Review – Page 17 – The Film Ramble

Review: Pokemon Detective Pikachu

June 14, 2019August 5, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Cinema, Film, Ryan ReynoldsLeave a comment

Pokemon, but in real life. This is my younger self’s dream, getting a Pokemon and being the very best like no one ever was (For the record, I would’ve chosen Squirtle). I owned the cards and grew up watching the TV show and still remember Ash being late, only getting a Pikachu which would shock everyone, stealing Misty’s bike, beating Brock’s rock type Onix (Which he shouldn’t be able to do by the way) and most emotionally, I remember the orignial Pokemon film and the sadness of Pikachu crying when Ash was turned into a statue [Spoiler alert]. So when a couple of years ago, Pokemon Go came out and took my summer by storm, my inner-child finally could recognise the dream to be a pokemon master. Then Pokemon: Detective Pikachu came along, a film with CGI pokemon in the real world. Needless to say, this immediately became a must watch. Therefore, I will discuss this film as objectively as I can, but also as someone who grew up with these 151+ monsters.

HAVE A GANDER WITH CHARMANDER

Review: Still Walking

June 1, 2019August 5, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Foreign Film, Japan, Kore-EdaLeave a comment

Ninties comedy Seinfeld was regularly described as “a show about nothing”, yet it had enduring appeal. “Still Walking” is similar in this regard. The film is not story driven, but is a very human representation of a family dealing with grief and relationships.

Year of Release	2008
Language	Japanese
Director	Hirozaku Kore-Eda
Age Rating	U (Universal)

A friend of mine was considering whether to come along to this film, but decided not to as his reading around the film was that it seemed downbeat. Upon my return home, he asked whether this film about grief was really sad. Much to his disappointment, I replied that it wasn’t and that it made me chuckle quite a bit and that is of full credit to the director and his script. I first heard of Kore-Eda earlier this year when I went to watch the maginificent Shoplifters (Summary here). The characters in that film are likeable and you learn more throughout this journey.

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Review: Woman At War

May 24, 2019August 5, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Cinema, Foreign Film, Iceland, Woman At WarLeave a comment

In a world with Extinction Rebellion and Greta Thunberg, Woman at War feels very topical. Hanna (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir) is an Icelandic eco-terrorist ready to take down the corporate world of polluting industry, whether this is through causing electrical faults or blowing up pylons.

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Review: Eighth Grade

May 13, 2019August 5, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Bo Burnham, Cinema, Coming of Age, Ellie Fisher, Film, Review1 Comment

Hey guys, it’s Joe and I’m like back with another blog post. This post is about Eighth Grade which is like this coming of age film. So yeah umm… it should be a really good post for sure. I’ve noticed that not many people have been reading my blog, so if you could like share and subscribe to it, that would be like, really cool.

Did I do it? Did I sound like a 13-year-old? The above paragraph is an introduction into the world of Kayla, our focus in this coming of age film. Now, I’m not hugely into these types of films (cough *Boyhood*). But occasionally, they can be brilliant (cough *Ladybird*). Eighth Grade feels like the coming of age film for Generation Z, the young people of 2019, the generation who are growing up in this immersive world of technology. It doesn’t really feel like any other films which have a greater focus on parental relationships. It’s very narrow in what it tries to do as young director Bo Burnham tries to send a message across to both kids and adults about the struggles of growing up in the technology age.

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Review: Avengers Endgame (Spoiler Free)

April 28, 2019August 5, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Avengers, Endgame, Marvel, Robet Downey Jr.Leave a comment

This review is spoiler free

Being in a cinema on an opening night is the most wonderful experience, especially for a film with such anticipation as the Avengers Endgame. While not yelling, bawling or applauding (Please, we’re British), I certainly heard a good amount of nuanced sniffling and chuckling from this crowd for this was a big deal. Twenty Two films and many characters would see everything culminate in this three hour film.

Now, I’m not a marvel nerd. But my brother and sister most certainly are, so while I will primarily comment as someone with little interest in Marvel, however I will also include feedback I have received.

