29/012/2018
BLOG NOTICE:
Apologies for huge delay. I'm afraid I had to have a break. And now I'm back I have seen a fair few movies and not reviewed them - and in an effort to get back on top of this blog I am going to have to do one sentence reviews of those I have missed.
Here goes.... Good to be back.
04/08/2018
BLOG NOTICE:
All you saints and sinners I'll be away for a week or so but then back into it. Two big announcements soon - you can barely contain your excitement.
12/06/2018
BLOG NOTICE:
Sorry good-time guys and gals I have been away from a laptop for a few days but I'll be back into the swing of things tomorrow. Also big announcement coming soon.
16/04/2018
BLOG NOTICE:
Unfortunately I am away for ten days without a laptop or wifi in the middle of nowhere. It's a real shame as I have barely missed a day since I started, but I will be back in no time with lots of reviews for you few lovely people who read the blog.
Mahalo until then.
06/04/2018
RIP to the legendary co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Isao Takahata. A creative genius with a mind like few others. He also directed many brilliant films including his most famous Grave of the Fireflies (Day 73).
21/03/2018
As I have recently watched two films nominated in the Academy Award for best foreign language film category (FLF to make it easier) I thought I should make clear my view. The Oscars are of course the most famous and sought-after awards in the world of film. Most people involved in the film-making process will have dreamed of being at the most prestigious of ceremonies. However, there is much controversy surrounding the FLF category. One of these, which I only recently discovered, is that there is a one film per country rule and the film bodies in those individual countries decide which film to nominate. This of course can create controversy in itself, such as a film-makers having ties with their country's organisation/committee. There is also the problem of non-recognised countries submitting films, this has happened to Palestine on more than one occasion. The first time a film was simply not accepted, the second time they had to be referred to as a film 'from the Palestinian territories'. The Academy Awards should NOT be political. If anything film is a way to critique politics and bring people together, so Israeli lobbying against the Academy Awards' original decision to label the film's country of origin as Palestine is unacceptable. More importantly - why can a foreign language film not win best picture? I've got to say there have been some years where this certainly could have been the case and that they at least deserved a nomination. Why can a FLF only win an Academy Award by making an English film?
This, amongst many other reasons, is why you should be sceptical of the Academy Awards. Yes - of course they honour some incredible films, actors, editors, musicians, costume designers, animators etc etc - but they snub a whole lot of them too. So try to go and watch some films that you don't see advertised at the cinema.
05/03/2018
OSCARS 2018 RESULTS
I thought I'd give you beautiful souls my opinion on the Academy Awards results last night. They aren't the be-all and end-all of the film world by any means, but there was a good crop of films this year so here we go...
PICTURE - The Shape of Water - Deserved. Day 51.
ACTOR - Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) - Predictable? Big production company, larger than life character, extensive hair and makeup to transform actor.. Oldman is a fantastic actor but his win feels a bit easy. Like Leo winning last year. [EDIT: Now watched this, I still stick by what I've said here. Day 76.]
ACTRESS - Frances McDormand (Three Billboards) - I called this. From the moment I watched the trailer I called it. Day 46. Shout out to the other actresses (Streep, Ronan, Robbie, Hawkins) in this category though - probably the strongest category of the Awards.
SUPPORTING ACTOR - Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards) - Not too sure about this one. It was definitely a good performance from Rockwell but I have to say this was a weak category this year. I would have gone Dafoe in Florida Project but you all know I love that film so I'm biased.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Allison Janney (I, Tonya) - Another very strong category. I think I would have been happy with any of them winning. Shame Bria Vinaite wasn't nominated though. Janney was excellent. Day 72.
DIRECTOR - Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape of Water) - I would have liked to see Peele or Gerwig win this one, but Del Toro is awesome and deserves it.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - Get Out (Jordan Peele) - YES! It deserved something. Stay woke. Day 50.
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - Call Me By Your Name (James Ivory) - Happy this won something too. The peach scene... Day 42.
CINEMATOGRAPHY - Blade Runner 2049 (Roger Deakins) - Haven't seen this but it must have been pretty good to beat off competition from Dunkirk's Van Hoytema. Also a shame not see our first female winner in this category. There's way too much Blade Runner hype so this win feels scripted, but let's not forget Deakins is incredible.
ORIGINAL SCORE - The Shape of Water (Alexandre Desplat) - Desplat is a powerhouse of a composer. He will go down in movie history for his scores. I wanted him to win this one and he had to beat Zimmer and Williams to do it.
COSTUME - Phantom Thread - It's a film about clothes. No brainer.
MAKEUP - Darkest Hour - Oldman to Churchill. No brainer #2.
DOCUMENTARY - Icarus - Quite a weak category in comparison to other years. I feel like Icarus won just because of its consequences rather than the actual film-making. Strong Island wasn't anything special either. I haven't seen the others but they can't be that good if Icarus won? Day 67 & Day 57.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM - A Fantastic Woman - I've heard great things about this film so I'm happy it won and now I'm definitely going to watch it.
If you've made it this far you're probably getting bored. All the other categories I either agree with or have no opinion of. I haven't seen Lady Bird yet but I'm sad that it and Florida Project missed out here. On to 2019.
