Last year I managed to watch 99 new releases of that year; the list of these films can be found here and just for the sake of a good laugh and in jest of David Fincher and my disdain for his direction since Zodiac, the title of this list is 'Films of 2014: I watched 99 films and Gone Girl ain’t 1' - since making this list, I have actually sat down with Fincher's Gone Girl and was left feeling nothing but hatred of yet another travesty from a director for who I once loved; but not to get caught up with negativity around my thoughts on Fincher as a director, at the start of this year I challenged myself to surpass last years efforts of seeing 99 new releases in the year of 2015. I'm keeping track on my watch-list for this year on my Letterboxd account which can be found here
Admittedly and to my concern at this point in time, I'm really flagging behind in my challenge - as you can see from the list on Letterboxd I've only managed to find the time to catch up with 8 films of 2015 (UK releases & Festival Films) and June is fast approaching - I'm hoping that if I can find the time and the finances to make another trip to Film4's FrightFest Film Festival in London later this year, I can start to bulk up the list rapidly and as I always try at the end of each year to cram a number of films in a short space of time as I catch up with films that I missed at the cinema from earlier in the year, the aim is to at least make the 100 mark and maybe push on further; it's all just good fun and essentially pointless but if I keep you all posted on each film I see on here it might drive me to not only write and update the blog more frequently and check out more films in the meantime.
Below I will just give a summary of the films I've seen to date, not in any great detail but short text of thoughts and ratings out of 10 just for good fun and for you all to see how the year 2015 has treated me in terms of films and the experiences of consuming them.
Films of 2015 (in chronological order of my viewing)
Enemy 3/10: A mind-bending thriller that left me frustrated and annoyed and with a vile colour pallete that was too bloody yellow; that ending though? WTF? shocking yes, but nothing more than a jump scare.
Predestination 7/10: A low key Science Fiction film that has an interesting conception and makes the most of it which the parameters of the genre, maybe just lacking some gravitas to make turn it from a very good film into a great one.
Force Majeure6/10: A film that had my expectation levels set pretty high and given I expected something more grandiose in nature, there really just wasn't enough here to make an lasting impact, it all felt rather confused in its direction and nature.
Whiplash 9/10: A brutal and powerful film that hits all the right beats and in J.K. Simmons has surely one of the truly outstanding performances of the year and Miles Teller holds his own to give credit where its due. Not a fan of Jazz or Drumming per-se but couldn't help but grow to love the music and the passion on show here.
John Wick7/10: Many had said this was a return to form for Keanu Reeves and while I'd say he's perfectly okay here, you can't help but feel he is mis-cast in this role. Wonderful action film with well crafted and editing action set pieces if not let-down by a repetitive score. And who doesn't enjoy a good revenge flick?
A Most Violent Year6/10: A most enjoyable film, but apart from the brilliance of Oscar Isaac in the leading role, everything around him just feels like a collaborative near-miss; a film that should have been great is nothing more than a subdue dramatic affair that suffers from a rather bland ineffective script, enjoyable in the moment but not a film with legs to stand the test of time and repeat viewings.
Avengers: Age of Ultron4/10: A sequel that should have aimed to surpass the original on all fronts, instead I was left waiting to be entertained; the action scenes were just a blur and characters like Thor were given next to nothing to do. Caught up in it's childish humour, Joss Whedon forgot to tell a story and forgot to entertain us in the process. Lacklustre. Oh and Hulk/Black Widow - utter bullshit.
Mad Max: Fury Road8/10: For as much as I was blown away in the moment by all the batshit crazy action sequences in this film, I was equally just as disappointed. It's not a Mad Max film and it's non-stop action to the detriment to the overall experience - I didn't care for the story or the characters so the film carried no weight and outside of the trailer scenes the rest has become a blur. Yes there is such a thing as 'too much of a good thing'
Well that sums up my film experience of 2015 so far to date; now I really need to play catch up if I'm ever going to get close to last years total, let alone surpass it, but where there's a will, there is a way.
