Movie Marathon Monday: X-Men

With the impending release of Logan, it was only right that February's Movie Marathon Monday consisted of rewatching the X-Men series. Now almost two decades strong, the franchise seems to have gone from strength to strength - a fun movie day to be had.

The X-Men Series

X-Men (2000)

X2 (2003)

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

X-Men: First Class (2011)
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Runtime: 12hr 30min

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Plot

Established in the Marvel universe, the superhero super-team known as the X-Men sees conflicts between various mutant groups in an ordinary world, with powers ranging from shapeshifting to weather-control. Attempting to gain the trust of the non-superhuman to further their fight, alongside highly complicated interpersonal relationships, add to an action-packed thrill-ride.

Why watch it?

A Marvel-must, greatest in its' pre-Avengers days, this fast-paced entertainment machine will keep you entertained (most of) the way through. Some brilliant characters, some impeccable battles and some laugh-out-loud comedy moments. Back-to-back opportunities to compare changes and nit-pick inconsistencies from start to finish. Truly something for everyone can be found here.

High Points

Hugh Jackman being badass; the national treasures that are Patrick Stuart and Ian McKellen; some epic fight scenes; pretty decent CGI in the later pictures; an overall interesting premise/universe.

Low Points

The Last Stand (eek!); gouge-your-eyes-out inconsistencies; some terrible recasting; some real brats; Gambit (seriously, what is he even there for?!).

Fun Fact

Russell Crowe was originally set to play the part of Wolverine, but instead turned it down and recommended his fellow-Australasian friend Hugh Jackman for the role.

89th Annual Academy Awards

With some incredibly well-deserved wins, the Oscars certainly didn't leave the drama behind - a shock misread led to La La Land having to hand their Oscar over to Moonlight. Alongside all the glitzy dresses and political speeches, there were some triumphant wins; Mahershala Ali became the first Muslim to win an Oscar - his performance in Moonlight was indeed extraordinary, so a round of applause to him. La La Land still came out on top - but not by as much as anticipated.

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Best Picture

Nominees;

Arrival

Fences

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

Best Actress

Nominees;

Emma Stone (La La Land)
Isabelle Huppert (Elle)

Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)

Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Ruth Negga (Loving)

Best Director

Nominees;

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)

Best Actor

Nominees;

Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)

Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
Denzel Washington (Fences)

Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

Best Original Screenplay

Nominees;

Hell or High Water

La La Land
The Lobster

Manchester by the Sea

20th Century Women

Best Supporting Actor

Nominees;

Dev Patel (Lion)

Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Visual Effects

Nominees;

Deepwater Horizon

Doctor Strange

The Jungle Book

Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Best Animated Feature

Nominees;

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
The Red Turtle

Zootopia

Best Supporting Actress

Nominees;

Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

Naomie Harris (Moonlight)

Nicole Kidman (Lion)
Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)

Viola Davis (Fences)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Nominees;

Arrival
Fences

Hidden Figures

Lion

Moonlight

Best Animated Short

Nominees;

Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
Piper

Best Documentary Short

Nominees;

4.1 Miles
Extremis
Joe's Violin
Watani: My Homeland
The White Helmets

Best Cinematography

Nominees;

Arrival

La La Land

Lion
Moonlight
Silence

Best Costume Design

Nominees;

Allied

Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them

Florence Foster Jenkins

Jackie

La La Land

Best Documentary
Nominees;
13th
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
OJ: Made in America

Best Film Editing
Nominees;
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight

Best Foreign Language Film
Nominees;
Land of Mine
A Man Called Ove
The Salesman
Tanna
Toni Erdmann

Best Make Up & Hairstyling
Nominees;
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad

Best Song
Nominees;
Audition (La La Land)
Can't Stop the Feeling (Trolls)
City of Stars (La La Land)
The Empty Chair (Jim: The James Foley Story)
How Far I'll Go (Moana)

Best Production Design
Nominees;
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land
Passengers

Best Sound Editing
Nominees;
Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully

Best Score
Nominees;
Jackie
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Passengers

Best Sound Mixing
Nominees;
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
13 Hours

Best Live-Action Short
Nominees;
Ennemis Intérieurs
La Femme et le TGV
Silent Nights
Sing
Timecode

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Review: Hidden Figures

Runtime: 2hr 7min
Director: Theodore Melfi
Release Date: 17th February 2017
Rating: PG (UK), PG (USA)

The inspiring tale of three extraordinary women who, despite all the odds stacked against them, made a dent in history by heavily contributing to NASA's space programme when it mattered most.

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The never-before told stories of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson; three coloured women living and working in Virginia, USA during the 60's who stopped at nothing to show a world full of generalisations that they were highly underestimated.

