Category: Review

Top 20 films of 2025

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This is the seventh year of me writing my top 20(/18/30 depending on the year, but usually 20). For those whom have found this because AI scours my cheap London cinema tickets page, welcome. For those who found it because it’s the only thing I talked about, welcome back. As always, the rules are movies with general release in the UK between Boxing Day 2024-Christmas 2025. This means Sentimental Value and Marty Supreme aren’t eligible. If your favourite film of the year isn’t hear, it means I haven’t watched it or your film taste is rubbish. Full 2025 ranking is available here if you want to check which of the two it is.

As always, I’m pretty happy with the variety of films here, and would recommend if you were to watch one, read what I write and base it on what you think is the most interesting instead of picking just #1 which is admittedly pretty good. This is a pretty cool list with multiple genres including horror, animation, drama, world cinema, thriller, documentaries. Some great films didn’t make it in, but these twenty are the ones I believe to have been head and shoulders above. Most are available on streaming services, so no excuses.

20) Steve

George from work always has a slightly wild but never uninteresting film of the year. Following Ama Gloria last year, his pick was the not undeserving Steve. The titular Steve is played brilliantly by sad man Cillian Murphy who runs a school for children with complex behavioural needs. One of the kids, Shy, is spiralling, the future of the school is uncertain, an MP is coming to visit and Steve is pretty well addicted to drugs. Constantly tense, with phenomenal performances, script and cinematography, Steve is a phenomenal piece of film making.

Steve is available on Netflix

19) Dying

Yeah, I promise there are some happy movies on here, but a three hour German epic about a father with dementia, a mother sturggling, a depressed son conducting and a daughter on the booze every night isn’t a relaxing three hours, but my word it’s certainly engrossing. Split into three parts, the daughter’s part is especially phenomenal, as is the mother’s, while the son’s parts, not quite as high, never feel condescending. A brilliant piece of German cinema.

Dying is streaming on BFI Player and is available to rent online

18) La Cocina

Kind of similar to The Bear, La Cocina is about an undocumented chef in a rubbish New York restaurant and everything going wrong throughout the day in his job and relationships. Very stage play-esque, the lead performance from Raul Briones and some great editing really bring this movie to life, as the tension ramps up throughout.

La Cocina is streaming on MUBI and is available to rent online

17) Hallow Road

The first (but not only) “Horror” on this list, but far more psychological thriller with exactly zero jump scares (and I’m a guy who jump scares easily). Two parents get a call from their daughter who has apparently ran someone over in their car. They then rush into their car to get over there, and that’s the whole film. It involves discussion of the family, their relationships as well as tension over this victim who was hit and whether they can save her, and save the daughter before anyone shows up. Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys both bring top performances in this small setting, as 90% of the movie takes place while they’re driving. A different, exciting small scale movie.

Hallow Road is streaming on Now/Sky Cinema or available to rent digitally

16) A House of Dynamite

Kathryn Bigelow loves a war film, and brings nuclear war back into fashion with this story where an unknown country has launched a nuclear weapon at the United States. We see the story from three different perspectives, starting in the war room. Again, providing a tension as each time we get closer to imminent disaster, the first third is the strongest. While the other two don’t quite catch up to it, the first part is some of the most riveting scenes of the year.

House of Dynamite is streaming on Netflix

15) Friendship

Finally, a happy film, it has to be, right? RIGHT? Well, if you’re familiar with Tim Robinson (hotdog/zipline guy) and his work on “I Think You Should Leave”, then you know where this is going. He plays a lovable loser who doesn’t have many friends and is content watching the new Marvel movie (It’s supposed to be nuts). When he meets his neighbour played by Paul Rudd, they hit it off immediately, with Rudd’s character being this cool guy who plays in a band. After some things go wrong however, Rudd wants the friendship to end, but Robinson’s character doesn’t take that well, wanting to recover the friendship. Naturally this leads his life to go wrong in increasingly zany ways as he obsesses over his former friend. Cleverly written and showing Tim Robinson in one of the best performances of the year, if you’re going to watch one dark comedy, make it this one.

Friendship is available to rent digitally.

14) Flow

Actually a nice film finally. The winner of the best animated feature Oscar (and former ASBO winner for the same category), Gints Zibalodis provided one of the best animated movies of 2025 with Flow, a dialogue free movie about a cat who finds itself in a boat following an unexplained flood with other animals. They all need to learn to work well together. A phenomenally smart piece where each animal feels realistic (the cat moves likes a cat), this quiet, meditative effort is phenomenal to behold, and is a huge step forward in independent animation.

Flow is streaming on MUBI or available to rent digitally

13) Sinners

Probably the most famous movie on this list, and only on here as need to appease the masses, Sinners is a very good vampire blues movie. Brilliantly acted, with a great sstoryline to boot, it shows a different time in history and how Black communities came together. The one reason to watch this is the music. There is one scene about halfway through this movie which is the best scene of any film this year. You’ll know it when you see it. I couldn’t stop smiling throughout. Absolute cinema.

Sinners is streaming on Now/Sky Cinema

12) Ocean with David Attenborough

Look, DA is cool alright. He fights for nature, but I find his gentle messaging and lack of viewer accountability ultimately underwhelming. It’s the one complaint I have about this documentary. The movie is so cool and I learnt so much about the sea. There is a scene where they show the impact of deep sea trawling, and that’s scarier than the two horror movies I’ve listed so far. The ocean is cool and comes across as this snazzy organism, as Attenborough shows the problem and solution, even if the latter is done gently.

Ocean with David Attenborough is streaming on Disney+

11) Lollipop

Something I didn’t notice about Lollipop when I watched it is that almost all characters are women. Mainly because I was busy enjoying the plot and don’t see gender. A British independent movie, Lollipop is about a mother being released from prison and trying to regain custody of her kids. However, she ends up in a frustrating cycle of not being able to get housing because she’s not living with her kids, and not being able to get her kids until she has her housing sorted. A film with a big heart and plenty of empathy, it’s a really sweet movie and one of the best British movies of the year.

10) Train Dreams

Into the top 10 and we begin with probably the best looking movie of the year, so of course you’re stuck watching it on Netflix. Based on a short story, Robert spends his life cutting down trees in the early 20th century (Why not concrete, I don’t know). The movie is about love and loss and change as he meets characters throughout the whole film and sees his life change, as well as the earth throughout the years. It’s a beautifully shot movie with a phenomenal Joel Edgerton performance to boot in what feels like an epic fight between man and earth.

Train Dreams is streaming on Netflix.

9) The Brutalist

A four hour epic about the life of a Jewish immigrant architect after world war 2, where the whole plot is about him building a community centre? Sign me up. Stunning to watch with a brilliant script, score and lead performance from Oscars narcissist Adrien Brody, I know you won’t watch this film because it’s too long, but the greatest compliment I can give it is that I wanted it to carry on for another hour. The only thing I didn’t get was his love of Brutalist architecture and concrete (Who is he, Mike Graham?).

8) Urchin

Harris Dickinson has been acting well on the British indy scene for years. Turns out he might actually be an even better director. A homeless drug addict is sent to jail in the first 10 minutes of the movie. The rest is a sobering portrayal of him coming out, trying to secure a job and accommodation and stay off drugs. A deeply humanist and empathetic movie which is full of hope and heartbreak, Urchin strikes the balance between narrative and symbolism beautifully.

Urchin is streaming on BFI player from December 31st 2025 or to download digitally.

7) I’m Still Here

The winner of the best international movie at the Oscars, I’m Still Here is such an interesting movie based on a true story set in 1970’s Brazil under a dictatorship. When her husband is taken by the army, Eunice looks to balance looking after her family with finding out what happened to her husband. It’s not a film about getting a tidy conclusion, but celebrating Eunice’s steely determination. Not a laugh a minute, I’m Still Here has plenty of warmth and characters you really want to support, particularly with a strong performance from Fernanda Torres.

I’m Still Here is streaming on BFI Player or available to rent digitally.