Just a quick post here to wrap up and review my first month's free trial with Netflix; now given that I'm very aware and afraid of my limited amount of free time and the trials and failures of my past efforts to get the blog up and running, this first in my 'A Week in Netflix'series of posts shall be kept pretty short and sweet and just sharing the key thought points and opinions of my watch-list during this period - I'm hoping that with the weekly blog posts in this series will eventually become a bit more involved and delve deeper and contain a stronger body of text to review each item whether it's a film, TV show or anime, but just to ease us all into the CursedFilm's weekly blog here's just some quick thoughts on my Netflix experience to date.
Film
Dallas Buyers Club
There's always a worry that with films that seem to come out of nowhere and are tracking some serious hype both critically and on Social Media, the hype machine can and has done on many occasions raise the expectations so high that if you're late to the party you end up being a little let down when a film can't meet those hefty heights. Although Dallas Buyers Club does have some issues with pacing and an overall feeling of being a bloated dramatic piece, the film has two outstanding central performances from Matthew McCounaghey and Jared Leto that has taken their careers to a new high, the handling and depiction of the fear of AIDS in 80's America feels fresh; a film that left a very strong impression and while it might not be a film that a revisit many times - it's certainly a well crafted emotional drama that packs a punch.
8/10
The Tall Man
The director of Martyrs takes aim at American Hollywood film-making and despite Hollywood Horror tropes, of which there are plenty to be seen in The Tall Man; there are enough fresh ideas here to make the film stand out from the crowd, which is helped further by a really strong central performance from Jessica Biel who really won me over here. A film that might just have one twist too many and a film that arguably asks you a difficult moral question that really does strike a chord against your moral compass. Its certainly not to same standard level of Martyrs. Not something that I'd recommend to everyone, but if you're a horror fan then this is certainly a film worth checking out; though if you've not seen the director's previous film Martyrs, you should seek that out immediately.
7/10
Filth
Thank god that I had subtitles on here as the Scottish accents are thick and frequently expressions that didn't quite click with me were easily understood with the help of the subtitles; as for the film itself; Filth is excessive absurd and crude and flirts with the borders of going just too far, but it never really seemed to go past the point of no return; at times the film had me in stitches of laugh out loud crass humour that made the film such a joy ride and the film delivers a fitting ending that I thought really justified the antics portrayed earlier in the film. There's also a stand out relationship/friendship within the film that we can all relate to in years gone past, though it's depicted in the extreme here, but boy is it the highlight of the entire film.
8/10
Network
A TV network that cynically exploits a quite clearly troubled employee for ratings that evolve the rantings and ravings of media consumption of the population of America for their own profit; why oh' why has it taken me so long to see this highly regarded 70's Sidney Lumet film - a wonderful cast with flawless performances across the board. All I'll say here is that it's known as a 'classic' for a reason and if you've not seen this film yet, do yourself a favour and seek it out immediately, a great example of the master-class of 70's America Cinema that holds up even today almost 40 years later.
9/10
Safety Not Guaranteed
A romantic comedy that blends in with the science fiction genre; quite simply put I adore this film, I love this film; it's the complete package with a heart felt story. A wonderfully crafted script with characters that you really care for, for it's genre this feels like a modern day masterpiece that has given me new hope for the upcoming Jurassic World film. Flat out I recommend this film to everyone, the less you know the better, don't even bother with the trailer just jump in and enjoy its beautiful nature and excellent storytelling, not a bad reaction for someone who categorically hate romantic comedies.
10/10
Fruitvale Station
A true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who was shot dead unlawfully at Fruitvale Station in 2008; the film portrays the last day of this young man's life with his family, friends and even his enemies. It kicks off with some real footage captured on the day from bystanders and later the depiction of these scenes looks and feels very close to that footage. Unfortunately the film feels very amateur with generic raw performances that are poorly directed and with an skewed and contrived vision that leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It passes the time well enough but it all feels rather cynical and narrow minded - the police are evil view point couldn't be more ham-fisted than it is here.
