The Best Films of 2015

The Stuies 2015

Late as usual with my best of the year, but with a limited choice of cinemas (that’s this little part of North Yorkshire for you) and having a toddler, yet again I’ve had to wait to catch a few films on Blu-Ray, DVD or online.

As usual, it covers releases pretty much from Oscar ceremony to Oscar ceremony, but because of home video release schedule, I don’t get around to watching some till later and this year, there were some great films I had to wait till late March to catch up with.

So here, goes, my top 7 films of 2015.

7. White God

Simplified as like Rise of Planet of the Apes but with Dogs, this films show a remarkable restraint and maturity in showing animal abuse and using it as a metaphor for the all things we as species have created, not fully understood and then unleashed on the world with out a thought of care for the responsibility we have. The lead dogs, give better performances than a lot of the leading human performances this year, yes anthropomorphising helps us relate to the dogs that little bit more, but these dogs manage to say as much with the tilt of their head as some actors do with a convoluted monologue.

Essentially, this film shows just how much of a sad, horrible and shitty species we are, by showing us just how badly we treat each other and the world around us.

Director: Kornel Mundruczo

Writer: Kornel Mundruczo, Viktoria Petranyl and Kata Weber

6. Winters Sleep

I’ll preface this selection with this. I know this premiered at last years Cannes, but I never saw it in theatres, hence its inclusion here. That and for a film that is essentially, three hours of conversations between people in a remote Turkish town,  is completely gripping. On the Blu-Ray cover, the film refers to “series of magnificent set pieces”, these aren’t action based sequences, or anything close to it. They are, as previously mentioned, long discussions/conversations/arguments, but brilliantly written, framed and acted and are more exhilarating than most action sequences anyway.

This films digs into the variety of relationships we have in our lives and how they control us and affect how we live. It tackles the repetitiveness and stages of marriage from the initial excitement, to the jaded caring we have for the other person no matter what, the need to protect and keep our family close even if they drive us crazy at times, these are just some of the great things Winters Sleep does.

Not afraid of a long shot, take or scene, Ceylan is confident enough in the material and the skill of his crew and actors to let the moments breath and give them time to bring the film and their darkly comic existences to life. Another gem from a true contemporary master of cinema, just don’t be put off by the run time and you’re in for a great experience.

Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Writer: Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Ebru Ceylan

5. What We Do In The Shadows

Another film about vampires, werewolves and zombies, just what we need right? Well in the case of Shadows, yeah it is. This film brilliantly satirises everything about the modern interpretations of the characters, whilst almost paying homage to the classics. Peter is a great nod to Nosferatu. While a lot of comedies often set up the big laughs or physical moments, Shadows works towards being funny with every moment, even the serious ones are drenched in it’s bizarre and self-aware sense of humour. I’m reluctant to go into any details about this, for fear of giving something away, as every scene is start to finish, hilarious and one of the best comedies of the last two or three decades.

Director: Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi

Writer: Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi

4. Sicario

One of the toughest and meanest films made since William Friedkins Sorcerer (seek it out by the way), Sicario is a film about the modern war on drugs along the US-Mexico border, where it highlights the idea of the US becoming just as ruthless and cruel as the cartels they are fighting. Kate (Blunt) is an FBI agent who volunteers for an inter-agency task force designed at combating the cartels, but soon it becomes clear that the US are up to things just as shady and morally opaque as their enemy.

The cinematography of Roger Deakins is an absolute wonder here, we are watching a true master at work. As far as I’m concerned, he was robbed (again) of the Oscar, no single shot this year has had the effect that “That Shot” has had on me. In case you’re unsure, it’s the one towards the end, as the team walk in the desert at sunset. It’s so good, that Sicario could have made it onto the list based on those ten seconds alone, but the rest of the film presents a mature and complicated look at a war that has been going on for decades now and shows no real sign of abating soon.