6) It Was Just An Accident

Farsi cinema has had a phenomenal year, and when Iranian dissident Jafar Panahi won the top award at Cannes for this movie, it was a perfect celebration of all his work so far. Vahid discovers his torturer based on the sound of his prosthetic. He abducts him in his van and plans to bury him alive, but when he has doubts, he then finds more people tortured by peg-leg to check if this is him (He was blindfolded when tortured so the doubt lingers). We have a dark comedy where this group have their torturer in the van for a day and are going around trying to work out what to do and deal with various obstacles. Very bleak, very engrossing, It Was Just An Accident is a brilliant movie with the single best conclusion to a movie of this year.

It Was Just An Accident is finishing its cinema run

5) Sorry, Baby

Sorry Baby is written, directed by and starred in by Eva Victor, and is the sort of movie to leave you wondering what she’ll make next. A very personal movie with a small scope, this time jumping movie starts with the lead character Agnes having friends around, but something being off. We then see her before her trauma and in the days and years afterwards. It’s a biting comedy, with an anger similar to that of Promising Young Women a few years ago, but far more grounded and realistic instead of pushing for a shock value. Full of hurt and full of heart, it’s a tender movie which is undeniably one of the best of the year.

Sorry, Baby is streaming on MUBI or available to rent digitally.

4) Seed of the Sacred Fig

The second of the Iranian films on this list, SotSF is a tense psychological thriller about a family in which the father works for the regime, stamping people to die regardless of evidence. His daughters are involved in protests, causing a generational divide between parents and kids. When the father’s gun goes missing, the family turn on one another, and following a threat towards them, everything really goes awry. A smart metaphor for Iran which is brilliantly made and acted.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig is streaming on BFI player and available to download digitally

3) I Swear

The British film of the year, I swear is the true story of John Davidson, a young boy, then a man who spent his life dealing with, then spreading awareness of Tourette’s syndrome. While I feared this would be a generic easy laugh brit-flick, it was very tender and honest. Of course some muggles may laugh in the wrong places, but the director and actors knew which moments were amusing and which weren’t. This lead to a heartfelt drama which never felt lazy. It also never felt a need to resolve things where they weren’t resolved in reality. This created an honest movie which moved me far more than I thought it would.

I Swear is available to rent digitally

2) Little Trouble Girls

For the best foreign language movie of the year we go to Slovenia where we get Black Swan meeting an Alice Rohrwacher movie (La Chimera or Happy as Lazzaro). Lucija is part of a choir who hates to sing loudly and is generally shielded from the outside world. Her choir master is pretty mean, however she finds a budding friendship with Ana-Marija, the slovakian choir girl equivalent of Mila Kunis’ Black Swan (Yeah, the films are similar). When they go to a choir retreat in Italy, Lucija also gets the hots for a local construction worker causing quite the tension. Magical moments of fantasy balance with realism to create an effective dreamy movie which totally caught me off guard. One of the rare occassions I agree with my film writing rival boring Peter Bradshaw in happily giving it 5 stars.

Little Trouble Girls is streaming on BFI player and available to rent digitally.

and the film of the year is…

When I choose a film of the year, it has to be one that’s interested me and made me feel something. There are very few films which have made me cry this year. Goodbye June, Bridget Jones 4 and maybe a couple of others? And the best films aren’t all melodrama. They need something good about them and the way they’re made. They need to have a vision behind them.

This year’s film of the year didn’t cause much of a splash on its release, however it received a quiet respect from most who liked it, as well as the top film at the London Film Festival (The second time this award has overlapped with my film of the year). The exciting first on this blog this year is that it’s an animated movie.

With a claymation rough and ready aesthetic and a sweet story about breaking down your own cages, my film of the year is Memoir of a Snail.

Memoir of a Snail focuses on the life of Grace Puddle, an Australian child who lives with her brother Gilbert and her father. Following the fathers death, they are sent to foster homes on different sides of the country and we see the following years of Gracie’s life as she struggles into adulthood. An animated film, Memoir of a Snail isn’t made for children though. While it is sad, it also puts you back together and is a wonderful story of self-empowerment Stylish and sleek, Memoir of a Snail is the film ramble’s film of the year.

Memoir of a Snail is available to stream on BFI player and rent digitally

And that’s a wrap. With about 5 blog posts, I definitely haven’t kept up with this blog as much as I’d like. But who cares, happy new year to everyone except the deep sea trawlers.

2025 Scraps

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Every year I half write a few posts and never finish them. Here is a set of unfinished, unchecked reviews.

September Movies (Unfinished because I go in reverse order you get to see the boring films)

It has been disaster down my street I tell you. As the writer of South West London’s fourth best film blog (according to all known sources), I am in a huge turf war. I went to sleep on a Thursday night, and when I awoke on Friday, my street lamposts were adorned with flags of Jared Leto. Immediately, I went to take down these monstrositys, but then 10 Downing Street Fans of Leto came out and claimed it was just patriotism to their favourite actor/30STM band member/alleged sex cult leaders, but I thought it was an attempt to intimidate people who don’t like bad method actors/band members/alleged sex cult leaders. Anyway, let’s move on from this weird phase of americanised patriotism and go and do what we do best, pretend that people give a shit about my movie opinions.

Let’s start with the suprise hit of the summer: K-pop Demon Hunters, the Korean film which is all in English. A band of K-pop stars need to bring down demons. However, when a group of demon boys come along, the lead girl whom is part demon needs to defeat them while concealing her identity. How do you defeat demons? Well, the power of MMA and song of course.

The animation here is actually really well made. Inspired by the more action focussed excitement we’ve seen across Sony and Dreamworks, it’s an exciting well paced film. However, at the same time it is a film for young K-pop fans, so you know what’s going to happen. Your enjoyment of the film will depend exclusively on your opinion on the songs. Hate K-Pop? This film will be awful for you. Indifferent? It will be fine, but you’ll be bored by the end. Know one band more than BTS? Yeah, you’re giving this 5 stars.

I didn’t hate it at all. The songs were okay, and it was better than the title suggested. An average solid movie.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

The Life of Chuck is a somewhat frustrating film in that it’s pretty difficult to describe. I went in almost blind as the trailer didn’t give much away. A three part story which really stretches out a Stephen King short, the first third is the most interesting. We see the world ending, with a mysterious message out there thanking Chuck for 39 great years. it feels like the time is up and is really helpless. We then go through Chuck’s life over the next 2 chapters, explaining the story a bit more. However, from 5 mins into the second act you can tell what happens

Act one is fantastic. An apocalypse full of mystery and intellegence shot beautifully. I’m there, it’s exciting. What a film. Act two is the only one with Tom Hiddlestone. Oh yeah, he’s the main advertised guy and is barely in the film. Act three is young Tom and it’s a fairly standard coming of age drama. The lack of time with Hiddlestone is probably this film’s biggest weakness. It means we get three acts with innterlinking easter eggs, but a lack of decent narrative. In the end you finish and can’t help but wonder what the point of it all was. It’s just a nice movie but really fails to be some sort of earth shattering revolution.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Caught Stealing is the latest film by Darren Aronofsky, a man who has only made one great film (I won’t say which). Austin Butler is asked to look after his neigbour’s cat. However, when a bunch of gangsters come along he’s in trouble.

It’s high octane easy action fun. Your usual popcorn jam. It’s predictable as heck. Twist villains, moments which will come back, everything. There is a moment where he needs to crash his car on purpose to get over killing his friend in a car crash. That’s weird. However, the cat was nice. I don’t have much more to say. I went to this with Liam which is the only reason it’s getting any page time in this blog. Watch it if you want an easy action movie.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Big Boys is a charming coming of age comedy about a boy called Jamie who goes on a camping trip with his brother, older cousin and her boyfriend Dan. Jamie is a shy boy with no esteem, however he soon finds himself falling for Dan, whom he wants to impress. Meanwhile, his brother is trying to get him to hook up with a girl in the camp. Of course, the hijinks ensue.

