Films

Begin Again (2013)
[#188 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Tomorrowland: A World Beyond (2015)
[#187 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

this week on 100 Films

As the 100 Films in a Year advent calendar continues, brand-new reviews of 14 films were published this week. They were...


The Babadook (2014)

Perhaps it’s best to not say too much about what’s going on, because the film does a fantastic job blurring the lines between reality and dreams, facts and imaginings, whether it’s all happening or is all in Amelia’s head. For the majority of the film you’ll wonder: is this real? Is she being pranked? By who? A stalker? Her kid? Is she going insane and imagining it all?

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Blue Ruin (2013)

Its guiding principle is neat: a semi-comedic version of what would actually happen if an Ordinary Joe tried to enact violent vengeance on murderous criminals.

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Circle (2015)

The way the characters interact and the decisions they make are rooted in human nature, and the film keeps you engrossed by exposing their prejudices and how that affects their decision making... This is more of a “what would I do?” kind of film, though; a high-concept thriller, rather than a true character exposé.

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A Clockwork Orange (1971)

writer-director Stanley Kubrick adapts Anthony Burgess’ novel into a film so controversially violent the director himself eventually banned it from release in the UK for decades. Almost 45 years on, it’s testament to the film’s power that it is still in parts shocking.

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Coherence (2013)

It’s a more gentle kind of sci-fi, though; more domestic. It’s about how these particular people react to the strange situation, rather than being about the situation itself

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The Dark Crystal (1982)

there’s fantastic puppetry and strong design… but the story and the manner of its telling — the dialogue, structure, and characters — alternate between boring, annoying, and laughable.

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The Decoy Bride (2011)

it’s a standard rom-com, of the form we’ve seen dozens of times, but it’s no worse than most and better than plenty.

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The Grandmaster (2013)

As a Western viewer, if you know anything about Ip Man beyond “he’s the chap who trained Bruce Lee”, it’s probably thanks to the pair of eponymous biopics starring Donnie Yen. Heck, if you know that much there’s a fair chance it’s due to those films. This take on the man, directed and co-written by Wong Kar Wai and starring Tony Leung as Ip, is tonally very different

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Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)

This melancholic apocalyptic comedy wasn’t too well received, which is a shame because I thought it was absolutely brilliant.

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sex, lies, and videotape (1989)

Four acquaintances partake in duplicitous relationships and candid sexual discourse in writer-director Steven Soderbergh’s debut drama.

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Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)

Aardman’s stop-motion silent comedy will certainly lose to Inside Out across the board come awards season (apart from at the BAFTAs, perhaps), but it’s the more inventive, amusing, innovative, accomplished, and impressive achievement. Delightful.

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Stranger by the Lake (2013)

It’s the arthouse gay sex thriller! I’m just going to mention that before it comes the elephant in the room: this movie features lots of ultra-explicit gay sex... it’s worth getting past the initial titillation, because pornography isn’t the point. Rather, it’s an intriguing dramatic thriller about what we’re prepared to accept, risk, or ignore in the name of attraction

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They Live (1988)

the meat is satire. Thirty years on, it remains thematically relevant; perhaps even more so. That no one’s actively considering a remake suggests how Hollywood has lost its political teeth.

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You're Next (2011)

a horror-thriller that’s really a dark comedy. Murderous home invaders get a surprise when one of their targets is a secret badass.

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More next Sunday.