The movie follows Katherine G. Johnson, an exceptional mathematician who is given the opportunity to work as 'computer' at NASA for the 1961-62 missions in the all-important 'space-race'. Alongside her were friends Dorothy Vaughn (computer-turned-supervisor with a knack for programming) and Mary Jackson (a wannabe aeronautics-engineer).

The standard of acting throughout was fantastic; not only did Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae provide us with wonderfully powerful, and terribly funny, depictions of the leads, but a surprise role from Mahershala Ali and an unrecognisable Kevin Costner made for a praise-worthy ensemble (all bar Jim Parsons and Kirsten Dunst, who I felt could have added more to their respective roles).

From cinematography to costume, the entire movie was fairly good - I wouldn't say flawless, but certainly to a decent standard. The plot itself was interesting, and the overtly 'Hollywood' glamorisation was combated with live-footage of the real-life events - which added a nice touch. 

A Pharrell-Williams-saturated soundtrack (and, of course, a musical number for Janelle Monae), the music was fun and fit in well with Hidden Figures as a whole, though I can't help thinking more of a variation (instead of one all-too-often-repeated song) of songs could have been sampled. Either way, Pharrell was probably just happy to be involved.

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Slightly (though slightly-understandably) agenda-pushing, I can't help but refer to similarities to Apollo 13 (the Friendship 7 landing scene reeked of Tom Hanks' blackout) and Octavia Spencer's earlier character in The Help - slightly unoriginal is the point here too.

Nostalgia-inducing - even for those not of the time - and portrayed almost expertly - but arguably too reminiscent of already-done pictures.

7/10

Monthly Movie Merch

Here is my round-up of this months best movie merchandise..

..tipped to be a big Oscar-winner, La La Land has received much praise for its' original soundtrack. Download the album or individual songs on iTunes and give it a listen :)

..alongside the Hacksaw Ridge hype, Redbubble are offering the beautifully-done, official movie graphic on a tee from £14.93. Get yours here.

..ahead of next months' Disney release, this Beauty & the Beast Cogsworth Pop is actually kind of cool - available from EMP for £12.99.

..with yet another upcoming Pokemon movie release (I Choose You out July 2017), I just had to include this cute Jigglypuff beanie hat (£14) from Soft Kitty Clothing. I noticed a few around after the Pokemon Go! surge (alongside Comicon) last year, but with the film just months away it's no wonder the merch has been kept around!

..an awesome Lego Joker key-ring light (£9.99) from Truffle Shuffle to accompany an equally awesome movie (Batman and Superman characters also available).

..last but not least is the John Wick 2 official US movie poster from Amazon (£6.99). Compared to the UK versions, this minimalistic, artsy-type poster looks fab on any wall!

Throwback Thursday: Platoon Review

Runtime: 2hr 0min

Director: Oliver Stone

Release Date: 24th April 1987

Rating: 15 (UK), R (US)

With Oscars weekend underway, I thought it would be appropriate to review a movie which won best picture exactly thirty years ago at the 59th Academy Awards. Platoon totalled four Oscar wins, and eight nominations - the leading picture of the year, so it begs the question - has Platoon stood the test of time?

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Platoon follows Chris (Charlie Sheen) and his stint in the Vietnamese War, alongside fellow protagonist Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe) and cruel manipulator Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger). The plot simply tells the story of the platoon both during and outside of battle, to give a 'big picture' take on the conflict to show multiple sides of the soldiers.

If you have ever heard this song before, (likely you have, many times), it's interesting to note that Platoon made Adagio for Strings as famous as it is today. Despite this, its' severe overuse happens to be my biggest criticism of the entire film. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure its' 1987 viewers will have watched in awe in deep melancholy, but presently its' use in essentially every death scene (of which there are more than a few, I kid you not!), comes across as horrifically cliche.

The film was clearly low budget, so there are times where action sequences with explosions do not look true-to-life, and the Platoon involved sometimes appear too small due to the cinematography and an absence of more actors/unavailability of CGI.

However, other than a few mere complaints, the movie is dramatic, compelling and by definition: Oscar-worthy. While issues can be drawn from the low-budget action, this, and I guess I'm contradicting myself here, completely misses the point of the film. Platoon shows the true horrors of war, the relationship comrades have with one another during their down-time between conflict, and the issues that allies can have with one another: even if they're meant to be brothers in arms.

In my review of Hacksaw Ridge, I explained that there are too many war films which make staring death in the face look incredibly fun; count Platoon among the films that do not do this. With magnificent acting from Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe, the film is a saddening story, as interesting as it is brutal; deliberately not providing a polished version of events.


Platoon received the praise it deserved, and it will be exciting to see which movie will join it among the list of best picture movies at the Oscars this year; it is well worth a watch and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie overall.