Another film which is pretty predictable, the awkward coming of age has been done many times before, and the awkward Heartstopper energy is hardly anything new. Despite that, this film did make me chuckle a number of times. It had its heart in the right place, and is a nice enough easy movie which those in my viewing all seemed to really enjoy. It wore its heart on its sleeve throughout. It was often cringy and awkward, so if you can’t stand that humour it’s a big avoid. But for a standard heart-warming romp this is probably worth looking for.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I Went to the UK’s Oldest Film Festival – October 2025

This blog will be a little different to usual. It will be a bit more rambly as I try and pain a picture. However, it will still talk about the three films I watched, including one which is a top 10 of the year contender.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking? What was the UK’s first film festival? London? Glasgow? Something obscurus. Well, that’s not even the question my click bait title is discussing. By “oldest”, I of course mean oldest average audience. I spent the weekend with the geriatrics, the infirm, those who if they were born the other side of the Atlantic would be in the running for President. I was at the Purbeck film festival. A festival in deepest darkest Dorset, one where despite the proven fraud, the Salt Path was still a sell out. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a live Q&A with Moth or Raynor otherwise I would have been first in line.

Day 1:

I got to the sleepy town of Swanage, Dorset around Friday lunchtime. An agonising journey on the number 50 bus was required from Bournemouth, and all the taffy chewers were using their mobility aides to walk on. Not a bad thing, but after 10 minutes of ambling onto the bus and up to the second level (Why, if you can’t walk quick sit downstairs), they’d stand there for 20 seconds picking where to sit, despite the bus being 20% full. Naturally, the driver would wait for them to sit down, and thus my 1 hour bus ride was much closer to 2. Maybe in peak season, I would’ve been smart to download the Brutalist for a re-watch.

Finally in Swanage, I got to Aunt Claire’s and to spend the weekend with her and her cats Flow and Flow. After a quiet afternoon of reading my book in a café (Pachinko if anyone’s curious. A very good read), we set off for our first film The Mastermind.

This was to take place at the Lighthouse, Poole. Not an actual lighthouse, but an art centre with pretty poor parking. Upon our cheeky parking in the carpark opposite in which we joined 5 other cars in parking on a double yellow, despite the single bay of cars parked opposite (Hopefully that wouldn’t come back to bite us later), we made our way in to the small cinema which reminded me of Curzon Wimbledon before its recent redecoration. My low and uncomfy seat was sat in, the local seniors were all set and after some adverts about Purbeck’s nature and the Salt Pig, an establishment which provides underwhelming food (these would be the adverts before every screening). We then got an introduction from a lady with a name which we weren’t told. She started off by saying seeing those trailers show how “Cool” it is to live in Dorset because of the Salt Pig. Never has Dorset felt less cool than in that moment. She then said the film is leaves you with the question “who is the real mastermind?” On the basis that there is only one character in the film, it feels as obvious as asking “Who’s the boss in Who’s the Boss?” (Angela, obviously).

Very aptly timed, The Mastermind is the new film from Kelly Reichardt (First Cow) about a man who leads a very simple and incompetently done art heist, stealing four pieces of value from the local museum. However, things very quickly go south with the police after him, and others. The film was very slow, and with the title cards being vertical certainly wanky. Reichardt is a slow film maker, and that’s fine. I was particularly tired, and by the end interested in where it was going (The conclusion is abrupt). Josh O’Connor is naturally charismatic and able to do a slow film well (La Chimera for example). However, what I found tougher to connect with in this than First Cow was that the character isn’t particularly likable. He’s not unlikable, but he’s a lone wolf and none of his relationships are particularly engaging. His wife is in one scene, and his kids are very American and very annoying. Unlike First Cow where it’s about the friendship between the leads, this one just meanders and you really don’t care. It has a couple of amusing scenes, but the slow pace leads to nothing, and no real sense of danger or urgency. The music was pretty cool mind. One for the art-house nerds? Not especially. One for the heist movie lovers absolutely not.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

The real drama came when we got out and got the car park, as despite paying the ringo fee, our double yellow parking got us a ticket which wasn’t quite golden. A £25 fine not worth the film, and to make it worse we had a spiteful bus driver blocking us in for 10 minutes. He was pretty much gloating when he asked if we had a fine, and wasn’t prepared to move despite there being an acre of empty space. Should we have parked where we did? No. Was there another option? No. Did he need to be such a prick? Well, it’s the Dorset small town vigilante mindset. Thankfully, the satanic popcorn munchers sat next to me during the film were also trapped in.

Unrelatedly, I have a long standing theory that 50% of bus drivers are nonces, and the one on the number 50 bus I took earlier that day wasn’t giving nonce vibes, so whatever. Make up what you want.

Day 2:

Day 2 started with a volunteering shift at an unnamed Dorset Charity shop with Aunt. I got to hear about one of the staff member’s swollen tongue and a whole bunch of double entendres (Apparently, a Swanage Charity Shop is a hotbed of Sexual Misconduct/Harassment). We also had the second most memeable former premier league manager come in, a Mr Neil Warnock. Unfortunately, as an Exeter Uni alumnus, I didn’t get to tell him that “I also want to beat Plymouth so fucking much”. A solid 12 months for me, having also come across the most memeable a Mr Mick McCarthy in Charing Cross last December. One month to meet Mourinho in a pub and I’ve got the holy trinity. After an afternoon with cousin, aunt and I headed to the old Swanage cinema of the Mowlem to watch a preview of the Cannes Palme D’or Winner It Was Just An Accident.

This cinema which had a lot of charm. It’s a theatre/cinema and again was full of old people. The average age was certainly over 60, however there was one behaviour which I couldn’t endorse. One which should remain in Benidorm. People putting their coats on unreserved seats early and going to the bar for a couple of drinks. Poor poor form Sheila. Sat next to one of these people, I had taken my coat off and was sorting myself out. She asked me to make sure the arm of my coat wasn’t touching her, as it was touching her leg while I was just getting settled. I moved it. It happened to flick back on her leg while I was still sorting it out, unaware. She very quickly got the huff, tutted and moved to a shit seat. Anyway, that’s good Sheila. I’m happy you were miserable, you pathetic seat reseving cow. Old man Terry and old lady Beatrice sat next to me instead, and had much better vibes, despite Terry snoring for a couple of minutes mid film.

The film this time was introduced by an older Gentleman called Woody, whom I’d heard had a penchant for reading out the plot. However, this time his opening was really good. Not too much plot given away, but vital context and a few filming methods to look out for, and the context is actually really important for this movie.

Director Jaraf Pahani is probably the most famous Iranian film maker in the world. His films, often critical of Iran’s regime have always been done with small casts, one camera and very much in secret. This film, which is most bluntly critical of the regime was inspired by stories he’d heard from fellow inmates, as he’s often been banned from film-making and imprisoned for doing so. Therefore, you know his style is going to be pretty bare-bones.

This movie is about a mechanic called Vahid who hears a man with a prosphetic leg who he thinks tortured him in prison, called Peg-Leg or Eghbal. He spends the day finding others also tortured to work out whether it is Eghbal and what to do with him. Naturally, as amateurs it all goes wrong and Vahid, a fundamentally good man has many moral decisions to make throughout the day which could put him and his motley crew in danger.

At times really tense, at other times funny, this film brims with an anger felt by all the characters. They all deal with it differently, but the theme carries through well. The sound is great in this movie, there are subtle moments which work really well. Likewise, the way it’s shot is very good. You never see Vahid or “Eghbal” on the same shot. One is usually blindfolded, so they’ve never made eye contact. It’s a smart engaging film, and the climax is phenomenally acted by Vahid Mobasseri (Vahid), Ebrahim Azizi (Eghbal) and Marian Afshari (Shiva). The particular highlight of this movie was the final scene, which I won’t spoil, but it’s the damn best final shot of any movie I’ve seen this year.

