TheFilmThoughtsBlog

Released: July 2019 BBFC Rating: 15 Created by: Craig Mazin Cast: Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgard, Emily Watson Right, before you start, yes this is not technically a film, more of a mini-series per-say. However I have wanted to write about this for a while now as a) as you'll see it is amazing and b) I find the subject of Chernobyl very very fasinating indeed. Chernobyl is pretty self descriptive in the name, telling the story of 1986 disaster across 5 episodes which when sewn together could easily be mistaken for a very long film. I had been wating for something like this to come out for ages as Chernobyl is somehting that thoughrouly interested me yet i never fully understood it; from why it happened to the politics behind it, and is somehting I could write about in a historical analysis essay. However.... I am aware this is a film blog so I will keep my historical interest at bay for now. Chernobyl is a masterpiece in storytelling, giving the audeicne what they need to know whe...

 Released: 22nd October 2014 BBFC Rating: 15 Directed by: David Ayer Cast: Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Micheal Pena, Shia LeBeouf, John Bernthal It is odd that this week I would review a film all the way back from 2014, however upon conversation with people about what they have been watching very few have seen this war drama which is shocking as I think it is a very solid film, certianly an underrated one. The film would seem very run of the mill, new very young man joins tank crew cue tank battle cue war sadness cue end, however I think it is much more than that. From the very get go in this film you get a sense of a time in World War 2 that very few people would say they know much about: the final assult on Germany, or maybe thats just me. I think it tells a very intersting and important story to be told, to see not only what happened to the soldiers as the final days of the war drew nearer but also how the Germans and the surronding countries populous suffered as the slaughter drag...

Released: 26th August 2020 BBFC Rating: 12 Directed by: Christopher Nolan Cast: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Sir Kenneth Branagh, Elizebeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia Its been 6 months without a major cinema release and excitment is certainly in the air for Nolans new blockbuster: Tenet. Tipped to be the saviour of cinema Nolan returns to type to give us a mind bending spy thriller which acts like a cross between James Bond and Incpetion. Spoilers ahead if you've not seen the film please read after seeing it. Tenet follows an unamed protagonist ( Washington ) as he attempts to stop Armaggedeon being caused by Andrei Sator ( Branagh ). The selling point of this film is what is known as inversion in the film, the ability for people or objects to act in reverse to the normal. You can be forgiven for bein confused, becuase if I'm honest, so was I. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed this film, however trying to work out all the characters movements at every time did t...

Released: 5th October 2018 BBFC rating: 15 Directed by: Bradley Cooper Cast: Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliot, Dave Chappelle. While Musicals have certainly become ever more popular, they have not become any more liked by me . I find that too often the story is sacrificed to make way for flashy songs that try to advance the plot, but instead actually take away from what you are watching, with other like Mamma Mia sort of getting it right with a soundtrack that fits the story: just not a very good story. This brings us to ' A Star is Born ', which may be the only musical I truly like. A Star is Born follows Jackson Maine ( Cooper ), a broken and alcoholic musician who is though to be truly lost and becomes a massive burden to those around him. On the other side of the story we have Lady Gaga's 'Ally' who has been shot into stardom by Cooper's Maine and has to subsequently deal with this new life while also handling her relationship with the aforementioned Ma...

Released: 10th August 2018 Directed by: Spike Lee BBFC Rating: 15 Cast: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Topher Grace, Laura Harrier Last week I reviewed Mission impossible Fallout, praising it as one of two of the best films 2018, the second of those being Blackklansman. Based on the true story of the first Black police detective in the Colorado police Dept., Blackklansman follows the story of Ron Stallworth ( Washington ) who, along with his partner Flip Zimmerman ( Driver ), attempts to infiltrate the KKK as they plan terrorist attacks. I often have said that the films that leave a deep impression on me in the long run in terms of fear aren't usually the ultra gory or massively violent or jump scare films, but those which present a truly scarring and horrible human nature, one which scares you because its so real. that for me is why this film is so good and so important, because when you sit through this and you know its real and that all this happens it leaves an impression ...

