Editorial: The Best of 2016

It's New Year's Eve! And with the turn of the year comes a new flock of movies that range from potential Oscar favourites to the biggest blockbusters out there, let's not forget some of the unforgettable work released this past year. But first, an honourable mention:

Honourable Mention - Eye in the Sky

A powerful look at the world of drone warfare, this intense debate about the risks and responsibilities taken by those thousands of miles away is a breathless experience which never really runs out of steam despite the entire film taking place over the single period. It may not be the easiest of viewings, but it's still an entry worth talking about.

10. Deadpool

Is it the game-changer everybody says it is? No. Does the middle slow down a bit too much? Yes. But Deadpool is still a fun time at the movies which rarely fails to hit a punchline and who's meta humour allowed it to become a crowning achievement in what's been a pretty mixed bag for the superhero genre.

9. The Nice Guys

In the same vein as Deadpool, The Nice Guys is hardly anything new. Instead, it's a proper reinvention of the classic mystery injected with that Shane Black comedy that we've all come to know and love. Again, it never fails to make you laugh, and the added benefit of some great screen chemistry and a proper mystery plot makes this a surefire hit - as long as you don't look at its box office numbers.

8. Captain America: Civil War

What is there left to be said about one of the biggest films of the year? It's a monumental achievement in the Marvel Studios run and has set itself up high in the rankings of the best superhero movies period.

7. Hell or High Water

Another genre reviver, this modernised Western thriller may look on the outside like your run-of-the-mill Cops and Robbers chase, it instead proves itself to much more than that thanks largely to some stellar performances, a great screenplay and direction by David McKenzie. With awards season underway, it's good timing to catch this one with its upcoming DVD release - you won't be disappointed.

6. Hunt for the Wilderpeople

A late viewing for me, director Taika Waititi has quickly grown to become a favourite of mine, with both What We Do In The Shadows and his latest effort both managing to cement some big laughs in a genre that rarely makes me do so. With a strong blend of heart and humour alongside a couple of strong lead performances by Neill and Dennison, Thor: Ragnarok can't come soon enough.

5. Sing Street

An Irish-based musical outing about love in the 80s may not sound like worthwhile viewing on the outset, but John Carney's latest feature proved everyone wrong with a stellar cast of characters despite a somewhat generic plot. With some killer songs throughout and some true hilarity going about, Sing Street really is something to sing about.

4. Finding Dory

Let's get one thing clear - Finding Dory is a flawed movie. It's not better than its predecessor nor is it quite as imaginative. But that being said, it's also one of the best movies of the year because of what greatness it brings about. It features a truly heartwarming tale for a character previously seen as basic comic relief whilst bringing about technical improvements with the amusing Hank the septopus. It's a trip under the sea we didn't necessarily need, but it's one that we were more than happy to undergo.

3. Spotlight

This year;s Best Picture winner was a rightful choice - a harrowing look into the truly disgusting deeds being done within the Catholic Church and how the people who finally uncovered it went about doing so.

2. Zootropolis

In a post-election world where things have gone topsy-turvy, a film like Zootropolis feels even more important than it did before, thanks largely to its obvious racial allegory. But with the additional of some instantly recognisable characters and top-notch script, this animal buddy comedy is Disney's best effort in years.

1. Room

So... the first film I saw this year also happened to be the best film, courtesy of a duo of incredible lead performances and a superb screenplay by original author Emma Donoghue. A film of three easily-distinguishable parts, each aspect of the film is a gut-wrenching experience that presents parenthood and childhood in ways previously unseen by cinema. While there is still room for improvement, this Oscar-winning movie remains the best film of 2016.

Editorial: Celebrating the Underrated Films of 2016

It's Christmas! And in true festive fashion, it's a good enough time to let some forgotten or unjustly-disliked films to share some love with some of the year's biggest counterparts - films that likely won't turn up on many top ten lists (or at least, not my own) but need the attention.