It Was Just an Accident is essential viewing from one of cinema’s most exciting voices.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

I Swear

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Fans of All-4-One who have been crying out for a biopic, get ready for the biggest cinematic disappointment of the year. Now that we’ve got our corny nineties pop reference intro out of the way, I’d like to talk about one of the best Brit Flicks of the last couple of years. While the world feels like its going more to shit, with the rich getting richer and the poor left fighting with one another for mere scraps, a fabric of society tearing apart fuelled by algorithms to feed your anger and prejudice, an availability heuristic dimming the rational mind, British films have remained jolly and wholesome this year, whether The Ballad of Wallis Island, the criminally underseen Lollipop, the downright fictitious Salt Path or new Tourette’s drama I Swear.

Based on the true life story of John Davidson, a Scottish advocate who got an MBE (This is in the opening scene), we start with the adult version of him getting an MBE, visibly nervous. When he walks into the main hall, he says “Fuck the Queen”. I mean, who hasn’t said worse about the royals? We then go back in time when he as a child (Scott Ellis Watson) goes from charming social lad to a despondent, depressed child after his ticks come along. We see the impact on him and his parents (Mum being Doctor Who Paving Slab Shirley Henderson), before moving to a number of years later when all grown up, living with mum and life having stopped he runs into an old friend. From here, he’s (Robert Aramayo) introduced to star of the show Dottie (Maxine Peake), a former mental health nurse with six months to live (We know she’ll be fine, we see her in the opening flash forward). Together they look to get him sorted with job, accommodation and dealing with his condition. It’s no smooth ride. There are ups and downs, but the whole film is a heartfelt and real movie.

So going into this, my main concern was watching this with an old British Audience. There have been some films recently, such as Hard Truths or Pretty Red Dress where the audience laughed at the wrong bits. The awkwardness and the anger, going against quiet social norms adorned to them in moments of these characters suffering. Likewise, there was enjoyment from people at the swearing of Ohh lady daa Olivia Colman in the insufferable Wicked Little Letters. So this felt like a disaster waiting to happen.

However, the opposite happened. There was no out of place laughing, and that is a credit to the movie. It does have amusing moments, but equally its unapologetic in its dark moments and consequence. If John ticks at the wrong time, there is danger, or unpleasant looks from those around him. He lacks human connection at times, and it owns that sadness. It means these ticks are bad for him, and he has to cope. The movie is honest, instead of punching down it lifts its characters up, to make those with him exceptional. It also doesn’t judge those who struggle. It’s interesting that his relationship with his mum isn’t resolved. They don’t become super close, but are at peace. Likewise, after all his work on advocacy, there are situations where people still judge him and keep a distance. This film feels like it’s written from John’s perspective to show his life, not make liberals feel better about themselves. It does show empathy though, it asks you to become better people. It’s a really moving peace, and was far more effective that I thought it would be.

The acting is fantastic as well. The young actors are great, but when we get Aramayo and Peake on screen together, their chemistry is electric. They’re funny at times and heartfelt in others. Likewise, Henderson as the mother who we don’t see much after the first act feels a deep and complete character. All of them do, it’s a result of fantastic writing and acting.

This all adds up to create one of the most affecting movies of the year. One which will make you laugh and cry. It will tear you apart and bring you back together. An essential watch.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Review: One Battle After Another

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There Will Be Blog

I know everytime I write here, I start with an “Oh to update more often”. I’m planning to now focus on smaller posts, about one film at a time, in order to be timely. The monthly ones are fun, but ask me about a film three weeks after I’ve seen it and suddenly the dementia is very early on-set. So we move back to the blog’s origins and talk about the current bookies’ favourite to win the Oscar next year, One Battle After Another

My relationship with director Paul Thomas Anderson is messy. Punch Drunk Love was downright boring. I didn’t even finish it. There Will Be Blood was good, but I watched it one week before a new job and the lead character felt like a spitting image of what was to be my new boss. It took me much longer to trust them as a result. I’m brave enough now to call Licorice Pizza a mess, so one out of three.

One Battle After Another does make it two out of four. An exciting action movie, we start off with a prologue in which “Ghetto” (Leonardo Di Caprio) and Perfidia Beverley Hills (Teyana Taylor) are a young couple for French 75, a revolutionary group declaring war on the USA. Tracking them down is Col. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) who is infatuated by Deandra. After a mission goes wrong, “Ghetto” and his baby escape. 17 years later and with new identities, Bob (LDC) and his daughter Willow are living a secluded normal life. However, Lockjaw has a reason to go after them, and once there is a lead both of their lives are in danger. Willow has plenty to learn, while Bob has to get his head back together.

There are plenty of things I liked about this movie. Firstly, the pacing. At two hours and forty-one minutes, it’s no Brutalist, but it’s a significant undertaking. It certainly doesn’t feel like it as throughout the whole time I was engaged. The writing was snappy, if simple at times, the characters were all light and it never felt stretched.

Technically, the film is really strong as well. It looks great. Cinematography is brilliant, and the soundtrack was wonderful. Peppy and exciting, it tonally matched well. It risked being overbearing at times, but the balance just hit the sweet spot. It’s in for a tough time come awards season against sinners.

The highlight of the film, cast wise, has to be Sean Penn as the villainous Lockjaw. Exciting and terrifying in equal measures, his interactions with Regina King were particularly fantastic. While he wasn’t able to meet that again during the main section of the film, he was still the most exciting part.

While this film is gathering plaudits left, right and centre, it’s by no means a perfect movie. I found the character development a bit stagnant. While Flo had to come of age, Leo’s character and Lockjaw both just remain stubbornly unchanged. It just takes away from any empathy or engagement with the character much further than huh, that’s funny from that movie star who’s acting like a bit of a loser. The film felt very male written and primarily from a male gaze. There was an article about the treatment of black women in the film, and it’s tough to argue with.

The film also felt very American. The humour as well as the politics feel very relevant to a Trumpian landscape, possibly part of the broad liberal appeal. However, as someone who doesn’t find LDC to be naturally funny, it felt like they were desperately asking for laughs which my screening wasn’t giving. Between these facts the emotional crescendo felt just a little bit flat. It probably won’t have the same impact on a British audience, but that’s fine. It’s still a pretty damn fun movie anyway.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

OBAA is in cinemas

Late Shift Friendship Dying Savages

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No, there hasn’t been a zombie apocalypse. I just haven’t been as loyal to the blog this year. A hectic time and an underwhelming set of films this year have kept me away from wordpress. I have still letterboxd, but nobody cares about cryptic crossword clues. However, since I went to Switzerland to see football come home, there have been a few good movies which have got the old typers tingling. But before that, in my hiatus, I forgot the ASBOs. So here’s a quick rundown of who would have won:

Actor: Josh O’Conner – La Chimera

Actress: Mzia Arabuli – Crossing

Supporting Actor: Ryuji Kosaka – Evil Does Not Exist

Supporting Actress: Joan Chen – Didi (With a massive honourable mention to Margaret Qualley in the Substance)

Original Screenplay Memoir of a Snail

Adapted Screenplay Nickel Boys

Animation: Transformers One

International Drama Green Border

Best Picture La Chimera

My Oscar calls weren’t met either. Anora dominated, which is nice for Sean Baker. A decent film, but not his magnum opus which in my mind is Florida Project. Despite not being my choice, Flow winning animation was cute, and I’m Still Here winning international was a charming outcome. Aside from Demi losing best actress, it was a fun night.

Anyway, let’s look at some recent film releases.

Savages is a movie by the team behind My Life as a Courgette. A sweet animation about a girl in Borneo who encounters a monkey suffering de-forestation, before meeting her cousin who is part of a tribe. From here she re-connects with her family and has to deal with the threat to her family’s home. It’s a decent enough family movie. It’s pretty soft and just seems a bit tonally all over the place and far too neat for what is a grim reality. There is a much better documentary about pretty much the same thing called The Territory which you can see on disney plus.

