Film Review: Battle of the Sexes

"I'm Done Talking, Let's Play..."

Fresh from her Oscar win in 2017's best film so far in the form of Damien Chazelle's La La Land, Emma Stone leads Battle of the Sexes, the latest from Little Miss Sunshine and Ruby Sparks directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, and a film which focuses on the titular infamous tennis match in 1973 between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs which ultimately lit the touchpaper for King's advocacy for feminism and LGBT rights within twentieth century America. With Steve Carell co-starring as Riggs and the likes of Andrea Riseborough, Sarah Silverman and Bill Pullman all making an appearance, the husband and wife directorial pair's return is one of rousing success, a brilliantly acted docu-drama with a hell of a lot to say, and whilst the film sometimes doesn't quite succeed in cracking open effectively all the notions evident on display, Battle of the Sexes is admirable in its' attempt to raise the same questions which were raised forty four years ago but are unfortunately still increasingly evident even today.

With Stone continuing to prove why she is arguably the most in-demand talent within Hollywood at this moment in time with yet another brilliantly nuanced performance as Billie Jean King, the film's strongest narrative thread is undeniably the relationship between her character and Andrea Riseborough's stylist love interest, Marilyn, a partnership which not only holds the most substance between any of the leading cast in the movie, but thanks to effective dialogue and intensely invasive camera shots is so authentic in its' design, the movie could have been good enough simply focusing on this particular plot thread alone. With a grainy, stylised 1970's aesthetic and a jukebox soundtrack accompanying the story, Battle of the Sexes is undeniably a crowd-pleasing ace, and with a final act which although is undeniably inevitable in regards to its' outcome, still manages to be rousingly intense, Faris and Dayton's movie is ironically one of the more timely releases in a year rife with discussions regarding women's liberation and the effect of feminism. Long may it continue.

Overall Score: 8/10

Film Review: Independence Day: Resurgence

"That's Definitely Bigger Than The Last One..."

Here we are slap bang right in the middle of the great British summer where rain fades our dream of a the rare sweltering heat wave and anticipated blockbusters sink faster than the titanic after receiving hit after hit of critical slam-dunking by journalists and bloggers alike. Already in the month of June we have the nomination for worst film of the decade in the from of Gods of Egypt and Independence Day:Resurgence swiftly follows suit in the latter's bewildering terribleness with wooden acting, ridiculously hollow CGI and a screenplay so boring I actually managed to fall asleep for twenty minutes during the showing, Roland Emmerich's long-awaited sequel to the 1996 popcorn-infused thrill ride is an overblown turkey of the highest order, a turkey that not only looks like it has been commissioned for the sole purpose of a quick buck but one that completely tarnishes the memory of the original. It's not Gods of Egypt bad, but it's close.

So what's new Roland? Big alien spaceship once again decides to destroy the planet whilst Jeff Goldblum's creaky scientist tries to appear to know what he's doing amongst a mad ex-president and a surprisingly awful Charlotte Gainsbourg and a Will Smith lookalike who bears no resemblance in both charm and character to the Fresh Prince whatsoever. Add into the mix overblown CGI and stone-cold humour which received not one laugh during my particular screening and Independence Day: Resurgence is quite simply a complete waste of time, talent and millions of dollars. Somewhere in hell there is indeed a multiplex showing a double header of both this and Gods of Egypt and to have both films being released within the space of just a week, it makes me fear for what's to come for the rest of the year. Roland, your film stinks. And I hope you know it.

Overall Score: 2/10

Film Review: American Ultra

Natural Bored Killers

So here we are with our 250th blog on Black Ribbon Reviews and instead of having a mind-blowing, totally amazing, triple whammy style review to craft out, we have a singular, rather timid and overly anti-climactic take on American Ultra. a film so strung up on its' stoner/b-movie conventions that the only advice I can give is to watch the trailer and embrace in its' rather lovely 120 second runtime instead of watching a rather drawn out, overly stupid, and senselessly violent forgettable mess which, I assume, will quickly be transferred to a discount DVD bucket near you. Although American Ultra does boast a significantly impressive cast, with Twilight's Kristen Stewart and The Social Network's Jesse Eisenberg being the film's lead roles, the wide range of flaws that encompass the movie throughout prevent it from being the complete stoner action flick writer Max Landis must have originally wanted it to be. 

Not only is the level of senseless violence completely off the chart, but the film is ridden with cliches, from the script to the characters, whilst the constant need for the characters to interject the already meaningless lines of dialogue with tiresome swear words made the film a painful experience in a similar vein to this years' Spy, with both seemingly forgetting the power of a well-written speech and instead flooding our characters with the vocabulary of a 14 year old who has just realised how naughty such words are when used. Within all the negativity is a power couple comprising of the leading stars with Steward and Eisenberg obviously making the most of their dire script which makes their on-screen relationship the only positive aspect of the film, something of which doesn't save American Ultra from what it overly is; a forgettable mess.

Overall Score: 4/10