Daily Archives: February 26, 2018

Trailers and News

The Outsider – New Trailer

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Jared Leto stars in The Oustider, the new Netflix film following an American soldier imprisoned in postwar Japan, who enters the dark world of the yakuza, adopting their way of life in repayment for his freedom.

Let’s be real for a second; a lot of Netflix’s original films are trash, with their many films from this year alone failing to earn praise, but every so often they deliver something good. In this case, The Outsider looks like an exciting, well directed thriller. As this site’s biggest (only) Jared Leto fan, I won’t be missing it.

The Outsider is available on Netflix from 9th March.

Features

Road to the Oscars: 90th Academy Awards – Predictions

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It’s that time of the year again.

No, no, not for the awards but for us film “experts” to attempt to guess at who’s going to win big at the ceremony. This year is the 90th Academy Awards and we’re all a buzz, trying to guess the winners. Unlike last year where we had two heavy-weight champs boxing it out (La La Land and Moonlight,) we’ve got a vast array of talents that could happily scoop up the prizes without much contention.

So , out of the main awards, who do we think is going to win big?


I think at this point, we’d all be genuinely shocked if Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri left without the Best Picture gong. It’s not that I think it is better than the other outings (and, personally, I’d cry a little if Get Out one,) but it’s the one with the most weight in terms of critical and audience acclaim as well as awards it has already received. The same goes for Sam Rockwell for Best Supporting Actor and Francis McDormand for Best Actress. Following their previous wins, they are definite dead certs and should already have their speeches written.

Same for Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour (which, for sure, will win Best Make-Up and Hairstyling for transforming Oldman into Winston Churchill.)  Oldman has missed out on this award despite being one of the world’s greatest actors. And there is a presedent for awarding an older actor who should’ve won for another film (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.) There is a part of me still hopefully that Daniel Kaluuya, who had by far the better performance in Get Out,) but it seems less likely. Best Supporting Actress will be Allison Janny for I, Tonya (and the fact that supporting wins could be the best elements from The Way, Way Back makes me really happy.)

Best Original Screenplay falls between Jordan Peele and Greta Gerwig for Get Out and Lady Bird respectively, (though Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards could possibly scoop the prize.) Either winner is a tremendous one with both films promoting originality, box office success, and progress, though I’d probably say Peele has the edge with this one, as Get Out has to leave with at least one Academy Award. It’s sad that there is a massive possibility that Lady Bird would leave the awards empty-handed. That being said, with the climate being what is, we could see Gerwig walk away as the second female director to win the Best Director prize. It’s a very slim chance, however, for anyone in the category to win against Guillermo Del Toro who has won big at other award shows and has a legacy that will help boost his chances of the gong.

Although Get Out and Lady Bird‘s odds on taking home an Oscar isn’t as high as some titles like The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, it’s still a win for the two first-time directors.

Best Adapted Screenplay good fall to anyone of those nominations. We’d be more than thrilled if Logan walked away with the gong but we could definitely see Call Me By Your Name awarded here for favour of a more diverse ceremony for the Best Picture nominees (in which, they all go away with something). This Is Me from The Greatest Showman (we’re still brooding that Patrick Stump’s Who’s The (Bat)man lost out on even a nomination here,) will definitely win Best Original Song whilst Johnny Greenwood is sure to get the prize for Best Original Score for his unparalleled work on Phantom Thread. Disney Pixar’s Coco will undoubtedly win for in Best Animation though intellectually we all know that Loving Vincent deserves it more.  Richard Deakins HAS to win Best Cinematography but there is every chance they’ll award Rachel Morrison (and deservedly so too.)

With dead certs, unpredictable categories, controversies, protests, and more making their way to the coveted red carpet next month, no matter who wins, it is certainly going to be the most interesting Academy Awards we’ve had in recent years.

And last year had the Best Picture Screw-Up

Image result for ryan gosling giggle
Here’s our full list of predictions:

Best Picture
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 

Best Director
Guilermo Del Toro, The Shape of Water 

Best Actress
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards 

Best Actor
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour 

Best Supporting Actress
Alison Janney, I, Tonya 

Best Supporting Actor
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards

Best Adapted Screenplay
Logan

Best Original Screenplay
Get Out

Image result for shape of water

Best Animated Film
Coco

Best Documentary Short Film
Heorin(e) 

Best Documentary
Strong Island

Best Original Song
This Is Me

Best Foreign Language Film
A Fantastic Woman 

Image result for a fantastic woman

Production Design:
The Shape Of Water 

Costume Design:
Phantom Thread 

 Cinematography :
Blade Runner 2049 

Sound Editing:
Baby Driver

Sound Mixing:
Baby Driver

Short
Watu Wote/All of Us

Animated Short:
Lou

Original Score
Phantom Thread

Image result for phantom thread

Best Visual Effects:
War for the Planet of the Apes

Best Film Editing
Baby Driver 

Make-Up & Hairstyling
Darkest Hour 

The 90th Academy Awards will screen 4th March. 
Who do you think is going to win? 