That’s not to say it isn’t a nice looking well animated movie. It just feels a bit shallow. Telling not showing the most emotional beats which makes it occasionally feel lazy and not meeting it’s potential. Absolutely fine.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Late Shift has had an impact on Swiss discourse recently, but gone somewhat under the radar in the UK. A story telling a nurse’s shift on an understaffed wing, it’s a strong empathetic piece which is well acted by the lead Leonie Benesch. We meet an interesting set of patients and there is tension as there is always something to concern the doctors.

I think this one maybe was liked and not loved because it’s something we’ve seen before. While there is a suggestion of unloved nurses in Switzerland, in the UK they get a lot more sympathy (except when they ask to be paid a reasonable wage). This is good, but when you’ve seen Casualty or This is going to hurt or even Scrubs, there isn’t much more to do unless you make something truly captivating. This film doesn’t quite reach the best of those mentioned, but it’s a solid 90 minutes of film making nonetheless.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Dying is a German movie of epic proportions. At three hours it’s no easy feat to get through, but it’s certainly worth the patience. Based on the director’s life, it’s split into five parts. Part one is about the matriarch and patriarch of the family mother and father. Mother is terminally ill, but looking after father who has dementia. Seemingly distanced from their kids, their only help is a neighbour. The second part is about their son who is in a relationship with a new mother while also in an affair and conducting his orchestra on a piece called Dying. His story is about the balance and as the focal point, he has to deal with death around him. Part 3 is about his sister daughter, an alcoholic dental assistant who starts a relationship which only seems to work drunk. Parts 4 & 5 see the family interacting more.

As you can tell, it’s pretty heavy. The themes of family splitting apart are rife here and the distance isn’t there to be resolved, but more observed. Each arc in itself is interesting. The lead son is probably the least interesting part. The parents are tragic, however it’s the sister’s story which is the most exciting, injecting so much energy and chaos that I’d happily have watched a 2 hour movie about her instead. There is a particularly out of whack scene in which she is required to do improvised dentistry which is either the best or worst scene I’ve watched this year (excluding the music scene in sinners of course).

With a strong musical theme and  a sad inevitability, the film joins other slice of life greats like So Long, My Son and Still Walking where it’s not all about resolution. Each performance is phenomenal. Sister and mother could both be on course for an ASBO and while the script does involve some pretentious arty sorts, it never talks to itself, instead always showing a deeper connection to the audience, playing that fine line. The soundtrack is also fantastic and each relationship both in and out of the family feels organic. A watchable family tragedy.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Friendship is possibly the funniest film of the year. It starts with a married couple Craig (Tim Robinson) and Tami (Kate Mara), who are clearly not okay, as the cancer surviving wife has become tight with Devon, her ex, while husband has no lust for life. His job is to get people addicted to apps and all he wants to sit on his chair and is also excited about the new marvel movie which he hears is pretty insane. Craig seems harmless, but awkward. Craig’s life changes when Austin (Paul Rudd) moves down the street. A beer chugging, cigarette smoking, wild mushroom eating, historic nut weatherman, he’s the man’s man that Craig isn’t. He takes Craig under his wing and they become friends. When they hang out with Austin’s friends, Craig finally feels complete, dreaming of their friendship together. However, following a couple of incidents, Austin tells Craig that maybe they shouldn’t be friends. From this, Craig’s obsession leads to increasingly desperate acts for remorse, replacement and revenge with increasingly funny results.

Gosh, this film is funny, but it’s awkward funny. Craig starts off by trying to befriend his work people instead, which goes badly. He then tries to become Austin, leading his son and wife like a gang. But he’s not Austin. We also learn that Austin isn’t actually that cool. But Craig doesn’t see this. It’s incredibly relatable as when we see people we adore, we only see their best, when in reality they feel the same pressures of life we all do. Whenever Craig seems to have a shot at redemption, he does the wrong thing. It’s difficult to watch. Every consequence is his own fault, and he doesn’t learn. He only becomes more desperate to be friends with Austin.

This film could have either really worked or really not, and for plenty of people it won’t. it’s not wholesome, instead a cynical look at friendships and people not being able to change or develop. There is one key reason it works though, and that is Tim Robinson, the zipline guy. Other than that skit, I wasn’t familiar with him, but he plays the loser so well. Difficult to watch as he hurts himself, but you still root for him enough as Craig, his facial ticks are always so perfect, as is his line delivery. Comedy great Paul Rudd is on his best form since Parks and Rec. However, it’s Robinson who is so fundamentally watchable that feels like a dragged out skit keeps its humour going on for the whole movie.

The script hits the right balance. Tonally consistent, but increasingly ridiculous, there are so many funny lines. The deadpan nature of a lot of it really works. There is a particularly brilliant scene set in the Subway sandwich shop. It all just comes together as a wonderful piece of comedy by professionals who unapologetically leap into the bizarre.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

2025 Oscars

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Happy New Year, or is it. One hasn’t posted yet, thus ending his monthly streak. However, this is the time I always post my vibes on Oscars and ASBOs, so should theoretically end up with twelve posts complete at the end of the year. One of the main reasons I didn’t post last month was simply that out of all the films I would have talked about, most will actually be here. So here are my choices for who would win if I had a dictatorship over the Oscars, because screw democracy.

Let’s start off with the acting, then move on to some of the other interesting ones.

Acting Awards

Best Supporting Actor

5: Guy Pearce, The Brutalist – Not an awful performance, but compared to everyone else in the film, he just didn’t quite fit for me, being unnecessarily showy in a grounded movie.

4: Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice – Again, a solid performance, which may have been helped in its campaigning by the political events happening. Strong plays Trump’s lawyer, moulding him into the monster he is with a more vulnerable performance later on. Well done.

3: Yura Borisov, Anora – I was hoping nobody would notice Yura as he seemed a prime ASBO candidate. A henchman in Anora who turns from silent and brooding to her biggest ally. A deep, interesting character who grounds a madcap comedy.

2: Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown – I kept forgetting this was Tyler Durden, as Edward Norton brought in the best performance of A Complete Unknown playing Bob Dylan’s mentor Pete Seeger. Quiet and strong, this is what a supporting performance should be.

1: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain – The only critisism I have of this award is that Culkin is pretty much a co-lead with Jesse Eisenberg. Culkin as Benji makes you cry and laugh as an outgoing man on a holocaust memorial trip who is also grieving and lonely. A phenomenal performance which will be a deserved win.

Best Supporting Actress:

5: Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown – I mean she’s fine as Joan Baez, nothing wrong with her performance. It’s just not as memorable as the others on the list, kind of like the film.

4: Isabella Rossellini, Conclave – Possibly a career nomination, as Sister Agnes, Rossellini doesn’t do as much as some of the others, but her moments are just as powerful. Haing to pick between silence or whether to stand against corruption, she plays a dignified solid role in the conclave.

3: Ariana Grande, Wicked – Probably one of the suprises of the year, Ariana was as much a co-lead as Culkin, but equally funny and a talented singer as Glinda the good witch. The highlight of the movie, she was charasmatic as she was popular.

2: Zoe Saldana, Emilia Perez – Everyone’s favourite Mexican singing lawyer, Saldana put in a fantastic performance in EP providing a grounded counterweight to the melodrama around her. Another case of a co-lead, I thought she was fantastic in a pretty quiet role.

1: Felicity Jones, The Brutalist – Someone who doesn’t turn up until halfway through the movie, which for The Brutalist means she has half a film herself, Jones plays Erzsebet Toth, wife of director Lazslo, she grounds the movie and elevates it, being a counterweight to an increasingly lost lead.

Best Actress

5: Cynthia Erivo, Wicked – Now, I didn’t hate Erivo’s performance in wicked. It certainly wasn’t as good as Ariana Grande’s, but she was good enough in it, and sang fantastically. However, it was absolutely fine and I don’t have much more to say.

4: Karla Sofia Gascon, Emilia Perez – Well, what a historic moment this was meant to be. The first openly trans person to earn a nomination, and it was deserved. As the only non-academy member to enjoy Emilia Perez, I thought KSG was good in her role. It was melodramatic and enjoyable, with some heartfelt moments. For all of the valid criticisms directed at the movie, targeting the acting feels unjustified. It’s just a shame about all the other controversy.

