Minari

There was a great deal of controversy when the Golden Globes, in all its infinite wisdom, placed Minari in the Foreign Language category (the same thing happened to Lulu Wang’s The Farewell just over a year ago). Dubbed racist, this is a binary and robotic following of their rigid rules from the Golden Globe committee who seem to struggle with the idea that a film in a different language can still be American (it’s becomes more controversial as they didn’t place the likes of Inglorious Bastards into the same category). There’s nothing “foreign” about Minari as its an American film about a very real American ideal. An ideal which has, for centuries, tempted people from all over the world to the prosperous lands of the United States of America, each of whom contributed to the story of America’s relationship with its immigrants. 

Days

 

Tsai Ming-liang’s Days is the type of film the words “deliberately paced” was invented for. This meditative, virtually wordless film relishes in its slowness to the extent it’ll test the patience of many film-goers. Director Tsai Ming-liang allows his shots to linger in a way that’s a contrast to modern cinema. These shots, static and ponderous, linger on day to day activities in a busy city as people go about their lives. Among these people are Kang and Nom, one lives alone in a large house and the other in a small apartment. We follow these two as they go through the day, until they finally meet in a small motel bedroom.

Out of Africa

 Oscar Winners or hopefuls can be a little pompous. The academy gets a lot of stick and whilst they’ve made some shocking choices, the list of best picture winners generally isn't awful. The 1980s did see quite a few stuffy historical epics take the crown with Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Amadeus, Out of Africa, Platoon, The Last Emperor and Driving Miss Daisy winning best picture (that makes 7 of the 10 winners). Obviously, films in this list are better than others and some are less stuffy than others, but Out of Africa wins the Oscar for being the most stereotypical Oscar winning film.

Tenet

Christopher Nolan’s Tenet is the only really big movie to soldier through the pandemic and be released in cinemas during the most lucrative time of the year. Others like Black Widow, No Time to Die and Mulan all were either pulled back to later in the year or released on a streaming service. Rightly or wrongly, Tenet went ahead with its release with many cinema chains banking on Nolan being so in demand people (some) will go out to their trip first cinema in half a year.

Selah and the Spades

 At Haldwell Boarding School there are five factions. Each faction plays a role within the school, for example the Prefect faction makes sure the teachers aren’t aware of the students’ partying. The main faction are the Spades, led by Selah (a superb Lovie Simone), and their main role is to supply everyone with the fun stuff (drugs and alcohol). Selah is in her final year and is looking for a successor to lead the Spades. The search is a tough one, but when Paloma (Celeste O'Connor) joins the school, Selah strikes up a friendship thinking she has found her successor. 

Artemis Fowl

 

One of the many affects of the COVID-19 pandemic was an increase in the number of movies, that would have had a cinema release, which went straight to VOD or had a shorter run in the cinemas. Artemis Fowl is one those movies that skipped the cinema and went straight to Disney’s streaming service. It was probably for the best as it has all the makings of a box office disaster for more reasons than simply being really bad. Simply being good wouldn't have saved the film as it’s part of the genre (young adult fiction) that has decreased in popularity since the Hunger Games and Twilights days, and it’s start of a franchise rather than being one that’s already established in the movie industry (plus this has been in development hell since the early 2000s).

The Invisible Man

After the lukewarm reception, both critically and financially, to The Mummy, Universal’s idea for a Dark Universe based on their horror characters of the past was put on hold before it had even begun. This included The Invisible Man in which Johnny Depp was tipped to star. However, this version of the story was left on the wayside and was picked up by Blumhouse Productions who hired Leigh Whannell to direct and rewrite the story.

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

When I lived in Ealing, I used to live near an abortion clinic which found itself in the news frequently. It was often a site for anti-abortion protestors to sit outside and harass women going in making, I imagine, an incredibly difficult decision in difficult circumstances. The circumstances of each woman are going to be different woman to woman and whilst there is now a buffer zone in place the presence of those protestors mirrors a later scene in Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always.

Da Five Bloods

The Vietnam war was the first televised war for Americans. Granted, Americans could see the horrors of the Second War World in newsreels, but for the first time horrific images of the victims of war was beamed directly into the home of every American with a television set. It’s one of the many reasons why the anti-war crowd was so strong and numerous and their clashes with the heavy-handed police so vicious.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Since the release of a Portrait of a Lady on Fire a lot of discussion has been generated about the differences between the male and female gaze. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is directed by Celine Sciamma who is female and also a lesbian. What this does is give the film an entirely different feel and gaze to the likes of Blue is the Warmest Colour and The Handmaiden, both of which were directed by men. Even having not seen Blue is the Warmest Colour I know it’s quite famous (or infamous) for a very long sex scene whilst The Handmaiden was more graphic than your usual period drama.

