Suicide Squad

Why does everyone hate it so much? I quite liked it, I was settling in ready for a let down due to all the relatively negative reviews, but well pleasantly surprised. 

But so, I can understand why it didn't live up to the trailer, I suppose most people got the image of it being a serious film with elements of humour... not injected with the cheese I was met with. But it's lucky that I can handle a certain amount of cheese within a film. 

I realise I'm not making much sense, but neither does much of the film...

So, let's start off with it's mainly the fact that likeable characters are carrying the film throughout, I wouldn't say that the storyline is particularly amazing, as well as the directing job. David Ayers has done well, just to the point of making sure the film echoes the fact that it is in fact based on a comic book. Maybe most audiences forgot that fact, I dunno.

It's enjoyable for the most part however, it's fast-paced to point where I guess you could say it feels a little rushed at some parts. And you've got to give it to this take on antiheroes - this is one reasonably multicultural gang.

Will Smith and Margot Robbie take over the show overall, as Deadshot and Harley Quinn. Afterall we were expecting a good performance from Robbie, but I would say we got a pretty freaking great one. Other than that you'll find Captain Boomerang funny, El Diablo and Killer Croc both quite lovable in a strange way and Katana isn't given anything but a background role of  'helper'. However Viola Davis is always as good as ever, there's no two ways about it, just her presence on screen gives me life.

People who could have done better begins with Cara Delevinge, supposedly she didn't ruin the film by her hand alone, but one of the ending scenes of the Enchantress downfall made up my mind that this woman is not a good actress, She's okay... but not good. And um, I hate to say this but... I didn't really enjoy Jared Leto's Joker. Not as much as I thought I would anyway, I suppose the hype built around the whole film has let some people, fans and non-fans, down to a certain degree. The Joker is a hard role, like c'mon he was taking on a lot with it. But the promises were made and not delivered as smooth as would have liked. He seemed very awkward throughout it all, like the persona was so totally under his control that he had to force out the crazy. 

Let's just say that Margot Robbie made crazy look easy, whereas Jared Leto made me feel uncomfortable but not the right way. And also, let's face it, there's only ever going to be Heath Ledger's live action, and Mark Hamill's voice to put he shame in the Joker category. 

But here's the once part which left a bad taste in my mouth, Enchantress was so boring and over-animated it made my head hurt. Now I'm no fan of the Suicide Squad comics or their place within the DC universe, I haven't got a lot of knowledge about them, and that probably doesn't help int he way of anyone reading this sub-par review. But I came away from the cinema reasoning the choice of a fucking witch being used as the enemy. I assume her character is the same in the comics, but think of it this way if you can't get your head around the absurdness of a group of bad guys fighting against a witch. The film would've found it hard for the essential 'bad guys' to be fighting for the greater good against Superman or Batman. With the Suicide Squad joining forces with the army, it had to be an object with unnatural force for them to want to fight to save the city. 

Does that make sense?

No, none of this really does, I know. This was a hard film to review.

At the end of the day, don't come into the cinema with a mind set on what you saw in the trailer, there's a lot to the film which you won't see in the way of storyline and will probably take you by surprise if you enter with your mindset in the way of a serious superhero film. It's a comedy, with action in it, try to take your mind away from the fact that there's alien-like creatures used as an army against the protagonists and an actual witch as the force of evil.  

I would advise to go in with limited high hopes, because you will be surprised for the better. Things you will take away from Suicide Squad is the enjoyable characters, and the fact that Ben Affleck's Batman has only about 20 seconds of time on screen. 

However it has a pretty great soundtrack, songs I haven't listened to since I was 17 and attempting to write my own graphic novel...

*Ted Mosby voice* - But more on that later. 

I'm joking, no one will ever want to make my graphic novel, because I am too lazy to write anything further than these lame reviews and a couple of essays for uni... 

God help me this dissertation year. 