3: Mikey Maddison, Anora – Another good performance from Anora. The titular lead was really good, with both heartfelt and comedic moments. I feel she was a bit let down at times by the meandering script and slow second act, but Maddison was capable of doing the loud and quiet parts really well.

2: Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here – Playing a resolute mother who loses her husband in the 1970’s Brazilian dictatorship, Torres is both a show of emotion and attempted strength. She shows things by saying and not saying things, and acts with her eyes phenomenally. One of the great performances this year.

1: Demi Moore, The Substance – When I saw the substance, I made a note of Demi as pretty much guaranteed to be in the ASBOs as a front runner, so to see her becoming an oscars front runner is the most upsetting thing since Key Huey Quan swept a couple of years ago. Loud, quiet, vulnerable, melodramatic, this performance has everything great and if Moore does win for such a visceral horror, it will be one of the most inspired acting wins for a long time.

Best Actor

5: Colman Domingo, Sing, Sing – Well done Colman Domingo, it’s a big showy performance and second consecutive nomination. I just feel that in this film you’re overly showy. You don’t blend in with the great cast around you. The performance is a bit hammy, much like the whole film.

4: Timothe Chalamet, A Complete Unknown – Another performance I describe as fine. I feel Timmy has really found his way in acting over the last couple of years growing up from mumbly it kid, and at times I didn’t see him and saw Bob Dylan. He was decent, in an okay film.

3: Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice – Proof we don’t always need a sequel, Stan seemlessly transitions from hopeless kid to evil bastard really well. Helped by the hair and make up team and a strong supporting performance from Jeremy, Stan is really good in this film.

2: Adrian Brody, The Brutalist – Adrian Brody is really good in the brutalist. Playing the post-holocaust architect who wants control up against Guy Pierce and Felicity Jones, he’s just brilliant. Vulnerable, arrogant, nuanced and frightful this is what great acting is. Even after 3.5 hours, I wanted to see more of his character and what happened next. That is the sign of a great performance.

1: Ralph Fiennes, Conclave – Probably the least showy performance of the five, Ralph is not at his best when speaking, but in the quiet moments. As the leader of the conclave and election of the new pope, and someone who has lost faith in the church, the quiet troubled Cardinal Lawrence is a complex character which only a top performance can bring to life. A couple of impressive monologues and a love of turtles only help establish this as a truly worthy performance.

My Favourite Categories

These are the three most interesting categories as they usually bring in the most unique films.

Best Documentary

[Note, I didn’t manage to find Porcelain War in time]

4: Sugarcane is a perfectly fine documentary. About Canadian Indian schools, it shows the people investigating what actually happened. Quiet and indirect, it’s frustrating and well told.

3: Black Box Diaries – Nicely hidden on iPlayer, this movie looks at the me too movement in Japan which came in the case of one woman fighting against the friend of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Deeply Personal and well put together, it’s a very good documentary.

2: Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat – What a phenomenal piece of film. Almost 2.5 hours about the role of American Jazz Music and its influence in the world, nicely intertwined with the tragic events in 20th Century Congo and the selfishness with which America uses foreign policy to bully the world (Hmm). So well written, edited and informative, I learned so much from this big picture macro-documentary.

And the Oscar should go to

1: No Other Land – My number nine movie of the year last year, No Other Land is just a phenomenal documentary. About two journalists, one Israeli and one Palestinian documenting the destruction of a Palestinian settlement by Israeli forces prior to October 7th, it’s a really engrossing, urgent movie with lots to say both on its subject and its impact on the journalists. An important film to watch when considering Israel and Palestine.

Best Animated Movie

5: Inside Out 2 – Another example of an okay movie. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it. I didn’t particularly love the original, this cash cow is well enough made and is your standard pixar flick. There’s just much better.

4: Wallace and Gromit: Vengance Most Fowl The other sequel here is my number 4. Well made and with British sensibilities and puns galore, it wasn’t a suprise to see the one film you’ve seen on this blog do well in the BAFTAs. Perfectly likable, but nothing on the original penguin movie or the were-rabbit one, it doesn’t rock the boat but does the usual formula swimmingly.

3: Flow A really beautiful dialogue free movie, if this causes an upset and wins Best Animated movie, I’d be so happy. It’s just up against two exceptional movies. A cat in a flooded world has to be on a boat with other animals and learn to survive. It’s a little Life of Pi of course, but it’s really sweet, and the animals have so many nuances that make them life like. A low budget movie which has seen global success, Flow is what animation is about. Made by a small team using free publicly available software, this is how it should be.

2: The Wild Robot – Dreamworks’ usual addition has been high quality as of late. Puss 2 was fantastic, The Wild Robot was even better. A moving story about a robot on a deserted island who has to adapt to the animals around them, she then causes an accident which leaves her to raise a young bird to fly. It sounds simple, and it is, but it’s really beautiful and reminiscent of The Iron Giant. A phenomenal family film.

And the Oscar should go to

1: Memoir of a Snail – My favourite film of 2025 so far, this movie is definitely not for children. A claymation stop-motion flick, it made me laugh, it made me cry and made me hope. From a group of Australians, it shows the story of a woman who suffers the loss of her folks and cages herself in. It shows her obsession with snails and relationships with the people she meets throughout her life. There’s good and bad people all of whom are memorable and emotionally impactful. Feeling vulnerable and personal, this is what cinema and animation should be. Go and watch it.

I’ll finish off with the rest of the awards, briefly summarising them

Best International Film

5: Girl With A Needle – Denmark, is a fantastic movie. A dark almost Grimm fairytale which is based on a true story. Following World War One, a woman needs to give away her baby and finds a mysterious woman who will do it for her, helping her find a family for it. She then works for the woman before finding a dark truth.

4: Emilia Perez, Mexico – Nominated for best picture, I’ll talk about it properly further down the blog.

3: Flow, Latvia – My thoughts are above in the best animated feature category.

2: I’m Still Here Brazil – Very close second. Nominated for best picture, I’ll talk about it properly further down.

1: Seed of the Sacred Fig, Germany – is not a particularly German film at all. Illegally made in Iran, it’s a really smart film about a father, mother and two daughters, the latter of whom are both ardantly against the regime. The father gets a job as a judge, but is a glorified executioner. There is lots of tension, which only increases once the father’s gun goes missing. A tour de force of a film, it really should be seen and appreciated by a wide audience.

Best Picture

10) A Complete Unknown – I usually hate at least one best picture nominee. Not this year. A Complete Unknown is a film I have no strong feelings over. A Pointless answer in two years time, its biggest qualm is its a bit forgettable. A Bob Dylan Biopic, the performances are all good, but there just isn’t much to write about or say and it kind of shows. The music is good though.

9) Nickel Boys – A movie based on a book about a 20th century Jim Crow reform school. The biggest exciting experiment here is the cinematography. All shot in first person, it is to great effect at times, but often distracting and disorientating. Well enough told, unfortunately the style which at some points is phenomenal can get in the way of the substance. However, it is nice to see risk taking movies be rewarded.

8) Wicked was significantly better than I thought it would be. Well made and paced with a top performance from Arianna Grande. Its a musical, if you like musicals you’ll like it. Sure the setting is a bit ugly, however the rest of the film is good enough, ending with one of the great musical songs.

7) Dune: Part Two was an exciting addition to a strong sci-fi story. Chalamet was great, the spectacle was wonderful. It was also scary, showing the issues with unchecked power (hmm). Sure, there were issues with pacing and unexplored ideas, but as a fun crowd pleaser, the movie more than does its job.

6) Anora has a chance of winning best picture, and if it does that will be a good result for Sean Baker. A movie about a sex worker who marries a young Russian Oligarch, before his family come knocking, its loud but vulnerable at times. The first half is great, the second loses its way a little, but great performances from the three leads and tight dialogue make it a crowd pleasing romp.