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Review: A Clockwork Orange (18)

April 14, 2019April 15, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged A Clockwork Orange, Malcom McDowell, Old Film, Review, Stanley KubrickLeave a comment

This review may contain some minor spoilers as this film is over forty years old. Please also note this film is rated 18 for good reason, so not for those of a sensitive disposition. For context, this is the first time I have watched the film and I watch it at the cinema.

“A Clockwork Orange” is the sort of film you hear a lot about. Everyone says it is grim, even those who haven’t watched it. Therefore, when going to watch it in the cinema, I did so with a feeling of apprehension. Was everyone soft. Would my snowflake millennial mind shatter at what I would see? Within the first ten minutes, I certainly felt uncomfortable. Our lead character Alex (Malcom McDowell) and his droogs commit the most atrocious crimes. Stanley Kubrick spares no details showing us these scenes in a most uncompromising manner.

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Review: Us

April 3, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Cinema, Horror, Jordan Peele, Review, Us, Us Movie2 Comments

As this is a recent release, this review will be spoiler free

Whenever you go to a horror film at the cinema, you are faced with a deluge of trailers for all other genre films, whether it be about some devilish murdering alien boy or the latest Stephen King adaptation about a misspelt animal graveyard. These remind me about how much I dislike the genre. Cheap jump scares, no story, character development and boring acting. By the time the BBFC age rating comes up, I feel like I’ve made a mistake coming along today. But I remember how much I enjoyed “Get Out” and am intrigued as to whether Jordan Peele can follow it up with this new film. The short answer is he can.

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Review: Foxtrot

March 26, 2019March 26, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Cinema, Foreign Film, Israel, ReviewLeave a comment

I like to eat marmite toast for breakfast. It has a distinct taste which I gain pleasure from. But if I have marmite every day, then after a few days the marmite gets boring and loses its pizzazz. However, if I have it once every three days and switch between cheerios, shreddies and marmite, then marmite always packs a punch.

Foxtrot is constant misery. Like marmite toast the sadness is always there. Very rarely does it pack a punch as you’re constantly feeling sadness but not really understanding what for.

Review: Border

March 20, 2019March 20, 2019Posted in ReviewTagged Film, Foreign Film, Review, Sweden, Swedish Film3 Comments

Upon walking out of my local cinema, I heard two people discussing the film that I had just watched. “What did you think of that?” said the female in an unsure voice. “I think it was a bit over-baked.” replied the male with equal lack of conviction. “I thought it was under-baked” replied the woman. They chuckled unsure of what to make of this truly strange movie. While not one for such metaphors, I understood their sentiment. When you walk out of a film like Border, you struggle to get your thoughts in order as you have been transported to a far off place. This film is one of the strangest I have seen and will see for a long time.

To understand the tone of this film think about what Guillermo Del Toro does to fairytales in making them more mature. Now think someone does a Del Toro to one of his films and makes in even more so. This is served up in the cinema and is our film for this week.

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Review: The Kindergarten Teacher

March 12, 2019Posted in ReviewTagged Cinema, Film, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Movie, Netflix, The Kindergarten TeacherLeave a comment

In the first 15 minutes of The Kindergarten Teacher, one of Lisa Spinelli’s (Maggie Gylenhall) poems is described as derivative. Ironically, that is one of the words I would use to describe this film.

Lisa Spinelli is a Kindergarten teacher who is bored of her life. Her kids are growing up with no creativity, her poetry in her evening class is lame, her job is boring. She feels lost and isolated. This is until she hears five year old student Jimmy murmur a poem.

Anna is beautiful. Beautiful enough for me. The sun hits her yellow house. It’s almost like a sign from God.
Anna

From here, she starts to claim his work as her own in her poetry class, with rave reviews. Lisa builds up a connection with poetry teacher Simon. She tries to record more of Jimmy’s poems, teaching him ideas such as perspective. Soon, she starts trying to get his father to support his poetry.

Then Lisa starts to go overboard: Giving Jimmy her phone number, becoming his afternoon carer, taking him to poetry events against his father’s will and more…

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