10 Cloverfield Lane

When the first teaser came right out of nowhere for this quasi-sequel, the internet went aflutter. When the film itself came out, people were praising it for the first few days before instantly forgetting it existed. As the weeks went by, its placement in the US box office was lower and lower, and whilst its $15m budget means that it was hardly a costly affair, its meagre $108m gross worldwide for a recognisable brand is nothing short of a disappointment. Which is a real shame, as it's a suspenseful tale of uncertainty and fear for all but the final 10 minutes.

Everybody Wants Some!!

Everybody Wants Some!! is one of my firm favourites of the year. It's got the standard Linklater trend of being a film with no real story but has characters you connect to despite how they are. It's quite simply a chill time with a bunch of baseball players who are going about with their own mini-freshers weekend. And as someone who's seen this film numerous times now, what's wrong with watching some guys get competitive and have a good time?

Ghostbusters

Okay, hear me out for a second here. Yes, I was a little too positive on the recent reboot then I should have been; it's far from a perfect movie and is far from being as good as the 1984 original. That being said, there's still plenty of merits to be marked, and it at least put in some level of effort. So this Christmas be a little kinder to the little reboot that could.

Nerve

Nerve is a social media movie that works, which deserves attention by itself. But as a movie that plays about with its teenage demographic without coming across as a little dull or cliched - bar a slightly disappointing finale - but instead, a fun trip filled with pranks and dares is one that amounts to at least one viewing. It may have its problems, but this Emma Roberts-led thrill ride is a little good to be left unnoticed.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

Popstar is arguably the funniest comedy of the year and nobody went to see it. It's one of the bigger box office bombs of the year, which is a real shame because it's a great modern satire of the modern music industry, just as This is Spinal Tap was back when that was released in 1984. Whether it be the strong songs by The Lonely Island guys or just the jokes themselves (the 'Bee' scene alone is a winner), this film truly deserves more than what it got. The DVD comes out in the UK this Boxing Day, so do yourselves a favour and pick up a copy.

Storks

From one Samberg movie to another, Storks was slammed a little for just how frantic it was; never leaving enough time for a joke to truly land. And I'd agree with that statement, if not for the factor that those jokes that you do manage to catch are still quite funny. The animation is reminiscent of the classic Looney Tunes style and the vocal talent is great, so it's a tad disappointing that few people actually know about this.

Swiss Army Man

This is without a doubt one of the more original movies to be released this year, and it's also the smallest out of all the ones on this list. Its premise bizarre and its ending, unfortunately, lacklustre in contrast of the prior 90 minutes, Swiss Army Man remains something of a favourite for the entire year: its uniqueness against a world of blockbusters and biopics something to be applauded.

The Neon Demon

Nicolas Winding Refn has never really had much of a chance in besting his 2011 cult hit Drive, but The Neon Demon is a mighty fine attempt at passing it. As the most surreal viewing experience, as well as the most seizure-inducing, Demon brought about a bleak yet colourful glimpse of the modelling world, and just how far people would go to become the best of the best. It's this half-decade's equivalent to 2010's Black Swan, and it's just as freaky.

Film Revisitations: Divergent (2014)

This review was originally published on a separate site in March 2015

Adaptations of young adult book series have been all the range as of late. Thanks to the immense success of the Harry Potter films, and the repeat success of the similar film tactics (one film per book, finale split in two) with the equally - but not as praised - Twilight series, it seemed obvious that more books would be adapted for the feature film treatment. The Hunger Games was a success for Lionsgate, as was the later Maze Runner for 20th Century Fox, but there were plenty of failures (The Mortal Instruments, Vampire Academy, and Beautiful Creatures failed to gain sequels, whilst Narnia and Percy Jackson are struggling to obtain larger profits with each continuation). One film that had surprise success was Divergent, released in early 2014 to mixed reviews and a moderate profit.  

