Howdy ladies and gents of the internet, happy new year! Hope y’all had a good transition into 2018! So it January, a new year has begun and my first blog post is covering a topic from last year, for shame haha. But I think it was inevitable considering how much stuff I tried to do in the lead up to the end of December. Anywho, as some of you may have seen, in 2016 I started a film podcast entitled Film Focus and on this podcast, I talk about various topics in film and reviews as well on a biweekly basis. As for the latest episode, it is my top 10 films of 2017.
Anyway here’s the episode 46:
Now I released this episode on New Year’s Eve, but didn’t have the time to post it on the blog because I was busy with work and getting ready for a house party later on that night, so while it may look like I’m late to the party with this post, I technically had it done on time haha. 😛 Anyway as it says in the title, this episode of the podcast was dedicated to my favourite films of last year and man it was a tough list to put together and I am pretty sure that not everyone will like my choices or their placement in the list. But understand, it was a struggle and some of them are still subject to change. Anyway so the first part of the episode I will talk about my honourable mentions, then I do the top 10 films and then mention my most disappointing towards the end. I really hope you enjoy this episode because even though it was hard to record and was more ad-libbed than some of the more recent episodes, I think it turned out well.
As I mentioned before I’ll cover a different topic or review in each episode and since I don’t have much in the way of listeners or promotion, I’m here to spread the word about my podcast. 🙂
So if you have some spare time on your hands and would like to listen to the ramblings of a passionate/strange man then please check it out, and share it with your friends if you can. Also, you have any feedback or if you’d be interested in joining in future episodes be sure to let me know, until next time, laters! 😀
Good day to you ladies and gents, how’s it going? Last night I had one of my favourite experiences of 2017 in the form a concert held at the Royal Albert Hall entitled Michael Giacchino at 50.
Image from royalalberthall.com
So what is this event about? Well, essentially it was a concert where you had an orchestra play several pieces of music from the numerous films, TV shows and video games that Giacchino’s score over the years. If you’ve checked out this blog for any amount of time you’ll know I have not only massive love for good film scores, but for Michael Giacchino in particular, so when I heard about this even back in February, I bought my ticket as quickly as possible. And so finally, the time had come yesterday, alas the London Underground was closed by the time I arrived at St Pancras just after 6pm, so I had to use Google Maps to run down to Royal Albert Hall, luckily after taking a few wrong turns and running through a dark park with no lights, I got to the venue with around 30 minutes to spare.
And I’ll say it right now, the concert was frigging awesome! We were introduced to a gentleman with a sousaphone (whose name I cannot recall, unfortunately) who played the birthday song and got the crowd involved. From there we were introduced to Adam Savage, the host for the event and he was wonderfully funny and charismatic, and in between the music, he’d appear in interesting costumes and introduce the special guests too. And speaking of the guests, we got to see several of the directors Giacchino’s worked as well as some actors featured in the films he’s worked on come onstage and share some kind words about Giacchino and his work. There were appearances from Colin Trevorrow, Andrew Stanton, Gareth Edwards, Matt Reeves, Carlton Cuse, Pete Docter, JJ Abrams, Benedict Wong, Raffey Cassidy, and Gonzo too. 😀
So what about the music? Well, it was all delicious! The concert started off perfectly with The Incredibles, taking all of the key themes from film and blending them together to show off the bombastic, sassy, playful and badass music, clearly, the people behind this show knew what the deal was by opening with that Pixar classic. Next up was some music from Medal of Honour, I was never into shooting games but I really felt like I may have missed out on something special as the music had some gorgeous sounds which felt like a mix of Lost and Jurassic Park. Though I don’t recall much from Jupiter Ascending, the music was and still is really intense and wonderful. Jurassic World had some lovely pieces which I had honestly forgotten about, the compositions Giacchino made for that film were so heartfelt and made me almost shed tears. The Marvel suite featured music from the Marvel Studios logo sequence which was great, the awesome sounds of Doctor Strange (mainly “Strange Days Ahead”) and the upbeat and heroic sounds of Spider-Man: Homecoming. The music for Rogue One had a selection of the best material from the middle and final parts of the film which was really special and powerful. And then there was Lost, so glad I watched the first season recently as the piece they used from the end of the first season and it was frigging perfect and made me well up because it was hella beautiful. And so that ended the first half.
