Black Ribbon's Top Film's of 2015: Part Two

Top Films of 2015: 10-1

The first weeks of 2016 dawn upon us leaving the success or failures of 2015 swiftly in the past, a year in which I have well and truly have had to wait until the last week of the year in order to fully decide my top ten favourite films thanks to the late, late release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the continuation of the famous saga which, unless turned out to be absolute an absolute drag, was inevitably going to end up being one of my favourite films of the year. With this in mind, the final list has finally been completed and the best 2015, in terms of movie magic, has had to offer begins with...

10. Wild Tales

Deliciously dark yet uproariously hilarious, Damian Szifron's anthology of revenge leans heavy on the use of black horror and dry wit whilst not shying away from the ridiculousness of primal human nature in society today. I mean come one, almost everyone on the planet has had a barmy with a traffic warden and it is situations like these that are turned well and truly on their head and portrayed with a pulpy style reminiscent of the best comic violence auteurs like Tarantino and even Sam Raimi. Check it out now. 

9. Mad Max: Fury Road

George Miller's completely off-the-chain, ludicrous and wholly spectacular revamp of the famous cult classic Mad Max franchise in which a baby-faced Mel Gibson has been replaced with the stern English chops of Tom Hardy has ultimately in retrospect thwarted all previous expectations of its' critical sustainability due in part to it's simply mind-blowing stunt work and artistic tendencies with John Seale's cinematography being a standout performance. Sight & Sound voted it the third best film of the year but for me it sneaks just in at ninth. 

8. The Gift

Oh Blumhouse Productions, how you make me weep with both resentment and sheer admiration on a rather annoyingly regular basis. How can a production company resort to releasing such turgid disgraces to horror such as any of the Sinister, Insidious sequels but then also create films like The Gift, a cleverly scripted and brilliantly acted chiller thriller written, directed and starring Joel Edgerton which brought about one of the most horrific jump scares I can recall in recent memory. If there ever was a blueprint for heading in the right direction for Blumhouse then The Gift is it. Please abide by such. Please. 

7. Birdman

Preposterous and simply bewildering on first glance, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's satirical glance on the state of Hollywood and the trials and tribulations of actors and actresses in general definitely takes some warming to and ultimately becomes a better film with each and every watch. Winning the Oscar for best film in 2015 was met with a whole lotta skepticism by many but in a strange, roundabout sort of way, by allowing the Oscar ceremony to fully embrace a film that basically sticks it's two fingers up at the current climate of Hollywood is rather comedic in itself. Birdman works, it just takes some time to fully understand why.

6. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

"Every generations has a story" claimed Disney and boy were they spot on. From the minute John Williams' famous Star Wars overture blasts on to the screen within The Force Awakens, you know you are in safe hands, yet J.J Abrams' continuation of the famous saga does more than settle for returning back into the saddle again after the peril of the prequels and instead introduces a new set of heroes for a new wave of Star Wars fans in the form of Rey and Finn whilst incorporating a complex, evil, and wholly interesting villain in the form of Kylo Ren. Simply marvelous. P.S, who else got a remote controlled BB-8 for Xmas?

5. Spectre 

There is something rather strange and fundamentally patriotic about my undeniable love for the James Bond series, a series in which its' peak was arguably tipped by the release of Skyfall back in 2012 and a film that SPECTRE had a barrel load to live up to, yet after the dust has settled and feelings have finally settled down, it seems there isn't much point in comparing the two with both strangely enough being completely different movies even if being molded by the same franchise. SPECTRE has strangely had some bad press by many, particularly across the sea in the US of A, but for me it continues the success of Skyfall and allows the beauty of Bond to continue well into the future. 

 4. Macbeth

Shakespeare meets Kill List with a hint of 300. What more do you want? After the dark and desperate display of directing in Snowtown, Justin Kurzel attempts to go full throttle darkness with the latest desperation of the famous tragedy starring the wonderful Michael Fassbender and the equally majestic Marillon Cotillard in the roles of Lord and Lady Macbeth respectively. It may not be for everyone, granted, but for the Wheatley-love that resides within me, Macbeth is the closest thing to a all-out cinematic blackout in terms of tone I have seen since Wheatley's own masterpiece, Kill List. 