Ghostbusters

And so I'm being thrown into a match with a wild fuckboy, making it clear that he won't go see this film because he's read bad reviews. So it's like alright, I'll buy that, even though every review I saw was generally positive and it's like where the heck are you seeing these bad reviews? And he's like how do you know it's going to be good if you haven't seen it....

and I'm like you JUST contradicted yourself up the wall mate!! But he keeps on, and on and on, and I'm stuck in this weird fight with a 'man of science' wanting to know my favourite films, then brings up lady Ghostbusters and goes off on a rant and won't listen to what I have to say. Oh but he will listen when I ask if he won't see it because it's got women in it? Then I was told not to bring gender into it... and yet he goes on to be the rudest little bitch about Leslie Jones, and at this point lads I'm completely done with this odd angst filled freak I never asked to speak to in the first place. He says that some of his favourite films have strong female leads, so I say if it's Kill Bill... then well done you. (Detect the sarcasm)

And my boyfriend put a stop to it. 

But anyway I saw Ghostbusters, and let me tell you, if you're reading negative reviews about this film, and they are written by men? Then fucking put that away and I'll lay down the truth. 

So I'm pissed off at the craze which manages to put down the whole cast and brands them as 'ruining' the original, and at the same time singles out Leslie Jones with horrid racist trolling. Seriously, it's freaking heinous. 

Let me start this review/rightful rant with the main selling factor of Ghostbusters, the original was great and funny... but this, it's hilarious! Until you watch it, you will understand that it combines elements of SNL with each woman's individual comedy, and it god damn works well.

I cried!

I literally cried with laughter at two specific parts, concerning all three main cast members. 

And let me tell you, Leslie Jones I would say was actually the funniest member of the Ghostbusters team. She has some of the funniest lines and pulls off her character well. At the end of the day, all of the Ghostbusters cast worked well together, and I haven't laughed that hard since Deadpool. 

The reboot starts off with actually a relatively scary introduction, but only gets funnier from there. Two old friends are brought back together, Kristen Wiig - Erin Gilbert and Melissa McCarthy - Abby Yates, by the promise of ghosts after being apart due to academic purposes. So I've decided that I quite like it when, main characters start the film off in a feud. But with Ghostbusters, this time around there's no notice of the pair making up, they just sort of bond through catching ghosts, and there's very little meaningful parts, which I think works. That isn't to say that the film is just laugh upon laugh constantly, it's quite a lot more than that. Abby's lab partner Gillian Holtzmann is weird but smart, and the three gently start finding ghosts. Where Leslie Jones - Patty Tolan, steps in and joins after seeing them catch one and therefore leaves her job at the subway in order to put herself in a "room full of nightmares". 

The gang hire out the room above a Chinese restaurant along with good looking, but dumb dumb receptionist Chris Hemsworth - Kevin. And let me tell you, he took on a lot with this character, and yet happily delivered. In parts I have to say he may have stolen the show. 

So a ghost invasion ensues, thanks the help of long time freak and insecure male Neil Casey - Rowan North, who has a problem with the living and wants New York City back to the 1920-30s it seems, only with the dead walking around 'annoying' the living. 

I realise I may not be selling this film well, due to the rage towards old time fans and trolls. But I implore you to see this, take your daughters and maybe cover their eyes at one part where the bird is flipped. But this film, it was needed, whether or not it was going to be insanely funny.  

And if you think in anyway this reboot does not do the original justice, then open your fucking eyes and see all three remaining cast members make cameo appearances and GET TO FUCK! 

It seems to be a fan-base of the original wanting to insert themselves head first into Bill Murray's nether regions who want this to be a flop, but it wasn't, it's the total opposite! And Bill Murray wasn't even that funny in it, Dan Aykroyd has the funniest lines out of the three, and also Ernie Hudson's last line ended the film with the whole cinema laughing.

And note that Dan Aykroyd isn't happy with the racism being thrown around, so you're not impressing anyone, literally. I feel from my encounter with the boy who refused to see a film with funny and strong females leads, had a main problem with Leslie Jones, calling her out on acting like 'a stereotypical black woman', whilst Ernie Hudson was 'totally normal dude in the orginal'. And I've found in my time in the adult world, in the time of opening my eyes, if there's one thing white cis men hate more on this earth than women owning the fact that they are a woman... it is a black woman owning their race and gender. 

