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Tuesday 2 August 2016

JULY WATCHLIST

I watch a lot of films, big shocker there I know… Between re-watching my favourites and binge watching TV shows I try to watch plenty of films I haven’t seen before, there are way too many great films out there to not do the metaphorical legwork. I only tend to review films that are currently at the cinema and give little attention to the wonderful gems I have finally feasted my eyes on. So, I had an idea for a new series of monthly or sometimes bi-monthly posts. A monthly ‘watchlist’ will be a rundown of films that I have watched for the first time in the month that has passed, for a first I will also be rating each film out of 5.

This month I have caught up on a few newer releases that I’d hoped to see in the cinema but I really want to use these posts as an excuse for some film-education. There is an embarrassingly high amount of classic cinema that I haven’t yet seen and that needs to change.

Image Source: the-indie-pendent.com
Me Before You (2016)
I read Jojo Moyes’ novel over a year before the film release and as much as I enjoyed it, I couldn’t help feeling it was over-rated. So the hype surrounding the film was no surprise and I was dubious. With Moyes herself at the helm of the script this is a faithful adaptation, drawing well from the source material but standing as its own product. I was neutral about Sam Claflin’s performance as Will Traynor but I thought Emilia Clarke was perfect casting. Her portrayal was exactly how I had imagined when reading the clumsy but equally ballsy Louisa Clark. The ending also packed the serious emotional punch that I’d hoped for. 4/5

Image Source: pulseradio.fm
Sing Street (2016)
A boy growing up in 1980’s Dublin starts a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes. The band in question turns out to be a bunch of unlikely heroes who make great music. Sing Street was by far the best film I saw in July and could easily be one of my favourites of the year. I couldn’t wait to recommend it to people and the brilliant soundtrack has been on repeat for me since the first viewing. Like John Carney’s other ‘musicals’, Sing Street balances both sides of the emotion spectrum to produce a film with bags of singing and historically relevant drama. It’s a love letter to 80’s pop-culture with nostalgia my 90s-born-self got wrapped up in. 5/5

Image Source: collider.com
The Last Five Years (2014)
The Last Five Years is a musical drama that follows Cathy, a struggling actress and novelist Jamie, chronicling the unravelling of their love affair over a five year period. I’m going to be blunt; the music was the only thing I liked. The timeline of the story is an absolute mess. The order of events is so confusing that I didn’t care about any of the characters. The whole film feels more like a series of mismatched music videos than a complete, meaningful story. 1/5

Image Source: buzzhub.wordpress.com
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)
Greg likes to be invisible; he enjoys being anonymous and making films with his ‘co-worker’ Earl until his mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl recently diagnosed with Leukaemia. This film is a tour de force in how to make a story of friendship without clichés and stereotypes. While the whole film revolves around Greg, every character is layered and interesting. That combined with the way the film is shot, including moments of Claymation and shots of Greg and Earl’s own films, makes for a grounded drama dealing with sensitive subject matter. 4.5/5