Philhelm Scream

Source Lets be honest, 2016 has been a rough one.  As we all nurse our Christmas hangovers and stress over the New Year resolutions to break, now would be a good time for good news.  Following on from my look back at my faves of 2016, here are 15 films I'm already counting the days down until... 15. T2: Trainspotting (January) 14. The Founder (January) 13. The Mummy (June) 12. Manchester by the Sea (January) 11. Hacksaw Ridge (January) 10. Beauty and the Beast (March) 9. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May) 8. The Lego Batman Movie (February) 7. War for the Planet of the Apes (July) 6. La La Land (January) 5. Silence (January) 4. Dunkirk (July) 3. Blade Runner 2049 (October) 2. Alien: Covenant (May) 1. Star Wars: Episode VIII (December) There's no trailer for this as of yet.  I'm making no apologies for posting this instead. Honourable mention...

Source Next year Charlotte and I have said we need to get better at going to the cinema.  After a strong first 6 months we tailed off a bit in the second half of 2016 as house hunting, and trying to make the most of living in the city centre while we can got in the way.  Despite that, there weren't many films I'm overly gutted about having missed, but that that may explain the minimal number of changes to my half year review .  Looking back on this list it's clearly been a strong year for films.  Here are my faves.  Well done 2016. 11. Hell or High Water This was a great surprise.  There didn't seem a huge amount of fuss made over this film when it was out, but I was taken aback by brilliant performances  by Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine and Ben Foster, but more so by the David Mackenzie's direction. Source 10. I, Daniel Blake There aren't too many films that have ended up transcending the medium and generated political discussions on televis...

Source In only his third ever theatrical release, Gareth Edwards directs the eighth ever Star Wars film, and first stand alone film in the anthology. The majority of the film is set days before A New Hope (1977), and tells the story of how the Rebel Alliance got hold of those all important plans of the Empire's Death Star, the weapon with the capability of destroying planets. Felicity Jones stars as Jyn Erso, a former criminal freed by the alliance and looking to unearth the truth behind her father's (Mads Mikkelson) role in the creation of the Death Star. This time last year I don't think I had ever been so excited about a film. Following the disappointment of the Star Wars prequels, guilty pleasures or not , the pressure on JJ Abrams to breathe life back in to a second faltering sci-fi franchise and take his rightful place as King of the Geeks was massive. Thankfully for all fans of the Star Wars universe, he produced. The Force Awakens (2015) had the feel of a ...

Source I love the cinematic experience – Despite my embarrassingly large DVD collection, there is nothing like the escapism of the immersive cinematic experience. Films are created with that experience in mind, not for those sat watching films on their laptops at home. I’ve been a Cineworld Unlimited card holder for over 5 years now, and I would recommend it to anyone. Today I have worked through the many benefits to owning the card that I’ve come across during that time. The experience isn’t perfect, and if you have ever been to any multiplex cinema you’ll know what I mean, but to have access to as many films as I like as often as I like is a total no brainer. If you like your movies the way they are meant to be watched, it’s the way to go. The Money – Is it Worth It? Source For £17.40 a month you have “unlimited” access to movies – as many as you like, as many times as you like. With ticket prices as expensive as they are, to make that worthwhile per month you would on...

Source Holidays are comin,' Holidaaayyys are comin'... apparently. Rather than watching rubbish telly all afternoon, why not dust off the best of those Christmas films to get you in the mood. 11. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) Tim Burton’s story is reimaged in stop motion form, and we’re left with this brilliant blurring of Halloween and Christmas. ‘What’s This?’ and ‘This is Halloween’ are absolutely superb songs, and the reason why the yeti Argos advert this year was my favourite Christmas advert. Source 10. Love Actually (2003) Only recently have I realised how crap this film is . Despite that, there is still something about it that brings us back and gives us that lovely, warm Christmassy feeling. Is it the story of Colin Firth falling for his Portuguese cleaner? Is it the moment you remember Liam Neeson’s wife did actually die and omg that's so sad and now you’re crying? Is it the absurdity that anyone in their right mind would dare cheat on the s...

Source John Musker and Ron Clements are the directors behind Disney Renaissance classics such as Basil The Great Mouse Detective (1986), The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), and Hercules (1997). Since Disney's shift towards computer animation, Clement and Musker add to that CV with their latest outing, Moana. Following recent Disney faves such as Tangled (2010), Frozen (2013) and Zootropolis (2016) I had high expectations for this. Th e film tells the story of the princess of a Polynesian tribe chosen by the ocean to find and return a god's magical relic where it belongs. Moana goes in search of the relic that has the power to create life and safe her tribe with the help of a idiot chicken and a demigod, Maui. I don't think it's a true story. If my attempt to describe the plot doesn't make a lot of sense, please don't let it put you off - there is a reason Disney is telling the story, and I'm sat here in my pyjamas eating a tube of paprika P...

Source Jim Jarmusch's Paterson is a difficult story to explain.  Scratch that... it's a simple story to explain:  Adam Driver plays a bus driver called Paterson who lives and works in Paterson, New Jersey and writes poetry in his spare time.  It's a difficult story to sell: There isn't a whole lot else that happens.  We follow this everyman as he wakes up, eats the smallest bowl of cheerios I've ever seen, go to work, walk his dog, and go to a local bar for a drink.  And then we him do it again. And again... And I loved every minute of it. That not a whole lot of note happens by way of plot means that this isn't a film for everyone, and my only complaint is that it will probably have very little replay value.  It may be that I connected with the character and story because of where I am in my life but I feel Driver is one of those faces in film you can't help but connect with.  His star is certainly rising right now, and I'm really looking forwar...

Source I’ve always been fascinated by extended shots, and why and how they're done. Tracking shots are where the camera rolls alongside the action it’s filming, keeping up with the characters without cutting. It’s a technique that can be used for extended shots that seem to go on forever. If you can look past the organisation and precision involved behind the scenes in putting such a sequence together, you’re often left with a scene so immersive it feels like you have stepped straight in to the story’s world yourself. Some films have pushed it further and use trickery to make it appear that the entire movie has been done in one single shot. There are some hilarious stories of the cast and crew of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope (1948) going through extensive rehearsals of juggling lines, positioning, and moving of furniture when out of shot to allow the camera to follow it’s cast round a single room for the entire run time. Hitchcock was always keen to push boundaries and but e...