And that audience makes me sadder than anything on earth.

Go watch Ghostbusters and cheer yourself up from the world, I mean Ozzy Ozbourne makes a cameo!

The Conjuring 2

Sometimes I often wonder why I put myself through the torture of scary movies, it comes to the point where the sleepless nights and working up my anxiety and paranoia isn't worth it at the end of the day...

But having said that, The Conjuring 2, whilst scaring me, allowed me to have somewhat relaxed nights.

But then again having said that, I did watch it from behind my hands being clasped tight to my face.
Basically it's a good film, to the point where it's more entertaining in other ways rather than scaring the life out of you. The fact that there's humour injected into it makes it confusing as to what type of horror this actually is. Especially concerning the first movie being one of the most unnerving horror films I have watched in my life.

I feel that the let down could probably be down to the fact that the sequel is set in England. So in turn there pursues the ideal of British comedy coming in characters being awkward and so on.
So it's an odd mixture at times, but yet still fun to watch.
However I will say that it's long for a horror film. And the whole idea of an old man haunting a family isn't plausible. Which is the right way of thinking, because it's based on a real story from London where the little girl FAKED ALL OF IT FOR ATTENTION. Like seriously little girl? You going to play around with dark forces. The Enfield Haunting obviously was a load of bull, seeing as the kid put her hand in front of her mouth any time the ghost of Bill Wilkins came through her. And SHE EVEN ADMITTED THAT SHE WAS FAKING. But alas scraped together that she started off faking, but it suddenly got real.
Well yeah, it's based on a true story, and effectively glamorised for Hollywood.
So, a dead Bill Wilkins is haunting a little girl (supposedly), and to be fair James Wan did a good job of putting horrible images in my head. Yet, it's just and old man in the end. Racist old granddad Bill roaming around the house trying to get Songs of Praise on the telly.

Thankfully though, it's not all that and there's darker forces at work... in the style of a demon who genuinely scares me still two days after watching it. As well as that there's some 'Crooked Man' pissing about looking incredibly animated and not scaring anyone at all. That is until you find out that he was not animated at all and is in fact a human contortionist... yikes.
So two main demons, and poor old Bill isn't all to blame in the end, no it's the one who looks suspiciously like Marilyn Manson instead.    
In the end there's a one worded answer which saves the day, and I spotted what the word was way at the beginning of the film where the demon comes to visit the Warrens in their home.
GO ME!

So to sum up, there's some quite scary parts in it. But overall it's let down by the England story-line, which we all know was a hoax anyway. And full of characters who look NOTHING like their real life counterparts, it's literally ridiculous. But however the characters are likeable, and then again there's laughs as well as two dogs on screen.
So maybe go see it instead of that horrible Romance portraying non-disabled people as disabled characters.

Even if The Conjuring 2 lacks in excitement occasionally, it's got to be less of a snooze fest than that.

The Jungle Book

First of all... John Favreau is the smooshiest, even when he was in Swingers - (unpopular opinion)

TRIGGER WARNINGS: 

Fire/Violence/Death

& an unsettlingly large monkey.

The whole cast  is beautiful, just a great job all round. Except it took me ages to remember that it was in fact Giancarlo Esposito - Gus from Breaking Bad, voicing the leader of the wolf pack, being that his voice was a little more forgettable than others. 

I feel that it is a bit of a step out of the blue for something from Favreau, but then again, he made the masterpiece which is Elf... as well as the unfavourable Iron Man films which I'd rather not, like y'know? Y'know... like bore off please.

So now that Favreau is getting fulling into the swing of Children films which a lot of adults care more about, then I am happy with whatever he decides to do.

I don't think there was any animal character who I didn't want to somehow cuddle, and yes I know they're all made on computers, but I can dream of cuddly animal friends can't I? 

Baloo was just adorable, kudos to Bill Murray yet again for providing comic relief forever more. 