8.5/10

Review: Loving

Runtime: 2hr 3min
Director: Jeff Nichols
Release Date: 3rd February 2017
Rating: 12A (UK), PG-13 (USA)

An almost-excellent historical drama based on the US court case Loving vs. Virginia. An interesting tale portrayed well - a break from the usual glossy, Hollywood image.

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Set in 1950's Caroline County, Virginia, Loving expands on the true lives of Donald and Mildred Loving; a working-class, interracial couple whose lives (and families') get torn apart when they elope to Washington D.C to marry. Not accepting the legislations against them, in an era in uproar over civil liberties, the Lovings' begin what seems to be a losing battle (legally and emotionally) for the right to keep their family together.

Ruth Negga - the shining star of this flick - was wonderful to watch as Mildred Loving (nee Jeter); her flawlessly understated, emotional performance held strong throughout. Joel Edgerton  (Donald) alongside her, the pairs' chemistry bode well on-screen, though his solo performance slightly dull. The entirety of the cast worked well together for both an accurate yet captivating result.

Though enjoyable, Loving lacked in intensity and came across rather 'vanilla' at times - a lacklustre screenplay, a predictable nature and a mostly uninspiring setting. I expected a bit more oomph; something more empowering, inspiring or admirable to be displayed from this groundbreaking, real-life story - instead, the legal battle is its' weakest asset.

I will, however, praise Loving for its lack of in-your-face, politically-correct agendas; the rights and wrongs need not be explained, the movie purely left to go its' own way in its' individual story.

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Heartfelt, gentle and quietly powerful, this was a moderately enjoyable movie that I struggled to find specific criticism in - but I still felt as though something was missing.

Loving was a nice alternative to the glamourised Hollywood 'masterpieces' that so regularly get churned out. Worth a watch, for sure - just don't expect it to become your favourite movie of all time.

7/10

He Said, She Said: John Wick 2 Review

Runtime: 2hr 2min

Director: Chad Stahelski

Release Date: 17th February 2017

Rating: 15 (UK), R (US)

Kick-ass Keanu 2.0 - myself and guest writer Natasha explain (and disagree on!) why John Wick 2 wasn't pulled off as expertly as we'd hoped..

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Plot Summary

The second instalment of the much-loved John Wick action-thriller; the man himself (played by Keanu Reeves) crawls back into the criminal underworld to pay back a blood oath, leading to a price on his life - and this time, even the rules can't help him.

He Said...

What made John Wick amazing was not only the incredibly well-choreographed action sequences and dozens of enemies being taken down with relative ease, but its' world-building provided a look into a never-before-seen assassin underworld, conveyed in such an ambiguous manner that I found myself asking so many questions. When I found out that John Wick: Chapter Two was going to delve deeper into this society, I was excited to see where the plot would take us this time. The fact that Laurence Fishburne and Keanu Reeves were being reunited in this film made this all the more promising - their first time working together since The Matrix Trilogy. What I received from this movie was very much exactly what I expected - while the action sequences did not quite live up to the original, nor the desire for setting up a satisfactory plotline, the environment as a whole was perfect, and the world of John Wick now has a much more fleshed-out identity. My main criticism here is the storyline, as the new characters are mostly unimaginative; though those reprising their roles fit in much more appropriately. The lack of care towards an overcomplicated storyline from the first film (which only added to the amazing action) did not transfer to the second, which is troubling when the plot itself did leave more to be desired. Sadly Laurence Fishburne did not get enough screentime to really justify his involvement, or the hype around his character; nonetheless, the film as a whole is incredibly enjoyable and is a fantastically-themed look into the assassin's society.

8/10

She Said..

Eat. Sleep. Kick ass. Repeat. - John Wicks' philosophy seemingly out of the window as he returns for a more plot-detailed ass-whopping. Alongside his new canine companion, Wick is back with a vengeance when an old acquaintance catches up with him to repay a debt. Cue action-packed shoot-outs, an underground party in Italy and more mentions of his 'impossible task'. I can't tell you how excited I was to see John Wick 2 - the first movie beyond exceeded my expectations and I was intrigued as to what the sequel would bring - which, it turns out, was an overly cliche plot, borderline-boring fight scenes that we've all seen a million times over, and a tonne of product placement. Without Keanu Reeves, I feel the whole flick would have fallen apart; Ruby Rose, Laurence Fishburne and the various other 'supporting' cast brought some disappointing performances into the mix. The thing I loved most about the original was the way it pulled you in despite its' deliberate lack of attention to detail - not a single moment of eye-rolling plot detail or boredom, just 2 hours of car chases and epic stand-offs in abundance. Even though Chapter 2 focused more on the interpersonal relationships and underground lifestyle, I somehow found myself less invested. With a year ram-packed with sequels, this needed to be something special to keep up; all it left me with was a need for Guardians 2 to come round the corner sooner.

6.5/10