Released: 25th July 2018 Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie BBFC rating: 12 Cast: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Henry Cavill, Rebecca Ferguson, Alec Baldwin, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett Its fair to be in a position where you haven't really been impacted by the Mission impossible movies. As someone who has only seen the first one and the two prior to this I wouldn't blame you, while they are solid action movies in their own right, standing out with dramatic spectacles and stunts, they all seemed like the action movies that came out around the same time. So, how is Mission Impossible 6 any different? This one picks up directly after the last, with the remnants of the Syndicate forming a new big bad in the form of the Apostles, lead by a mysterious John Lark. I'll try and avoid spoilers in this review but in the off-chance of revealing anything I'll warn against reading much further. What I will say about it is this, I really really enjoyed this instalment. When the...

Released: 22nd November 2019 Directed by: Chris Buck BBFC Rating: U Cast: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, Johnathon Groff, Jason Ritter While Frozen was undoubtedly a successful movie, I do keep having to ask myself whether it was actually a good one. it was hard to work out whether I liked it or not considering how much it was rammed down my throat even years after it released. While my mind wasn't, and still isn't made up on the original, it certainly is on this new one. Frozen 2 takes place some time after the first, asking the question unresolved from the first: what happened to Elsa and Ana's parents? This movie attempts to solve that issue as well as unpacking the mythos of this ever expanding world that has fascinated millions. I'll get to issues later on what I will say now is this,  I certainly did have some fun with this movie. Whether this was due to the fact it was finally something new for these characters or a more interesting premise, a lot of good ...

Released: 14th August 2019 BBFC rating:18 Directed by: Quentin Tarantino Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Emilie Hirsch,  Margaret Qualley Tarantino movies are certainly a staple of modern cinema, the name alone is up there with Spielberg and Nolan in its ability to pull in audiences with the credit alone. His movies are filled with expectation and go to features that mark them out from other big releases; particularly the violence. Once upon a time in Hollywood would seem a turn in direction then for the acclaimed director. The film follows the later stages of the career of actor Rick Dalton ( DiCaprio ) and his stunt double Cliff Booth ( Pitt)in the golden age of Hollywood movie making. The film basically acts as a massive homage to films from the era, filled with references and stories from around the time - and for me it really worked well as as a story. It is obviously a very different story to what we're used to from Tarantino, but it was still very enj...

Released: 18th September 2019 (UK) directed by: James Gray BBFC Rating: 12 Cast: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler With the monstrous year for sci fi in 2019 with the release of Star Wars and Avengers do time travel it would be easy to overlook some of the smaller films in the genre which released in the same year. Ad Astra is one of those films, a beautifully shot wonderfully told story that takes science fiction back to its surrealist core. The film follows the journey of Roy McBride, an Astronaut who is brought back into active service after a satellite accident to find his long-lost father in deep space. When I say it follows the character of Roy - it really does. Very rarely do the audience get a break from Pitt's character, with the whole film playing out like his memory, with Brad narrating in the background for us. While in other movies this would seem annoying or ' Video-game like ' ( which for me can completely de-rail a movie ),...

Released: 15 November 2019 BBFC Rating:12 Directed by: James Mangold Cast: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe Car movies certainly have become... interesting in modern cinema. The film becomes less focused on actual racing and story and more on spectacle and action. While this isn't necessarily bad ( unless its fast and furious 8)  it does seem like the magic of racing movies like Herbie and Senna have gone amiss, and while we have seen brilliant racing biopics such as rush they seem to focus more on the drivers than the driven. Enter Le Mans 66, which brings you the story of Ford v Ferrari in the 1966 24 hour endurance race after the acquisition of Ferrari goes sour. I think its fair to mention here that if you are not a massive fan of cars and racing it might be hard for you to get into the film. While it does get a lot into other subjects such as family and corporate backstabbing its fair to say that this film is centrally about three main characters, Caro...