3. Sicario

With the sequel to Blade Runner in the hands of Sicario director Denis Villeneuve, I can safely say my original feelings of utter horror and sheer doubtfulness have well and truly been grounded due to the continuation of Villeneuve's remarkable career so far. Continuing his success story of Incendies, Prisoners and Enemy, is Sicario, Villeneuve's white-knuckle thriller focusing on the dodgy dealings of the US Government around the Mexican border and the Cartel. Two set pieces particularly set the tone for the film with the tensest traffic jam ever and a venture into a dark and dangerous tunnel, combining in a film so engrossing it's hard to not talk about it after every watch. 

2. Inside Out/Song of the Sea

A bit of cheating here but it was simply impossible to decide which was better out of the two best animated features of the past few years or so, if not ever, with Disney's Inside Out sharing a wide range of similarities with Song of the Sea, a beautifully crafted animation based around Irish folklore and featuring some of the best use of music that has been heard this year. What do both movies have in common I hear you scream, well a wide range of imagination for starters as well as a sheer amount of attention to detail and scenes that are guaranteed to pull tightly at the heart-strings. Who says these films are for kids? If so, class me a child and I will wear it with pride if animated films continue to be this rich and rewarding.

1. Whiplash

If you are a regular visitor of Black Ribbon, you will no doubt be aware of my sheer admiration for Whiplash, Damien Chazelle's simply masterful and dramatic exploration of desire, admiration, willingness and eagerness in the world of music, helmed terrifically by the most deserved Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actor in recent years in the form of J.K. Simmons as Terrence Fletcher, the menacing and simply terrifying musical teacher who obviously takes his educational standpoint from that of Drill Sergeant Hartman in Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. If you haven't had the chance to check it out yet, please do, and you will witness the best film of 2015. Trust me. 

Black Ribbon's Worst Films of 2015

Worst Films of 2015

Within all the greatness of movies across the year, there inevitably is set to be a wide range of turkeys, movies that set themselves aside from the rest from being something utterly worse than mediocre and plain boring but in fact, loathsome, hateful and at the end of the day, utterly pointless. Before unleashing the best 2015 has had to offer in the world of cinema therefore, I thought it was only reasonable to highlight film's that probably should have been missed this year, those flicks that are guaranteed to swiftly be buried under the proverbial carpet and those that highlight the ways in which films should not be constructed. Here we go...

10. Hitman: Agent 47

It's not that hard to understand why films that are based upon the premise of a video game always seem to get a negative amount of spin before they are even announced, particularly in regards to the rafter of films that have been simply awful after making such a leap in format such as Doom, Max Payne, and most of the Resident Evil series. Carrying on that formula is Hitman: Agent 47, a staggeringly dull and wholly unoriginal take on the popular video game franchise which aside from being an overblown Audi commercial, is also an overblown, extended video game cut-scene hell bent on tarnishing the good nature of the video game business once and for all.

9. Sinister 2

All hail the remarkable workmanship at Blumhouse Productions, the raging antipathy of death, hell bent on destroying the entire horror genre, who frustratingly, when try to get it right, can in fact make some brilliant movies with The Gift and Whiplash being key examples, yet when resort to making trashy, cash-eyed horror sequels only resort in my hatred ever-growing. It's a love/hate relationship, one that isn't proved upon with Sinister 2, a pointless, hopeless sequel which abandons all sense of horror and scares for a quick buck instead. One of two on this list produced by those at Blumhouse. 

8. Jupiter Ascending

Unintentional camp sci-fi is as painful as a throbbing nail through the hand and the highly comical Jupiter Ascending reasserts that sometimes too much over-acting can result in one of the most cringe-worthy performances of all time. That's right Eddie Redmayne, I am talking to you. Put down your Oscar, sweep away your plaudits and bow your head in shame for your simply dire performance as a 21st century dodgy update of Flash Gordon's Emperor Ming in The Wachowski siblings' simply stinker of a sci-fi movie, stealing riffs from Star Wars, Star Trek and Terry Gilliam's Brazil whilst using the greatest array of tacky wardrobes I think I have ever seen. It's really bad. 