Scarlett Johansson being a boring old dud in it (well not a lot new there), with her 10 lines and making them BORING AS HELL. Thank god Baloo came along. Ben Kingsley and Lupita Nyong'o are both great also, but however I feel that Idris Elba steals the show as per usual. 

He shows up most of the cast by out-acting them all with his voice alone. 

God bless that man. 

Newcomer Neel Sethi as Mowgli does a pretty great job of acting along with make-believe animals. He's got all the simple acting talents of a child acting, like he over exaggerates simple things, but on the whole he does a pretty good job, and I look forward to what else will come of him. 

My main quip with Favreau's latest work is the bizarrely timed tune of 'I Want To Be Like You' from Christopher Walken playing King Louie. Maybe the fact that it's odd timing was pointed out to me before in another review is the reason why it seemed more obvious to me. Well any way, it seemed weird all round just due to the fact that King Louie is supposed to be angry at that point in the newly generated Jungle Book. but yet he's breaks into a supposedly happy song eventually making it sinister without meaning to... like John... you okay John? What's happening with Chris?

Walken anyway you don't see for a lot at all really, which I was a little sad about but then again there was nothing more than a crazy mob-like sensation with King Louie - you give me fire, I'll protect you for life Mowgli son. 

Imagine Don Corleone breaking out into Singing In The Rain when making you an offer you can't refuse, and the whole Mafia family screaming crazy af. 

SPOILER:

Favreau changes the whole ending, which I thought I wouldn't be happy with when it unravelled on-screen... but I'm okay with it. I know why it was done, *drum roll* that great money maker shaker that is A SEQUEL!!!!!!

One thing I will say overall is it may be in your best interests to watch it in 3D, and I never really suggest that. It was as if I was trying too hard to appreciate the graphics. I came out wishing I had waited a little longer for a quieter screening in 3D. 

Overall, you will come out to cinema a very happy soul. 

Now back to marathonning Kimmy Schmidt...

10 Cloverfield Lane

Sat in a very dark cinema my brain screamed "YAAAAS" at the performances from John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

TRIGGER WARNING: Imprisonment/Gore.
Can you have a trigger warning for Aliens?
Whoops, just gave away something big... well c'mon you should really have at least an idea of what Cloverfield was about.

And I mean it...

I can already tell that 10 Cloverfield Lane will be snubbed and underrated all year round. Let me just put it out there right now, John Goodman takes the god damn cocking biscuit with how well he plays his creepy yet somewhat adorable character. He plays Howard, who steals Mary Elizabeth Winstead, playing Michelle, off the road after crashing into her car. Michelle incidentally was running away from her boyfriend after a big fight. Then big old Howard comes along and locks her up, because apparently the 'air up in the normal world is contaminated'.

So yeah, it seems to be a hostage situation, until we meet Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.) stuck down in this bunker with the two. Yet he was trying to get in when the world was 'attacked'. So Michelle is opened up the somewhat psychotic, yet lovable world of Howard the conspiracy theorist.
And there's nothing I love more than a conspiracy theory.

I loved this film from start to finish, John Goodman is flawless as ever. If you are a fan of him like me, you should go into watching this with an open mind, because he is half the cuddly bear you wish him to be every minute of every day, and half a raging lunatic. The character of Howard is very manipulative, and I can promise you that that is the most scary and unnerving factor about this film.

All along I thought this was directed by J.J. Abrams, ah beloved J.J. (He only produced it).
But nah it was directed Dan Tratchenberg, and I have to say he really made it his own, and basically he's done very little else, so kudos to him for this... my first favourite film of 2016. Yeah, and y'know what, it comes above The god damn Revenant.
Anyway, if you like Sci-Fi and a lovely homey South American aesthetic, then make sure to go see this. If for any reason, I would say that the storyline is awesome and when John Goodman smiles in a certain way, your heart will just burst.
But, like one minute you wanna be shut down in the bunker with these poor people, next minute you want to punch Goodman's character in his face....

