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Favourite movies of 2017
My Favourite Films of 2016
Favourite Films of 2018
Reviews
Kamera o tomeru na! (2017)
Hilarious and Unique!
Definitely one of the most unique movies I have seen. For the first third, I was a little confused as to why it was so highly rated and thought some choices were a bit odd; not to say it was bad. The 37min long take was still amazing to watch, just a bit odd at times.
However, as the movie begins to reveal its surprise, and I began to understand the genius that was unfolding, it quickly became one of the most enjoyable movies I have had the pleasure of seeing. And so funny! If you can, go in cold to avoid any spoilers.
It's also in rare company in that it's one of the few movies that actually made me laugh out loud.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Lives up to the hype!
This was truly spectacular!! A lot more (excellent) humor than I perhaps expected, although it lessens when it goes down for some great emotional moments. And A LOT of shit goes down. the action set pieces are amazing and a lot of fun to watch.
Thanos is also easily up there as one of the best and most menacing villains seen so far. I loved what they did with Peter Dinklage!
That said, I can easily imagine the movie being hard to follow for those not well versed with the MCU, however, I think they do a pretty good job switching between the different groups.
I'll definitely be rewatching this in the near future.
Big Hero 6 (2014)
Fun, Action Packed and Adorable
"Big Hero 6" is a movie that shows the best of both Disney and Marvel. It's funny, has exciting action scenes and has enjoyable characters.
Baymax (Scott Adsit), the inflatable huggable healthcare companion for Hiro (Ryan Potter) was, for me, the best part of the movie. Baymax brings laughs in almost every scene he is in, has a lot of action scenes and you end up loving him. Hiro is the most developed of the human characters (he is funny, his actions, however rash and dangerous, are understandable and he grows and learns from his mistakes) and he along with Baymax makes the movie great. Although the other humans are all fun in their own way, I wish we got to know more about them.
The villain in this movie is good as well. Just goes about his job doing evil stuff in an evil manner and is threatening throughout.
My only issue was with the ending which unfortunately went as predicted. However, this was still a very fun movie which did go places (dark intense places) I did not expect and improved the movie for me. Big Hero 6 entertained me a lot and will be fun for the entire family.
Paddington (2014)
Great Fun for the Whole Family
"Paddington" is about a young bear from Darkest Peru who goes to London looking for a new home after an earthquake destroys his old home. There he meets the Brown family who takes him in and his adventure begins.
From the trailers, I had low expectations for this movie. I only went to see it because of the positive reviews and I am glad I did. This was a really fun movie with some great performances from the likes of Hugh Bonneville (Mr. Brown), Ben Whishlaw (Paddington) and Julie Walters (Mrs. Bird) to name a few. The movie had a good and enjoyable mix of slapstick and subtle comedy. Although I found the story very predictable, I can't really fault it for that as it was still enjoyable and worked for this movie.
This movie is fun for both kids and adults. It's funny, heart-warming, well written and acted and I walked out entertained.
Contraband (2012)
Good Enough to Pass the Time
"Contraband" stars Mark Wahlberg as a retired master smuggler who has to do one last job to save his dim-witted brother in-law after he messed up a job.
This movie isn't great. However, it isn't bad either. It is good enough to pass a couple of hours and keeps your attention. It does have its clichés - one last job, obvious betrayals among a few. It also has some cool action scenes. The ending is also very predictable. Despite these issues, the movie is mostly entertaining. There are also some good performances in this movie (favourites being Mark Wahlberg and J.K. Simmons) which always helps.
There are better action/heist movies out there, but this is a decent watch when there is nothing else on.
What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Goes down as One of My Favourite Comedies
"What We Do in the Shadows" is a mockumentary about four vampires sharing a flat together.
Going into this movie knowing nothing but the above, I did not have any idea what to expect. What I got was one of the funniest movies of this year or any year for that matter. The jokes where brilliant and more importantly, they were frequent and consistently brilliant. I loved the interaction of the main characters with each other and the supporting characters.
Each of the main vampires had their moments and were all equally funny. The movie even had werewolves and they were also hilarious. I was also surprised by the special effects which were really well done.
At one point it did feel like the jokes were getting old, but just as I had finished that thought, the movie changes and ends brilliantly. Even though there isn't much of a story, it doesn't really matter for this movie. Just watching some of the hilarious chaos that ensues in their everyday life is enough.
There are not many movies that make me actually laugh out loud, but this one did on several occasions (usually comedies, even great ones, just keep me grinning through out). This is easily one of the most enjoyable experiences I have had at the cinema.
Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
Visually Great. Not Much Else.
Exodus: Gods and Kings is about Moses (Christian Bale) and Ramses (Joel Edgerton) and the uprising of the Hebrew slaves against Egypt.
Visually, this movie was fantastic. The opening battle scene was brilliant. The plagues were intense and exciting to watch. The look of ancient Egypt was great to see. And the parting of the sea was epic. Pretty much loved the movie visually.
As for the story, the beginning was great. I enjoyed watching the relationship between Ramses and Moses. Unfortunately there isn't much of it later in the movie (apart from one scene). I felt the movie would have been better with more screen time for those two to explore their deteriorating relationship . The middle part when Moses is exiled felt quite slow and didn't keep me interested and took until the arrival of the plagues to hook me back. From there I enjoyed the rest of the movie. Another thing I did not like was how Moses went from a sceptic to a believer (although I did like the fact he did not believe blindly).
I felt Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton were great in their roles. However, the supporting cast didn't really do much for me. Apart from a couple, they didn't do a whole lot.
This movie was still enjoyable to an extent, but I felt it could have been much better.
Dumb and Dumber To (2014)
Decent effort
Dumb and Dumber To reunites Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne. This results in a movie with a simple plot and for the most part, funny gags.
The main plot is about Harry searching for his daughter in the hope that she donates her kidney so that he can live. There is also a secondary plot revolving around a billion dollar invention. Both of these are good enough stories and have good resolutions.
The jokes in the movie are a bit hit and miss. For me this was emphasised at the end of the movie with a (in my opinion) really funny joke followed by one which was just bad and made worse by it being obvious the moment it was set up. For me, this happened throughout the movie (though not as polarising). The reason why I still enjoyed the movie is because, when the jokes hit, it really hits.
I would still say that this movie is a good time even with inconsistent jokes since some of the jokes are hilarious, the movie has a good ending, the cast do a good job and it was great watching Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels again.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)
Good Fun
In the third instalment of the Night at the Museum movies, the tablet that brings the museum exhibits to life is losing it's power and to fix it, Ben Stiller and the gang have to go visit the only person who knows how to fix it, at the London's British Museum.
This movie was definitely more entertaining than I thought it would be. Most of the jokes did entertain me despite at times being obvious, although a few do fall flat. However, I did not enjoy the comedy involving caveman Ben Stiller (thankfully, there wasn't much of it). I think the movie would have been better without that character. The story is straightforward as expected, but still good enough to not be boring.
The returning cast do a good job. Newcomer Dan Stevens as Sir Lancelot was my favourite character and was great fun to watch. There were also some great cameos which I did not expect and won't spoil and was awesome.
There are some cool scenes in this movie that really pleased my inner kid, mainly when Sir Lancelot is fighting a triceratops and a scene involving a M.C. Esher painting along with a couple of others. I did also like the ending. It was a bit sad when it came to their goodbyes, especially when it came to Robin Williams'.
Overall, it is a solid movie for kids and adults should have an alright time.
The World's End (2013)
A Great Finish to a Great Trilogy
The movie is about Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40 year old whose best days ended in his teens. He reunites his gang - Andy Knightly, Steven Prince, Oliver Chamberlain and Peter Page (Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman and Eddie Marsan) - to finish a pub crawl from their youth and along the way, strange stuff happens.
The movie does start a bit slow while you get to know the characters, but it is still enjoyable. For me, it really got going when you found out why everything was weird. From then on, the movie was awesome. It got a lot funnier and the action scenes were brilliant. The humour is great throughout and a lot of the smaller characters have great scenes.
The main cast is great. All five do a great job and are all funny and badass in their roles. The secondary cast are awesome too.
Even after a re-watch, this movie was still very funny. Although I had mixed feelings about the ending (I did however love how the main threat of the movie was resolved), this is still one of my favourite comedies and is a great end to a great trilogy.
Black Sea (2014)
Much Better Than I Expected
Black Sea is about a group of men who have given everything to their jobs, only to be discarded away. These men then get a submarine to find a U-Boat containing Nazi gold.
Going in to the movie with that description and only having seen one trailer, I had low expectations for this. However, this movie was a lot better that I thought it would be despite the events of the movie being predictable to a certain extent.
The story goes as expected apart from I couple of things which I didn't see coming (which is always nice). The characters were a bit lacking. Apart from a couple, most were under-developed. And my main issue with the most of the characters is that I didn't really care most of them. As for the Scottish accents, it was easy enough to understand, but then again, I live in Scotland. The movie does have a good share of awesome and very entertaining scenes though.