7. Poltergeist

When is a remake not a remake? When crafty producers decide to proclaim it as a "re-imagining", a word that essentially means they are saying, "hey, you know that really classic and interesting film that was made all those years ago and was really quite important? Well, why don't we remake it and grab a few extra million?" Oh dear. In the case of Poltergeist, a film that I really do cherish and one that made up part of my early horror movie experience as a child, why did it really need to be remade if not for a slight financial gain on the producers part? It's not that I hate it, it's just I find it slightly unnecessary and a complete waste of time. It's a film which makes the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre look good.  

6. Fantastic Four

And here we are, the biggest blockbuster let-down of the year in the form of Fantastic Four, a film so mixed in its' tone, setting and well, everything, it wouldn't be surprising if 20th Century Fox suddenly confessed to releasing it without actually putting it through the editing stage or even as a late April fools joke. With young acting talents such as Miles Teller, Kate Mara and Michael B. Jordan, Fantastic Four is let down by one of the most preposterous plots I have ever scene and a final act which is simply mind-blowing in terms of its' sheer incompetence. I suggest you try again lads and lasses. 

5. The Interview

Oh how the genre of comedy has fallen into the hands of pubescent, immature teenagers where the funniest thing on earth is seeing a man reveal his most intimate of parts and swing it mercifully around in front of corrupt North Korean soldiers. Hardy flippin ha... The Interview is so bad it is not even worthy of respite. It's a comedy so low on the intelligence scale it hurts my brain to think about it. So I won't. And neither will many others. 

4. Fifty Shades of Grey

You want to do what to her? You said what? That room is full of what? Do you really want this dialogue in the movie? These are the sort of questions any right-minded producer, director, actor, whatever, should have been saying on the set of Fifty Shades of Grey, a template example of un-sexy sexiness where eroticism and romance is replaced with sniggers and raspberries due to its' simply awful dialogue and acting so wooden it began to spurt woodworm. AWFUL. 

3. The Cobbler

The bravura acting talent that is Adam Sandler continues his excruciating form of cinematic rubbish with The Cobbler, the creepiest and most sadistic stalker film that isn't actually based around a stalker but instead is meant to be a life-assuring comedy drama about a man who finds magical powers within his role as, you guessed it, a cobbler. Featuring the longest 90 minutes of film I can remember, The Cobbler is a tragic example of an actor well and truly scraping the barrel. 

2. The Bad Education Movie

Why hate on Cornwall? It's a lovely place and features more spectacular entertainment than The Bad Education Movie provides in it's overlong attempt to make us laugh. Well guess what, you didn't, and instead you managed to make us cringe in despair at the sheer wastefulness of time spent watching such trash. Not only is it another example of movies failing when moving from the small screen to the big, but it just reasserts the notion that comedy is slowly becoming a dying art, with intelligence and gusto being replaced with immaturity and vulgarity. Please dismiss. 

1. The Gallows

And here we are at last, my least favourite film of the year and alas, it is a horror, a genre that continues to be tarnished by the ridiculous amount of mediocre examples that continue to plague our cinemas each and every year. This year however, the one taking all the plaudits for sheer awfulness is The Gallows, one gigantic rip-off of genre classics such as The Blair Witch Project and Halloween whilst featuring the stupidest use of shaky-cam I can remember and a final act in which I can barely keep track of the amount of sheer movie-making mis-steps over it's startling lack of threat and, or scares. Please, if 2016 brings anything with it, please don't let it bring any more creaky, crappy horror movies. I think it would force me to abandon hope for the genre to return from the seemingly dead end films like The Gallows are driving it into. 

