Film – Page 2 – The Film Ramble

Review: Yesterday

July 19, 2019August 5, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Cinema, Danny Boyle, Film, Himesh Patel1 Comment

A Danny Boyle film about the Beatles? Could this be any more British? Well, probably not unless we see a cameo from the queen (But she’s too busy with her Corgis). But unlike a bastion of the world that some would have you think, this film ends up more of a post brexit rubble (Okay, not quite that bad).

Jack (Himesh Patel) is a wannabe pop star who sings in pubs with his guitar. However, his mundane lyrics and over reliance on power chords mean he’s never going to make in anywhere. That is until one day the power goes out and he gets hit by a bus. Upon waking up, he learns that nobody else remembers who the Beatles are. He then uses their songs to make himself a world wide music star.

Delve deeper into the review (VIA Yellow Submarine)

Review: We The Animals

July 13, 2019August 5, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Cinema, Film, Film Review, Indie Film2 Comments

With X-Men, Men in Black and Godzilla all providing an avalanche of CGI , a film like We The Animals can be a welcome change of pace. However, just as CGI doesn’t guarantee a good film, a lack of it means a solid story, action and cinematography is required. What WTA offers is a beautifully told intimate story.

Based on a book of the same name, WTA focuses on Jonah, a 10 year old mixed race Puerto Rican/American boy and his two older brothers Manny and Joel. As the only mixed race boys in the neighbourhood, they have the attitude of them versus the world. Almost inseparable, they are synchronised and have one anothers back. They live in poverty with their mother and father. We see the gritty story of these boys growing up as their parents have problems, ranging from poverty and unemployment to depression and domestic abuse.

WE WANT MORE, WE WANT MORE, WE WANT MORE

Review: Toy Story 4

July 13, 2019August 5, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Ally Maki, Animation, Annie Potts, Film, Jordan Peele, Keanu Reeves, Kids Films, Michael Key, Pixar, Tom Hanks, Tony Hale1 Comment

As this is a new release, there will not be any spoilers

When a precious film gets a sequel, your first feeling is that of dread. By the end of the forth Shrek, I felt let down. Therefore, after the end of an almost perfect trilogy of toy story, one could be forgiven for considering this film nothing more than a potential stumbling block. However, the good news is that this film doesn’t dampen the legacy left by Tom Hanks and co and brings about a new age for Toy Story.

Review: Rocketman

June 21, 2019August 5, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Bryce Dallas Howard, Cinema, Film, Film Review, Jamie Stone, Richard Madden, Taron EgertonLeave a comment

While your mum’s favourite film of last year was Bohemian Rhapsody, I must say it was one of my least. Therefore going into Rocketman, I felt a certain sense of dread. While I love queen, my reaction to Elton is more lukewarm. I like Rocketman and Tiny Dancer and I love your song. But he’s not Freddie. So was Rocketman better than BoRhap?

I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words.

Well, the quick answer is yes. The biggest difference between Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody is that Rocketman is a musical. The songs are integrated within the story unlike Bohemian Rhapsody which was a biopic with songs in. This lends more flow to the story as music is often used to transition between periods in Elton’s life. At first this is odd. As we are told of Elton’s childhood, we get out first musical number dancing with his neighbours in an overcast street to “The Bitch is Back”. While usually effective, some do feel forced in and there isn’t quite enough final variety within Elton’s songs to always match the moods portrayed.

The setting for the film is a rehab center. Elton (Taron Egerton) has admitted himself saying he wants help for his addictions to drink, drugs and everything else. It’s a very harrowing look at where he has come, with a stark contrast against his colourful parties in his flashbacks. The story is well put together and you actually want to watch it unlike BR where you were just waiting for the next song.

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: 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: 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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The 2019 ASBO Film Awards

February 23, 2019February 24, 2019Posted in Film, UncategorizedTagged A Star is Born, Amy Adams, Beale Street, Black Panther, Blackklansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, Bradley Cooper, Burning, Christian Bale, Featured, Film, Green Book, Kiki Layne, Mahershala Ali, Movies, Oscars 2019, Oscars2019, Rachel Weisz, Rami Malek, Regina King, Roma, Shoplifters, Steven Yeun, The Favourite, Vice, Viola Davis, Widows, Yalitza Apiricio2 Comments

This Sunday is the day where Hollywood acknowledge some pretty great films and Bohemian Rhapsody. Will they get the right winner? Maybe. But I’m not going to comment on their choices. Instead I will hand out the 2019 ASBO awards for great films. From this list, you will hopefully get a good idea of which films to watch and avoid. There are plenty of good ones to see, yet a limited time to see them in.

I will use the Oscar nominations as a general framework, but throw in some of my own suggestions.

Now, why am I calling them the ASBO awards when in the UK that means Anti-Social Behaviour Order. Well, my family calls our cat Oscar, even though his birth certificate name is ASBO. Therefore, to restore the balance of the world it is only necessary. So, lets begin:

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