The Movie Round-up

With watching and learning about the making of films being a passion of mine, it never leaves me short of ideas on what to write about for you to (hopefully) enjoy reading. However, there are times where other things get in the way and I miss 'that' moment after watching to put my thoughts on here. Then there are also those films where my thoughts reflect the general public consensus so I'm left with little to more to add to the conversation. Therefore, without further-ado, here is a short list of bite-size reviews that have been on my mind for a while...

Clint Eastwood's Sully was a great film and shined a light on the other side of what happened when a commercial plane had to make an emergency landing on the Hudson River. Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart were both superb but it was Eastwood's focused direction that was the real star of the film. I've seen it twice and kept meaning to write about it as it is one of 2016's best and I can easily recommend this to anyone. It's both inspiring and extraordinary in equal measure.

Another acclaimed film I recently saw was the Oscar winning The Shape of Water, which started Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer and Michael Shannon. I enjoyed Del Toro's other pieces and liked the look of the trailer but there was something missing here that just didn't engage me. It was well made and looked gorgeous but this is one of those praised films that left me wondering what the fuss was all about. Controversial, I know.

The Man With The Iron Heart was cursed due to the Weinstein scandal and would have suffered on release as a result. Jason Clarke stars as the German Reinhard Heydrich who played a key role in Hitler's plans. The film follows him falling out of the navy and joining the Nazi movement after he meets Rosamond Pike's Lina, who would become his wife, and the plot to assassinate him. How a man could turn into a monster had me intrigued but is never explored in this poorly paced historical drama that deserved better direction.

Another disappointment came in the shape of Netflix's Bright that started Will Smith and Joel Edgerton as LA cops but one is an orc. Set in an alternative universe where humans have a troubled coexistence with fantasy beings, this had potential but is a poor imitation of director David Ayer's other film End of Watch. This wasn't worth a full article because my overall feeling after watching was a head-ached 'meh' but hopefully the man behind the disappointing Sabotage and Suicide Squad can improve on the upcoming sequel. As it stands, I would not recommend this.

And to conclude unexpectedly is the 2014 Pompeii that stared Kit Harrington, Emily Browning and Kiefer Sutherland. In many ways considered a poor man's Gladiator, I still enjoyed this as mindless entertainment which can be found on Netflix UK. Sutherland is clearly enjoying the campy fun ride this is and Harrington isn't bad as your typically muscly protagonist. It's far from great but is perfectly acceptable on the grounds of being a simple action flick.

With that concludes the first of potentially a new series to follow, and will hopefully assist in helping you dodge a potential Geostorm. Less time wasted on bad films means having more time for the better things in life!