4/10
Dirty Pretty Things
A thriller starring a pre-12 Years a SlaveChiwetel Ejiofor and a post-Amelie Audrey Tautou; a tale of two immigrants just trying to make a living in London; a 2002 film that feels so very 90's, the two stars give excellent performances but for a film that had such huge potentially thematically and cinematic-ally but the film just ends up being just far too simple for its own good. I kind of get the feeling this would have made a better BBC short series where we could explore this world deeper and get to build up the relationship and characters to a higher standard, raising the stakes of the piece greatly. A film that I could recommend just on the performances alone but not something that will leave a lasting impression or something that I personally will ever feel the need to revisit.
6/10
The Frozen Ground
Nic Cage delivers a surprisingly strong performance here, not in the sense of it's OTT Rage Cage where it's fun to watch because he's going off the deep end, but a genuinely good solid performance - he feels organic to the role of the lead detective in this crime thriller. While the film itself isn't bad, it doesn't do enough to surprise you and the script could have been better developed. Overall it's a good solid thriller, but there's just not enough here to say that the film stands out from the crowd as some either wonderful or unique; but at least its good evidence that Nic Cage does have some genuine acting skills. But if you are looking for a crime thriller starring Nicolas Cage then I'd recommend you seek out Werner Herzog'sThe Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans.
6/10
We Are the Best!
Three Swedish misfit teens form a relationship and bound over punk music to let out their true feelings; We Are the Best seemed to have something of a reputation as being one of the stand out pieces of European Cinema in the last few years; yet I must admit that the film left me very cold and unimpressed. For me it failed as a comedy and it failed at a coming of age story, I was never really sold on the relationship between the 3 girls here and it all fell a little flat, its passable script plods along with no high or low points and drifts towards its finale at a constant steady pace; harmless yet inadequate film that just doesn't offer enough to warrant a reputation.
4/10
Anime
Attack on Titan
For a series that's core story revolves around Titans and the battle for the human race that is on the brink of extinction, I was hoping for something that carried a bit more weight and offered some action set pieces that would blow my socks off. The series seemed to get off to a rather slow pace where I only really got pulled in after 7 or 8 episodes in. I love the art style that's on show here and the characters are well developed as the story progresses but overall I just felt like the show had too many up and down moments that really prevents this series from getting into 5th gear on a regular basis. By the end of the show I did really enjoy the series as a whole and the finale did leave me wanting more and will certainly keep an eye out for the inevitable season 2, I just hope that the show can deliver more 'Wow' moments than it did in this opening season.
7/10
Psycho-Pass (Episodes 1-12)
On my current mission to catch up with all things Anime, I've now worked my way onto Pyscho-Pass as my next little project, initially my reaction to this show was rather cold and mentioned to a friend that I felt that the show was hard to get into, but then episode 4 happened and at which point I said 'I'm all in' with this show now, since that episode though I do feel that it's been a bit of a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs in terms of quality and intrigue. What on the surface seems like Minority Report with a Japanese anime twist, has clearly developed into something far deeper within a wonderfully crafted well thought out world that is always bring up interesting ideas if not always fully exploited to the best of their potential in each episode. In a world where the police are able to take out suspects on their criminal intent levels alone and are helped by enforcers; who themselves carry a latent criminal intent level that they Sybil system deems too high to be acted against, the world has such great potential to grow as does the show itself, at the moment I have mixed feelings at this point, but I still have hopes that I'll be fully on-board come the season finale.