Black Ribbon's Best Film Scenes of 2015

Best Film Scenes of 2015

Within every great movie is a scene of equal greatness, whether it be a memorable moment of character progression, a tear-jerking loss of a key character, or even something as trivial as a note of music that pulls at the heartstrings in a way that affects a particular viewer. Throughout 2015 there have been a vast amount of particular movie moments where the magic really kicks in, scenes in which have left a long-lasting impression within my mind and have resulted in either making the film a better picture or just a fantastic scene on its' own ground albeit being in a overly mediocre movie. Within this list is Black Ribbon's top ten most memorable scenes of 2015, starting promptly with...

10. A Meeting With Macha - Song of the Sea

Song of the Sea is many things. Beautiful. Awe-inspiring. Genuinely tear-inducing. Yet one of the things I didn't expect from Tomm Moore's animated masterpiece is the scene in which our beloved heroes come across the legendary owl-witch known as the Macha, whereby we witness the darker side of the Irish folklore in which Song of the Sea is based upon. Although most of Song of the Sea is undeniably child-friendly, the introduction to the insidious Macha was genuinely startling, resulting in a hallucinatory dream-scape of evil owls and creepy Irish folklore legends.  

9. Confrontation With Jobs - Steve Jobs

Although Steve Jobs is directed by the fine hand of Danny Boyle, it undoubtedly belongs to the craftsman of screenplays himself, Aaron Sorkin, with its' three-act structure being an effective stage for which Sorkin is allowed to play upon. Of the many wordy dialogues within the film, the scene in which Jobs is confronted by John Sculley within the second act of the film is the one that stands out the furthest, with Sorkin's brilliant script being fully embraced by the acting duo of both Fassbender and Daniels whilst being offset with flashbacks of the past, all of which results in a heavy sense of escalating drama that gives credence to the simply unfair talent that Sorkin has unleashed upon directors such as Boyle and David Fincher, both of whom have enjoyed undeniable success because of such in Steve Jobs and The Social Network respectively.

8. Day of the Dead - Spectre

Before Spectre was even released, director Sam Mendes made sure that his latest entry into the Bond canon was set to have one of the most epic opening scenes in the film's 53 year history, with the famous Day of the Dead in Mexico City being the backdrop for the return of everyone's favourite English super-spy. Beginning with a seemingly one-take shot following Bond through the streets of Mexico City and onto the rooftops above, Spectre's opening scene definitely ramps up the thrills and skills, with Bond mercifully tracking down and defeating a high-ranking agent of SPECTRE all-the-while attempting to keep the poor innocents of Mexico City with their lives intact from the rogue helicopter in which our enemy decides to escape within. Mr Mendes, you were right. The opening scene of Spectre is one to be treasured. 

7. The Walk - The Walk

Although not exactly the greatest film of the year, with the release of Robert Zemeckis' The Walk essentially just being a dramatic re-telling of the superior documentary Man on Wire, one thing the film did have going for it was the exceptional titular sequence in which Philippe Petit crosses the Twin Towers with nothing more than his wit and skill as a wire-walker to keep him alive. As a self-confessed hater of heights as it is, the concluding 30 minute scene of The Walk was a sheer nail-biting collage of vertigo-esque tension, where even though I was fully aware of Petit's incredible success, resulted in an sense of intolerable discomfort in the best way possible, something of which is owed simply to the brilliant way in which Zemeckis' titular act is filmed. Simply breathtaking. 

6. F**K Tha Police - Straight Outta Compton

Some of the best films are those that unexpectedly turn out to be real gems and surpass any expectations they have had before it, and in the case of Straight Outta Compton, F. Gary Gray's real firecracker of a drama based upon the rise of the notorious hip-hop group, N.W.A, what a surprise it was to witness its' brilliantly managed explosive temperament and uncanny portrayals of the genre's most decorated patrons. Within the film's many great scenes is the recording sessions of the group's titular debut album, particularly that of their most notorious single, "F**K Tha Police", recorded after a confrontation with the somewhat backward's handling of the Los Angeles police department whose racial stereotypes present in the early 1990's are made abundantly clear within Straight Outta Compton, yet it's the ferocious response from the group into recording arguably their most famous hit which creates one of the most entertaining scenes of 2015.