Director: Denis Villeneuve           

Writer: Taylor Sheridan

3. Carol

Mesmerizing. Beautiful. Two words that easily describe Carol, a story about two women in 1950’s New York, who after a chance meeting in a toy store, become close friends amid the overbearing and controlling efforts, or the attempted controlling efforts of the men in their lives. Plot wise, it’s relatively straight forward, but in the construction of the characters, it’s the polar opposite, vastly complex and fully realised, both the lead characters, Carol (Cate Blanchett) and Therese (Rooney Mara) are so vivid that it is a pleasure to spend time with them and watch as their relationship develops amid the constraints of the time.

Director: Todd Haynes

Writer: Phyllis Nagy (screenplay) and Patricia Highsmith (novel)

2. Inside Out

It’s the story of five emotions, inside an eleven-year-old girls head. With some film makers or studios, that could quite easily turn in to a complete disaster, but with Pixar, it becomes one of the best films of the year and probably one of the studios best films to date. Inside Out gives us everything we need to know about the world and how the emotions work in the first ten minutes that it really gets the film off to flying start. It’s use of colours for the different emotions and how it calls back on simultaneously vividly specific memories, but also general ones we can all remember or understand deeply invests us in Riley (the eleven year old) and care about what happens to her.

It took five years to make this film and it’s clear to see why, the level of detail, ideas and understanding of the mind and emotions on show here has made it into an important film for parents and people who work with children, as it breaks down ideas, often complex ones, into simple, entertaining ones that everyone can comprehend. The way the dream factory works and the idea and construction of the different personality islands are moments of joyful genius.

Director: Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen (co-director)

Writer: Pete Docter (story and screenplay), Ronnie Del Carmen (story), Meg LeFauve (screenplay) and Josh Cooley (screenplay)

1.     Spotlight

Never have I left a cinema and been torn in two different directions at almost the exact same time. With Spotlight it was the joy and excitement of seeing one of the most accomplished films of the year, but also the blinding rage of the subject matter.

Tom McCarthy (also directing) and Josh Singer, expertly navigate a complex issue and time period, juggling various storylines, or lines of investigation, to really give us as much of this whole story as possible.

Easily the best journalist or newspaper film since All The Presidents Men, Spotlight is so engaging and entrancing because of the way it is told. McCarthy keeps the flashy directorial moments to a minimum, the only real one being a long tracking shot between two houses. I won’t spoil the reason for the walk, but it gives the investigation an even greater importance to one member of the Spotlight team. Instead, McCarthy gives the actors the space to bring the characters and the story to life.

It’s not the easiest subject matter, but Spotlight is quite easily the best film of 2015.

Director: Tom McCarthy

Writer: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy

The Best Films of 2014

It’s that time of the year again. The third annual Stuie Awards, the awards that you really don’t care about, but clicked on the link anyway, purely out of a sense of obligation and maybe a tiny smidge of curiosity to see just how wrong I got it.

This year I wasn’t as interested in films that came out around awards season as I have been in previous years. One too many bio-pics for me I’m afraid. Plus, having a newborn definitely cut down the amount of trips to the cinema we were able to fit in.

The Stuies are still in their infancy, so this year I’ve made a quick change. The list this year has been changed from a top five to a top seven. The eligibility requirements for inclusion in the Stuies are that the films must have been released between April 2014 to April 2015.

7. The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson's dream-like, patisserie-esque caper set in a half real Europe before a coming war was one of the most unique films I have ever seen. I do have to admit to having not seen much of Anderson's work. Shame on me. So, maybe his style wouldn't have been so bracing if I were more familiar with his previous films.

Ralph Fiennes' Gustav H was the character/part of the film that kept coming back to me days after I had seen it. Many other actors would have played it up a little campy, or more eccentric, but the brilliance in the performance was how straight and seriously he took Anderson's character and made him real, cleverly avoiding descending into caricature. It may not all to be to your taste, but it will certainly be unlike anything you have seen.

6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

The sequel to the remake that nobody really cared about quickly became one of the most anticipated films of the summer. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) was one of the most intelligent summer films of recent years. In Dawn, the central dilemma for Caesar is balancing his duty to his “people” with his affection for humanity.

Eight years on from where Rise left off, and the world is a very different place.  Simian flu has killed off the majority of the world’s human population and now there is no sustainable power. The film focuses on a group of humans outside San Francisco who have to go into the wild to repair a power station, which unknowingly is right in the middle of “ape town”. Negotiations take place between the humans and the ape.  Fragile bonds are created and old wounds are opened as a powder keg of resentment, specism (is that a word?!) and fear bubble to the surface.