In the second half we had some of the key music from Up which was beautifully handled by the orchestra and the string quartet Bond, then there were the humourous sounds of One Man Band and the final piece of Pixar piece was from Ratatouille. From here my memory gets a little hazy so excuse any mistakes I make if you attended and have the programme. There was also a haunting piece from Cloverfield I think before going on to do the sounds from War for the Planet of the Apes which was really dramatic and cool. Next up was the really beautiful sounds of John Carter, I’d honestly had forgotten about that film and hearing that music really brought back some memories of certain scenes I remembered from 2012. Oh, and the sounds from Tomorrowland was quite nice having a hopeful and majestic sound. And then we had the Star Trek suite which had the sounds of the 2009 film, Into Darkness and Beyond which was easily a highlight for me as it is some of my favourite material in any film ever. Then we had Gonzo come along and had some fun with the audience and then did a bit of a duet with Giacchino on “I’m Going To Go Back There Someday” from The Muppets Movie. And the final music was from Super 8 played with some archive footage of Giacchino’s childhood films he made with his friends which were perfect. But it wasn’t over, after a standing ovation we had our first encore was in the form of Speed Racer, and then the next encore was a preview of Coco which was so playful and catchy and the final encore was from Alias.
Musical highlights:
The Incredibles
Jurassic World
The Marvel Suite
Lost
John Carter
Star Trek Suite
Coco
Overall Michael Giacchino at 50 was a fabulous session and I was glad I was able to attend, there was a lot of laughs and comedy, and insightful and heartfelt moments from Giacchino, his home movies and the kind words from his friends/work colleagues, and of course the work put in from conductor Ludwig Wicki, the Cinematic Sinfonia and the English Chamber Choir was nothing short of amazing as they brought Giacchino’s music to life in such a special way.
Howdy ladies and gents of the internet, as some of you may have seen, last year I started a film podcast entitled Film Focus and on this podcast, I talk about various topics in film and reviews as well on a biweekly basis. As for the latest episode, it is a recap/review of the summer movies of 2017!
Anyway here’s the episode 37:
So episode 37 of Film Focus is the longest one yet as we do a pretty in-depth recap of the summer movies. And yes you read that correctly, I said “we”, as this episode marks the first time I have a guest on the podcast as I’m joined by Drew from Drew’s Movie Reviews to discuss our thoughts on most of the films released over the course of the summer. Now obviously there will be blind spots in our list because we didn’t have the time or interest to see everything, but I think we did a decent job, plus it was just a really fun to have a different voice on the podcast. The conversation flowed in a casual and relaxed manner and I’m super thankful to Drew for joining me. From The Fate of the Furious to American Made, we get cover a lot of films that came out from April through to August.
