5 to 7

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Well here's another film I've managed to see early enough that I can't find a trailer for it to link to anywhere on the internet yet. Sorry about that.

It's a nice little romance where Anton Yelchin, playing a young writer trying to break into the business, meets and falls in love with a french woman only to find out she's married and has two children but the husband and her have an agreement that from 5pm to 7pm they are allowed to be with other people. Apparently it's some old french tradition.

Needless to say things start out wonderfully but as he falls more in love, the arrangement becomes problematic and is not enough for him.

The film has a great cast and is funny and sweet enough however the end becomes really clawing and saccharine, overusing the voice over and with more endings than Return of the King. Pity, because the start was alright.

The Babadook

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan, Amberly

Write up.

Gotta keep your grief monster fed y'all.

Ida

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

A quiet and steadily paced film, shot beautifully in black and white and in 4:3. The framing and composition is certainly unique. The story is simple and told in a very straight forward manner. There's something very subdued about it, like the main character, always shying away from the big moments and living quietly in between. A lovely little film.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Mum, Naomi, Rebecca, Tom, Cassie, Jordan, Amberly, Tamara, Gemma

And with that I guess the cinematic Middle Earth saga is over. Not surprisingly, it's the shortest film of the 6, as it's only really covering one chapter of the book. All the story points wrap up pretty quickly in the first 15 minutes and then... BATTLE.

I did not know that Billy Connolly had been cast in this film. Amusement.

The battle scenes here are, understandably, not as grand in scope as Return of the King. They do keep things interesting with multiple one on one fights in various terrains and the thematic reasoning for all these invented characters and subplots get payoffs, to varying degrees. I did like Thorin and Azog's final showdown. Boss Level.

And seeing the old guard kick some butt at the beginning was great fun too. That set up a bunch of other plot elements, that tied into Lord of the Rings, but I was kinda hoping we'd see more in this film after the battle. It appears the didn't want to multiple ending syndrome that Return of the King was criticised for and though there's a few jumps in time, it wraps up pretty swiftly.

I think this is a film that'll work better in a marathon, I'm glad I had recently seen Desolation of Smaug and everything was fresh because the film picks up right where we left and hits the ground running.

48fps 3D again. And once again after a few minutes, you're used to it. It's a very different look. I don't mind it so much for these films with their constant kinetic camera pans, it does help smooth them out. But for purists you've always got the option to see it normally, which is great.

It's strange because it feels a little lacklustre compared to return of the king, but really the scale is not meant to be anywhere near as big as that, and if you watched them in order, it'd progress well. It could also just be the CG battle action fatigue.

Big Hero 6

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Therese, Tamara, Naomi, Sam, Tom, Jess, Jim

Disney's first Marvel animated film. Gotta love synergy. Great to see a 3D animated action film that's filled with incredible visuals and designs. There were some segments where the world design and lightning look incredibly realistic. It's a pretty standard hero origin story, this time all our protagonists have the power of SCIENCE! Much like Tony Stark, they make their own tech.

And the heart of the film is Baymax, and the relationship between Hiro and his brother. There's enough touching moments to make you care and enough funny moments to make you laugh. The rest is some cool 3D action, so what's not to love?

As usual, there's an end credit scene, and a Stan Lee cameo. He now comes in animated form.

It's certainly a different kind of movie for Disney animation but one I hope they'll continue in between their usual endless parade of princess musicals.

Screens with a short, Feast, about a dog with an appetite. It was ok.

The Interview

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen make another bromance and this is probably their most cartoonish (until they release their ACTUAL cartoon Sausage Fest). The whole world of the film is a heightened reality filled with ridiculous celebrity cameos at the beginning, many pop culture references to Lord of the Rings and Katy Perry a lot of dick and poo jokes and gleeful violence they showed a knack for in This Is The End. 

It's a slight film. Silly and fun and doesn't really have anything big to say. I found it an enjoyable watch. 

To think that such a silly little movie has such huge implications is astounding. It truly boggles the mind. And that I can even watch it today when just two days ago it would have been an impossibility is also bizarre. The story surrounding this film is something we're still right in the middle of and the ramifications of it will be felt for a long time to come. 

The Imitation Game

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

I seem to recall Tom Stoppard scripted a film about cracking Enigma a decade ago, and it was pretty good. This film however, focuses more on the life of the central man behind the story. We get to see a bit of his childhood and life after the war interspersed between the telling of the cracking of the code. He's an interesting character to follow and it is a fascinating story. Enjoyed the film.

