Greed (2019)

Greed is comedy which tells the fictional story of a billionaire who is trying to throw a ridiculous party to show how wealthy he is. The story is told partly in flashback building up how Richard McCreadle (Coogan) goes from public schoolboy to King of the High Street. The film was suppose to be a comedy but NOBODY laughed and the week before I saw Parasite and people laughed multiple times and there were more people in this screening.

There is a thread where one of the children is in a reality TV programme. The fact it’s in the film shows that it’s current because reality shows are popular but I don’t think it will age well. The only good part about this particular thread is that former Doctor Who companion Pearl Mackie appears in this which got my attention.

I thought that Steve Coogan was quite good as Sir Richard McCreadle who is playing a charicature of a certain billionaire and there is quite a lot of Coogan’s other characters in the movie but I just didn’t connect to the character. When McCreadle got killed by a lion, I found it amusing but not much beyond that. I was distracted by Coogan’s teeth. I thought that David Mitchell was quite good in this. He plays the person who is writing the book on McCreadle and he seems like the most normal person in the entire film. He is tasked with making someone loathsome seem like a nice guy.

I haven’t seen any films featuring Isla Fisher. She appears in films that I don’t really have any interest in seeing but I have to say that I thought she was quite good as the wife/ex-wife of McCreadle. She seems to like him but they aren’t in love and she gets to make a few digs about Richard. She does provide the right kind of humour. The film features a lot of people from the British comedy world so its an interesting query about how well this film will do out of the UK.

It turns into a PowerPoint presentation at the end which felt like I was being lectured at. I understand why they put the stats in and they are shocking but I think that it wasn’t done in the right way and that’s my overall issue with this film. It felt it could have been handle a bit better. I was surprised that the people playing the refugees on the beach were actual refugees but by the end of the film I just found myself being slightly numbed by it. It’s not terrible but it lacks the killer punch that this film should have had.

Parasite (2019)

I went in to the screening of Parasite wanting to dislike it because I thought that 1917 should have won the best Picture Oscar and also because it felt like people were hyping it way too much and I thought that all it was going to do was disappoint. What I felt 2 hours and 12 minutes later was pretty much the exact opposite. I don’t think I have seen a film that bonkers for a very long time. I knew that I loved this film but it took me a while to figure out why.

The set-up of the film is that a family that are fairly poor and they integrate themselves into a wealthy family and each family member has a role. The film has a lot of comedic moments in the first two thirds of the movie. In the screening that I was in, there was several moments where people were laughing and its not hard to see why and I was chuckling with them. All the actors playing them are perfect. They are treated as quite smart and they have to come up with a plausible plan to get rid of people who they are working for them.

The final 15-20 minutes is bonkers because it just comes out of nowhere. People are getting stabbed and skewed and bashed over the head with rocks and the reality of what becomes of the father is quite sad and it shows how much they have fallen is quite remarkable. It ended in a perfect way and as the credits played, I sat there for a few moments to try and take in what I saw. This is a film that didn’t drag at any point from the very beginning to the very end. The humour is well placed and when it turns, its does so in such as way that you don’t really notice it until its happened and by then the film is moving along towards the end.

If I had to nit-pick then I would say that there were a couple of moments when I was worried that the characters were going to be too unlikable but Bong Joon Ho managed to pull it back. I hear there is a black and white version and I hope to see that film because I think that this will only enhance my enjoyment. Parasite thoroughly deserved its Oscar. I love 1917 but I think that I love this film more. A film that is as close to perfection as its possible to get.

Underwater (2020)

Underwater is a film that is an unwanted movie. It was made by 20th Century Fox and when Disney brought Fox, this film got pushed back (it was filmed in 2017). This film invokes several films such as Alien, Cloverfield, Event Horizon and Poseidon. The set-up of the film is that Kristen Stewart plays Norah where she and a band of fellow researchers have to get from A to B whilst trying to avoid some buggy parasites.

I don’t quite know what to do with Stewart. On the one hand I don’t believe her as a leading lady. It’s a shame really because she really throws herself into the movie and she gets thrown about a lot (sometimes quite literally). Vincent Cassel is quite good as Captain. It’s clear that he’s been told not to outshine Stewart but he gets by far the best death. T.J Miller is the comic relief and to be honest he was a distracting influence and I wasn’t bothered by his death.

