Cinematography is an art form that can be as bold as a gong crashing after a moment of silence, or as subtle as the tide coming in. It elevates a film to the heights of accolade or turns a movie into a frustrating mess when it misfires.
While at the heart of cinematography is the Director of Photography or Cinematographer, to get something from the script to the final shot takes a whole team of professionals, and it is their talent that we champion today.
So without further ado, these are the moments of cinematography that took our breaths away in 2020. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead for the films in question. Also, click on the banners to be taken to the full reviews.
TL;DR – The series finale stuck the landing with heart and emotion
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this series.
That Hope is You, Part 2 Review –
For more than we have seen in a while, this week’s episode had a lot to do with two competing storylines that had taken whole episodes to lay the groundwork. It was so much story that I wondered if they would have the chance to make it work, but they did. In today’s review, we will first look at the Season Finale That Hope is You, Part 2 and then we will look at more generally at the season as a whole.
So to set the scene, as we saw in Su’kal, Hugh (Wilson Cruz) and Saru (Doug Jones) are still stuck in the holographic program on the Dilithium Planet trying to reach Su’Kal (Bill Irwin) who has become petrified of the outside. While Adria (Blu del Barrio) was able to get them some more radiation medicine, but time is ticking down. Back on Discovery, Osyraa (Janet Kidder) has given up hope on an alliance with The Federation, and how wants to steal the ship and is happy to blast her way out of Federation HQ to do it. Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Book (David Ajala) are captive on the bridge, but in the heart of the ship, the Bridge Crew and the Spore Data (Annabelle Wallis) have joined together to take the ship back. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
It was a fantastic year for Australian Cinema, with each film I saw knocking it out of the park. There were intimate documentaries, films that held up a mirror to society, and those that brought the action to a new level.
This list will be looking more at the locally made Australian productions/co-productions and not just films filmed in Australia.
So without further ado, these are the best of Australian Cinema in 2020. Be warned that there will be some big spoilers ahead for the films in question. Also, click on the banner to go to the full reviews.
Animation is a form of filmmaking that is often related to second-tier status, something just for kids. This is by both the organisations giving out the awards and also by the very guilds that are meant to be promoting their member’s work. However, they are not second-tier films, and in many ways, it is the animated films that are pushing the frontiers of filmmaking and what is possible, and they should be championed for the work that they do.
Animated films can be hand-drawn, stop/clay motion, computer-generated, it does not matter, but all of them show amazing techniques of hundreds of artists that bring the work to life.
So without further ado, these are the animated films that showed us the glory of animation in 2020. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead for the films in question. Also, click on the banners to go to the full reviews of each of the films
A good Action sequence is something that is truly amazing to watch, as it can be as expansive as explosions crashing across the screen, or more intimate, like a duel between two people. This gives the best action scenes such a range and in 2020 we were given some truly amazing spectacles.
For me, the best action scenes are those that excel in every element, whether that be live actions, special effects, digital effects, or animation and bring every facet to shine. It is also the category that looks at some of the department’s people don’t often fully understand like stunt coordination or the 2nd unit.
So without further ado, these are the moments of action that awed us in 2020. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead for the films in question. Also, click on the banners to see the reviews of each film.
TL;DR – A film that captivates you in the first frame and never lets you go throughout the runtime.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Disclosure – I paid to see this film.
The Dry Review –
The murder-mystery who-done-it genre is one that can captivate me as we see the mystery unfold or frustrate me as the film throws in silly narrative choices to pad out the run time. Today we get to look at a movie that does the first as it brings you into this world and does not let you go until the end.
So to set the scene, we open with long pans over a dry and parched landscape full of dust and brown. When in the background we can hear a baby crying, we see it in its crib, but something is amiss and as the camera pans out there is blood everywhere. A couple of weeks later we are in Melbourne where we discover there has been a murder-suicide with a father killing his wife and son but leaving the baby behind. Aaron Falk (Eric Bana) is now an investigator for the Federal Police, but he grew up in the town and knew the husband Luke (Martin Dingle Wall) as they were childhood friends. A letter compels him to return for the funeral, but coming back to town is harder for Aaron because of his past and the suspicious death of one of his friends that caused him and his family to flee all those years ago.
TL;DR – Across the Solar System, everyone is trying to find their place in this new world
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription that viewed this series.
Tribes Review –
When the rocks fell on Earth, the world of The Expanse changed forever. There are obvious things like the death and damage, and the fact that more death and damage are yet to come. But in the sense of things, how the Solar System works just shifted like pulling a rug out from underneath everyone’s feet.
So to set the scene, the carnage from Marco’s (Keon Alexander) attacks in Gaugamela have continued to reverberate across the Solar System. However, in last week’s Down and Out, we found the first wrinkle in his plan. He expected the Roci to explode and take Tycho Station with it. Marco is on the back foot for the first time, but maybe it won’t be long as he tries to bring Camina (Cara Gee) back into the fold. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – This is a film dipped its toes into the weirdness, and I wished it had done a bomb dive of the highest platform into the weirdness instead
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene
Warning – There is extensive use of strobe lighting effects
Disclosure – I paid to see this film.
Monster Hunter Review –
Alas, another video game adaptation bites the dust. I wish this were something I didn’t have to keep saying, but time after time we see that adapting a video game to the big screen is a difficult job and very few films can pull it off. In today’s entry into the list, we have a film that should get credit for adding elements of the gameplay into the film and then frame it around one of the most generic action films imaginable.
So to set the scene, in some desert on Earth (there are actual GPS location coordinates but I was not quick enough to jot them down, if you got them, please let me know) a military expedition is out exploring trying to discover what happened to another of their teams. The United Nations team is led by US Army Ranger Captain Natalie Artemis (Milla Jovovich), and they find the last position of Bravo Team just as a large sandstorm appears out of nowhere. As Alpha Team tries to outrun the storm, markers on the side of the road start flashing, and then the world falls out from underneath them. They wake up on some sand dunes that look nothing like where they left, which is about the point where Alpha Team comes under attack from things that lurk beneath.
TL;DR – I found the show engaging, confronting, juvenile, overblown, and interesting, sometimes all at the same time.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this series.
History of Swear Words Review –
Whether you call them ‘Swear Words’, ‘Curse Words’, or Profanity, every single person on the planet has used them at least once, some on a daily basis. But one of the things that I have always wondered was where the words came from because there are many stories, but they usually smell of the words they are describing. This is the series that looks six of the more popular terms of ill repute.
This series’ framing device is sitting down with a full suited actor Nicolas Cage in front of a fire with a drink globe nearby. It is the epitome of class, clearly positioned as a juxtaposition between the framing and the content. We then cut to a selection of experts and comedians as we explain the many different words.
Well, it has been a long, and let’s call it, interesting year, but today brings to a close our last reviewed of a film from 2020. To round out the year, it is time to look at Pixar’s next entry, and given we already had a strong movie in Onward this year. I came into Soul with some reasonably high expectations.
So to set the scene, Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx) is a high school music teacher, but his real passion is performing jazz. This puts him in conflict with his mother Libba (Phylicia Rashad) who wants him to have a stable job. Well, those two worlds are about to collide when he is offered a full-time position teaching while also getting the chance to perform with the famous Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett). This would be a big decision for Joe if he didn’t then fall through an open manhole and wake up on the escalator to the other side.
