The Farewell – The Film Ramble

The Unnominatables: 2020 Ramble Awards

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

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

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The top 20 of 2019

December 31, 2019January 1, 2020Posted in Film, Look BackTagged Beale Street, Birds of Passage, Border, Burning, Capernaum, Eighth Grade, Green Book, Happy As Lazarro, I Lost My Body, Irishman, Last Black Man In San Francisco, Little Women, Marriage Story, Monos, The Farewell, The Last Tree, Toy Story 4, Us, We The Animals3 Comments

We are getting to that time, new years day, where one puts together their list of films. While I’m no Barack Obama, this list should provide a good indicator of what one could have watched and could look for upon a DVD release. Apologies to some films I didn’t see yet Fighting with My Family, Sorry I missed You, The Souvenier, Pain and Glory, The Two Popes and Ford vs Ferrari amongst many others which may have gone into the list had I had the time, but that doesn’t make the twenty any less worthy.

All twenty are from all over the world and provide a variety of genres, so hopefully there is something which takes your fancy. Each one is a brilliant piece of work which gave me enormous satisfaction. There were other good ones which weren’t included. Just because a film is at 17/18/19/20 doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. It just means there were others which I also enjoyed more or in a different way. Apologies in advance to Marvel fanboys and here is to 2020.

Eight of these films are on Prime/Netflix UK so there is no excuse to not watch them. Enjoy!

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Review: The Farewell

October 13, 2019October 13, 2019Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Awkwafina, Chinese Film, Shuzhen Zhao, The Farewell2 Comments

“Based on an actual lie” are the first words you see when The Farewell begins. The lie in question is rather large. Chinese grandmother Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhao) has been for a scan as she has been coughing a bit to much. Her sister goes to get the news and tells Nai Nai that there are benign shadows that will sort themselves out soon. The truth however, is that Nai Nai is terminally ill. Nai Nai’s family all learn the secret and decide to set up a fake wedding. All of them are supportive of the lie apart from her granddaughter Billi (Awkwafina). As somebody who was raised in America, the idea of lying to her beloved Grandmother seems terrible. Yet, she still goes to the family fake wedding, which is an oppotunity for everybody to really get together and say their goodbyes to Nai Nai.

Hear The Last Words