21/02/2018
This unemployed man has been part-time employed, which has made watching a movie a day harder. I will endeavour to keep the posts going daily but, as the sharper readers will have realised, I am missing the odd day or two. Please forgive me. And if you don't want to and think I need to up my game? Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
BLOG NOTICE:
Apologies for huge delay. I'm afraid I had to have a break. And now I'm back I have seen a fair few movies and not reviewed them - and in an effort to get back on top of this blog I am going to have to do one sentence reviews of those I have missed.
Here goes.... Good to be back.
04/08/2018
BLOG NOTICE:
All you saints and sinners I'll be away for a week or so but then back into it. Two big announcements soon - you can barely contain your excitement.
12/06/2018
BLOG NOTICE:
Sorry good-time guys and gals I have been away from a laptop for a few days but I'll be back into the swing of things tomorrow. Also big announcement coming soon.
16/04/2018
BLOG NOTICE:
Unfortunately I am away for ten days without a laptop or wifi in the middle of nowhere. It's a real shame as I have barely missed a day since I started, but I will be back in no time with lots of reviews for you few lovely people who read the blog.
Mahalo until then.
06/04/2018
RIP to the legendary co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Isao Takahata. A creative genius with a mind like few others. He also directed many brilliant films including his most famous Grave of the Fireflies (Day 73).
21/03/2018
As I have recently watched two films nominated in the Academy Award for best foreign language film category (FLF to make it easier) I thought I should make clear my view. The Oscars are of course the most famous and sought-after awards in the world of film. Most people involved in the film-making process will have dreamed of being at the most prestigious of ceremonies. However, there is much controversy surrounding the FLF category. One of these, which I only recently discovered, is that there is a one film per country rule and the film bodies in those individual countries decide which film to nominate. This of course can create controversy in itself, such as a film-makers having ties with their country's organisation/committee. There is also the problem of non-recognised countries submitting films, this has happened to Palestine on more than one occasion. The first time a film was simply not accepted, the second time they had to be referred to as a film 'from the Palestinian territories'. The Academy Awards should NOT be political. If anything film is a way to critique politics and bring people together, so Israeli lobbying against the Academy Awards' original decision to label the film's country of origin as Palestine is unacceptable. More importantly - why can a foreign language film not win best picture? I've got to say there have been some years where this certainly could have been the case and that they at least deserved a nomination. Why can a FLF only win an Academy Award by making an English film?
This, amongst many other reasons, is why you should be sceptical of the Academy Awards. Yes - of course they honour some incredible films, actors, editors, musicians, costume designers, animators etc etc - but they snub a whole lot of them too. So try to go and watch some films that you don't see advertised at the cinema.
05/03/2018
OSCARS 2018 RESULTS
I thought I'd give you beautiful souls my opinion on the Academy Awards results last night. They aren't the be-all and end-all of the film world by any means, but there was a good crop of films this year so here we go...
PICTURE - The Shape of Water - Deserved. Day 51.
ACTOR - Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) - Predictable? Big production company, larger than life character, extensive hair and makeup to transform actor.. Oldman is a fantastic actor but his win feels a bit easy. Like Leo winning last year. [EDIT: Now watched this, I still stick by what I've said here. Day 76.]
ACTRESS - Frances McDormand (Three Billboards) - I called this. From the moment I watched the trailer I called it. Day 46. Shout out to the other actresses (Streep, Ronan, Robbie, Hawkins) in this category though - probably the strongest category of the Awards.
SUPPORTING ACTOR - Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards) - Not too sure about this one. It was definitely a good performance from Rockwell but I have to say this was a weak category this year. I would have gone Dafoe in Florida Project but you all know I love that film so I'm biased.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Allison Janney (I, Tonya) - Another very strong category. I think I would have been happy with any of them winning. Shame Bria Vinaite wasn't nominated though. Janney was excellent. Day 72.
DIRECTOR - Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape of Water) - I would have liked to see Peele or Gerwig win this one, but Del Toro is awesome and deserves it.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - Get Out (Jordan Peele) - YES! It deserved something. Stay woke. Day 50.
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - Call Me By Your Name (James Ivory) - Happy this won something too. The peach scene... Day 42.
CINEMATOGRAPHY - Blade Runner 2049 (Roger Deakins) - Haven't seen this but it must have been pretty good to beat off competition from Dunkirk's Van Hoytema. Also a shame not see our first female winner in this category. There's way too much Blade Runner hype so this win feels scripted, but let's not forget Deakins is incredible.
ORIGINAL SCORE - The Shape of Water (Alexandre Desplat) - Desplat is a powerhouse of a composer. He will go down in movie history for his scores. I wanted him to win this one and he had to beat Zimmer and Williams to do it.
COSTUME - Phantom Thread - It's a film about clothes. No brainer.
MAKEUP - Darkest Hour - Oldman to Churchill. No brainer #2.
DOCUMENTARY - Icarus - Quite a weak category in comparison to other years. I feel like Icarus won just because of its consequences rather than the actual film-making. Strong Island wasn't anything special either. I haven't seen the others but they can't be that good if Icarus won? Day 67 & Day 57.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM - A Fantastic Woman - I've heard great things about this film so I'm happy it won and now I'm definitely going to watch it.
If you've made it this far you're probably getting bored. All the other categories I either agree with or have no opinion of. I haven't seen Lady Bird yet but I'm sad that it and Florida Project missed out here. On to 2019.
21/02/2018
This unemployed man has been part-time employed, which has made watching a movie a day harder. I will endeavour to keep the posts going daily but, as the sharper readers will have realised, I am missing the odd day or two. Please forgive me. And if you don't want to and think I need to up my game? Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.