There were also a lot of films I saw but never got around to reviewing on my blog, I also have mini review for:
Baby Driver
Dunkirk
The Big Sick
Atomic Blonde
The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Detroit
Logan Lucky
American Made
The Dark Tower
As I mentioned before I’ll cover a different topic or review in each episode and since I don’t have much in the way of listeners or promotion, I’m here to spread the word about my podcast. 🙂
So if you have some spare time on your hands and would like to listen to the ramblings of a passionate/strange man then please check it out, and share it with your friends if you can. Also, you have any feedback or if you’d be interested in joining on future episodes be sure to let me know, until next time, laters! 😀
Howdy ladies and gents of the internet, as some of you may have seen, last year I started a film podcast entitled Film Focus and on this podcast I talk about various topics in film and reviews as well on a biweekly basis. And the latest episode of the podcast features my review of War for the Planet of the Apes. 🙂
Anyway here’s the episode 35:
Now I already did a written review for this film last week but doing an audio based review allowed me to expand upon my thoughts but also just gush about the film in a way that words can’t fully communicate. 😛 Anyway I hope you all enjoy the episode. 🙂
As I mentioned before in each episode I’ll cover a different topic or review and since I don’t have much in the way of listeners or promotion, I’m here to spread the word about my podcast. 🙂
So if you have some spare time on your hands and would like to listen to the ramblings of a passionate/strange man then please check it out, and share it with your friends if you can. Also you have any feedback or if you’d be interested in joining on future episodes be sure to let me know, until next time, laters! 😀
Howdy ladies and gents its review time once again and today I get to talk about another film which was one of my most anticipated films of the year, War for the Planet of the Apes. Now of all the films I was looking forward to this year including Logan, Guardians 2, Spider-Man and the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok and Star Wars Episode VIII, War for the Planet of the Apes was easily in the top 3. Back in 2011 Rise really blew me away with its interesting story, characters, and action, and then Dawn came out 2014 and completely floored me with the character-driven story, drama, and visual effects. And since the first trailer dropped last year I’ve been beyond hyped to see if this film would deliver the epic third chapter that this trilogy needed and the simple answer is yes. I am telling right now War for the Planet of the Apes is a great film and it deserves your attention.
So the story can be described as the following:
“After the apes suffer unimaginable losses when they are discovered by a military group, Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel.”
What I loved about this story was not only how it was a continuation of the path laid out by the previous films, but also how it presented a darker, more dramatic and personal tale. This was a story about power, emotional conflict, family, leadership and making choices based that could have major ramifications both in the short and long-term. I liked how the film presented both sides of the argument for why both the apes and humans should survive over the other, and something else I loved was how the film made me feel. I felt emotions in the last film, it here it was on a higher level, I felt on edge throughout as the tension and suspense was so well executed, but on top of that the emotional material in this film was so good, so many key moments had me shocked, laughing, happy and very sad. This film is very story and character focused and while they are certainly moments where the action kicks off, it is not an action film as some of the trailers suggested, but more so a drama with action elements incorporated, so anyone expected an action-focused film maybe end up being bored and disappointed in certain moments of downtime.
As for the cast, they were all really good. Firstly let’s start with Andy Serkis as Caesar who since the first film in this series has impressed me with the performance capture and here he does his best work not only with the physical material but also with his voice, with more coherent sentences it has allowed for drama and depth in his performance. Caesar has to deal with a lot when it comes to being a leader and family man, dealing with demons from his past and present and making decisions that not only affect him but his apes too, and it’s fascinating to see how it plays out. Then there’s Woody Harrelson as The Colonel was magnificent, he was frightening, ruthless and had a presence on-screen that made you feel like the air had left the room, Harrelson killed it in the role. Also, Amiah Miller as Nova was really good, she did well to act in this film with no dialogue and having to act through facial expressions and physical movement. And everyone else who played apes in the film was really good especially with Karin Konoval as Maurice, Terry Notary as Rocket, Ty Olsson as Red, but it was Steve Zahn as “Bad Ape” that stole the show. At first, I thought he may piss me off because of his odd and quirky personality, but he ended up being so funny and endearing.
When it comes to the presentation it is fantastic. One the visual side of things the film looks amazing with some great cinematography and action sequences, but also some wonderfully framed shots of interior and exterior locations, I striking use of light and colour considering the state of the planet at that point in time, and of course, the CGI for the apes is insanely impressive. Somehow the filmmakers improved even further than they did in Dawn back in 2014 with the Apes looking more realistic than before where you could almost mistake them for really good animatronics. And the film score from Michael Giacchino is incredible, he not only borrowed some of the key themes he crafted in the previous film but also created new material for this film which was well suited for every scenario, whether a scene called for fear, mystery, tension, drama or anything else, he had all based covered to a tee.
