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.
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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