Stan & Ollie
A story of legends and one of the greatest love stories ever told. 4/5 My post about the film is
HERE for your reading pleasure.
Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse
This one crept up and made a huge impact on all comic book fans. Its the best comic book film I've seen, maybe even better than my beloved Guardians of the Galaxy. This Spider-Man film not only manages to side step some of the terrible films that came out, it even pokes fun at them. The fact that there are multiple universes and each one there is a Spider-Person must mean that there are multiple versions of all the Marvel characters. In this film, this is Miles' time to shine. The film introduces a new Spider-Man, passes the baton, gives him a worthy story to work with, gives him THE best mentor a would be hero could ask (Peter B. Parker perfectly cast/voiced by Jake Johnson) for AND even has time to introduce 4 other great Spider characters from multiple universes AND bring villain King Pin back to his original place, fighting Spidey as well make Dr Oct a woman voiced by the amazing Kathryn Hahn, literally all my dreams came true with this film. Story and characters aside, the film is brilliantly animated, making it look like a comic literally came to life, with the voiceover, speech bubbles, the black lines of the panels. This film is so brilliantly constructed, it shows up all the previous efforts, this film is pure comic book heart. 5/5
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden Kingdom
A satisfying and emotional close on a fantastic franchise. My review is over at VultureHound and can be read
HERE 4/5
Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte
Whatever happened to Baby Jane? Well, she made this film with the bare bones similarities but then her sister left the set so Olivia De Havilland stepped in. 3/5 My review is over at VultureHound and can be read
HERE.
The Lady Eve
One the best screwball comedies, I laughed so much out loud. They really don't make 'em like they used to. 5/5 My review is over at VultureHound and can he read
HERE.
Burning
I missed this at LFF due to scheduling clashes BUT with the hype that grew during and after the festival, I knew I couldn't miss it again. With a pace slower than pain drying, this thriller doesn't have any scare moments, there are no 'big reveals' but instead plagues your mind as you try to put the very few clues together. Lonely would be writer Lee Jong-su bumps into old school fellow Shin Hae-mi after years. At first it seems this is going to be a not so romantic story about two lonely people who used to know each other but instead flips what you except of this mysterious story. She leaves for a trip and returns with the mysterious, handsome and wealthy Ben. Jong-su ends being the third wheel to the couple. He observes them, suspicous of Ben and his beahviour, remarking that Ben is a Gatsby. No one knows how he makes his money or where it comes from. A mystery unfolds as pieces start to fall into place, we are left to draw our own conclusions despite what happens on screen. The story unpeels itself, creating unease from the moment Ben is introduced, giving a whole new meaning to a slow burner thriller. 4/5
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Amongst the Oscar darlings there was a hidden gem directed by Marielle Heller, based on the true story of how literally down on her luck writer Lee Israel forged thousands of letters from famous writers. It takes a while for Lee to get going in her new venture which proves to be lucrative and along with her down his luck friend Jack, they live a little, that is, until they are found out. The story isn't a huge story as in there is no over the top dramatics, except from Richard E. Grant as Jack but that's who he is. Deservingly so, both Grant and Melissa McCarthy were nominated at the Oscars. Both great roles in what I'd describe as a quiet film which reflects on how far you'd go to pay the bills and be able to sleep at night. 3/5
Polar
I love a good hitman story and even more so when its crazy and ridiculous, think Smokin' Aces but without the police side plot and undercover bit. The infamous Black Kaiser is about to retire which means the company he works for, even hitmen have a boss, will owe him 8 million, which they clearly don't want to pay so his wacky clothed boss gets his hit sqaud out to kill him. In the meantime hes settled into a cabin and even made friends with his neighbour. What follows is a spectacular bloodbath of bullets and mayhem and Mads Mikkelsen, the Kaiser himself, barely flinches. 3/5
Velvet Buzzsaw
There was little hype except for a trailer that arrived a month before it appeared on Netflix but since there was so much hate and misunderstanding about this film, it deserves a post of its own. 4/5
Piercing
What the hell was that? I asked myself throughout this film even though I knew exactly what I was walking into. A man who has the desire to kill someone with an ice pick casually books a hotel room and arranges for a call girl who does S&M to come to his room where he plans to kill her. He has it all sorted and written in detail in his notebook. BUT when she shows up, she's even crazier than he is. A brilliant two hander from the very beautiful Christopher Abbott and the fascinating as ever Mia Wasikowska who dance around each other is a strange and sometimes even erotic way. Biazrre to say the least but again, expected as the film is based on a novel written by the same guy who wrote Audition, which the film was based on. There's something so desparate and immaculate about the two characters and in another time and place, they could have made each other so happy, if they weren't so deranged. 3/5
The Guilty
This is one of those, just one person on screen throughout the film while he makes lots of calls and like the others, its one hell of a suspensful thriller. 4/5 My review is over VultureHound and can be read
HERE.
