Film – Page 14 – The Film Ramble

The Unnominatables: 2020 Ramble Awards

February 8, 2020February 9, 2020Posted in Awards, FilmTagged Atlantics, David Copperfield, Dolemite Is My Name, Greta Gerwig, Hustlers, Jojo Rabbit, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Last Black Man In San Francisco, Little Women, Marriage Story, Monos, Oscars, Oscars 2020, Parasite, Peanut Butter Falcon, Pokemon Detective Pikachu, Rocketman, Shuzhen Zhao, So Long My Son, The Farewell, Uncut Gems, Us, Waves, Weathering With You, Zack Gottsagen

Last year, when I started this blog, I started with a post about my favourite of the Oscar nominees. While that post is on its way, I also decided it would be a fun exercise to give Ramble awards to films or actors who weren’t nominated and really should’ve been. 2019/20 was a great year for films which meant some were going to miss out. Unfortunately the Oscars are safe and bland and really not worth the time as we celebrate Scorceses and Tarantinos over fresh film ideas. The films and actors I will nominate will hopefully represent a greater plurality of film making. With 12 films gaining 16 awards (and another 7 nominated), hopefully you get some ideas of what to watch. I’ll take my invite as a BAFTA judge in the post…

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Oscars 2020: The ASBO Awards

February 8, 2020February 9, 2020Posted in ReviewTagged 1917, Adam Driver, ASBO Awards, Avengers, Florence Pugh, Ford Vs Ferrari, I Lost My Body, Irishman, Joe Pesci, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Marriage Story, Once Upon a Time, Oscars, Parasite, Sam Mendes, Saoirse Ronan

Here we are, less than twenty four hours until the Oscars and as I write this, I still haven’t seen all best pictures nominees (There is a screening of Ford vs Ferrari I’m going to this afternoon). As is tradition (I did it last year), I’m looking at the nominees and picking my choices to win the Asbo award*. Although I will have seen all best picture nominees, this year has had so many good films that I haven’t had a chance to get to all of the best acting ones. Therefore, I can only judge what I’ve seen. For my own fun, I’ve also stated whether the ASBO winner would beat my Oscar snub ramble choice.

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Review: Parasite

February 4, 2020February 4, 2020Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Bong Joon Ho, Foreign Film, Korean Film, Parasite, Park So Dam, Song Kang Ho4 Comments

Page 1: Full Review, No Spoilers

I went into Parasite blind. Even when there was a trailer on in the cinema, I shut my eyes and this was good enough as I don’t speak Korean. I imagine this is the best way to watch the film and while I will only give away plot elements from the first 15 minutes, if you just want to know whether to watch it, here goes: Go and watch Parasite! It’s really freaking good!!! Sitting at work today, I could not get the film out of my head.

If you just closed the tab and are no longer reading, I don’t blame you. However, if you are still here, then lets begin.

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Review: Queen and Slim

February 4, 2020February 4, 2020Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner Smith, Queen and Slim

Apologies for the shorter review. I’m just a but busy and there are lots of films out.

Queen (Jodie Turner Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) are out on a date which is a bit icy. She didn’t want to be alone as one of her law clients was put on death row. She chose to be with him as he looked sad on his tinder profile. This bad first date ended with him driving her home and them being stopped by the police. It goes down badly and Slim shoots the officer in self defence and suddenly they’re on the run. We follow them from here as they attempt to flee to Cuba and a budding romance ensues.

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Review: 1917

January 28, 2020Posted in Film, ReviewTagged 1917, Dean-Charles Chapman, Film Review, George Mackay, Sam Mendes3 Comments

When you start off in a calm green field with Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Lance Corporal Schofield (George McKay), it’s unsettlingly calm. You know 1917 is about war and are almost thrown off. However, the illusion of peace is quickly shattered as both are called to their general. Their mission (should they choose to accept it) is to get to the frontline trench 9 miles away by morning to stop a surge forward as it’s a German trap. The twist: Blake’s brother is one of the 1,600 men they need to save.

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Review: Weathering With You

January 28, 2020January 28, 2020Posted in Film, Review2 Comments

Film award season tends to offer a rather samey set of films which one can easily categorise. Therefore, upon my weekly Monday cinema trip, I had a choice to make: Go to another drama (Bombshell was the lead) or vary it up and go with a more left field choice… and that’s how we ended up at Weathering With You.

The Anime genre is not one I have ever really endeavoured into. The only film of this form I’ve watched was Spirited Away (which I maintain to be the best animated film ever and one of the great films), so I was going into this film as a novice, willing to give the film a fair chance. This blog is most fun when I’m watching the more obscure options.