In conclusion, what can I say other than War for the Planet of the Apes is a really great film that I think you should check out. The film gave me everything I wanted and then some and I wasn’t expecting to leave the cinema so filled with emotions, but that is really a credit to the talent of Matt Reeves, Andy Serkis and everyone else who made this film possible. Easily in my top 3 films of 2017.
So have you seen War for the Planet of the Apes and if so what did you think of it? Please be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀
Howdy ladies and gents, time for my top 12 most anticipated films of 2017, I know it’s almost 2 weeks into 2017 and most people have done their lists already, but I had to sort out PART 1, 2 & 3 of my Films to Look Out For in 2017 lists first. Now I’m finally ready to reveal the films I’m most looking forward to. Now this was a hard list to put together so this some of these films aren’t specifically in order (mainly in the lower half). But anyway let’s get on with this list.
12. Wonder Woman
This is the superhero film from DC and Warner Bros that I’m the most curious/excited to see, not only is the first solo film for Wonder Woman, but it is also the first film in the DCEU not handled by Zack Snyder (not counting David Ayer). I’m just very fascinated to see how this film plays out, the second trailer really sold me on this film with its vibrant colour palette, cool action sequences and interesting characters. I hope this film succeeds.
11. The Fate of the Furious
While I’m not overly keen on the idea of Dom going against the very people he’s had such strong ties to for so many films now, but hey if it means we can get Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson teaming up then I think I’m cool with it. The film will be interesting to see how the story plays out, but more importantly for all the crazy action sequences, I really want to know how that submarine fits into this film. 😛
10. Dunkirk
This is the first war film from Christopher Nolan, I think that’s all that I need to say haha. But seriously that’s my main reasons for watching this film, that and the cast.
9. Kong: Skull Island
I’m really curious to see how this film turns out, I was initially really exited for this film, but the second trailer with the humour and overall atmosphere wasn’t as good as the last trailer. I have hope for this just because I want a good King Kong film with some cool mystery, mythology and potential ties that could set up the crossover film with Godzilla in 2020,
8. Thor Ragnarok
I think it is safe to say that Thor is the least loved Avenger, even though he works well in the Avengers films, his solo films haven’t fared to well with certain fans and critics. I love the first film and don’t care for The Dark World, but Ragnarok has the potential to be the best of the three with the incorporation of Ragnarok, Hela, the Planet Hulk storyline and seeing what Taika Waititi can do with an MCU film? I’m down.
7. John Wick Chapter Two
The first film was a lot of fun and as soon as I saw the teaser for this sequel it caught my attention straight away. I’m just looking forward to some more kick ass action with Keanu Reeves being a badass.
6. Kingsman The Golden Circle
The first Kingsman was one of my favourite films of 2014 and while I didn’t need a sequel, I am glad that it exists just so I can see where Eggsy’s and his crew advance to and see how these new characters factor into the story.
5. Logan
Here we have a film I’ve been looking forward to for a while now, but wasn’t absurdly excited for until I saw that trailer. The trailer for this film totally took me by surprise and now all I can hope is that the film is half as good as the trailer is. Logan looks dramatic, violent and totally different from what we’ve seen from the X-Men film series so far, I can only hope it delivers the goods.
4. Spider-Man: Homecoming
Spider-Man is my boy, he was awesome in Civil War and now has his solo film on the horizon and so far it looks really good. I already love Tom Holland in the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, I can’t wait to see how Michael Keaton handles Vulture, and finally I just hope that this film is the one that gets that right balance of high drama with superhero adventures right. This could be Spectacular Spider-Man in live-action if we’re lucky.
3. War For the Planet of the Apes
If this film is as good as the trailer suggests, then War could be part of one of the best trilogy of films in recent film history. I really want to see the war between humans and apes kick off, seems like Caesar is done being patient and forgiving and will butt heads with Woody Harrelson (who looks crazy cool).