BBFC Rating: 15 Released: 21st August 2019 Directed by: Rick Roman Waugh Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Nick Nolte, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Lance Reddick As some people may have read previously on this site, I didn't like London has Fallen. It was Brash, Stupid, Boring, horribly edited, and well you get the picture. Angel has Fallen, by comparison, is much more appropriate of something that should be released in Cinemas. Don't get me wrong; it is still not brilliant, but its not terrible, if I had to describe it in one word... Ok. To try and explain the story, everyone's favourite CIA agent Mike Banning (Butler) has been framed for trying to kill The President (Freeman) ( which, if anyone in this had seen the last two films would realise it wasn't him) and he has to run away from the CIA. Off the bat I will say I'm thankful that this time round the effects used are bearable and don't look like they have been copy-pasted from stock images, and at that it ...

Released: 14th February 2020 BBFC Rating: U Directed By: Autumn de Widle Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Josh O'Connor, Callum Turner, Mia Goth, Bill Nighy Most people will know what the story of Emma is, however for the few who may not, this new film is based off the novel of the same name by Jane Austen and follows Emma Woodhouse who plays the game of matchmaking with her friends and family, often with success. However as the film progresses her success starts to dwindle and problems start arising. Right, off the bat I will lay it down that; I really enjoyed this film ( something which will shock you if you've seen the average genre of my other reviews). I will admit that it starts quite slow and it took me a little while to get into the story of it, however by the end of it I was fully onboard with it, almost hysterical throughout and really feeling for the characters in the film, very much engrossed in what was going on. Taylor Joy and Nighy are definitely the s...

Released: 7th February 2020 BBFC rating : 15 Directed by: Cathy Yan Cast: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosie Perez, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Ella Jay Basco, Ewan McGregor DC movies have always been a very tricky one when it comes to reviewing them, on the one hand I love the characters from the mythos ( especially with the expanding universe ), however this DCEU slate has had varying levels of quality from the Spectacular Wonder Woman, to whatever Suicide Squad was with most of the others fitting somewhere in the middle of that. Birds of Prey certainly fits into the latter category unfortunately.  The story follows Harley Quinn ( Robbie ), recently broken up from the Joker, as she tries to establish herself in Gotham's underworld with Black Mask ( McGregor ) trying to get his own back on her while free of the consequences from Jokers protection of her.  There is a lot more going on in the film while this happens which is what I find the most puzzling about this...

Released: 10th January 2020 BBFC rating: 15 Directed by: Sam Mendes Cast: George Mackay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Colin Firth. The hardest movies to make have always been known to be one shot films and world war one movies. Sam Mendes expertly manages to combine both the genres together to create a masterpiece of movie-making which revolutionises war movies as well as film in itself. The story follows the two soldiers as they rush to warn a battalion of soldiers across France to halt their attack as they wander into a trap. The story for me was one of the strongest part of the film, as in one shot movies the time jumps can often be sacrificed for artistic plot lines, however it very much fits what Mendes wants style wise and very rarely do you find yourself lost. While the one shot gimmick can a some points seem quite distracting it does still look brilliant, especially in the cinema, and does well to emphasises the horror of the war as well as the exhau...

Released: 5th April 2019 BBFC Rating: 12 Directed by: David F.Sandberg Cast: Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Djimon Hounsou The DCEU movies have been very hit or miss since Man of Steel first started these all off, with some great entries with Wonder Woman in 2017, and some not so great ones with Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad. Shazam finds itself at the upper end of the DC scale, with the film managing to find originality in such a saturated and repeating genre. Shazam focuses around Billy Batson, who after gaining the power to turn into an adult superhero from a wizard has to work out how to deal with his power as well as hide it from his foster family. It was interesting to see a new superhero find his way in a universe with well established ones already built in, as well as give a backstory to a type of character we may not have necessarily seen before. The whole relationship between Batson and his foster brother is what really made this film ...