Based on the 2011 book by Veronica Roth, it follows the story of Tris (Shailene Woodley), a young adult living in a society split into several factions (like the houses in Harry Potter) run by a female dictator (like in The Maze Runner, which was first published in 2009, or The Giver (1993) but here played by Kate Winslet). When they reach a certain age, she and countless others - including brother Ansel Elgort, who would later play her lover in The Fault in Our Stars - must decide which faction they must live in: Abnegation, Amity, Dauntless, Candor or Erudite. But there are two other factions - factionless or Divergent, where you have two or more of the above traits. Surprise surprise, she ends up discovering that she's a Divergent, which the government consider threats because they can't be controlled. When Tris joins Dauntless through a process which would realistically give people diseases, she trains to be a parkour enthusiast with help from future lover Four (Theo James) and future menace Eric (Jai Courtney), forming a friendship with Christina (Zoë Kravitz) and an estrangement with Miles Teller's Peter. But when a plot comes to fruition about the eradication of Abnegation, Tris must use her new-found abilities as a Divergent to save her family - a plot point that only transpires in the last 30-40 minutes of this 2-plus hour of the film. For the most part, it's just training.  

Yeah, it's safe to assume that this isn't a good film. The biggest problem is the pace, as it drags through its entire runtime. It never picks up, things never get interesting, and you sit through the film bored half to death. Add some terrible dialogue and story elements, ranging from the various Dauntless tests to a literal game of Capture the Flag, all whilst constantly teasing the inevitable romance between Woodley and James which takes an age before finally coming to fruition with no actual effect. It just happens after a few teases. It also doesn't help that the plot takes so much from pre-existing book series (and in some cases film series) that it doesn’t feel like its own film - it's a conglomeration of different films turned into one. The biggest comparison to be made is with fellow Lionsgate franchise The Hunger Games - a dystopian future where an all-powerful government has the power to lower population numbers through the poorer states committing mass homicide until a group of rebels fight back against the system. It is an overall summation of the nearly-concluded 'trilogy' squeezed into one 2 hour bore-fest, all whilst paving the way for even more sequels including another two-part finale (the first of which, Insurgent, comes out this week) - it wasn’t that good the first time, but here they fail on a much larger scale. 

That's not to say the film is without its merits. Woodley does an admirable job in attempting to make the written dialogue sound realistic, whilst James does at times convey emotion. The rest of the cast is debatable, as Winslet chews the scenery and Teller proves that this blockbuster is just a paycheck ahead of his sublime performance in Whiplash. The biggest acting fault comes from Courtney, who not only lacks any actual presence as a villain aside from mere annoyance but doesn't seem capable to show any expression outside of sneering. He's never been commended for his roles, so here it's more on the part of the casting directors than anything. But on the plus side, some shots of the film - whilst nothing particularly exciting, as like skinning a cat there's only one way to portray a dystopia - do look good. It is something of a pity, as director Neil Burger has done well with the likes of Limitless and The Illusionist. This comes across as a black mark in an otherwise clean resume.  

Divergent is dull as hell. It lacks any sense of originality, and those elements that are added are bog-standard at best. Performances are a mixed bag, visuals are mediocre at best, and it drags its heel through the 2-hour runtime. It's a shocker that this film managed to earn any money, and even more of a travesty that we'll now have to suffer this franchise until 2017, by which point it will be long forgotten and a newer worse franchise of young adult novel adaptations will take its place. It's the Circle of Life. 3/10. 

Film Revisitations: The Inbetweeners 2 (2014)

This review was originally published on a separate site in March 2015

In 2011, the big screen continuation of the hit E4 series The Inbetweeners was an unimaginable success. Whilst the series had grown from strength to strength in terms of ratings - ending on a channel high of nearly 4 million viewers - no one could have imagined that the film would do well. Luckily for the crew of the film, it managed to earn its budget back and then some in its opening weekend alone, later finishing with more than £57m worldwide. A sequel, of course, was inevitable, finally confirmed in 2013 after much outcry from fans. This sequel, released one year on from the announcement, received similar reviews to its predecessor and comes across as the end of this series. And from my experience of the series, I say good riddance.  