Trailers and News

On Chesil Beach – New trailer

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Saoirse Ronan – Excuse me, three time Academy Award nominee at the age of 23 Saoirse Ronan* – is one of the most talented and exciting young actors working today, and she’s taking the lead again in On Chesil Beach. Based on Ian McEwan’s novel, a young couple in 1960s England finds their idyllic romance colliding with issues of sexual freedom and societal pressure, leading to an awkward and fateful wedding night.

On Chesil Beach looks intriguing, but I can’t stay there’s anything about this trailer that particularly grabs you. But a solid cast and a charming feel to it hopefully indicate that we’re in for a good little film.

On Chesil Beach is out 15th June 2018.

On The Big Screen, Reviews

Thor: Ragnarok – Review

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Thor, with short hair? What is this madness?

It almost felt like the world imploded in itself for a split second and mourned for this man’s golden locks; yet don’t let that put you off, THOR: Ragnarok is sheer hammer smashing entertainment that is sure to impress.  As an imprisoned Thor, suspended from the ceiling narrates his story to a corpse in a terribly satirical fashion, from the first frame, we know we are in for a treat. Tiaka Waititi who previously gave us the gem that is Hunt for the Wilderpeople brings to light a Marvel tale with an ideal equilibrium between hard core comic references and a healthy dose of all things funny.

After defeating the fiery beast Surtur, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) journeys home to a slightly different Asgard than he remembers. With his fabulously vindictive brother, (spoiler alert!) Loki (Tom Hiddleston) – running the show, theatre productions and all the boat is well and truly rocked when he learns his father has been banished to earth. Just to add the cherry on top, the two are told they have a sister, Hela whose sole purpose is to destroy their home wiping all Asgardian’s from the galaxy. Fast forward a few punches and a rainbow road; Thor finds himself in a brutal gladiator contest against the Hulk, who let’s just say isn’t that pleased to see him – ‘Hulk smash’. Forming a new group aptly named the ‘Revengers’, the old friend’s team up to escape the incredibly eccentric Grandmaster and save Asgard.

At one stage this seemed to be dangling dangerously close to the realm of Guardians of the Galaxy;  adopting such comedic tropes that were established there but working just as seamlessly. By depriving us of a terribly in-depth storyline, resulting in brilliantly constructed dialogue and enough laughs to last the week, this gives us our daily dose of champions taking on the bad guys without trying to make it into something it isn’t. The relationships explored here, both old and new are quickly established, allowing the welcome female addition to the pack, Valkyrie,  to integrate seamlessly. In fact, after viewing you will find yourself torn between what’s more enjoyable to watch, Thor and his puppy Hulk dynamic or the ever deepening sibling rivalry of Thor and Loki – trying to pin point a favourite line gag will simply invite giggles to ones thoughts.

Korg (made of rocks, just in case you didn’t realise) voiced by Waititi himself is a guinea a minute and if any of you fancy getting out of here, he can help that with. Cate Blanchett taps into her ring desiring Galadriel whilst adopting the role of evil temptress Hela with an outfit and headgear  to match with absolute ease.  Jeff Goldblum is wickedly dressed as the peculiar (in the best ways possible) Grandmaster giving the population of The Capital in Panem a run for their money, alongside Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) absolutely rocking her in her half inebriated warrior-like tendencies.

After many a film simply exhausted such themes, Taika Waititi reignites your love for the Superhero genre through perfectly timed sketches and a flare of madness which resonates so well throughout this cast. This has well and truly broken the mould; that stagnant water that the majority of the superhero genre has seemed to float in for a while now has finally been cleansed. What we have here is something fresh that ingenuously interweaves plot intricacies from across the franchise that are sure to have fans cheering, whilst those who aren’t familiar with every finite detail can fully immerse themselves and still have a bloody good time.  Above all else, this (narrowly) avoids a horrendously clichéd cheesy kiss between the main man and a new found female – praise the Lord of Thunder – erm the God of Thunder, apologies. Not to say the chemistry isn’t there, because boy is it (perhaps it’s the short hair?).

The amount of giggles escaping your mouth is insane, Thor is a raucous and hilarious superhero flick.

Thor: Ragnarok is released in cinemas on Tuesday 24th Oct!