Andy Serkis has once again showed just how much can be achieved with motion capture, giving us a character that less than a decade ago would have been nearly impossible. Caesar has now become the star of this series, because he is what every film (or series) needs, interesting, likeable and complex. And all of this was done in nothing more than a skin tight suit with bobbles on.

5. Calvary

Why do good men pay for the mistakes of bad men? This is the central idea of Calvary, although it puts it forward and goes about trying to understand this far more intelligently than I have just bluntly summarized it. In the first scene of the film  (one of the best of year, in my opinion) an unknown man tells Brendan Gleeson's small town priest that in one week he is going to kill him, because he has been molested by a priest when he was younger.

Gleeson's Father James is a man who almost immediately accepts his fate with a subtle and almost expectant attitude. While it could never have been something he could have ever imagined, he doesn't seem shocked by the reason and spends the last week calmly going about his work. In a town where he seems to be simultaneously hated and needed by everyone, James' fundamental belief may not be in Christianity, but in the power of forgiveness, something he asks for himself from his daughter, but also from the man determined to kill him, in the hope that he won't suffer for what others have done.

4. The Lego Movie

A film about toys that doesn’t star Woody or Buzz Lightyear appearing on an end of year list was something that would be truly unthinkable given the dross that is often put out in this genre.

The Lego Movie changed all that in such an interesting and original way.

Using the Lego’s eternal question of how you build their sets as one of the underlying themes of the film was a masterstroke from the writing and directing team, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Telling anyone who watches it to embrace creativity and think outside of the box and build something new that is individually yours.

3. Interstellar

Christopher Nolan’s ninth film is arguably his most ambitious so far, but also his smallest. This may sound an odd thing to say when you consider it’s epic, galaxy spanning scale. Interstellar has at its core the relationship between a father and daughter and how it is affected by a grand sacrifice and the toll it takes on both them.

It’s a jaw-dropping adventure that simultaneously entertains and also asks questions of how we would have dealt with, or what decisions we would have made in those situations.

Ignore the critics and people who say it’s too long. It isn’t. There’s too much exposition. There isn’t. If you still have the chance to see this film on the screen and it should be the biggest screen you can find (IMAX really), go and experience one of the best example of just how magnificent a cinema can be.

2. Whiplash

Unlike Interstellar, Whiplash wasn’t even on my radar till I saw the trailer in early 2015 and began hearing about the hype around J.K Simmons’ performance, which, along with the editing of the film (the film received an Oscar for it) are the two show stopping parts of the film. This is a sharp and pacey dual character study of someone trying to achieve greatness and another trying to find greatness.

How accurate the film is to music schools is something I can’t comment on, but writer/director Damian Chazelle has created a world that feels real and where the pressure to be the best you can is all encompassing and never-ending. It’s an environment and mindset that can be translated to any profession or form of artistic endeavor. How much are you willing to suffer for your passion? This is a question that Whiplash asks you in every scene.

1. Nightcrawler

"If it bleeds it leads", never have five words perfectly summed up the film they are a part of. Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut is one of the best neo-noir's ever made, giving us a great central character in Jake Gyllenhaal's Lou Bloom, who is essentially the film’s antagonist and protagonist, something that Gilroy has said was key to the film.

As Bloom enters the world of night crawling and he becomes more and more willing to do questionable things, the blame never landing solely at his feet. It's all equally ours, the newstation and anyone who rewards a man like Lou for what he does.

Nightcrawler is by far the best film of the year, it has one of the best central characters and one of the leading performances which hasn't received anywhere near the attention it should have. A lot of this is down to Gilroy's work, especially the script which really gives each character a unique voice and outlook on the world that only adds to the films intriguing complexity.

A future classic that should be held in the highest regard.

Interstellar

One of my great annoyances when it comes to film criticism, on all levels, is that often a film will be judged not on how good it is or the film itself, but by how close it came to what that specific viewer wanted from the film. So when a film turns out to be different from what they had built up in their mind and the ideas they had fallen in love with, they reject the film, with conclusions ranging from four letter expletives to well written essays.