2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
I feel like the wait for this film has been SO long, my love for Guardians of the Galaxy was pretty intense back in the summer of 2014 and I’ve been ready for so long to see these characters back in action. Now we’re only around 4 months away and the details we’ve gotten James Gunn and the first trailers have only made me more excited, can’t wait to see the visual spectacle and hear that new soundtrack.
1. Star Wars Episode VIII
I think we all knew that Star Wars was gonna end up at number one, while there are many other films that have me excited for different reasons whether they be first time adaptations or original films, seeing the next chapter in the episodic Star Wars films. Regardless of your thoughts on The Force Awakens, it was still a solid film which set up this new world of
Now I know the majority of my list are all major blockbuster films and a good few of them are comic book films but I can’t help it, I like what I like and I want awesome comic book adaptations. So what are your most anticipated films of the year? Drop me a comment below and I’ll see ya on the next blog post, laters! 😀
Howdy people of the interweb and welcome to Films to look out for in 2017! This is my preview of upcoming films that I believe deserve your attention. In PART 1 I covered films from January to March, and in this post I’ll be covering April to July.
Now before we begin I have two main things I need to point out:
Obviously a lot of films come out, so if they’re not on my list it’s either because I don’t know about them or I don’t care…
2016 films getting their UK releases this year don’t count! So there. 😛
Okay then, let’s start 😀
Going in Style
Release Date: April 7th (USA & UK)
Trailer:
I saw the trailer for this the other day and I felt mixed about it. On the one hand it is an interesting concept of having three old guys going off to steal some money when their financial situations become problematic, but it also looks very questionable with some of the humourous situations that they’ll get into. To put it simply, this film looks like Last Vegas, except with old guys being robbers instead, I like the lead men and this could be fun, if handled correctly.
Gifted
Release Date: April 12th (USA), June 16th (UK)
Trailer:
I’m interested in this film for three reasons: 1) I loved Chris Evans. 😛 2) I’m curious to see what Marc Webb’s been up to since those Amazing Spider-Man films. And 3) The premise for this film sounds intriguing and I’m liking the look of trailer so I hope it’ll be as good as I’m hoping.
The Fate of the Furious
Release Date: April 14th (US & UK)
Trailer:
At this point you’re either on the Fast and Furious hype or not, but for those of us who are we’re pretty curious to see how this series progresses, not only because it’ll be the first film without Paul Walker’s Brian O’Conner but also because Dom Torreto seems to have turned on his people and has teamed up with the enemy. I think the series should have ended with Furious 7 considering the send off for Paul Walker, but considering the money that film made, you knew this series was gonna continue regardless. The trailer for this new film looks like the same chaotic and nonsensical fun we’ve seen from the last few films, I just hope that some of the changes aren’t going to make the film less interesting.
The Lost City of Z
Release Date: April 17th (USA)
Trailer:
I’ve heard a lot of talk about this film since last year and it has an interesting premise, but the main reason I want to watch this is because of Tom Holland. There’s no UK release but hopefully since its being distributed by Amazon Studios it’ll be available on Amazon Video at some point for Prime members like myself.
The Circle
Release Date: April 28th (USA)
Trailer:
Here we have another interesting film with no UK release date, but I’m liking what I’m seeing in the trailer and it has a really impressive cast including Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega, Karen Gillan, Patton Oswalt, and Bill Paxton? Sign me up yo!
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Release Date: April 28th (UK), May 5th (USA)
Trailer:
Guardians of the Galaxy was one oft he best surprises of 2014, I mean I knew it’d be good, but for it to be as fun and different as it was, it changed the landscape of the MCU and the types of comic book films that could be made going forward. So far I’m totally happy with the marketing for this sequel with the humour, beautiful visuals and my favourite people, Groot and Drax looking to be standout characters once again.