Underwater

 

A few people have been a little sarcastic about this much delayed underwater creature feature by calling it The Abyssmal. A little harsh on a decent, if perfunctory, film but you can’t really deny the obvious parallels between this and the likes of Alien and The Abyss. Set seven miles below the ocean surface, a ragtag team of survivors fight for their lives following a deadly explosion at an underwater station. It’s believed that an earthquake caused the explosion, but it appears human activity 20000 fathoms under the sea has awakened something unknown to humanity.

Bombshell

 

“Liberal Hollywood is racist” “They are the elite” “They are very bad for our country” proclaims Donald Trump in a series of tweets. Its fair to say that Donald Trump and his supporters dont take to kindly to lefty, snowflakey Hollywood. So it was somewhat of a surprise that a film pops up depicting the main anchors of Trump’s leading supporting newswork as the heroines. Based on the 2016 sexual harassment scandal that plagued Fox news, Bombshell stars as Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly who becomes part of a scandal that ousts Roger Ailes.

1917

 

There was a lot of media hubbub about how 1917 was shot in one continuous take. In fact that seemed to be the main selling point of the movie even though its not entirely uncommon. When thinking about films made like this most people’s minds go as far back as Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope which, rather than being a single take, was several long takes that have been subtly edited to appear as though its a single take (this is how 1917 was filmed rather than being one take). Even previous films about war have seen long takes make a great impact such as the Dunkirk scene in Atonement and the trench sequences in Stanley Kubrick’s anti-war film Paths of Glory.

Parasite

 

Ever since Parasite was awarded the Palme D’or back in May 2019, it had become the film to see. Rave reviews, excited buzz and Oscar nominations led to Parasite become the first ever film not in the English language to win the Best Picture. Even before this historical moment, the screening I went to was packed, save for the first few rows, and the audience gasped at the right moments, laughed at the right moments and seemed to be genuinely into the film with one remarking “that was intense”. I, obviously, don’t know how often the patrons attend screenings of foreign movies, but Parasite’s incredible victory may inspire them and others to see other foreign films if the likes of Vue and Odeon show them outside London.

JoJo Rabbit

 

Ever since the 1940s Hitler has been a source of comedy, notable early films include Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator and the more broad comedy Let George do It (To Hell with Hitler) where George Forby punches Hitler in the face (something similar happens in JoJo Rabbit). Therefore, it’s slightly disappointing that Taika Waititi's film is more like Forby’s broad comedy rather than the biting satire of Chaplin’s The Great Dictator. 

Little Women

 

I can’t say I knew too much about the story of Little Women except it was based on the lives of four sisters in and round the American Civil War. Going in fresh in one of the most widely read and frequently adapted novels probably put me in the minority but going in fresh meant I could enjoy the story with no prior knowledge.

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker

I didn’t like The Last Jedi. Not because of the narrative or any risks taken by the director, but the fact that the film treated its villains with such a lack of respect that the supposedly diabolical First Order looked like it was run at a bunch of buffoons, especially General Hux. When the evil force is one big joke, how are we supposed to take the threat they pose seriously? There were, of course other flaws but the main problem was the lack of threat posed by The First Order. 

Black Christmas

This year’s Black Christmas is the second remake of the original film from 1974. Where the 1974 original film used the slasher blueprint effectivly, long before John Carpenter’s Halloween, the 2006 remake was pretty forgettable and generic slasher flick. The 2019 is a different beast, it tries to step away from the generic slasher and bring in a more modern take by dealing with topical themes of sexism, assault and female empowerment. 

Knives Out

 Many of the Poirot movies always end up with him, played by a Brit with an exaggerated French-Belgian accent (think David Suchet and Peter Urnistov), magically reaching his eureka moment and solving the most impossible of crimes. A strangely cherished childhood memory is one where, on a wet, rainy day in Wales, I watched Evil Under the Sun on ITV and the image of a man in black speedos is implanted in my memory that it’s the only thing I really remember. about the film. 

Ford Vs Ferarri

 For the uninitiated, Le Mans is a pretty big deal. It makes up one of the races you have to win to earn the Triple Crown of Motorsport (Monaco Grand Prix and Indy 500 make up the other two) of which only one driver, Graham Hill, has ever won. The film is centred around the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, focusing on Ford’s on track and off-track battle with super car company Ferrari (who had previously won the past five races at Le Mans). In a bid to put a halt to the fledging sales, Ford decide to bring in Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) to help them build a car that will beat Ferrari at Le Mans and he knows just the guy who could win it for them, only problem is this guy, Ken Miles (Christian Bale), isn’t Ford material.