This was an idea that came to me as I read a number of reviews of Christopher Nolan's most recent film Interstellar (after the film obviously) as half the reviews seem to reject the film adopting for a more emotionally driven, rather than plot driven direction, unlike his previous films where the plot is often more intricate and central focus of the film.

I'll be sparing with plot details and try to avoid any spoilers.

Set in a relatively close future, speaking in science-fiction terms, the earth is quickly becoming uninhabitable, so mankind looks to the stars for salvation. Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is asked to be one of a small team to go out into space in search of a new home. It’s a very basic summary I know, but I really want as many of you to experience this film fresh.

The main character throughout Interstellar is Cooper, a man who, as you can tell from the mission he is given, is forced to leave his family behind so that he can save all of humanity. A necessary choice, but for a father, a heart wrenching one. It is this guilt mixed with a determination to get home that is constant drive for Cooper, a man prepared to do anything, to get back to Earth. Some of Cooper’s best moments are the simplest ones, often a scene with his daughter Murphy (Mackenzie Foy) or one where he is by himself. A moment where he watches videos sent from Earth by his children is as heartbreaking for him as it is for the audience, where Cooper is questioning whether coming here will ever be worth the price it has cost him and his family personally.

When it was announced that Wally Pfister would be moving from being Nolan's regular director of photography and becoming a director in his own right, I wondered just who would ever be capable of filling that spot at the camera. But not surprisingly Hoyte van Hoytema does a frankly stunning job here, bringing to life every environment and new world we set down on or drive across.

The IMAX sequences really come into stand out on Cooper’s farm and the ice planet (both of which are in the trailer). Both are filled with these beautiful sweeping vistas, with the characters barely anything more than a dot.

The moments in space of the Endurance and Rangers (spacecraft within the film) are jaw dropping. Yes they all computer generated, but it just looks so good that for just a second you can imagine that this is as close to the real thing as we will ever get.

Interstellar does take advantage of a number of science fiction tropes. One which I am glad they did was in their use of robots and how they envisioned them looking. Moving away from the Alien and Star Trek approach of synthetic humans or artificial persons, here they are presented as two monoliths capable of altering their shape to meet the task required from them. One of them, thanks to an adjustable humour setting, gets some of the best lines and jokes that make reference to sci-fi classics, including 2001. Achieved through a mix of practical and computer effects, the robots TARS and CASE, are one of the films great successes.

One common complaint that is often levelled against Christopher Nolan is that his films are cold and emotionless. This is a grand statement based on little factual proof, especially when you consider his previous films. A scene that debunks this rumour and springs to mind is where Leonard in Memento created a lie for himself whereby he thinks his wife is still there, even if it only fools him for a second. Or Alfred’s apology in the Wayne cemetery at the end of The Dark Knight Rises. If these moments didn't get to you, then maybe the problem isn't with the films.

Interstellar goes in the completely opposite direction to Nolan’s previous work, at times forgoing plot, or at least leaving it in the background, as the focus stays on the relationship between Cooper and Murphy. This is the key relationship in the film. This relationship is the film’s engine not its plot.

Whether you go along with the power that the pull of love has, a key idea within the film, is up to you. It will divide, and will probably be the major reason for someones opinion on the film. For me, the reason for Cooper’s drive is understandable, his mission into space is a means to end and a grand sacrifice on his part. To keep his family safe is all that matters to him. That link he has back to Earth, the thing that is pulling him home is something that we have all experienced, just not on quite as grand a scale.

Exposition, as an unproduced screenwriter, is something that at times,  you just have to do. You need the audience to know something and more than likely a few of your characters, so you try and dress it up, but it's still just a case of getting the information to them in as quick a time.

Now with Interstellar, there is a bit of exposition, not nearly as much as some reviews would have you believe, but when you are dealing with complex ideas, it's just best to rip the plaster off as quick as you can and get it over with.

