Shaun the Sheep Movie Review

One of the only film studios that operates today that I felt has never made a bad film is Aardman. Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit are classics in stop motion and their other films, Flushed Away; Arthur Christmas and The Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists, are all a lot of fun. But in terms of profitability, nothing has been bigger for Aardman than Shaun the Sheep. Spinning off from Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave, Shaun the Sheep started out as a TV show on CBBC, eventually getting a few video games, a spin-off series (Timmy Time on Cbeebies) and an artistic movement with statues of Shaun the Sheep placed across London and Bristol. Inevitably a film adaptation would be made, but there was a risk that the film would lose the charm that made the Shaun the Sheep TV series so good. Thankfully, that is not the case, Shaun the Sheep Movie (really needs a 'the' in there) continues Aardman's streak of incredibly entertaining films.

My Thoughts on the 2015 Oscar Nominations

A tradition that I have concerning the Oscars is to provide my thoughts on the list of nominees before the show. This year, I've cut it a bit closer than usual due to being busy with university work but they're here now. As usual, my thoughts will be for each category and split up into Will Win, Should Win and Missing with some overall thoughts at the end. With that said, let's get started:

Selma Review

After all the troubles across America over the past year regarding how the black population is treated by the police, there couldn't have been a more perfect time for a film about Martin Luther King to be released. Moreover, by focusing more on the Selma protests, a clear parallel can be drawn about how the police treat black protestors in the past and today and this focus gives the film a clear narrative structure that works better than a straight forward biopic of King would have been.

Big Hero 6 Review

Over the past few years, Disney has been on fire with their animated films. The Princess and the Frog and Tangled showed that Disney could still do fairytales effectively; Winnie the Pooh was a nice little throwback; I'm a massive fan of Wreck It Ralph and Frankenweenie and, whilst my opinion of it has gone down since I first saw it, there hasn't been any film to become as much of a cultural phenomenon as Frozen has in years. Now, Disney are continuing that streak with Big Hero 6, which I think is the best film to come out of what will be known as the second Disney Renaissance.

Kingsman: The Secret Service Review

Since it was first announced, I've been highly anticipating Kingsman. Matthew Vaughn is one of my favourite directors working today and the last time he and writer Jane Goldman worked with a Mark Millar comic we got Kick-Ass, which is one of my favourite films. So does the magic strike twice, honestly I don't think so, but that's not to say this film isn't a lot of fun, it certainly is that.