyone has some form of sin surrounding them.

The script for this movie is really tight, with each twist and turn being intriguing. Despite the big cast, it’s easy to follow. There is an adept social mirroring looking at our communities and democracies themselves. The film feels separate but close to our world. It also balances the serious with the entertaining, with a fun level of camp at times.

Shot on location, the film is beautiful with Rome looking wonderfully imposing and director Edward Berger using the surrounding art to great effect. However, the highlight of the movie is Ralph Fiennes. He is in a crisis of faith which he shows in an understated way and his feelings about becoming the pope feel both hidden and revealed in contradicting ways, almost up against Tucci’s character who clearly wants to become pope despite saying otherwise.

Out of the big awards nominees, this one is probably my favourite so far. It’s an entertaining and interesting story which will both appeal to indie film nerds and a wider general public as a twisty political thriller.

Wicked: Part one came out this month. I don’t know if you knew. I did. It’s been everywhere. Based on the 2003 musical, John Chu directs the first half of the musical, stretching it out to a gargantuan two hours and forty minutes. The movie is a prequel to the wizard of Oz as Glinda the good witch (Ariana Grande) tells (half the) full story of how she met the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba (Cynthia Eviro). In this movie the two characters both enroll into Shizz University (yeah, really), under the tutelage of Michelle Yeoh. Elphaba is green and unpopular, while Glinda is not green and popular. They end up as dorm mates and this half is about their friendship growing, while Elphaba is worried about the treatment of animals in Oz (Our vegan queen).

While the only thing more full on than this film’s run time is the marketing campaign, the film never feels slow. It’s a warm comfortable hug and a sweet family film. The whole thing feels grand (ba-dum-tsh) and impressive in scale. Erivo takes on her role well, with a strong voice which does defy gravity convincingly. However, the real stand out is Ariana Grande. While most likely supporting in the awards campaign, the co-lead is funny and heartfelt, with Grande showing off her acting and singing chops to great effect in a film much better than her cameo debut of Don’t Look Up. Every song is a bop and the whole film is solidly shot by Chu who has good experience with In The Heights.

However, while the film was good, there were a few issues which did lead to it not being quite to the level of hype I’d heard about. Firstly, it looks ugly. The set pieces are spectacular, but the whole movie is washed out, heavily contrasting the beautiful technicolour we know and love from the Oz of the 1930s. There were a couple of moments I did want things to move on a bit quicker, however on the whole these were minor qualms. By no means a bad film.

So yeah, film of the month is No Other Land. See you for Post #12