David
VIP
10

9 followers

Darlington, UK
43

The Good Liar
Judy
The Lighthouse
Foo Fighters: Guardian Angels
Abominable

Abominable is a beautifully animated film and has a fairly engaging story; credit goes to writer/director Jill Culton for writing such a strong and likeable female lead. However, the titular yeti – nicknamed Everest – is a sadly bland and largely forgettable character so its relationship with Yi has none of the fun and adventure of the rapport between Hiccup and Toothless in the far superior How to Train Your Dragon films or even between Shrek and Donkey in Dreamworks' most successful animated series. Everest also functions as a deus ex machina when things appear hopeless so the character aspect which should make him fascinating highlights weaknesses in the narrative.

I enjoyed some of the sequences there were a few emotionally satisfying moments, but overall it felt a bit perfunctory and without the character depth and emotional impact of the best computer animated films of recent years.

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Collateral

It's almost impossible not to compare any Michael Mann film to Heat, one which most people will regard as his masterpiece and a landmark in action cinema, though I personally think The Insider is equally brilliant.

Collateral is probably his fourth best film behind Heat, The Insider, and Last of the Mohicans – it's a brilliant high concept film (a hitman hires a cab driver to help him kill five witnesses in an upcoming court case) and fascinating character study of both the protagonist and antagonist, with taxi driver Max and hitman Vincent being interesting and engaging characters, and the relationship between them is a main reason why this film works so well.

I think it's a visually stylish movie with a great soundtrack, with a perfect use of Audioslave's Shadow of the Sun, and the performances from Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx are both extremely good, with supporting roles from Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, and Javier Bardem all noteworthy. It's been a long time since I saw this and had forgotten how much I like and admire it.

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Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Probably the best in the Mission: Impossible franchise so far and my personal favourite. This is a terrific film and one of the best action thrillers of the last three decades.

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Child's Play
RSC Live: Hamlet

A stunning adaptation of Shakespeare's celebrated tragedy. Paapa Essiedu is mesmerising in the title role, the African setting and predominantly black cast make it an interesting and innovative visual spectacle, and the ensemble cast is superlative.

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Philadelphia

This is a fairly standard courtroom drama elevated by brilliant performances by the two main leads (Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington) and the important subject matter. I don't think it's as groundbreaking as To Kill a Mockingbird but, from memory, it opened the doors for a more honest public conversation about HIV and AIDS in the UK. (From the comments in the publicity material, the was true for the US as well.)
The whole film is extremely well handled by Jonathan Demme, with typically engaging conversations due to the extreme close-ups and the actors looking directly into the camera and at the viewer, and the fine supporting cast which is notable for the high number of gay men, is as notable as the Oscar-nominated and Oscar-winning performances from the leads.

Bruce Springsteen's theme song – Streets of Philadelphia – is also one of the most thought-provoking and lyrically engaging songs recorded for any film, but praise must go to Neil Young for his eulogy-like song which plays over the home movies at the end.

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Sorry to Bother You

Boots Riley has been something which is often brilliant. This is an incredibly ambitious, funny, provocative, and thought-provoking film. It drifts a bit in the third act and I'm not sure the fantasy elements entirely, but the satirical promise and scattergun humour makes this a fascinating watch which will probably lead to conversations about difference, communication, and employment.

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Shrek

A smart, funny, and endearing modern day fairy story movie which manages to be as popular with adults as it is with children.

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Shrek 2

The first Shrek film was such a critical and commercial success because of its smart writing and directing and, with the voice talents of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz, two lead characters who were fully rounded, funny, and identifiable.

By keeping the core cast intact and introducing new characters in the form of Princess Fiona's parents (voiced superbly by John Cleese and Julie Andrews), the wonderful Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders), Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) and Puss In Boots (Antonio Banderas), this sequel manages to stay fresh with an entertaining and endearing storyline, great characters, and animation that still looks superb a decade after it was theatrically released.

As sequels go, it may not be Toy Story 2 or The Godfather Part II, but it is a film which is both laugh out loud funny and emotionally engaging.

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Shrek the Third

I always feel this is overwritten and little baggy without the wit and intelligence of the previous two films. Part of the problem is that the story with Artie (Justin Timberlake) never has the emotional impact it should, and the the chemistry between the characters isn't as strong as the first two films in the series. There are a few good laughs but it's a fairly mediocre film which is mostly redeemed by the feeling it leaves you with because of the final scene.

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Shrek Forever After

Much darker in tone than the previous Shrek films, this one is clearly challenging Frank Capra's Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life as it sees Shrek looking at a world where he had never been born. As with Capra's film, it sees protagonist yearning for everything he left behind, a life which was previously leading to a sense of ennui and a very, very short fuse.

The tonal shift is welcome following the third instalment in the Shrek series this one seems more introspective and soulful than the films which succeeded because they were comedic riffs on traditional fairy tales and movie tropes.

The tone is reflected in the aesthetics, so the film is visually darker, but still has superb animation and, again, a brilliant cast to lend their characters their vocal talents to great effect.

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1917
Scarecrows
Straight Outta Compton
Drive Angry
Steve Jobs
Little Women

This latest adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's celebrated novel is an absolute delight and a triumph of filmmaking by Greta Gerwig. It is very cleverly written, incorporating how the book was written and the visualisation of the book, all using the same cast.

It's a film that looks as if the production costs are high, with great costumes, make-up, and all other aspects of the production department who have recreated 19th-century New England on location, so it feels authentic. The film has a lush, evocative soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat and a magnificent ensemble cast including Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Laura Dern, Tracey Letts, Bob Odenkirk, and Meryl Streep without a single weak link.

This is Gerwig's second collaboration with Ronan after 2017's multiple Oscar-nominated Lady Bird, and it would be astonishing if history wasn't repeated with Gerwig and Ronan receiving Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Actress, respectively.

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A Most Wanted Man

In his final film, the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman shows exactly why he was generally acclaimed as one of the finest living screen actors.

With this beautifully plotted adaptation of the John le Carré novel of the same name, Anton Corbijn (a director I've liked since his music videos for Nirvana, Metallica and U2) shows he is more than just a music video director, building on the promise he showed with the brilliant Control (2007) and The American (2010) to make a film with increasing levels of suspense, making it a thoroughly engrossing experience.

This isn't something you can put on while ironing or browsing the Internet, but a film which deserves your full attention and rewards your time and mental energy, drawing you into a web of espionage with a powerful dénouement.

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