During the final act of the film, Cooper makes a discovery (I'll be vague) and then begins to suggest who made it, now whether you believe what he says is really up to you. Cooper, has no way of backing it up, it's a good theory, but no way of proving it. This is something that harks back to an early conversation with Murphy.

How you approach the ending and overall message of the film, will for me have a big bearing on your opinion of the film. Whether you believe it is the truth, or just a wild theory to help understand where he is.

Hans Zimmer and Christopher Nolan have worked together on the majority of the director’s films now, starting with Batman Begins (where they were joined by James Newton Howard, also on The Dark Knight) and, barring The Prestige, all the way through to Interstellar. Here, we get a really interesting and at times perplexing score. As always with Zimmer, he isn't afraid to go big. And big they go, especially during the film’s high tension moments, we get a deep booming organ-esque sound, mixed in with some unsettling melody, that continues to ratchet up the tension still further. When it comes to the really small moments though, Zimmer dials it down and strips away the grandeur, giving us simple pieces that put the focus on the actors and the moments between them.

Nolan and his co-writer Jonathan Nolan have clearly been influenced and drawn from a real mix of films and real world events. A lot of these have been referenced by them in interviews (easily found on the internet). 2001 is an obvious one, not least because of Interstellar's finale, which certainly nods to the end of 2001, but it goes in a different direction with it. But where 2001 focused on humanity as a whole largely, spanning millions of years, Interstellar instead chooses to use the galaxy as a backdrop for the sacrifices a father and his family has to make.

The work of David Lean, in general his epics such as Lawrence Of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and more closely The Bridge Over The River Kwai, seems to have been an influence, especially on the narrative side. Kwai, in particular, where the plot starts off in one location, the prison camp, before switching to the effort to blow the bridge. A very stripped down narrative that lets its ideas come to the fore. Also, the sweeping landscapes of the farm and the planets in Interstellar, both on the ground and in space are shots worthy of any Lean film.

As with any Christopher Nolan film, the cast is packed with big names and award winners, some occupying only small three or four scene parts. One uncredited big time actor shows up for twenty sequences in the film that comes out of nowhere and really takes the film up a notch. Jessica Chastain, stuck on earth and working with Michael Caine's Dr Brand, is brilliant as she struggles with the seeminlgy endless cycle of failure when it comes to one vital part of the plan to save humanity. It's hard to go into anymore details about Chastain’s performance without giving much away, but her performance in the second half of the film comes at the right time to give us some perspective about just how bad Earth has become. Other stand outs are John Lithgow, as Cooper’s father in law, who is a man at times left to look after his dead daughter’s (we learn this in the third or fourth scene of the film) children, but also encourages his son-in-law to keep repopulating the planet.

Interstellar is a film filled with so many ideas and great performances that it needs all of its near three hour run time to give you everything you need. At times it may baffle you, especially during its final thirty minutes, but it is a film unlike anything you will see for a while. It reaches far and trusts that you go with it.

It may not be Christopher Nolan's best film, but when a film is this good, that kind of comparison seems utterly redundant.

Director: Christopher Nolan

Writers: Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan

Gone Girl

When thinking about reviewing Gone Girl and where I drew line for spoilers became a challenge, as it does with every review. Defining spoiler is a tricky business. While some would consider even the slightest detail a spoiler, a viewpoint I myself skew towards, I have tried to avoid anything that may give away the film’s great moments. So with that anything that is included in this review is either general knowledge, or are hinted at in the trailers.

Gone Girl largely follows Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) in the days and weeks following his wife Amy’s disappearance. At first, sympathy is universal, but as suspicion and doubts begin to surface, a lot driven by media speculation, Nick then has to begin to defend himself as the world begins to watch him as much as they follow the search for Amy.

David Fincher is a director whose next film is often preceded by a great deal of anticipation and expectation, when you consider his previous work it is completely understandable. He has delivered at least three masterpieces, Seven, Zodiac and The Social Network, although there are some who would argue that that particular group should be bigger.

His work often has a very cynical and dark look on life, focusing largely on flawed and broken people struggling through life, put under the microscope during the film for us to look at study and hold a mirror up to ourselves. Gone Girl, is no different, Fincher and writer Gillian Flynn, really focus in on the media and their every growing witch hunt of Nick, as they do follow Nick through his behaviour and actions, some questionable, following Amy’s disappearance.