There are some issues for me in this film. Firstly the camerawork is terrible. There were times where the camera was shaking so much that it became quite difficult to follow what was going on and who was in peril. Then there is the fact that the characters all have character traits and that is who they are such as Kristen Stewart who is suppose to be Ripley from Alien, Cassel is the European, Miller is the comedian, Jessia Henwick as Emily is the scared one who has to overcome her fears. Mamoudou Athie as Rodrigo’s character trait is that he’s the first to die. I called it when he first appeared and I was proved right. The thing about a film like Alien is that even though they all have their own lives, you believe that they a crew whereas because this film gets going from the very beginning, there is no time for much character development which is a shame really.

The film’s monster is quite good and they do a good job in hiding it for quite a while. Due to the fact its set on the bottom of the ocean, there is very little light so its not easy to see what the crew are trying to avoid. There are things that I like about this film so its not as terrible as you might think. I don’t think that it’s the best film in the world and its way better than The Meg because its got better acting and better effects. It’s also only 95 minutes long which is quite a good running time and didn’t last longer than it needed to.

The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)

The Personal History of David Copperfield is based on the story by Charles Dickens but is given a twist by Armando Iannucci. To be honest I haven’t read David Copperfield and have no desire to do so but I have seen several versions of this story and its only because that Iannucci is involved is the reason why I went to the cinema. It took me about 30 seconds to start laughing because with an Iannucci and Simon Blackwell script, what you do get is plenty of humour and it runs through this film from start to finish.

As there has been several thousand (slight exaggeration) versions of this story I wont really spend any time talking about it as the film is more interesting for the performances. Dev Patel is very good as David Copperfield. His younger self was also interesting but Patel brings a likeable quality to the character and despite all the horrible things that happen to him during the course of the film but he still maintains a calm point of view. Peter Capaldi is very funny as Mr. Micawber. I’m a huge Doctor Who fan so found Capaldi fun to watch. Hugh Laurie is always dependable but as Mr Dick he makes perfect use of his comedic skills to bring us a slightly bonkers guy. I couldn’t help but think of his performance as Prince George in Blackadder 3. Other notable performances include Daisy May Cooper as Peggotty who is the first friendly face that Copperfield sees and becomes the anchor for most of the action in the film.

The directing is quite good during this film. It’s nothing special by any means but there are a couple of instances where it has to show something or shift to a different scene and does so by changing the background to a drape and having the drape then rise or sink and then there are a couple of moments where images are projected onto a background which I thought worked quite well.

I really liked this film. I don’t think its quite as good as some of Iannucci’s other films but to be honest he has managed to do something different and put a new spin on a story that has been done some many times. In fact in the trailers there was a new version of Emma which seems like it is the same as every other version of the story. If you want something game changing then I wouldn’t go and see this film but if you want something that’s enjoyable and can just submerse yourself in this world then this film is worth a go.

1917 (2019)

There aren’t many films in recent years that I have been looking forward to see. 1917 is one of those films largely because of a video I saw on YouTube and that one shot of George Mackay running towards the camera. This film is directed by Sam Mendes who attempted a similar thing in Spectre a few years ago. In that case it was only a few minutes and in this film it's just over two hours long. In short, 1917 is a superb film.

The set-up of the film is that Lance Corporal Blake (played by Dean-Charles Chapman) has to deliver a message to Colonel MacKenzie (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) calling off an attack which will kill 1600 men including his brother. The key selling point is that the film is shot as one continuous shot. I thought that this helped add to the drama and tension. It was quite clever how they managed to make things flow and keep the low key moments interesting enough.

The central performances are really good although I was surprised that Blake died so early in the film. It’s his brother that is driving him through this terror but in the end it makes sense why they did this. I thought the scene where Schofield meets Blake’s brother and tells him he has died was a really sad moment and despite being a downbeat way to end the film I thought it was the best way to end it. In fact the final shot mirrors the opening shot which I appreciated.

If I had one issue with the film is that the gap in time when Schofield is knocked out is a bit of a cheat. Ok so they only did it once but its something that bothers me. I am a bit pedantic in that way but it is what it is. Another slight thing that could be filed under nit-picking is one bit when after Blake has died we learn that there is a whole convoy of vehicles that somehow managed to go right by them without making a sound. I just thought it was a bit strange. Apart from those two things, I thought it was everything I hoped it would be. It would have been nice if they had found a way of getting around it so they whole film is one long shot but I suppose they only did it the once so it could be forgiven.

There is very little blood yet it manages to convey the horrors of war yet never feels like it's being preachy or self righteous. There is one moment when Schofield is swimming through bodies that had become bloated by being in the water so long which was quite grim. The big scene where Schofield is running towards the camera is as close to iconic as it's possible to get. I don’t know if it was planned that he ran collided with other soldiers but it helped add to the realism and he did well to maintain his focus.

