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 2018 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 2018.
Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead for the films in
question.
TL;DR – At times funny, at times perplexing, and at times very dark, it explores the world of immense power and those who want to obtain it, and the damage that can do.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
We live in a world where thanks to technology we can explore galaxies far away,
to fantasies imagined in every which way, but sometimes reality can be stranger
than anything we can muster. Today we are exploring a film that is set around
the power politics of last years of the House of Stuart as different people
position themselves in an ever-shifting
world. This would be interesting enough in itself, but in both a less and in
some cases more dramatic way this is what really happened (or at least what was
alleged to have happened) in real life. It is a snapshot of absolute power, but also of sadness, and
regret.
TL;DR – This is one of those films where you walk out thinking three things, 1) how dare you charge people money to see this, 2) I am embarrassed for everyone involved in the film & 3) how dare you charge people money to see this
Score – 0 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
Sometimes you see a film and you have to wonder ‘how did this get greenlit’, like people paid over 40 million dollars to put this together, agents recommended this movie to their clients, and they even got Alan Menken to write a story. However, instead of being excited when every big name cast member walked onto the film, you felt sad, like ‘oh no, they dragged Hugh Laurie into this mess too.’ Why is that, well this is because this is the worst film I have seen all year, and since I am writing this on the 31st of December, I doubt that will be surpassed because this is also the worst film I have ever reviewed. Hey good news Pixels, you are not on the bottom anymore.
TL;DR – While there is some clear potential in the interactive story model, my particular playthrough of Bandersnatch was less engrossing and for me more frustrating than anything else.
Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
Black Mirror is a series that is always looking to be on the cutting edge of
narrative storytelling. It twists worlds
in on itself, leads the viewer down the garden path only to cut their legs out
from underneath them, or destroys the nostalgia we have for the past, or indeed
the hope we have for the future. So, when it dropped a couple of days ago that
there would be a feature-length episode, well
that was some interesting news, but then when it was announced that it would be
a ‘chose your own adventure’ with multiple endings and user interaction, well
this went from intriguing to must watch in a heartbeat. However, now that I
have seen it I feel that maybe the idea did not match the execution. Also,
because this is a chose your own adventure, it actually makes it difficult to
review because my experience is going to be possibly a lot different to what yours
will be. Maybe I just drew the short straw and hit all the frustrating options,
maybe you’ll be luckier than me, which from the discussions on the internet
might just be the case, I just simply do not know. Well with that in mind let’s
take a dive into a world with multiple paths and endings.
TL;DR – There are moments of real suspense, and Sandra Bullock is amazing, but the structure of the story holds it back by revealing its hand too soon.
Score – 3 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
2018 has been a good year for the suspense thriller/ horror films, we have built on the strengths of 2017, a produced such amazing films as A Quiet Place (see review) and Cargo (see review). I bring A Quiet Place up because after the first few minutes you can tell that this is the film Bird Box is going to be compared to the most, and that is not entirely unfair. As they are both suspense post-apocalyptic films where you have to cover one of your senses to survive i.e. sound, or in this case sight. However, this was less the case of copying a more the case of producers seeing that suspense films are back (also they never left but that is an issue for another day) and optioning different books at around the same time. However, while it is a bit unfair to compare the two while watching you can’t help but do so, especially when the differences between the two are probably the reasons why I liked one more than the other.
TL;DR – Delightful, heart-breaking, alienating, immersive, full of complicated people in complicated relationships, a film that I would recommend everyone to see.
Score – 5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
There is always an interesting feeling when the credits start to roll and the world comes back into focus, and the wave of emotions that have built up over the last few hours comes crashing down. Do you realise that you just wasted the time on something with no substance, or did your whole world change whilst time stood still? Well, today we look at a film that falls more on the later side of that divide. A world where everything is right and normal, and it all can be pulled out from underneath you in a moment. A film that will stay with me for the weeks and months to come.
So
to set the scene, we open in on 1970 Mexico City as Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio)
washes the tiles of the driveway of the house she works at. We watch as she
gets the house ready for the day for her employers Sofía (Marina de Tavira),
Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), and their children Paco (Carlos Peralta), Pepe (Marco
Graf), Sofi (Daniela Demesa) and Adela (Nancy García García). Cleo is an indispensable
part of the family, but then she is also not part of the family because she is
a maid and this disconnect filters
throughout the film. Things in the household shift when Antonio leaves for a
conference in Canada and stays longer than planned, and when Cleo meets a man Fermín
(Jorge Antonio Guerrero) and the tension
under the surface of Mexico starts to rupture.
TL;DR – Bombastic, silly, overly long, but still by far some of the best fun DC has made so far.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene
Review –
To say that the DC Expanded Universe has had a rough launch up to this point would be a bit of an understatement. Indeed, of all the past films, only Wonder Woman (see review) felt like a coherent film in any great sense. So, more than ever, the first film after Justice League had to hit the ground running, even more so after background conversations that the expanded universe was losing a lot of its big-name talent. Now while Aquaman is not a perfect film, it is a film with a lot of style, and more than most of the films that have come before it was just fun.
film masters student, aspiring film journalist, trying her hand at film reviews and criticism. interested in multilingual cinema, feminism and diversity in film.