Alien: Covenant
Release Date: May 19th (USA & UK)
Trailer:
I wasn’t the biggest fan of Prometheus when it came out in 2012, and subsequent viewings didn’t do much to change my opinion, the film had some interesting ideas and was a beautiful film, but most of the characters besides Michael Fassbender’s David we idiots or just really boring. So the idea of a sequel to that film wasn’t too high on my list of films to check out this year, however, that trailer that dropped on Christmas day has swayed me a little, it looks violent and has some elements of the first and second Alien films (the best ones), so I am curious to see if this could be the Alien film I’ve been waiting for.
Wonder Woman
Release Date: June 2nd (USA & UK)
Trailer:
This film has the potential to be really good or really bad depending on the story and central performance from Gal Gadot. It seems like a fair amount of people have embraced her as this character after Batman V Superman, but this solo film will be the real to see if her character can shine on her own. I thought the first Comic-Con trailer was fine, but the second trailer was much better with the action and visual presentation, I hope this can be a win for Warner Bros. and DC because they need it.
The Mummy
Release Date: June 9th (USA & UK)
Trailer:
I wasn’t too interesting a reboot of this franchise, until Tom Cruise was attached and the additional cast came along and kept my interest going. Now the trailer wasn’t the most impressive thing ever, and that Tom Cruise scream will be stuck my head forever, but that being said I’m curious to se how this turns out.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Release Date: July 7th USA & UK)
Trailer:
Spider-Man is my all-time favourite superhero and he has had 2 great films, 1 decent one and 1 terrible one, after 2014 I thought I might be done with live-action Spidey films for a little while, and yet last year, Civil War showed me that I was completely wrong, that I could love Spidey in films again in a fresh yet classic way. I’ve liked what I’ve seen of this new Spidey film from the set pictures to the first trailers, I hope the film is as good as I’m hoping because it has the potential to be the best Spidey film to date.
War for the Planet of the Apes
Release Date: July 14th (USA & UK)
Trailer:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes was one of the best surprise films of 2011, and Dawn was a dramatic and character-driven adventure, both of these films have been really fun, exciting, badass and surprising captivating. So with this sequel I’ve been excited for the last few years to see where this franchise would go and after that first trailer I am so hyped for to see this film in July.
Dunkirk
Release Date: July 21st (USA & UK)
Trailer:
I’ve pretty much liked every film that Christopher Nolan’s made and this is probably his most realistic and grounded film for a while, so I am curious to see how he handles a film in the war genre, the trailer looks good and I’m excited to see the cast especially Kenneth Branagh and Cillian Murphy.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Release Date: July 21st (USA) August 4th (UK)
Trailer:
I heard about this film I think after Comic-Con last year and I wasn’t too keen on the promotional images, and wasn’t too fussed about this film until I saw the trailer. Now while I’m not too sure on what the plot is, and I don’t really care for the music, on a purely visual level the film looks insane! The amount of creativity, colour, detail and crazy designs of the aliens and locations is mind-boggling and depending on if the film is good or not I may want to see this in IMAX. Now I wasn’t the biggest fan of Lucy so I am cautious, but I like Dane DeHaan so here’s hoping there with be some substance to this spectacle.
The Dark Tower
Release Date: July 28th (USA & UK)
I’ve heard a lot about this film from the years it’s been trying to be made from different studios to finally getting into production with Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey in the lead roles. I’ve never read the book, but I am interested in this film just to see how it turns out.
The Coldest City
Release Date: July 28th (USA), July 28th (UK)
I had no clue this film was coming out until I looked it up and the more I’ve looked into it the more excited I’ve intrigued I’ve gotten. Firstly its a spy thriller film which has my interest already, plus you have a good cast including Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman and Sofia Boutella. And you have the fact that it’ll be helmed by David Leitch, one half of the directing team behind John Wick, and will also be responsible for directing the Deadpool sequel? It sound like this film will be cool to watch.
Alrighty then, that’s PART 2 done. Thanks a lot for reading. Are any of the films listed on your personal list of films to watch? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to drop them below and I’ll see you for PART 3! Laters 😀
The Hypersonic55's Realm of Reviews and Other Stuff 