PLUS YOU GET TO SEE JOHN GOODMAN DO A LITTLE TWERKING!!!!
NSDFOSDNGPZXFNB;DXNB;XDNFB;DOFNG'DOIF

GET
ON
THAT
JOHN!

Can you tell that I'm a John Goodman fan? 

Spotlight

It's good... like really good.
Underrated even.

Why did it take me so long to publish this I'll never be fully sure... being a student is hard when you rarely get out of bed each day.

Spotlight tells the infamous story of exposing paedophilia in the catholic church, basically. I remember how big this situation was when it came out when I was younger. I didn't fully understand much of it, but I knew that it scared me. The unveiling of the catholic church's seedy underbelly in America is demonstrated with respect in Spotlight - and by that I mean towards victims and survivors.
We see a straight-faced Michael Keaton do a pleasing job as usual, as manager of getting the truth out. Keaton's team of co-stars reflect his talent just as well, the acting you will witness only adds to this film. What I am impressed with is that this delicate story is in no way glamorised, nor is this film a thriller, nor mystery... it tells the truth essentially.

Without becoming a documentary, the utmost respect is taken when telling the stories of the survivors. Spotlight also ensures that they are heard, however still shows that sexual harassment within the Catholic still occurs to this day. The fact that it took so long for the original story to be brought to light is portrayed perfectly thanks to director Tom McCarthy.

I realise that Spotlight is probably well on its way out of cinemas right now, but it is worth buying... and that's quite rare for me to claim those standards.
Mark Ruffalo outdoes himself as portraying the fire within the a force who is met with troubles of getting the truth out.
Rachel McAdams also shines through as our main female character, her acting more subtle than that of Ruffalo, however just as effective.

Spotlight will open your eyes to just what survivors went through, as well as how long it took for their stories to be heard.
An upsetting story, but one which needs to be told.
I am very glad it won at least one Oscar this season, the filmography is very pleasing if I do say so,


In other news, I shall be writing for FilmDebate as part of my work experience and as a chance for me to stretch my writing skills.
It is quite exciting for me actually, seeing as I'm going to be graded at the end of the day for doing something I love to do in my spare time.
It won't be me reviewing films however, but with hope my first article will be on my favourite female led films.
So if you like the theme of compilation, then take a trip over to http://filmdebate.co.uk/ and attempt to find my material soon. 

Deadpool

If you haven't gotten on top of seeing this yet... you better.

Already one of the more impressionable films I've seen this year. 

So let's just begin with me stating that I have not read any Deadpool comics, I am by far a massive Dead Head and Punisher fan. I love comics though, my collection is tame to say the least, but like c'mon some prices are not for a student's pockets.

Anyway, I knew about Deadpool due to just seeing him around the internet and comic book world, but never got a chance to read any of his stories.

But this film... right from the word go it will have you in stitches.

I knew it was going to be crude and in-your-face, but it still went in deep. I would say that are about two parts where paedophilia is joked about. But other than that it's not too rough on the triggers. 

Ryan Reynolds is perfection, and makes up for his first appearance as Deadpool in that sub-par Wolverine Origins film. I mean heck he even made up for Green Lantern... *shudders* 

Which brings up a discerning question of who is worse - Ben Affleck's Daredevil or Ryan Reynolds's Green Lantern.

But anyway, Reynolds pulls off the antihero's charisma and hilarity so well that you forget about anything you've seen him in before. 

I do love how the storyline is so simple, and yet you're sat there only to watch Reynolds tell you what he's doing and when it's going to happen. Little nods to the studio makes this film even more so enjoyable as well. Whether or not you are a Deadpool fan, this is a very good film. 

I urge you to go and see Deadpool, if for anything just to brighten your life up. 

Right from the credits it's funny, and the acting from everyone in it is pretty impressive. 

Also it's obviously Marvel, so for the love of god don't leave straight away with the ending credits, and look out for Stan Lee - now that bit surprised me...

Sorry this review is so short, but there's not a lot more to say other than that you will love this film.

Breaking fourth walls never pleased me more.