In saying that, I still enjoyed the movie as it has a decent story and conclusion, despite lacking a bit in the character department.
What We Did on Our Holiday (2014)
Great Fun Despite a Few Small Flaws
'What We Did On Our Holiday' is about a couple (with some issues) and their three kids (with their own quirks) who travel to Scotland to visit their very ill grandfather.
I went into this movie blind and the only thing I read was what was on the poster, "Hilarious British comedy at its best", and for the most part, it lived up to that. Pretty much all the comedic moments had the theatre laughing. And what I did not expect was for the three young kids to be as hilarious as they were. The best part of the movie, in my opinion, was the middle part of the movie with the three kids spending time with their grandfather (played by Billy Connolly who was brilliant). The sad moments of the movie were also well done, much to my heart's displeasure.
The only problem I had with the movie were the parents of the three kids. They were a few jokes that did not feel right, especially one scene where they fight in the bathroom.
Still, this is a great movie to watch. It has a few surprises and for once the kids make this movie awesome. The ending was also decent, although a bit more predictable than the rest of the movie.
In Bruges (2008)
Great Fun
In Bruges stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two hit men (Ray and Ken) who are sent to Bruges after a job gone terribly wrong.
The story was great and it kept me interested and entertained until the very end. The dialogue between all the characters were funny and witty. The characters and their interactions with each other were great. Especially the interactions between Ray and Ken and with their ruthless boss played by Ralph Fiennes. The acting from the cast was great as well.
I had great fun watching this movie. The comedic moments of the movie was funny and the emotional moments were emotional. The ending was great, more so when remembering a line spoken earlier by Ralph Fiennes' character to Gleeson's character.
The F Word (2013)
Fun Movie
'What if' is about Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe), a heart broken medical school dropout who meets Chantry (Zoe Kazan), an animator and Wallace's love interest. The moment they meet, Wallace is in love. Unfortunately for him, Chantry is already in a serious relationship and just wants to be friends.
Like most movies of this genre, you can for the most part guess how this movie progresses. However, that didn't really matter as the movie was fun and quite enjoyable. Most of the jokes were witty and didn't feel forced. All the relationships in the movie were enjoyable to watch as well. All the actors did a great job as well.
At the end, I had a good time watching this movie. It was a good fun movie.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Simply Awesome!
Guardians of the Galaxy definitely surprised me by its awesomeness. Loved this movie and it is easily one of the most enjoyable movies I have seen this year and this year has had some awesome movies.
The movie is great fun to watch. All five of the Guardians (Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, Groot and Rocket) are awesome to watch and all of them have their moments. Their back-stories are also interesting despite wanting to know more in the case of a couple of them. Although there is plenty of humour and jokes, none of it feels overdone. There are also great action scenes and emotional moments without clashing with the fun side of the movie.
Although the plot and villains were nothing outstanding, it was good enough not to ruin the movie as it was great fun watching the five heroes meeting and getting to know each other and becoming the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Would definitely recommend watching this. It's great fun and the time just flew by watching it. It's a great space adventure/comedy/action movie!
Divergent (2014)
Fun Movie
This movie is set in a post war setting where everyone is sorted into five different factions to maintain peace. The main character (Tris played by Shailene Woodley) is one of few who don't belong to any faction and are considered a threat to society (divergents). Hence, to be safe, she must choose a faction and live her life.
Quite a bit of the movie showed her training in her chosen faction and this was awesome to watch. It was awesome to see her go from the underdog to a badass, and it felt believable that she became an efficient fighter. The romance in the movie felt alright as well; didn't feel like it was forced. The latter part of the movie didn't disappoint me either, it was actually fun and exciting. The characters are decent as well.
Sure, this movie had a couple of problems and was predictable for the most part, but it was a fun movie and it exceeded my expectations and I had a good time.
The Double (2013)
Quite Enjoyable
This movie stars Jesse Eisenberg in a dual role. One as Simon James, who is awkward, shy and unnoticed by everyone and the other is James Simon, who is his double only in physical appearance, quite opposite personalities. Eisenberg was excellent in both these roles and great to watch as well. The supporting cast is quite good as well.
The story is about Simon James who just goes unnoticed in his work life despite working there for 7 years and his home life is not that better either. Then James Simon comes into his life and starts to do everything Simon James wanted to do instantly. This makes Simon take things into his own hands as his life gets worse.
I enjoyed the story. The dialogue was great and there wasn't many dull moments at all. The humour is quite dark, but funny. The cinematography and music were great as well. I did however feel that the ending could have been better, but it was still fine. A really enjoyable movie.