5. Showdown With Gordo - The Gift

Written, directed and starring Joel Edgerton, The Gift proved to be a real tense and taut claustrophobic chiller thriller with Edgerton sinking in almost too well into the role of Gordo, the creepy stalker hell bent on making the lives of both Simon and Robyn Callum rather awkward with a selection of creepy get-together's and unwanted hand-delivered gifts. The real winning success of The Gift however is down to the nature in which Edgerton's portrayal of Gordo is one of a rather mixed and ambiguous nature, resorting to feelings of compassion towards someone who is obviously rather troubled at heart. One of the most incredible scenes within The Gift is when we witness the rather fiery Simon confront Gordo at his place of work, yet instead of being on the side of the targeted Simon, the sight of Gordo's sheer embarrassment as his real life is discovered results in a collage of conflicting feelings, something of which has stayed with me ever since the film's release. 

4. Madness Prevails - Macbeth

Transferring the dark, twisted tale of Shakespeare's Macbeth to the big-screen is no easy feat in itself, yet Snowtown director Justin Kurzel manages to embrace the bloody nature of the famous text and turns it into essentially a horror flick with glorious displays of violence, something of which won't exactly be shown to schoolkids examining the play for the sake of education. Of the many great scenes within Kurzel's adaptation is when we witness the titular Macbeth, played majestically by Michael Fassbender, start to go completely bonkers at a royal feast in front of his loving, loyal wife and fellow ruling family and friends where, reeling from the violent slaughter of Banquo by his own hand, Macbeth begins to hallucinate his bleeding, pierced body dining at his feast, resulting in a crazed, frightened Macbeth showing how the power of being King has truly began to corrupt him. It's a wonderful scene and one in which Fassbender's raw and ripe acting talents are once again put on display.

3. Thermal Imagery - Sicario

If Sicario is not the film that finally wins the simply brilliant Roger Deakins an Oscar for his cinematography skills then I am pretty sure nothing will. One of the most talked about shots of the year is the scene in which we witness the spook-like militaristic agents disappear into darkness in search of a drug-trafficking tunnel and it is here where the best scene of the film begins. Switching between complete darkness and thermal imagery, our venture into the pitch black tunnel of horror, all seen through the eyes of unknowing FBI Agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), is nail-biting tension in its' most extreme, even more so than the scariest traffic jam ever we witness earlier in the film, yet it is the ambiguous nature of both our heroines nature and what lies for her in the tunnel which makes this particular scene a true gem and definitely the most tense twenty minutes of the entire year. 

2. Goodbye Bing Bong - Inside Out

I love Disney, I'm not afraid to say it, and I love Inside Out even more. Not only is it wholly original and incredibly intelligent but it also features the most heartbreaking cinematic moment of the year by a long shot. After falling into the subconscious and memory dump of Riley's mind, Joy and imaginary friend Bing Bong attempt to escape via that of Bing Bong's homemade rocket ship yet after being originally unsuccessful, Bing Bong sacrifices himself to get Joy safely back to head office, who subsequently disappears into dust, much to the despair of everyone, including myself, who found it hard to hold back the tears, regardless of the extent to which lip biting came into effect. It's a scene as heartbreaking as the death of Mufasa and reinforces Disney's ability to make every human resort to their inner child and weep with sheer sadness. Damn you!

1. A Final Encore - Whiplash

The final ten minutes of Whiplash are among the greatest of cinema within the past decade or so, if not of all time, with the final drum solo combining sheer tension and thrills, resulting in a storming final encore for both Miles Teller's Andrew Neiman and Damien Chazelle's simply brilliant drama surrounding the abusive teachings of Oscar winning supporting actor J.K. Simmons as the terrifying Terrence Fletcher. Although drumming and the entire aspect of drums are as exciting to me as a wet flannel, somehow Whiplash is a film that just is just majestic in its' execution with Tom Cross's editing one of the many reasons for such, and it is here within the final scene where his skills are truly put to the test, resulting in a stunning tour de force of blood, sweat and tears which left me simply breathless. With that in mind, scene of the year belongs to Whiplash, and boy does it deserve it.