As the central character, Nick, Ben Affleck has to take us through a whole range of emotions in quick succession as his life unravels within a matter of days. He is likeable and charming, at first, no doubt deliberately to both get us on his side, but also to sow some seeds of doubt in the audience’s minds, so that when the witch hunt begins, we begin to think that maybe he could have done it. Without, giving anything away, it is in the second half of the film where Affleck really gives us Nick’s interesting moments, straining to keep it together as everything goes from bad to worse and life falls apart in front of him.

Rosamund Pike is in the film quite a bit, that shouldn’t be surprising to anyone, but a lot of her role is told through flashbacks of the early days of her relationship with Nick, where she plays Amy as the cool New York girl that is everything that Nick wants. But the character and Pike’s performance really comes into its own in the darker moments of the story, as the toll of moving back to Nick’s hometown begins to strain their marriage. She’s dangerous, unpredictable and meticulous, with some of her actions putting her on a par with a character like Hannibal Lector or John Doe from Seven.

Since Fincher began collaborating with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the sound of his films for me has been one of the great attractions of going to see them in the cinema. Their versions of The Immigrant Song and In The Hall of the Mountain King have been real attention grabbers. In Gone Girl, they hold back a little more, using the music to really build tension throughout. The last twenty minutes is a master class in doing this, it sounds like a very simple piece, but it is the subtle repetition that gradually increases the tension to an almost unbearable level.

Ross and Reznor’s stand out moment comes with an act of genuinely shocking violence, matching quick cuts with terrifying swells of sound, the scene and music left me in a state of shock for a few minutes afterwards. It was a perfect moment, of every single aspect of the film making process coming together to create an unforgettable moment.

Gender roles and expectations are a big part of Gone Girl, early on Nick receives endless the support and sympathy of everyone. But when that first shadow of doubt and suspicion begins to gather over him, his world changes. Talk show hosts condemn him for his unproven actions, stupid neighbours are believed above the people that know him, their wild actions taken by people as hard truth. One underlying question that I felt the film was asking was, if the roles had been reversed, would the media have gone after Amy as quickly or as ferociously.

The film is definitely damning of the media’s approach to these situations, sensationalising facts and drawing conclusions based on little real facts. The saddest part of this is just how accurate it is to events we see unfold once or twice year. The strength of the criticism by Flynn and Fincher is that they rarely put a comedic or overt satirical spin on it, they play it dead straight and get strong results.

Gone Girl, for me is another great film from Fincher. It’s a pacey and beautifully plotted labyrinthine puzzle of film that will no doubt offer more on each subsequent viewings.

If you can, go and see this in the cinema on a big screen and take in a film crafted by some of the best the industry can offer.

Just make sure you avoid spoilers.

Director: David Fincher

Writer: Gillian Flynn (Novel and Screenplay)

The Lego Movie

It's safe to say that films based on toys, video games and even most cartoons, fail to live up to the hype from the fans or the potential of some of these vivid creations. Usually they end up with Razzies and become the butt of many jokes. Even the rare exceptions, like the Transformers series became overblown and focused more on cramming as much of the toy and carton canon in as possible. So when a film based on Lego was announced, it would be a lie to say I was eagerly awaiting it.

The plot of The Lego Movie is pretty straight forward, so it’s all the secrets I’ll try and keep out of this review. A dull every man called Emmett accidentally stumbles across an artefact that will help to stop Lord Business from using a WMD (in Lego terms) on the Lego world.

Honestly, how this plot was pitched I will never know, but it's a simple set up and plot that allows the film makers to add ideas and depth to the world and message they are trying to get across.

One of the biggest reasons that this film works so well is Chris Pratt as Emmett. Brilliantly written and superbly performed, his growth throughout the story and his reluctance to be a real hero and embrace what he is capable of is one of the most well developed and executed transformations you will see this year. Where Pratt excels and Emmett comes to life, is in the deadpan, 100% serious moments of mistimed honesty or his belief in one particular furniture-related idea. It's his go to idea and he believes in it as much as any hero will ever believe in any quest or mission you will witness.