Set a few years after the first instalment, it's revealed that three members of the quartet have split from their designated flings (the remaining girlfriend now a possessive obsessive running gag) and that Jay (James Buckley) has taken a year off from university to live in Australia, where he claims to be 'living the good life'. When he invites the rest of the gang down under for a holiday break, Will Neil and Simon (Simon Bird, Blake Harrison and Joe Thomas respectively), they agree to reunite, only to find Jay instead working at a club rather leading one. When discovered, they decide to go on a journey across the land where, as expected, hilarity ensues. Will bumps into an old friend (Emily Berrington) and is instantly attracted to her - much like in the first film - Simon goes through the motions of failing to break up with the abusive Lucy (Tamla Kari), Jay decides to reunite with previous lover Jane (Lydia Rose Bewley) and Neil goes on a spiritual journey to discover what dolphins like to eat. Yes, that is his sole story purpose - a running gag which ends with unhilarious results. 

Comedy sequels are always hard to do. You either go through the motions again like the Hangover trilogy or continues the characters' stories to the next stage like with Anchorman. Neither are exactly great examples of comedy sequels, but they did well at their sole purpose  - profits. The Inbetweeners 2 goes through the former path, putting the characters back to where they were to begin with (three of the four being single, one pining for a former lover, attempts to get with new people, jokes revolving around a pool, etc.) thus losing a lot of the character development that we followed before. Big mistake that. And whilst it's nice to have a new bit of scenery, it's doing the Hangover effect of new country, same jokes. The only change for these characters is that now Simon wants to break up with his girlfriend rather than rekindle with his last one - and with that it loses the journey the character went through in the last film, in which he finally gets the opportunity to get back together his with ex but decides against it and to go to Lucy instead. It's comedy for the sake of comedy rather than for the sake of continuity. It should also be noted that there is no actual explanation for these break-ups. Jane's is given perhaps the smallest of details about the split, but the disappearance of Alison and Lisa has no explanation whatsoever and no lasting effect on the film, allowing for the characters to revert to how they were.  

It doesn't help that the comedy that these elements sacrificed themselves to make is practically absent. That's not to say there aren't any jokes (of course there are, it's a comedy), but instead that at no point is there anything to laugh about. Whether it's a turd in the face or suspected rape, there is nothing funny unless you have the prowess to even tolerate such gags, let alone fall over in hilarity. It should also be pointed out that a lot of these jokes do fall foul to being somewhat discriminatory towards women, not only by not developing the female characters much outside their designated traits of obsessive or promiscuous but also through the jokes they actually use, mostly describing them as objects for sex. I thought we had gotten past this style of comedy, but every so often it comes back in full force. It's just thankful that they decided against repeating the gag from the teaser trailer about the natives because that would be another step too far. 

Comedy films are never fully appreciated for the performances or the aesthetics, as it allows for the crew to simply have a lot of fun on set. In the case of The Inbetweeners, it follows the Adam Sandler effect: making audiences pay for the cast and their friends to go on holiday, where they have to film a few bits and pieces which make a narrative so that audiences can watch. It's what so many have complained about for the likes of Grown Ups and Blended, and it's evident that it's the same for this series, as it's not like the actors are really trying. At this point, it is evident that some of the actors are willing to let go of their roles and move on, and as such cause some very forced dialogue. Of course, there is chemistry between the main group, but they barely connect with anyone who wasn't in the original series, which leaves the sole good relationship being between Will and Freddie Stroma's Ben, solely because they're meant to come across as alienated by one another, whilst there is little innovation for the direction or cinematography. 

Comedy is something of a lost art, so it always causes great pain when a bad comedy does well. It’s worse that a terrible comedy was the second-highest grossing UK-made film of last year (thankfully being beaten by the delightful Paddington). I thought the first film was really bad, but this was like having that first film constantly throw bodily waste into my face and rub it in. It's pure codswallop, and even more reason for me to avoid watching the main series. If this is what fans consider gold, then I'm fine with being a hater. 1/10. 

Film Revisitations: The LEGO Movie (2014)

This review was originally published on a separate site in March 2015. 