5) Emilia Perez gets a lot of flack. Some deserved, some not. Claims its the worst film of the year are a bit excessive. A melodrama much like a soap about a trans woman who changes her identity, then goes back to her family in secret and rights the wrongs of her gang life, it’s not a perfect film by a stretch, but its damn well entertaining, and what is a film to be if not that.

4) I’m Still Here is roughly the point in the list where if anything wins from here up, I’m pretty satisfied. About a family where the father is taken by the Brazilian military dictatorship who deny it, the movie starts with 40 minutes of happy family, letting you meet everyone. Then it changes to a devistating quiet hunt for justice. Fernanda Torres is phenomenal.

3) The Brutalist is most famous for being a long movie, but its an absolute epic about a Jewish architect’s quest for control following his immigration to the US after the holocaust. He builds an ugly building, but the characters are great, the dynamics are interesting and if anything, I actually wanted the movie to go on for even longer. A phenomenal movie.

2) Conclave. Is it possible this wins best picture and that the conclave in reality is in action. A smart if not subtle allegory about populist politics covered in fancy robes and a Mean Girls cattiness, this subtly campy movie is one everyone will enjoy. Top performances, a fantastic script, great cinematography, this small indie film matches traditional film making with contemporary sensibilities, almost mirroring the melo-dramas of the Bette Davis eras. Lets have more of this film.

And Best Picture Should Go To…. The Substance

It’s time to pump it up. I didn’t expect a Body Horror to be one of my favourites of the year. I then didn’t expect it to be one of the Academy’s. A prime ASBO candidate, the film is loud and angry. It’s about the way society treats aging women. It’s about unrealistic beauty standards. It’s about Demi Moore standing naked in front of a mirror for a long time. It’s about her taking an unknown substance to make her younger again, except she needs to switch back and forth every week. Of course, it all goes a little wrong.

With a fantastic script, two of the best performances of the year, and a hyper stylised look and feel, Coralie Fargeat has created a beautiful horrific beast which is what film making should aspire to be.

Best of the rest

Best Director: I’m really glad Sean Baker is finally getting appreciation after the Florida Project was never seen. James Mangold apparently directed A Complete Unknown, while Audiard hit and miss at times with Emilia Perez. I’d love for Coralie Fargeat to win for The Substance, it would be the coolest win ever. However, to make a sprawling epic for under £10m means that the best director without a shadow of a doubt is Brady Corbet for The Brutalist.

Best Original Screenplay: At the time of writing, I haven’t seen September 5 [I have now, it was dull]. The Substance is madness, while The Brutalist is class. My top two are Anora, which is such a fun chaotic movie, or A Real Pain. While Anora’s dialogue is its strongest element, its weaker second act means I need to vote for the Polish road trip masterclass in dialogue, A Real Pain.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Not quite as good as the original cast. Sing Sing felt hammy, Nickel Boys was good, A Complete Unknown dull, Emilia Perez had the line “From Penis to Vagina” as a song, therefore, I have to go for Conclave and its mean girls papacy intrigue.

Best Visual Effects: While I’ve seen most films in most categories, this is where I get yelled down. I haven’t seen Alien: Romulus or Stop the Planet of the Apes. Therefore, it’s between Wicked which was solid, the silliness of Better Man or Dune: Part Two and it’s not even close. Dune: Part Two.

Best Editing: This is the cutty bit, where it’s all about how shots are stitched together. It’s difficult to work out until you’ve seen it done well. We’ll talk about Anora, Brutalist, Conclace, Emilia Perez and Wicked more at Best Picture. My choice here is the beautifully paced rhythm of The Brutalist.

Best Costume Design: Again, there isn’t much film variety this year with A Complete Unknown, Conclave and Wicked joined by Gladiator II or Nosferatu. Wicked does what it does very well here, however I’ll have to go for the sheer class of the costumes in Conclave.

Best Make Up and Hairstyling: Emilia Perez apparently had make up and hairstyling, in Wicked they literally paint Cynthia Erivo green, so whatever. Nosferatu and A Different Man are both incredible pieces of work here, and would be worthy winners. However, I can’t not give it to The Substance.

Best Cinematography: How pretty does the film look. The Brutalist, Dune and Emilia Perez are all here again, the latter feeling particularly lost for this category. However, Nosferatu’s gothic theme was ridiculously impressive. Despite that, Maria was one of the most beautiful films of the year with such strong magical autumnal colours dominating.

Best Production Design: Firstly, I’ll say Wicked just looked ugly, so no idea why it was nominated. The Brutalist was all fields and concrete, which is a shame for a film about an architect. Nosferatu is again strong and Dune looks phenomenal. However, Conclave’s Vatican City in all its beauty has to take this one.

Best Sound: There isn’t a standout, unlike last year when Zone of Interest was unequivocally the best. The Wild Robot is a fun nomination, unlike most of the others. The winner here, again, pretty simply, is Dune: Part Two

Best Original Song: I didn’t watch all the movies, but the best song was El Mal – Emilia Perez

Best Original Score: Wicked shouldn’t be here as it’s not original. Emilia Perez was fun if not controversial. The Wild Robot is an inspired nomination again. The Brutalist is subtle and impressive. However, I’ll have to go for the wonderful score of Conclave which keeps the tension perfectly.

5 – Conclave

3 – The Brutalist, The Substance

2 – Dune: Part Two, A Real Pain,

1 – Emilia Perez, Maria, Memoir of a Snail, No Other Land, Seed of the Sacred Fig

The best films of 2024

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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

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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.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

October 2024: The title which isn’t clickbait

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So I was talking in the pub to my not particularly esteemed colleagues. The existence of this blog comes up. They’ve seen it, I don’t hide it. Luke Harrison mentions that the jokes in here are the same ones I used at work which got the best reaction, suggesting I don’t see my 9-5 as providing the cutting edge good or service I provide, but merely as a test lab for blog lines. Well, that’s it. No more jokes there, or on the blog. Done, finitum, tough luck. He also accused me of using clickbait titles. That’s also done, finitum, tough luck.

Anyway, the rumours are false. I was not given a nice suit and tie to give The Substance five stars. Free tickets to watch Taylor Swift to hype up Paddington 2? Fake news. Anyway, what is true is that between work trips, holiday trips and illness is that my film watching has been limited to Netflix plus a couple of other bits and pieces. Therefore, this piece will be a brief write up of three films of choice.

Let’s start off with Joker: Folie a Deux. I won’t talk along about it to say anything other than it’s the worst film I’ve seen for a couple of years. Following Arthur’s murderous spree, he’s in jail. He has a court case. He starts to feel regret about his actions. He also falls in love with Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn. It’s a hodge-podge of a plot which gets worse and worse. The film is boring, the characters are a mess, it’s boringly unprovocative. It forgets what it wants to do.

The worst element however, is that it’s a musical. Pretty much all of the songs are sung by Joaquin Pheonix, an actor who can’t sing. Meanwhile, most of the acting attempts were done by Mrs Gucci herself, Lady Gaga, a singer who can’t act. It was rubbish, utter tosh. Don’t watch it. I’m not even putting a trailer up to tempt you. Bye

Rating: 0.5 out of 5.

Speaking of crime musicals, Emilia Perez was released in cinemas last week (and on Netflix on 13th November). Rita is an underappreciated lawyer and one day is given a mystery call. She is taken to her client, the fearsome cartel boss Manitas who wants Rita to find a doctor to perform gender re-assignment surgery and then help Manitas disappear and keep his family safe.

Flash forward four years into the future, in London Rita meets and recognises the mysterious Emilia Perez who wants to be re-united with her family and also asks Rita to help her new NGO which looks for missing people. The whole thing is a crime movie meets Mrs Doubtfire, with musical showmanship on the top. It won’t work for quite a few people and took a while for me to get into, but once I did, it was a romp.

