Anyway, on with the reviews!
The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
Best thing: The Joker's face while Batman is talking about their 'relationship' is just brilliant.
Worst thing: Okay, I'm kind of clutching at straws here, I know. However, I was annoyed when they brought in Voldemort. Look, I'm not much of a Harry Potter fan. My favourite part from the movies I saw was the magic bus and the Rastafarian shrunken heads scene from Prisoner of Azkaban (and I believe that wasn't even in the book). Having briefly introduced all the Batman villains it really annoyed me when centre stage ended up being given to random villains from other franchises that I didn't really care for. (But on the other hand, combining franchises like this is just one element that makes this film unique.) I'd actually have liked to see more of the actual Batman villains (particularly the ones we haven't generally seen in movies before).
From the start of the film it's almost like Batman is giving us a DVD commentary track on the film. I love how they use Batman's constant need to comment on everything that happens as an opportunity to highlight his own self-centredness and also to make clear where he might be questioning his own arrogance for a change. The way that Lego Batman is an endearing arsehole reminds me of the online series "Strongbad Emails" (from www.homestarrunner.com - is that still going? Oooh, there's a youtube channel now.) He's a character whose arrogance is clearly a bid for attention and there's a real charm to his unbridled optimism. It's also clear that he wouldn't ever actually want anyone else to come to harm, even if he wants the focus to be on himself.
There's so much on screen at once, the jokes are genuinely funny (even if there's a lot of clever references involved a lot of the time), and I really cared about the characters. While this might be somewhat limited by being a sequel to "The Lego Movie" with a focus on the Batman, which means this doesn't have the same scope to make absolutely anything anything happen, it's an incredibly fun follow-up all the same. Anyone who was worried that there was not enough new that could be done with the Lego Batman character, can rest easy. The Lego Batman can handle a movie all to himself and does so with aplomb.
A+
Hunt For The Wilderpeople (2016)
Best thing: There are so many fun little bits in the film, but I think my favourite bit might be the fake suicide note (and what happens after the protagonist writes it).
Worst thing: Honestly, while it's still quite funny, I think Taika Waititi's cameo as the priest might be the worst thing for me. Most of the film feels relatively realistic, but his priest figure feels too ridiculous for me to really suspend my belief.
Taika Waititi seems to do nothing but spin gold. And I had no idea how he was going to make a story about an ASBO kid who thinks he's a gangster appealing. But it's so fun and so charming.
Rima Te Wiata is amazing and I would really like to see her in more films. I first came across her when she seemed to be the only source of humour in the movie “Housebound” (I felt like that movie was just dead boring whenever she wasn't on screen). She has such a expressive face and such charm. Sam Neil isn't quite such a strong presence but that's because of the type of character he is playing. A cynic and a loner who wants to hide his insecurities by avoiding social interaction where possible.
I believe this is the only one of Taika Waititi's films to be adapted from a book. I think that somewhat limited the film and certainly a friend of mine was disappointed that this wasn't the laugh riot that we saw in What We Do In The Shadows. But Hunt For The Wilderpeople has a lot of heart and demonstrates that Taika Waititi is capable of doing a straight story as he begins filming the new Thor movie. (Hunt For The Wilderpeople is also not quite as weird as Boy or Eagle Vs Shark.)
Being pursued by a social worker who thinks she's the Terminator and repeats "no child left behind" in the same way a Dalek might repeat "exterminate". The overblown manhunt that makes up the bulk of the film is very enjoyable and I was just completely immersed in the action, chuckling away.
A+
Mississippi Grind (2015)
Best thing: Ben Mendelsohn captures the role of a gambling addict perfectly and helps us to completely empathise him even though he's playing a completely pathetic scumbag. He helps us understand his weakness clearly.
Worst thing: There's not a problem with Ryan Reynolds here. In fact this is probably the best Ryan Reynolds performance I've ever seen. However his character is such a closed box of a mystery. I think this secrecy is intentional but I never really understand why that secrecy exists.
This is mostly just a cool character drama and Ryan Reynolds is better here than any other performance I've seen from him. Though the real star is Ben Mendelsohn. He's incredible.
The plot is fairly unimportant. This is a road trip movie so that doesn't matter so much, but I'm not sure that it built up to anything. But it's a pretty awesome journey anyway. This film successfully puts us in the mind of a gambling addict and that's pretty impressive.
B-
Boy (2010)
Best thing: Taika Waititi's direction and his own performance as the deadbeat dad really helps to capture a boy idolising a terrible father figure. My favourite part is where the central 'boy' is looking on proudly while his dad pretends to fire a large stick like a machine gun. (Though second place has to go to the bit where the younger brother imagines destroying a bus with mind powers. Haven't we all had that at some point?)
Worst thing: The worst I can really say is that perhaps the pacing could be a bit faster. But then again there are little details everywhere and the gradual build allows the film to develop emotional resonance.
Like a lot of children growing up in the 80s, I used to love Michael Jackson. So it was quite cool seeing that MJ fever in the background here. (When the protagonist shows off his 'dance moves' it was hilarious. Ask anyone to dance like Michael Jackson and what do they do? Scrape their feet slowly backwards, lol!)
But at its centre this is about a boy recognising that his father is not worthy of his admiration. Which is obvious to the audience pretty early on since the dad is fresh out of prison.
There are so many wonderful moments in this film and it meets that same awesome quality we saw in Waititi's debut film Eagle Vs Shark. Waititi is an incredible filmmaker who blends comedy and emotional moments beautifully.
