Mad Max: Fury Road Review

Unlike quite a lot of other people who have reviewed this film, I didn't grow up with the Mad Max films as a film cornerstone. I'd seen things that the films had influenced but the actual films just passed me by and I didn't really have much interest in watching them. Then I watched the trailers for Fury Road, which made me interested in the series and I watched the first two films, both of which are great (although The Road Warrior is better). However, after now seeing Fury Road, not only is it the best of the Mad Max series, it is one of the best action films ever made.

12 Angry Men Review

This post is part of the My Favorite Classic Movie Blogathon in celebration of National Classic Movie Day (May 16th). Click here to view the schedule listing all the great posts in this blogathon.

With the Classic Film Day Blogathon underway I got to thinking about which classic film is my favourite. Every time I thought about it my mind always went back to one film, 12 Angry Men. Everything I love in film is present here and the film has just been given new relevance from the Amy Schumer episode parodying it so there is no better time for me to review it.

John Wick Review

Over the past few years, there have been a fair few throwbacks to the action films of the 80s. Films like The Guest and Cold in July have used the style of the 80s to create some incredibly engaging films and now comes, after way too long a wait for the UK, John Wick, which I think is the best of these types of films.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

Ever since the first film ended, this has been one of the films I've been looking forward to seeing the most. The prospect of seeing all these characters interact with each other again and how the whole MCU will continue was incredibly exciting, even more so since the release of Guardians of the Galaxy which started the path to Infinity War and Thanos as the main villain. Each new trailer that was released only stoked my excitement and yesterday, I went to an Avengers marathon of Avengers Assemble, Captain America: The Winter Solider and this. The big question out of the way first: is this better than Avengers Assemble? I would say so.

Kill The Messenger Review

Sometimes, there are occasions when you go to the cinema, not knowing what's on, and just choose the film that starts next. This happened to me a few days ago. I was going to see Chappie but the negative reviews led me to looking at a different film to watch, and I ended up choosing Kill The Messenger and I'm glad I did. I'm a sucker for these kinds of films and this is one of the best examples to come recently.

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.