In 2014, animation was looking rather sparse. Pixar released no new film after The Good Dinosaur was pushed back for late 2015, Blue Sky Studios thought it best to capitalise on one of its more creative films by turning it into a failed franchise, Dreamworks were hit with financial lows for all of their films (including the highly-regarded How to Train Your Dragon 2) and all studios were forced to be compared to box office juggernaut Frozen, which had a spell on the box office all year long despite its release in late 2013 - not even Disney's follow-up Big Hero 6 could earn the same amount of recognition, even with it's Best Animated Feature Oscar. But one film, a film which when announced was instantly criticised as a ninety-minute advert for toys, managed to capture audiences' hearts all the way back in February 2014 was The LEGO Movie. The LEGO Movie was an anomaly. The brainchild of Phil Lord & Chris Miller (who also rebooted 21 Jump Street and created the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs series), it follows a storyline consistent with multiple genres of film - an average joe saving the day - and makes it unique.  

The story goes that Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt), an "ordinary, regular, generic construction worker" who accidently finds the Piece of Resistance - an ancient relic which has the power to thwart the evil President Business' (Will Ferrell) to put everything in its place - following a brief encounter with Master Builder Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks). Hunted by Business' two-faced lackey Good/Bad Cop (Liam Neeson in a dual role), Emmet joins Wyldstyle and a handful of other Master Builders, ranging from wizards (Morgan Freeman), animal hybrids (Alison Brie) and superheroes (Will Arnett) as he must live up to the prophecy: to be "the greatest, most interesting, most important person of all times". Why? Well, "because it rhymes". Yes, comedy is a key component to this film, and it's evident just from that story outline, because without it it'd come across as nothing new. Arguably, it isn't; many films in the past have used comedy to their advantage when following an overdone story line. And yet, LEGO somehow pushes it past the limit by getting jokes in left-right and centre, either coming from the character's mouths, their actions, or just something in the background that you notice in a later viewing (My personal favourite? A pig breaking into sausages when it crashes onto land. Genius). As someone who can often watch a comedy without a smirk, this is hilarious content, thanks to all three aspects - something which all comedies need to follow. 

It should be pointed out that a good comedy also has likable characters, and that is something of a specialty with The LEGO Movie, as there's isn't a single unlikable character out of the whole roster. Firstly, Chris Pratt's charming idiot Emmet is something of a lovable goof, simply trying to live his every day and clearly growing as a character throughout. Pratt's delivery is great help in selling the character, as he replicates his Parks and Recreation skills to create an equally likable idiot. Elizabeth Banks adds a mixture of tough and tolerance as Wyldstyle, as she slowly warms to Emmet and his ways without losing any of her courageous prowess, whilst boyfriend Batman is an excellent mockery of the modern iterations of the character, right down to his song. Morgan Freeman's mysterious mentor is a delight, with Freeman revelling in the role; the rest of the Master Builder crew (Brie, Charlie Day and Nick Offerman) all have their places in the spotlight despite their belated introductions; Ferrell as the villainous Business is surprisingly menacing, and the strange yet strong duo of Good/Bad Cop is a stroke of genius, leading to emotional and hilarious highs. Not a single character can be faulted. Are they perfect? Of course not. Together, they make the biggest band of misfits in cinema history. And yet it works. 

What's even more impressive is the animation. In other mediums, LEGO characters tend to be placed in bland, generic backgrounds, making them stand out in the non-brick landscapes. Here, everything is LEGO. The water, the buildings, the whole shebang. The only times in which there isn’t LEGO, it's part of the grander scheme of things. But not only does it follow the LEGO aesthetic, but it follows it in detail, with fingerprints and smudges on multiple objects and figures - all made clear in a surprising and heart-warming third act which features an equal blend of comedy and character. The animation is a character within itself, and it makes the lack of Oscar nomination all the more disgraceful. 

The LEGO Movie is the start of something new. Whilst on the outset it comes across as a simple cash grab with an annoyingly catchy tune, in actuality it's an utterly charming creation. Is it with its faults? Yes. Sometimes things go too quickly, which can alienate viewers as they try and catch up, and some characters, such as MetalBeard and Benny, are given little to do by comparison of the likes of Batman and Vitruvius, but its stellar voice cast and eye-catching visuals help sell the product beyond any major criticism. It built up a whole new universe of films to enjoy (with a sequel, Batman spin-off and a Ninjago film all scheduled for the next few years) and is a true delight for rewatches. 9/10.