Rio 2 (2014)
Entertaining
While it wasn't the best movie or even the best animation I have seen this year, this movie is definitely entertaining.
The movie begins with Blu, Jewel and their three kids having fun in their home in Rio, while Blu's former owner, Linda, and her husband, Tulio, are in the amazon. While in the Amazon, they discover a flock of blue macaws. Seeing this on the news, Jewel is desperate to visit and the story begins as Blu, his family and his friends from the last movie accompany him to the Amazon.
The story is decent. There are quite a few songs and plenty of comedic moments as well. While Blu is trying to fit in the tribe, there are a couple of dangerous foes around, Nigel and an illegal tree logger (one of which had plenty of moments which kind of reminded me of Avatar). There are plenty of great moments in the amazon when Blu is trying to fit in, which leads to one of my favourite moments, which was when they revealed the Pit of Doom. Also, it was fun to see Nigel (the white cockatoo) back, along with some new characters. The voice-work and music were quite good as well.
This movie is entertaining, the story and ending are nice as well. Although I have rated it the same as Rio, I think this was a little better. Found it to be quite funny and more action packed as well. A fun family movie.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Extremely Entertaining
This is not only fun and entertaining, but has a great story and awesome characters. The story is told in flashbacks: in present day, a girl is reading a memoir of an author; which then flashbacks to the author in 1980s; who remembers his younger self encountering the owner of The Grand Budapest (Zero Moustafa); and the owner then tells the story of how he became the owner.
The story of young Zero eventually becoming the owner is quite awesome. The series of events that lead to his ownership begins with the death of an old wealthy woman who was a guest at the hotel. This series of events is very entertaining and fun. There are chases, ski chases, gun fights and prison escapes. There is also plenty of comedic, action and romantic moments along the way.
There are plenty of awesome characters as well. The ones I found best were Monsieur Gustave H. (the concierge played by Ralph Fiennes) and J.G. Jopling (the evil henchman played by Willem Dafoe).
This movie is one of the most fun and excellent movies so far. Definitely would recommend watching.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Pure Awesomeness
Went into the movie not expecting much as I felt that the first Captain America was one of the weaker movies in Phase one of the Avengers. However, this movie was one of the best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
First off, the action and fight scenes in the movie are just awesome and there is plenty of action to keep you entertained throughout the entire movie. There is also enough humour to balance all this. The characters all had their own amazing moments and the acting is decent as well. You get to see more of Nick Fury, and he was awesome in this. Black Widow is used much more in this movie and as well as being badass, she brings out more of the Captain's story. Sam Wilson (the Falcon) is great and is involved in some great action scenes. The villains in this movie were awesome as well.
Quite enjoyed the story as well. There were a few twists; some unexpected, some expected. And the reveal of the unexpected twists in the final third were epic. The story is not just about Captain America and the Winter Soldier, there are darker forces at play and causes the Captain to ask dangerous questions.
This movie is very entertaining, the story is decent, the ending is awesome and satisfying and I would recommend watching this. Makes for a decent political thriller as well. This will easily be one of my favourite movies.
A Long Way Down (2014)
Could Have Been Better
While a story about 4 suicidal strangers meeting on a rooftop about to jump sounds interesting, this movie was not all that interesting.
There were times when scenes felt too long and equally many scenes that could and perhaps should have been longer. Some potentially interesting plot threads were brought up in a scene and hardly mentioned again (same with some characters). The emotional scenes weren't that effective either and I didn't laugh much during the movie either. The characters aren't that great either. None of them felt believable for me.
In the end, felt that the movie was predictable, cheesy and not that entertaining. The ending of the movie didn't do much to change that either. Not the best movie this year.
Under the Skin (2013)
Definitely a Different Type of Movie
I went into this movie without knowing much about the movie or the book it's based on. It turned out to be quite different to what I had expected. It wasn't a horror or sci-fi movie in the traditional sense. Basically this movie stars Scarlett Johansson as a female alien hunting male humans in Scotland.
Quite a bit of the first half of the movie shows her driving in a white van luring victims. Some might find all of it a bit repetitive, but there are scenes that might shock some. Most of her victims in this half are the men who want her just for her looks. Later she sees the better side of humans and starts to appear less alien. As the movie ends, you'll probably be more scared by the humans rather than a murdering alien. As I said, not a horror or sci-fi movie in the traditional sense.