Black Ribbon's Top Film's of 2015: Part One

Top Films of 2015: 20-11

What a resounding year it has been in the world of cinema. Not only have we had the grand-scale return of beloved franchises such as Bond and of course, STAR WARS, but we have also been treated to a vast range of quality independent movies that although may have gone slightly under the wide-appeal radar, haven't shied away from deserved critical acclaim. Although it is nearly impossible to catch up with every single release each and every week of the year, Black Ribbon has worked extensively to provide weekly reviews of the newest releases throughout 2015, and here is the first part of my own personal top films of the year, starting with numbers twenty through to eleven... 

20. Ex Machina

Remember how good 28 Days Later was? Well after taking on the infected in the streets of London, writer Alex Garland takes on directorial duties for Ex Machina, a creepy, claustrophobic thriller focusing on the concept of artificial intelligence, nodding ever-so slightly into the realms of Blade Runner, but resulting in a solid first outing for the talented Garland and reasserting the talents of both Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vikander. If it's creepy sci-fi chills you are after, Ex Machina is definitely for you. 

19. Enemy

In Enemy, Denis Villeneuve goes full-out Lynch mode, even so far by casting Blue Velvet actress Isabella Rossellini in a minor, if rather significant role, but the real masterwork of Enemy is the way in which questions are left without straightforward answers without ever feeling self-indulgent or being created for the credit of being linked to the work of Lynch himself like this years' terrible Lost River. Spooky, weird, and featuring the creepiest ending to a film this year, Enemy is another win in the ever-growing back catalogue of Canadian Villeneuve.

18. Carol

A rather late addition to the floor, but within Carol, we witness director Todd Hayne's beautifully elegant and incredibly delicate portrayal of forbidden romance and social acceptability with Oscar-worthy performances from both the radiant Cate Blanchett and the all-eyes spectacle that is the brilliant Rooney Mara. Carol is not only a great film. it is one that has been made with pride and admiration and wants the viewer to sit back and let the film simmer in its' beauty and marvelous attention to detail.

17. Montage of Heck 

21 years after his death, Kurt Cobain is still undoubtedly one of the biggest household names when it comes to the reinvention of the rock genre during the grunge outbreak of the 1990's with Montage of Heck a comprehensive insight into the star's early childhood, his rise to fame, through to the endearing legacy of Nirvana's impact on the musical industry during their way-too short stint on this beloved planet. Although the film does dwell on the presence and influence of Courtney Love a bit too much, Montage of Heck is a insightful and creative window into the world of music's most tragic hero.

16. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night

Talking of David Lynch, Ana Lily Amirpour's noir-influenced genre horror takes the Lynchian recipe book and creates a masterpiece of vampiric mythology, resorting to long takes of silence and intrigue and bursts of violence representing the best bits of the age-old vampire story and producing a eerie and compelling drama of love, lust and desire, all incorporated around a equally eerie soundtrack. Think Let The Right One In meets Eraserhead, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is a real triumph.

15. A Most Violent Year

Featuring two of my favourite acting talents in this current cinematic climate, A Most Violent Year focuses on Oscar Isaac's Abel Morales' attempts to further advance his Oil Company whilst battling external violent pressures and the threat of continual hijackings, all the while being guided by his femme-fatale of a wife played by the majestic Jessica Chastain. Brilliantly acted and directed, A Most Violent Year produces tension in areas that in other films would only be trivial in a vein similar to that of the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock.

14. Bridge of Spies

Only extending Steven Spielberg and Tom Hank's remarkable partnership is Bridge of Spies, a tremendous cold-war thriller focusing on American attorney James Donovan's attempts to negotiate the exchange of Mark Rylance's Russian spy Rudolf Abel for two American captives in Soviet Russia. If the spectacle of the ice-cold cinematography of Germany and the captivating supporting performance from Rylance aren't enough to keep you entertained for two hours or so, then nothing will. A gem of an entry into the ever-growing back catalogue of entertainment auteur, Steven Spielberg.