By Jacques Audiard, this movie is sickly full of style. Attempting to be a crime drama, a musical and a comedy at times, it balances the tone superbly throughout it’s runtime. As well as keeping a good pace, the strongest element of this film is it’s leads. Both Zoe Saldana as Rita, and Selena Gomez as Manitas’ wife Jesse bring in some of the best supporting performances of the year. However, it’s Karla Sofia Gascon, a transgender woman, who leads as both Manitas and Emilia with such grace, making her one of the most interesting characters on the screen.

Emilia is a complex character, fundamentally loving her children beyond all else, however in moments we see Manitas’ anger come back through, in the world of pain. We see her befriend Jesse who is unaware of who Emilia really is, and hear frank reflections on their relationship. It’s a tale of redemption and a cautionary tale of people who don’t change.

The songs, on the whole, were good. Being in Spanish, there aren’t any standouts from one viewing that I can remember, but all of them brought you into the story naturally. The film itself felt like a stage play adaptation, but isn’t based on a stage play. It is an odd tone, and honestly something I probably would’ve enjoyed to see on the stage more. That said, it was still really well made, and will be far more rewarding to see on the big screen than on Netflix.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Film of the Month

A film which isn’t a crime musical which came out this month was the endearing Dreamworks animation The Wild Robot. A service robot called ROZZUM Unit 7134 or Roz, voiced by Lupita N’yongo washes up on an island in a shipwreck and is turned on. Learning about the island, she soon has an accident and is left caring for a goose egg. When this baby hatches, it becomes her task to raise it to swim and fly. As this isn’t in her code, she develops new code and even emotions to help build a bond with this baby and to help it survive. She is helped by a loner fox and starts to get to know all of the local animals in this sweet tale of community.

The first thing to say is how beautiful this movie is. I don’t know when animation got so good, but between this and Puss 2, Dreamworks are really running ahead in the animation game, eclipsing the standard lazy Pixar efforts. This film looks even better than Puss2, with the nature of the island being beautiful and feeling dynamic, to all create a vibrant sense of place.

The supporting cast also create this. Pedro Pascal’s fox is a big player, but Catherine O’Hara’s Pinktail the possum and Matt Berry’s Paddler the beaver are both stand outs. The leads of Nyong’o and Kit Connor as the duck both bring their all and the writing makes this feel a sensitive and emotional movie. It didn’t have me bawling my eyes out quite like the Iron Giant, however it did have me feeling for all the characters.

Of course it’s fairly standard. The three act story may not throw out many surprises. The soundtrack was wonderful, although the random pop song montage of training and time going by in the middle took me out of it a bit. However, the who film with it’s wonderful place and characters and bond between the lead two characters were moving. This film will win the best animated feature at all the awards shows next year, and while I haven’t seen all the others, I will say when it does win, it will be deservedly so.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

One line summaries of the other films I watched:

Rez Ball – Fairly by the numbers basketball high-school drama. It’s harmless

Uglies – Teenagers get turned pretty at 18. Like the substance but rubbish. Some of the worst writing I’ve seen. Nonsense.

A Different Man – Man who had disfigured face gets miracle cure. Like the substance but okay. A bit of a nonsensical drag.

The Outrun – Saorise Ronan is great in drugs drama. Rest of characters don’t get enough time, so world feels a bit hollow. Slow.

The Apprentice – Trump drama well enough acted, a bit of a cheap Godfather. Doesn’t re-invent the wheel but solid

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consent of Suicidal Person – Light hearted indie twaddle. A solid movie, the title is the best bit.

My Old Ass – Surprisingly funny and heartfelt coming of age indie comedy featuring Aubrey Plaza. teenager has a mushroom trip and meets future version of themselves. Worth watching when streaming. Thanks for the recommendation Luke Harrison.

Sing Sing & THE SUBSTANCE

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You may notice that this month’s film review is weirdly early (or incredibly late if I run out of time). The reason for this is simple. I am a fugitive. Following my decision to possibly loot a CEX for ten copies of Shakespeare in Love, the police are now after me, for crimes in film taste. I have therefore decided to lie low for a few weeks. However, this does mean a lack of cinema for the forseeable. Oh well, consume your popcorn and don’t be like the woman who earlier today said loudly she was unhappy to be behind someone with a big head. I was in front of her. You didn’t say it quietly. Bitch…

Here are the best and the most disappointing films I’ve seen this year.

There are three films I really want to write about. The first is possibly one of my biggest disappointments of the year. Despite many others loving it, I really don’t get the hype behind Sing Sing. Named after the prison in which this true story was set, the movie shows an acting group preparing for a play. Meanwhile, the happy optimist theatre buff writer Divine G (Colman Domingo) has to deal with an upcoming probation review. He also befriends Divine I, played by Clarence Macklin, a hard man who needs to open up. You can guess how it all goes.

The film relies on its authenticity, with everybody apart from Domingo being a prisoner who was in the group. They all give it a good go, with Macklin especially delivering. The look is nice as well, with a good attempt at cinematography. The gliding camera in the room feels intimate. Colman Domingo was also good and will likely be seen around the awards season. However, I found that the movie felt empty. You never could feel the struggle of the prisoners as you never saw prisoners or life outside the theatre rehearsals. The scenes all felt pretty separate as well, more a loose anthology than a tight narrative. Both of these problems meant that I really didn’t feel the emotional pay off. It felt more as if the movie was telling me to be sad.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

While I often don’t like the horror genre, there is an emotionally intense self hurting toil I do seem to enjoy. Whether that be dance drama Black Swan or car coitus caper Titane. There were elements of both of these in what could be the most marmite film of the year, The Substance.

Demi Moore plays Elizabeth Sparkles, a former big time actress spending her days producing exercise videos, like days of old. On her fiftieth birthday, she finds out the company finds her too old and is replacing her with a younger fresher model. She is then approached about a trial product called The Substance which can be used to hack your DNA and split you into yourself and a younger “more perfect” version (as if Demi isn’t perfect as she is). Except the rule is you must switch between them across seven days. As you can imagine, this film goes mad, and pretty damn gnarly.

The best horror films reflect the society they show. Get Out reflects racism, His House the immigrant experience, Black Swan the ideals of perfection and The Substance is no different. Unapologetically unsubtle, it looks at a celebrity culture which celebrates youth and the dangerous extent people go to in order to capture it. It also looks at how people treat beautiful people differently to those not as conventionally pretty (Again, not that Demi Moore isn’t pretty). The film runs like a Black Mirror episode, revealing a character, an issue, a technology and a consequence of it.

My favourite thing about this movie was the aesthetic. Everything felt hyper realistic. The production design was full of neon colours, while the white bathroom where the horror tends to take place felt out of Saw. The cinematography was unapologetically suggestive, making the younger version of Elizabeth often sexualised, compared to her older character. The music was quite grimey in a fun way that almost played against some of the bubble-gum colours. The sound was horrific, and without spoiling anything, the make up in this movie is the best I’ve seen for years.

The actors were all great as well. Demi Moore put herself in ASBO contention if the Oscars do their usual thing and ignore horror (with the caveat that Natalie Portman did win for Black Swan). Considering her usual sort of film, this one felt vulnerable and expertly done. Margaret Qualley who played Sue, or the younger Elizabeth matched her older counter part’s narcissism. Meanwhile, Dennis Quaid, playing a skeezy programme executive is as over dramatic and entertaining as everything else.

What really takes this film to the next level is the script. Winner of best screenplay at Cannes, this film is so unpredictable. It’s fun because you don’t know where it’s going to go. I was sat there aghast and entertained. Amused at times and unable to look at the screen at others. Comedy and horror are intricately linked here, as the movie satires society accurately.

Undoubtedly one of my favourite movies of the year, The Substance is almost perfect. If only it were 20 minutes shorter, I don’t think I’d have a complaint. The ending did feel ridiculous and overly-long and there were much better ways it could have gone. Obviously, I won’t spoil it here, but yeah. Doesn’t stop it being a give star movie.

Go and watch it, in cinemas September 20th.

Rating: 5 out of 5.