This seems to be movie in which the star is not the murdering alien, but human behaviour. Which might be one reason for polarising reviews. Best not to go in expecting a traditional horror movie. Also found the cinematography and music to be awesome.
Although this is not my type of movie, I still enjoyed it, but it may not be for everyone .
Need for Speed (2014)
An Alright Movie.
The story is about Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) as a street racing mechanic who has his mind set on getting revenge on Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper) for framing him for a death in a street race.
The first parts of the movie show Tobey racing to earn money for his struggling car repair shop. Although the race brought back memories of my childhood, it did feel a bit long at times and not as exciting as it should have done. After the race, Dino gives Tobey a job opportunity which needs him to fix up a Mustang which would also help save his business. The events soon after the job lead to an awesome race with three Koenigsegg Ageras and the frame up.
The middle part of the movie is mainly about gaining access to the DeLeon (an illegal high stakes street race where the winner takes all) so that he can try and get his revenge against Dino. However, he first needs a car and he is reunited with the Mustang that he built. The return of the Mustang also brings back Julia Maddon (Imogen Poots) who bought the car for a wealthy man and accompanies Tobey to the DeLeon. This leads to a long (but exciting) road trip to gain.During this trip there are some awesome stunts and chases.
The final part of the movie is the big race, the DeLeon. This race was definitely my favourite part of the movie since it brought back many memories of the game: the exotic cars; the cop chases; and racing through some great scenery. Watching cars (even though they are replicas) like the Bugatti Veyron, the McLaren P1, the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento and the Koenigsegg Agera race was just awesome. The race itself was also very entertaining (although predictable) and the ending was satisfying.
However, there are a lot of conveniences and ridiculous scenarios and escapes. A lot of disbelief needs to be suspended for this movie. You can easily guess what happens next and for the most part, you can guess how it happens. There probably won't be anything that will surprise you. The plot will happen exactly as you would expect for a movie like this.
Aaron Paul was great as Tobey Marshall. The rest of his gang are not bad, but not great either. His gang provide a lot of the comic relief in the movie. Imogen Poots and Dominic Cooper were both decent in their roles as well. Michael Keaton as the commentator of the DeLeon was also decent.
In the end, I did enjoy this movie despite all of the conveniences. Most of the races were awesome to watch, the stunts were awesome, and I loved the final race. Did see it in 3D, wouldn't say it was essential for this movie.
Non-Stop (2014)
Much Better Than I Expected
When I first saw the trailer, I thought it would just be another generic action movie. However, I found myself to be enjoying the movie and was entertained.
Non-Stop stars Liam Neeson as air marshall Bill Marks. The journey starts out as any other until he gets a text from an unknown person which says that he will kill one person every 20 minutes unless $150 million is transferred to a bank account.
As the movie progresses, the stakes get higher and things just keep getting worse for Liam Neeson's character. If you haven't watched the trailer, there is a twist which would have made some scenes much better. In my opinion, don't think they should have shown that in the trailer.
Along the way, there are some sweet action scenes and plenty of moments to keep you guessing. You will have to suspend a lot of disbelief though, some of the events that happened were timed so perfectly and seemed just lucky to even occur the way it did.
The final third of the movie, although very entertaining, felt a bit weaker than the rest of the movie. Mainly because of the reasons of the villains -didn't really like reason. Apart from that, I enjoyed the action, the story and the ending. Plenty of action to keep you entertained and a decent story.
300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
The Movie Lives on its Feet
300: Rise of an Empire was a little different from what I initially expected. Assumed it was a sequel. However, it is more of a companion movie - a different view point of the events in 300 and the events after and some events before.
I found the story to be entertaining. The Persians are still attacking Greece, but this time we watch from the view point of Athenian Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) while the events of 300 unfold elsewhere. The backstory of some old and some new characters were interesting to watch. The events which take place after 300 were awesome and led to some great battle scenes.
And whilst 300 had plenty of fantastic battle scenes, Rise has some equally fantastic naval battle scenes. Ships wrecks, beheadings, one on ones, and battles were all awesome and entertaining. Watching Themistocles engage in naval tactics was quite fun to watch. The one on one (or multiple) combats were a bit better than the original. I found them rougher and just more fun to watch. Eva green as Artemisia was amazing. She was terrifying at times and great fun to watch.
However, I did find a few scenes felt out of place and unnecessary. In saying that, the confrontations Themistocles and Artemisia more than made up for it.
The ending of the movie was satisfying and to repeat myself, so was the final battle scenes. They were incredibly fun to watch.
A very entertaining movie, especially since I was lucky to be able to watch them back to back on the big screen.