The supporting cast here really build up the world and enhance the humour, especially as we move from world to world. The repressed happy land you see is a stroke of master world building (in both ways). But it's hard to argue past Batman, or this version of him, as the films main film stealer. He's a bit of douche throughout, he knows how good he is and plays it up. His self-written, self centred death metal song is side-splittingly funny and his run in with some Star Wars Lego is a moment I recall again and again whenever this film is brought up. He may not be the film’s main character or even its hero, but the film is all the better for it.

But there are so many great supporting characters that it would be almost impossible to mention them all and give them the respect and attention they need, from Liam Neeson’s Bad Cop (and Good Cop) to Will Ferrell’s Lord Business, a man surrounded by such incompetence you almost feel sorry for him.

The humour with The Lego Movie covers pretty much all the bases, from sarcastic, physical, to sight gags and the very risque. There is hardly a joke that lands flat, even the ones that are repeated, to brilliant effect, still land even though we know exactly what is coming even if it has gotten bigger or more elaborate. 

Like Toy Story 3 this is a film that may look like a children’s film on the outside, but there is so much here for everyone and while it doesn't touch on as many of the real world issues as Toy Story 3 did, it's driving message that anyone is capable of creating something great is one of the most important messages a film, or any kind of story can tell.

Directors: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

Writers: Phil Lord (Story and Screenplay), Christopher Miller (Story and Screenplay, Dan Hageman (Story) and Kevin Hageman (Story).

Out Of The Furnace

Out Of The Furnace tells the story of two brothers Russell (Christian Bale) and Rodney (Casey Affleck) Baze, one a hard working, salt of the earth furnace worker and the other a US serviceman spiraling out of control, following numerous tours in the Middle East.

Russell tries, as he seemingly always has, to look after Rodney, even at the risk of his own life, something that shows up regularly throughout the film.

Christian Bale, as with all of his roles, bring an authenticity to his portrayal of Russell. He never tries to inject him unrealistic intelligence or bravery. This is a hard working family man, who is looking out for his brother. He does what he thinks is best, even when at times we know it's the wrong thing to do. He is blinded by his desperation to help Rodney and the consequences of his actions just aren't at the front of his mind. A decision he makes towards the end of the film involving a phone call is the best example of Russell being too desperate to think of what could happen, or who could be be harmed as a result of his choice.

Russell is probably one of Bale's straightest characters. He is stoic and a genuinely good man. He treats people, I imagine, how he wants to be treated and the best work from the character comes when Russell pushes himself out of his comfort zone or has to push back against his normal behaviour, to be violent or go against and question the police.

Out of the Furnace is a film that definitely focuses more on its characters than it does its plot, which could be one reason for it's pretty stellar cast of character actors.

Willem Dafoe and Forest Whitaker are two that stand out in small but important roles. However, I would have liked to have gotten more plot, especially about the hill people and their own little world. A bit of mystique is great, but when it has that much potential, explore it more. Show us the difference in the two worlds.

Running at just under two hours, which for me flew by, I would have liked to have had more plot and seen or learnt more about Rodney and his time with the Army. There is a small prison section that occurs whilst Rodney is on tour, for me this would have been a a prime place to have expanded, maybe even bringing in the hill people as well, so we have three threads going at once. The characters and performances are easily the films biggest strength, it would have just been nice to have seen them do more.

As mentioned already, the cast is head and shoulders the best thing about this film and Bale goes a great job of leading them, but the supporting cast definitely shouldn't be overlooked, they all have the same amount of screen time and do much more than just fill out the world and give Russell people to interact with. They create a history and bring it to everything they do, they are a part of this world and belong to it, and at no point did I find any character forced or overblown.

Harrelson’s DeGroat is a great villain, a force of nature who lives by his own rules and governs the hills with an iron fist and is completely unafraid of any man. But I wanted more of him. Mystery is good, but when you have such an oddball character who is unafraid to do anything, then give us more of him. It certainly worked in No Country For Old Men.