TV
Top of the Lake
Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) stars in this crime drama mini-series that's based in New Zealand and main story centres around the disappearance of a pregnant 12 year old girl named Tui. Detective Robin Griffin who specialises with young people initially finds herself drawn to the case, as she tries to uncover a possible case of rape of this seemingly poor young teenage girl, but she is soon caught up with this small-towns deepest and darkest secrets that she struggles to unravel. Overall I'd highly recommend this show and while it would seem difficult to point out any glaring issues with the show in terms of quality, if you were going to point out any weaknesses on show here, it would be with the main story and the mystery itself, as it does seem to get lost at time amongst all the other secrets that we uncover with Robin. But the series is a fine example of character development and a well crafted script that the issue of the main plot point isn't really an issue, with such fantastically interesting characters and back-stories it's hard to not love this show. The finale takes a dark twist and for me I was left with a few unanswered questions but in the best kind of way where it provides some thought-provoking inner questions rather than frustrations - I highly recommend this show to anyone.
8/10
Daredevil (Episodes 1-2)
Very late to the Daredevil party here, but I was keen to catch up with the Netflix Original show and even more keen to attempt to wash away the memory of the god awful Daredevil film starring BatFleck. While Charlie Cox does kind of look similar to a young Ben Affleck, he instantly takes grab of the role with both hands and makes it his own; it's still very early doors but after two episodes its clear to see that this show feels very grounded in the world that it has created. The much talked about fight scene in episode 2 that is unfairly being compared to the fight scene from Oldboy; it's clearly not a patch on that corridor scene, but in terms of television, it's a stand out moment that gets the blood pumping. I'm keen to catch up with the series as fast as possible now, as already the show has got me caring about a character that I originally didn't particularly care for and hadn't read any of the Daredevil comics and was further more made no interesting following that disaster of a movie, but I'm now fully on-board and would say already a fan of Daredevil.
After recently receiving an email from Netflix to inform me that my first month's free trial was coming to a close and that my payment plan would see be in effect, I thought that it might be good for the blog to write up a weekly review of my Netflix activity here with you all, hopefully this will provide interesting thoughts and reviews of what is currently on the Netflix catalog and act as an incentive for me to make the most out of this paid online service. For years upon years I have been so heavily caught up with physical media that I've never really given these online streaming services much thought, but on a whim I signed up for a free month with Netflix and I haven't looked back since and while I'm still on the opinion that physical media does have a lot to offer and I still find the collection aspect of it to be very enjoyable from a collectors standpoint, I am now going to be actively dialling down my purchases to a limited number in comparison to how I've wistfully splashed the cash out on countless numbers of needless purchases just because of a certain price point or some 'mega' online/instore sale.
A Week in Netflix series will start officially as of next Monday, not this Monday coming; but I think that I might do a quick round-up of my Netflix activity for you all to sum up my first months free trial, fingers crossed this is just the start of a long lasting relationship with Netflix and the Cursed Film Blog.
Time is at such a premium these days I can't remember the last time that I even thought about the idea of keeping a Blog active, sharing my thoughts on all things film related; finding a structure and schedule of trying to balance family life, working 3 jobs, staying active in the world of film making, indulging in the cinematic universe and consuming beloved forms of entertainment and literature including anime and comics, can seem like an impossible job at times and whilst admitting this is quite clearly one of those first world problems that one can't really get too serious about, it's still something that frustrates me on a regular basis.
Not for the first time, I am now planning to try and make a greater effort to get back writing and thought what better way to kick off this revival with a list of films and who doesn't like a list of films and even more so a ranked list of the greatest films ever made. The list is something that I created a while ago and have posted onto my letterboxd which can be found here
Creating a ranked list on this scale did take a rather long time to build, but I think that not only was it good fun, but it made me ask the question of 'what is it that I really love about film' and 'what is it that really forms my passion and personal taste'. Ultimately this is a very personal list of my all time favourite films and it's certainly something that I will be updating as I discover new films that really make that lasting impression that will stay with me for years to come, or as and when I catch up with the never ending list of 'great movies I've never seen'. Whether you agree or disagree with my choices isn't really all that important but it will help form a vision of my background and interesting within the art form that is film/cinema.
Below is my Top 100 films of All-Time (an un-definitive definitive ranked list)*
Jaws (1975)
Alien (1979)
Red Beard (1965)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Psycho (1960)
Ran (1985)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