It never stops at any point in the film which for something with a two hour running time is quite impressive. 1917 deserves all the praise it is getting and is one of my highlights of the year and if it's not in my top 3 then I will be surprised. Sam Mendes has directed a film that is just as good if not better than Skyfall. I came out of the screening and was stunned and was so glad that I saw this on the big screen instead of my TV at home. A gem of a movie.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

After being disappointed with Episode 8, there was sense that I was going to be disappointed with the final instalment in this trilogy. The set for the film is that Rey and the other are going to hunt down the Emperor who somehow managed to survive after the events of Episode 6.

There is a lot to like about this film. Firstly I thought that the plot was much stronger than in the last film. It hit the ground running and never really stopped. The plot gave Rey, Finn and Poe enough to do and my main issue with Episode 8 was that it felt like Finn were being side-lined with the casino stuff. The plot is this film never felt like it was stalling, during episode eight the whole casino scene just felt tacked on and in this film the plot felt like some thought had been given to it.

Bringing back the Emperor seemed like a clever way of getting round the fact that Snode was killed in the previous film despite being pushed as the new Emperor. I thought that the Emperor was very good in this although his plan was slightly rehashed from Episode 6. The sight at the beginning where all the battle ships are in the air and there is thunder and lightning was a brilliant shot and it was just as good when it was shown again towards the end. The big scene between Rey and the Emperor was quite good and it was done in a way that got rid of the emperor by Rey’s hands but not an act of murder which is what the Emperor wanted.

This whole film seems like J.J. Abrams was trying to make us forget episode eight and its understandable. With the exception of Luke and Snode, there is very little reference to the last film. The character of Rose who seemed to be destined for a bigger role after episode eight, gets relegated to looking at computer screens. I thought the character was irritating in the last film and its not the fault of Kelly Marie Tran but more of Rian Johnson who seemed incapable of making her less whiny.

I thought they did a great job of dealing with Leia. Carrie Fisher passed away just before Episode 8 came out and she was involved enough in the story to feel like she wasn’t being side-lined but when the time came she got a dignified exit. I also thought that bringing Han Solo back for his brief cameo was a great idea.

There are a few issues with the film. I thought that the revelation that Rey was the granddaughter of the Emperor was a bit disappointing. I think that she should have been related to either Luke or Leia but then people might have really gone negative with that but I just think that being the grand daughter seemed like a bit of a cop-out in narrative terms. Also there is one effects shot where they do a mini-flashback where we see a young Luke Skywalker and a young Leia in training and it just looks bad but thankfully its not on screen for very long.

Rise of Skywalker is much better than The Last Jedi but I don’t it’s quite as good as Force Awakens. This film does a great job of telling its own story and let it wraps up the saga perfectly. The running time was perfect and I cant really pick any faults with the film. It was nice to walk out the cinema and feel that it was as good as I hoped it would be. I don’t know what the future holds for the Star Wars franchise but if this was the end of it then I would be ok with that but I suspect Disney have plans for more but just not yet.

Cats (2019)

Cats was a film that had a lot of notoriety before I even saw this film because it was apparently terrible and it had a 2.7/10 on IMDB. Its directed by Tom Hooper who is a director I like. I think The Damned United is a brilliant film and The Kings Speech is also brilliant. I haven’t seen Les Mis but its meant to be good so it was quite surprising that Cats got the negative reaction that it did but recently it seems that people are quite quick to give a film a kicking.

Plot is a group of cats are trying to get picked to have another life which is given to them by Judi Dench and Idris Elba captures the other contenders so he is the only one that gets picked. I’m not a huge fan of musicals and think that only the old ones like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins. The film wastes no time in starting the songs. As the film progresses we are introduced to certain people who are going to be chosen but we are of course introduced to them via song. James Corden and Rebel Wilson were clearly there to be comic relief and I normally find Corden to be irritating but I actually thought that he was one of the best things in it. He’s actually quite funny and Rebel Wilson is also funny.

The problem with this film is that the songs get in the way. There was no breathing space between the songs. They would get a couple of lines in before they burst into song so the plot never really gets going and we know everything we know through song.

Cats isn’t as terrible as the 2.7 would suggest but its not much better. This version I saw was slightly different to what originally came out as they worked on the special effects and if they did then they did it well because I was quite impressed with the effects. As I said a musicals fan so I cant give this film a big thumbs up but I think that it was a brave attempt by Tom Hooper which ultimately didn’t work out.