One of the criticisms I have seen of the film the amount of references to other films, classics at that. The final shot, which clearly pays homage to The Godfather series, is probably the most notable. Although there are bits and pieces, such as narrative tricks or general look and tone that recall films such as Silence of the Lambs or The Deer Hunter, none of which are hard to spot, so maybe that is why the point has been raised so much.

The final shot is the only one that stood out, purely because of its length and the numerous other ways it could have been done. Move the camera, or the character away from the window and director Scott Cooper may have achieved the same meaning to the shot/scene, but without such an obvious of a comparison.

The other nod is a narrative trick similar to climax of Silence of the Lambs, but for me this is not something that is unique to one film. Lambs arguably pulls it off better, as it has a real sting with who is at the door when Bill opens, whereas in Furnace, you already know where the character is when you begin to put together the locations and timeframe. Used later in the film, it may have worked better.

I really looked forward to Out of the Furnace and I wasn't let down, if anything I wanted more from it, to spend more time there, to explore the world and build and bigger plot for all these great characters to interact in. There can't be many better comments about a film than seeing it and wanting more.

The one homage it could have paid to The Godfather or The Deer Hunter, is that it didn't was in this regard.

Director: Scott Cooper

Writers: Scott Cooper and Brad Ingelsby

The Raid 2

Spoilers for The Raid are contained in this review.

With a new member of the family having recently arrived, the chances of getting out to the cinema will be greatly lessened, so I will be looking back on the new releases, but on DVD/Blu-ray (or any of the other countless ways now available), so they'll just be a few months late.
Gareth Evans' first film in the series was one of the best action films of the last ten years, it achieved exactly what it set out to do. Create a fast paced action film, the kind of which that are becoming quite rare, plus it's final fight is one of the most tense finales to any film I have seen. All of the carnage and twists had built to a point where you, maybe without realising it, invested in these characters and wanted to see them make it out alive.

The Raid 2 picks up roughly two hours after the end of its predecessor, Rama and the other survivors are talking to a police officer whose job is to investigate corruption within the force, seeing what Rama has achieved, he quickly offers him a place on the team. At the same time, we see another act of violence that will force the family man in Rama's hand.

Iko Uwais, the man who plays Rama, is given a lot more to do in this film with his character. In the first film, we see a very (very, very) capable police officer, especially in moments of extreme pressure, who goes into a fortress like drug den to bring his brother home. But here, having gone undercover, there is a weight placed on his shoulders as he does things that he can't possibly be completely okay with, but has to focus on the endgame. One scene with his new boss, with two prostitutes, really shows the guilt and uneasiness he has with this assignment and lengths he will push himself to succeed. 

The quotes pasted all over the marketing for this film regarding its action left it with quite a considerable level of expectation, especially considering what the first film had delivered and some of the set pieces we have seen in recent years. Thankfully, it lives up to the hype in the action category, here Evans and his army of trained martial artists get to go big. The two stand out sequences of the film come towards the end of the film. The first a car chase, although that is being unfair, it's a car chase, a gun fight and four man brawl (in one car) all at the same time. The second, as with the first film, is the finale fight of the film, it's gruelling, painful and beautifully choreographed. A bench mark for future one on ones.

The film is an 18 and justifiably so. Whilst watching this, you will see people demean and humiliate others in the cruelest ways and also some of the most brutal and vicious murders committed to film (or digital as is the case with The Raid 2). It is not for the faint of heart, but nor does it linger on the aftermath. What it does show though is the damage and effectiveness of hand to hand combat and refreshingly moves away from an over reliance on gunfights and overblown CGI created chaos.

Like all good sequels, The Raid 2 takes everything from the first film, makes it bigger and fills out the world in which these characters are living in. Obivously, when a film is set entirely within a tower block, there is only so much you can learn of the outside world. But through quick lines of dialogue and the reactions of characters, we are given just enough to be able to imagine the world outside. But here, we get it all, we find out just how corrupt the whole city is and to a certain degree how futile the original films operation was.

An undoubted improvement on the first film, despite a slightly padded out middle hour that at times seems to be circling action sequences, but one that when it gets into its last forty five minutes is one of the best action films you will ever see.

Director: Gareth Evans
Writer: Gareth Evans