13. Straight Outta Compton

Flawlessly acted and bouncing with style and substance, Straight Outta Compton focuses on the rise and fall of N.W.A, the notorious hip-hop group featuring the likes of Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E. With uncanny re-recorded takes on the groups musical back catalogue, F. Gary Gray's choice to focus primarily on the relationships rather than the social spectacle presents an interesting and compelling drama that fulfilled and exceeded any expectations proceeding it. 

12. Steve Jobs

If double-billed with the equally fabulous, The Social Network, Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs would showcase a masterpiece of cinematic writing from Aaron Sorkin whose latest screenplay is undoubtedly one of the best produced this year with it being filled with quick one-liners, snappy dialogue, and a tendency to think everyone is as clever as he is. Fassbender does a great job in the lead role, with kudos too going to the likes of Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen and Jeff Daniels, but Steve Jobs belongs to Sorkin. It's rather good.

11. Brooklyn

Amidst all the craziness of superheroes and dinosaurs this year is Brooklyn, a wonderful romantic drama penned by Nick Hornby and starring Saoirse Ronan in a leading performance that is set to bring a rafter of nominations and awards after being universally acclaimed for her portrayal of the alienated-Irish wanderer who begins a new life in the United States only to question where she really feels at home. Wonderfully costumed and acted almost too well, Brooklyn is a real treat and deserves all the praise it hopefully gets in the coming months or so. 

Part Two Coming Soon...

Film Review: Steve Jobs

"We Will Know Soon Enough If You Are Leonardo da Vinci Or Just Think You Are..."

Let's get this straight. I am seemingly one of the minority in the world where shopping in an Apple branded store for Apple branded products to me would be in similar vein to shopping at Waitrose. Sure everything looks nice and flashy, but it's price tag and lack of distinction from the norm really makes me want to shop elsewhere. With this thought in mind, I ventured into my local world of cine and into a midday screening of Steve Jobs with rather mixed expectations. On the upside, I love Danny Boyle, with his entire filmography stretching all the way back to Shallow Grave being something I will always love and cherish, and I love Micheal Fassbender, with his recent performance in Macbeth being one of my favourites of the year so far. So all in all, the signs were mixed, was Steve Jobs set to be a success in my own point of view after hearing of possible award ceremony attention heading its' way? Was Fassbender set to reel us in with his portrayal of Jobs and leave us wanting more by the end of it? After leaving the cinema my instant reaction to both questions was a sincere, yes, with Steve Jobs being one of the most entertainingly and highly engrossing written movies I have watched in recent memory.

Set in the form of three acts, each taking place before the launch of a major Jobs'-led product, Steve Jobs is a masterpiece in how, if written with extreme delicacy and understanding, a two-hour film set basically in one confined space, can become a work of art. Much like the Apple products themselves, Steve Jobs is a rife and intelligent beast, if rather fundamentally lacking in a sense of depth and scope, with Danny Boyles' latest relying heavily on the influence of Aaron Sorkin's script, a man best known for The West Wing and the simply brilliant The Social Network, a film which can draw a lot of similarities with Steve Jobs due to both having an extensive amount of the "walk and talk" nature of their scripts, a feat in which Sorkin is proudly famous for. Within the fundamental intelligence of Sorkin's script, is a heavy sense of theater and stage, giving room for the cast that includes the likes of Jeff Daniels, Seth Rogen, and particularly the one-two of Fassbender and Kate Winslet, room to go completely full on, adapting scenes of dialogue from Sorkin's script into a real sense of dramatic power and steel.

  Of course, Steve Jobs is not set to be for everyone, with its' heavy reliance on dialogue and concentration not entirely being set for mass appeal, whilst Fassbender's inhuman and simply cold portrayal of Jobs himself may be rather too alienating for some of the more humane audiences out there, yet for me personally, Steve Jobs exceeded my rather mid-level expectations twice-fold with its' flashy and intelligent script and rather brilliant performances of almost everyone involved, but with standout nods to particularly Fassbender, Winslet and Daniels, making Steve Jobs a real joyous surprise. Oscars, you may be right. Steve Jobs is a-coming.