Into The Woods

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tamara

Been waiting years for this one. I always imagined this show, probably my favourite musical, as a movie and now it is one. It's pretty good too. I already love the songs and story and the adaptation works well to distill it down, most of the cuts happening in the second act and entire characters and subplots gone.

Technically the film is pretty good, it feels very stage bound and limited, particularly in the second half but the lighting is always sumptuous. I figured they'd open it out more than they did, obviously even a big production like this has real budget limitations. Especially apparent when Red is eaten, or there are giants.

For the most part, we are still told stories by the characters rather than seeing them happen, the Baker standing in for the audience. The exception being Cinderella stopping time on the steps of the palace. That was kinda neat.

The cast all do well, and the singing is fine. Johnny Depp give a very Johnny Depp performance that will undoubtably annoy some, but he's not in the film much so it's not a big problem. Daniel Huttlestone, who plays Jack, has a really annoying speech impediment. Maybe it's just me that'll notice it.

All the small added lines and new parts excited me. There's certainly a lot I miss. Easily the audience favourite part will be the prince's duet Agony, which is brilliantly performed and choreographed and shot. Only a handful of other numbers feel as well staged. I know the musical slows down in the second half, once the ticking time clock of the quest has finished, plus they've truncated it even further in the adaptation, but the lackluster way the last third of the film ends with people standing around broken trees on a cramped soundstage singing at each other is a let down. The rousing finale is non-diagetic, simply thrown over the top of the scene. A real disappointing way to end, even if it does speed things up. None of those last songs hit as well for me because those themes aren't set up well at all. And I don't mean musical themes either, there's plenty of times the score plays music used later in song and even of deleted numbers, just to rub it in the face of people that know the score. I miss that Agony reprise, especially after the first time around word so well.

All in all, it's the musical I know and great to see on the big screen with nice little flourishes of inventiveness. The whole first half is very satisfying indeed, the second a little lacklustre but still an enjoyable experience overall. No doubt I'll have more to say on second viewing, but I'll leave it here for now.

In Order of Disappearance

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

This is a dark and fun revenge thriller filled with some colourful characters. It's pretty straight forward plotting and the striking setting lends itself to the cold and stark story being told. It's a somber affair at the beginning but as the bodies start to pile up (accompanied by titles of who died when, hence the english title) and things get more out of hand, watching these characters unravel is pretty funny as well.

The film is anchored by performances from Stellan Skarsgård and Pål Sverre Hagen who, the more I see in films the more I enjoy watching him. He plays the main villain here and he looks like he's having a good time with this neurotic gangster character.

The ABCs of Death 2

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler, Kate, Andrew

The second in this anthology horror series. As usual, some great, some not so great with an interesting mix of known and unknown directors from around the world. Over all this is a much more serious affair than the first time around, there are less wild and outrageous segments although there are still plenty of comedic skits.

It goes along a quite a pace but there was a big lull in the middle with a bunch of shorts that just didn't connect with me. A good thing there were a bunch at the start and the end that were fantastic.

Julia's Eyes

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With:Andrew, Kate, Tyler

Write Up.

We Are the Best!

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Probably the most charming coming of age film about punk music I can think of. Very funny too. There's a great naturalism to the young cast and it all feels very authentic. A most enjoyable film with a slammin' finale that had me giggling all day. Delightful.

Get On Up

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Another music biopic. And while it has much of the same tropes as every other music biopic it has fun telling it in a funky way. James Brown directly addresses the audience from time to time, jumping in and out of scenes and narration as well as constantly jumping back and forth in timelines in the middle of scenes, filling out backstory as it's needed. It keeps the film moving and never feels like there's a big chunk of exposition, or this is the sad part now, or this is when he turns it around and it all comes together.

I don't know much about the man's life but for sure it feels like while they cover a lot of ground they skip over large chunks as well. But while they don't make him a monster, they don't shy away from showing much of his darker side.

This wasn't particularly one I was looking forward to and while it didn't blow me away it certainly defied a lot of my expectations in how it was made, so that's great.

Batman: The Movie

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler

Unexpected Burgess Meredith double!

I grew up with this movie. I never understood how funny and camp it all was, it played as a completely legitimate action film to me as a 3 year old. It was only years later when I watched it again how utterly ridiculous and truly hilarious it all was. So great to own on bluray. So exciting someone finally cleared up all the rights issues and has released the original tv show on bluray too. I'm looking forward to checking it out for the first time.

Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb.

So much joy.

Clash of the Titans

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler

Write Up.

So great. A recent outing to the theatre put this film in viewing rotation.