A+
Easy A (2010)
Best thing: I love the scenes with the parents who can't take anything seriously. Sure they are unrealistically quick-witted, but their scenes are all very very funny.
Worst thing: Why make reference to John Hughes movies? How are they relevant? Breakfast Club is not a romantic movie. In Breakfast Club the character she seems to want to romance her starts the movie joking that they should gang rape Molly Ringwald's character. And there's Emma Stone distressed that her life isn't like that movie. What the hell?
Wow. I'd forgotten how wonderful this film is. Also cool to see that Aly Michalka from "iZombie” and Johanna Braddy who plays Jenny Matrix in VGHS are both here.
Difference is, I've now seen all John Hughes' movies and feel fairly confident in saying this is better than any of them.
A+
Money Monster (2016)
Best thing: When a loved one gets brought in to talk down the armed intruder it is pretty great. I won't spoil what happens, but I thought it was pretty funny.
Worst thing: The mystery is solved perhaps a little too easily.
Isn't George Clooney great? I'm not really sure why he isn't constantly appearing in comedy films. The Coen Brothers seem to be the only ones who recognise his awesome knack for comedy. He plays a pretty similar character here as the one he plays in Intolerable Cruelty. A privileged smooth-talking figure who essentially talks for a living (only here he talks on television rather than in a courtroom).
Okay admittedly this isn’t exactly a comedy, but there are plenty of laughs anyway. Money Monster is a drama which neatly balances tension and humour. Money Monster taps into our anxieties over the econonic crash, but admittedly it's not really about that. There's a very specific fictional company to blame here and it's not a story about a widespread market crash. Nevertheless the story still taps into those same emotions.
Money Monster is a lot of fun, engagingly directed and a good solid piece of entertainment. Sure it's not exactly a work of art, but it's very satisfying all the same.
A+
Force Majeure (2014)
Best thing: The point where the moment of betrayal takes place is quite neatly and naturally done. (Though perhaps a little too natural and subtle since my parents, who hadn't heard the premise, didn't notice anything wrong.)
Worst thing: When the sympathetic friend is up late at night for ages arguing with his girlfriend that he would never be similarly cowardly in the same situation it starts off funny but it just goes on way too long.
What a boring film. It's quite interesting to look into how someone might be looked down on after he abandons his family in a moment of crisis. But in the end this just feels so incredibly trite and petty.
C-
Anthropoid (2016)
Best thing: As with pretty much anything with Toby Jones, Toby Jones was the highlight. Not to badmouth Cillian Murphy, but Toby Jones is simply amazing.
Worst thing: The worst thing was simply not feeling engaged by the content and nowhere is that worse than during the final siege where, were I more engaged by the characters, I would be absolutely on the edge of my seat. Yet I felt strangely distant from these scenes of our protagonists in a brutal gun battle with Nazis.
This is the story of a plan to take down the main Nazi figure in charge of the occupation of Czechoslovakia. It's not a story I'm familiar with, yet much of the story feels very generic. It's interesting to hear that the resistance movement objected to a mission which aims so high. They knew that the Nazis would retaliate harshly against the Czech people. But the film seems bizarrely lacking in tension.
On paper this has everything. Romance, a unique spin on a wartime event, a great cast, harrowing violence and yet somehow it all just left me cold.
It's a real pity because there are some great individual moments. One character's use of cyanide and another character's brutal torture are very impactful. But as a whole I found this pretty forgettable. Cillian Murphy is a great actor but I didn't really engage with his character's personality.
D+
The Girl With All The Gifts (2016)
Best thing: The teeth chattering done by the infected is genuinely creepy. The whole opening set-up of a facility where children are taught lessons while strapped into chairs to prevent them eating the facility staff is pretty twisted.
Worst thing: The film feels very televisual. And in a time when tv shows no longer look televisual that's really not good. When a new set of child zombies turn up and the children briefly take centre stage, I found myself deeply unmoved by the portrayal. Anyone who has seen the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode where beer turns students into literal neanderthals may understand where I'm coming from. I found the tribe of feral children hard to take entirely seriously.
For the most part, I don't think this is the novel take on zombie stories that was promised, but I'll certainly give them credit for being prepared to go weird.
I found the ending deeply unsatisfying, but I can't say it was predictable. I'm really not sure what Gemma Arteton's character's motivation is though, and that is true consistently throughout the film.
Anyone who has seen the trailer would think Arteton's motivations were pretty clear cut. The most intelligent zombie child saved her life so, as a result, she sees the child as having more importance. In the film, however, we see that Gemma Arteton cares about all the children long before that event ever happens and the central child acts like the world's creepiest teacher's pet. When we finally reach the scene from the trailer it's not clear that she saves Gemma Arteton at all, but it definitely shows that she is able to take down armed soldiers and rip out their jugular veins with her teeth.
Yet Gemma Arteton consistently defends the child as if she weren't blatantly a monster and when we hear about where all the monster children came from it's even harder to understand. And that's okay. Characters with odd motivations can be interesting. But by the end of the film it seems like we are supposed to understand her perspective and I really really don't. I found it much easier to engage with Glenn Close and Paddy Considine's characters who feel much better written.
This has a great cast but perhaps something didn't translate from the novel, since the story seemed to be missing something. The ending seemed to be portrayed as upbeat and I wonder whether it was supposed to be darkly comic. But frankly, I'm at loss.