Overall Score: 9/10

Film Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part Two

"Turn Your Weapons To The Capitol! Turn Your Weapons To Snow..."

Looking back at my time growing up as a teenager, it is rather fair to say that in terms of cinematic experiences that was forged during my development from child-minded youngster to well, child-minded adult, that I, and many others of similar age, were well and truly spoiled. I mean come on, we had the reinvention of fantasy epics with The Lord of the Rings, the angsty teen family friendly years of Harry Potter, and the re-invention of both the Bond and the Batman films, with The Dark Knight still being a huge turning point in terms of my understanding of what makes a truly great cinematic memory. This complete spoilage of greatness during my own personal childhood has only received further gratitude in recent times when examining the recent implosion of child-targeted franchises hoping to fill the gaps that series' such as Harry Potter vacated when they came to their concluding tales, most of which have seen that the teen-led dystopian universe is the right way to go. Although The Hunger Games series definitely is the leader of the pack when it comes to such, beating the Divergent and Maze Runner series' hands down, its' concluding tale in the form of Mockingjay - Part Two is an unfortunate mess, leaving the legacy of such a franchise ending with a whim, rather than a stage of defiance and strength in a vein similar to its' titular character.

If you aren't already well and truly versed in the plot-lines of the whole Hunger Games saga, there really is not much point attempting to try and explain almost seven hours worth of backstory right now except from the fact that the entire series is basically Battle Royale with cheese (yes, I loved that too Pulp Fiction fans) where aside from the rather important and intelligent notions of dystopian futures, uprisings and a fight against tyranny, something of which would give George Orwell a run for his money, The Hunger Games franchise has always seemed to be rather misplaced in my own personal point of view due to a variety of reasons that seem to come full circle in its' concluding chapter. Firstly, aside from Jennifer Lawrence well and truly embracing the role of Katniss Everdeen, a character in which is meant to symbolise a role model for many fans of the series, there really isn't one other character in which I can truly say I feel heavily invested in both emotionally and mentally. Because of this, the entirety of MJ Part One was rather a significant bore, with way too many scenes of exposition and explanation and much too less of actually getting to the point, highlighting the argument for why these concluding parts were not just made into one film rather than two. 

Such a problem continues in MJ Part Two, where scenes of excruciatingly dull dialogue are played out far too long too often in comparison to scenes of vital importance which are sped through way too quickly, resulting in a sense of continuous questioning and a jump between states of sheer boredom and utter confusion. Thankfully, with Lawrence in the titular role as the Mockingjay, such scenes are saved from total extinction with her performance as the "girl on fire", continuing her rather brilliant start to life as an actress, whilst the seedy, ice-like figure of the wonderful Donald Sutherland as the ruthless autocratic President Snow is also a trait in the film's favour. Amid scenes of sheer tension, particularly one in which our heroes and heroines venture into the city's sewers, is times in which the film's fundamental dark subject matter come into force, particularly in one scene in which we witness a mass gathering of children being blown to pieces, and it is here where the age-old question of classification comes into account, with MJ Part Two, being definitely in the category of top-end 12A's. In other words, do not take your seven year old child to see this. You may scar them for life.

Obviously as I am not a die-hard fan of the series, MJ Part Two was never going to fulfill all my expectations entirely, but the fact that the concluding chapter of this franchise is made in such a terrible fashion upsets me personally on behalf of its' core fans. It's messy, it's overlong, it features the worse love-triangle since Twilight, MJ Part Two for me, was a severe let-down from my already mediocre expectations, ending on a sour note rather than a show of brilliance that the first two in the series brought with it. At the end of the day, it may be a suitable end to the Mockingjay series for some, but for me, Mockingjay - Part Two was a wholly mediocre affair, too hell bent on getting too much done too quickly whilst reeling on the lack of assured substance and depth that may have been accomplished if made into one film rather than two for the sake of the accountants. And boy, that ending was truly terrible. 

Overall Score: 5/10