Released: 6th September 2019 BBFC Rating: 15 Directed By: Andy Muscheitti Cast: James Macavoy, Bill Skarsgård, Bill Hader, Isiah Mustafa, Jessica Chastain It chapter 1 blew audiences away when it was released in 2017, being a horror film that appealed to a wider range of audiences than ones previous, probably due to the whole killer clown craze which had only just gone past. It however  did not leave too much of an impression on me, with it feeling like most other horror movies: too many jump scares which are loosely connected by a thin plot which doesn't appeal. By contrast, It chapter two is much more interesting and all round better than the first one, with characters which are more detailed , and a story which wasn't just driving towards the next predictable jump scare. The story line is much more detailed than the last, diving more into the back story of IT, and creating a more tense film as a result, as the characters become more human than the child ones, with m...

Released: 18th December 2019 (United Kingdom ) BBFC Rating: 12A Directed by: J.J Abrams Cast: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels. Before starting there are potential spoilers in this review. The saga which has defined the last couple of decades of cinema has come to a close in the form of the Rise of Skywalker. While the last Jedi seemed to divide fans like never before, with people like me caught in the middle of it thinking it was good but made questionable decisions for the mythos, the Rise of skywalker activity aims to try and take it all back within the first couple of scenes, on the offset showing itself to be a completely different movie. It aims to more woo fans over with a lot of fan service, right from the start quoting the prequels and bringing back fan favourite characters like Palpatine and Lando Calrissian. On the whole though, I found it enjoyable, with a lot in the film for Star Wars fans such as myself, and off...

Released: 17th May 2019 BBFC Rating: 15 Directed by: Chad Stahelski Cast: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Lance Reddick, Ian McShane The original John Wick is, in my opinion, an action master piece. With properly shot and executed action sequences and a subversion on the genre which was starting to be saturated with the stereotype of quick cuts and a lead character who you couldn't really care for. John wick chapter 3 sets off directly after the previous film, with a 14 million dollar bounty on his head and all his previous friends turned against him, John must make his way through New York and find a way to end his execution order. This film does not wait to get straight into the action, with the first scenes of the film being John involved in a almost choreographed fight. That pretty much sets up the whole movie, with there never really being a break from the violence. For the most part I enjoy this aspect of the film, with it exploring new ...

Released: April 25th 2019 BBFC rating: 12 Directed by: Anthony and Joe Russo Cast: Robert Downey Jn., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Don Cheadle Before we start this review I will say again, Spoilers will be in this review. If you need to; go away and watch the film then come back when you've seen it. This movie starts off pretty much directly after Infinity War with Tony Stark ( Robert Downey Jn. ) floating in space with little hope, who gets rescued by Captain Marvel ( Brie Larson ). Jump ahead 5 years and all the Avengers are glum because 50% of all people are gone. When Ant Man ( Paul Rudd ) returns they devise a plot to get the infinity stones back and defeat Thanos. If that plot sounds confusing that's because it is, and something I felt throughout the film is that people may struggle to keep up with what is going on, especially considering the 3 hour run time. However for the most part I enjoyed ...

Released: 5th July 2019 Directed by: Jon Watts BBFC Rating: 12A Cast: Tom Holland, Jake Gyllenhaal, Zendaya, Samuel L. Jackson. Avengers Endgame left the MCU in a point where as a viewer I felt closure. The 11 year long Mongul had capped off what it had been building since the first Avengers film and the series has finally started to move into a new era. Spiderman man far from home very much acts like the bridge from the original series into the new phase of Marvel movies. The film picks up almost immediately after Endgame, with the world discovering what had occurred, the five year difference between those killed in Infinity war and Endgame being seen clearly and the aftereffects of the loss of Iron Man being felt. Spiderman has to work with Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio to fight the elementals after his world was destroyed by them while trying to blend in on his schools tour of Europe. This film appeals to me in the same way that Homecoming did, with the life of Peter parker pre...