So go with me here: Hodako is a 16 year old boy who runs away from home (I’m not sure why) to Tokyo in the Summer. But something strange is afoot. Despite it being Summer, it’s raining non stop and we’re not naive enough to blame climate change. Anyhow, he keeps running into Hani who had a crazy experience in this rooftop shrine where she was transported into the sky by the rain. Anyhow, Hodako soon discovers that she has magic powers with which she can prayer and the sun stops for a while. They then need to balance this great entrepreneurial opportunity with Hodako’s fugitive status and Hani’s love of spreading happiness. This is against the backdrop of Hani slowly disappearing and us knowing that weather maidens have a tragic ending as the two will eventually have to choose between their love and stopping the eternal rain that plagues the city.

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Lookback: January 2020

January 26, 2020February 4, 2020Posted in Film, Look BackTagged 1917, Atlantics, Breakfast Club, Brief Encounter, Brokeback Mountain, Coco, Fighting With My Family, Guys and Dolls, Jojo Rabbit, Kore-Eda, Our Little SIster, Paddington 2, Psycho, So Long My Son, Terminator, Tokyo Story, Uncut Gems, Waves, We The Animals, Weathering With You

As we conclude this month, civilisation is still just about standing. Britain has left the European Union, although the Corona Virus will make sure to keep news anchors busy over the coming weeks. In the meantime, all this Brexit fatigue has kept me busy trying to watch films. This month’s selection of twenty (Yep, that seems like way too many now) include cult classic films and modern masterpieces from the innocent adventures of a marmalade loving bear to a scene which made one look over their shoulder while showering since. There weren’t any rubbish films this month and be sure to read to the bottom to get my top 5 picks. (I have also given out star ratings for each one).

[N] – Netflix, [P] – Prime [B] – BBC IPlayer

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Review: Waves

January 26, 2020January 28, 2020Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Film Review, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Sterling K. Brown, Taylor Russel, Trey Shuts, Waves3 Comments

There is one moment in Waves where I let out a quiet “Oh Shit” (You’ll know when you watch it). This non-compliance with the usual BFI’s morally coded audience thankfully wasn’t disapproved as I wasn’t the only “Shit”-ter. There were many audible gasps and ooh’s and one woman who shouted “OH FUCK!”. If a film-snob-cinema audience is releasing that sort of reaction, then the film is certainly doing something right in it’s experimentation of sight and sound.

Waves primarily follows black middle class teenager Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and his perfect life. He’s doing great as the wrestling jock. He has a stable family and is in a happy relationship. However, things soon start to go wrong. His relationship with his father (Sterling K. Brown) is straining as he is being pushed too much. This happens alongside his shoulder joint becoming worn down meaning his wrestling days may be over. His girlfriend (Alexa Demie) is also worried she is pregnant. This perfect cocktail see’s him take a spiralling journey into madness.

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Review: Jojo Rabbit

January 19, 2020Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Jojo Rabbit, Roman Griffin-Davies, Scarlett Johansson, Taika Watiti, Thomasin McKenzie2 Comments

Within the first minute of the film, Jojo Rabbit gives you the “Oh” moment. With a German cover of I want to hold to hold your hand in the background, Johannes (Roman Griffin Davis) and his camp imaginary friend Hitler (Taika Watiti) are practising their Heil Hitlers in the mirror, before he runs down the street in excitement as today is his first day in the Hitler Youth. His joyous face and childish motion in this silly scenario along with the upbeat music may lead you to crack a smile. However, this is interlinked with Nazi propoganda videos of smiling crowds. This is when having being swept away with Jojo’s commotion, you realise “Hold on a minute. Why am I going along so happily with this?” This smart ploy is one of cleverest scenes in the film as you recompose yourself and remember that you’re in 1940’s Austria.

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Review: So Long, My Son

January 14, 2020January 19, 2020Posted in ReviewTagged So Long My Son

When a film is over 3 hours, it needs to do two things. Firstly it needs to justify its length of time. Secondly. it needs to look after the audience. At 186 minutes long (22 minutes longer than 2001: A Space Odyssey), So Long, My Son does pack in a lot of content.

The film starts with the major pivot. Xingxing and Haohao are two young best friends who were born on the same day. At a young age, Haohao suggests they play in the reservoir. Xingxing is nervous, and doesn’t really want to go. We fast forward and see that Xingxing has died from drowning here, but we’re not sure what events lead to this.

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