Hello everyone
I thought it about time I told you about the 25 films I’ve seen so far this year. They’ve been the usual mixed bunch ranging from beyond outstanding to nope, not good!
As you know I tend to go to the more quirky and unusual films that are not mainstream, although we did include a few of those in the 25. We often wait for popular mainstream films to come to the streaming platforms and then say, well, I am so glad we didn’t pay to see that!
Continuing the theme of mainstream; two misses that were firmly within the mainstream were Marty Supreme and Project Hail Mary.
OK, OK, Timothee Chalamet, that film, Marty Supreme, was you doing your best to not look like a beautiful boy, I get it. And, I can definitely say that the close-ups of your greasy, slightly spotty skin made sure that your good looks were well hidden. As for the story being about a not-quite-top-level ping pong/table tennis player trying his best to reach a tournament. That was OK if you could take the frenetic, frantic pace, as in, the table tennis matches were fast and furious and we truly felt as though we were in the room. But note I’ve said OK, a few times. And that’s about it, the film was OK.
Same for Project Hail Mary, which was a big disappointment, especially the saccharine ending. We both love science fiction films and this film should have been good as it is based on a book by Andy Weir, who wrote The Martian, which also became a film, and a very good one at that. But this? Both the book and the film jump around timelines, I found those jumps, in both genres, annoying. And the story arc was not as believable as The Martian, which was pretty far fetched, but still, you kind of went with it. This, a story about a man who wakes up in a space ship, after an extended hyper sleep and has no memory as to why he is there. Oh, he remembers, he was just an ordinary teacher. OK, so why am I here, he asks himself ? And then about half way through something happens and the film turns into something else. Sorry. It left me cold and fortunately we watched it on the TV so no big outlay there.
So what about my best 10 films. That was quite hard to do, and having spent a great deal of time on the misses (!) I aim to whizz through them and then emphasise why the top film is my favourite of all time.
Number 10 is Choral (Amazon and Apple) a very British story set in 1916 of an amateur choir and its new conductor played by Ralph Fiennes and their attempt to perform The Dream of Gerontius. There are a fair number of storylines which are easy to follow. Do watch as it’s quite sweet, beautifully acted, and indeed, up-lifting but rather too light for me.
Number 9 is The President’s Cake (Amazon and Apple). Ah that’s more like it. Just the kind of film I like as it opens ones eyes to cultures and ideologies that you know little about. This film is based in Iran and is about the Marsh People who live on the Mesopotamian Marshes of Southern Iraq in boats on the river Euphrates, and a small girl who wins the lottery held in her classroom to bake a cake for President Saddam on his birthday. We follow her quest as she seeks out the ingredients of this cake. There are several moments of this film when you become saddened and even shocked at the harsh life this young girl has. Having said that, it is a very good film that won many awards and I found it so interesting to watch.
Number 8 is another very good film, Father, Mother, Sister, Brother (Amazon and Apple) written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It highlights three estranged family relationships with three apparently unrelated stories. It is very odd, but on reflection you see some similarities and repeated scenes, and you realise that it is questioning who these people really are, rather than what they think they are. Yup, very, very quirky but it’s Jim Jarmusch, so expect that. Such an interesting film, which you think about long after watching it.
Number 7 is Hamnet (Amazon and Apple). No, it’s not in my top 5 because it was lovely to look at and beautifully acted. But somehow…. was it over-acting? Not really for me, but, of course, a good film
Number 6 is The Odyssey (in cinemas). What! WHAT! It isn’t my best film of the year? Not even in your top five? No, it is not! Look, this will be the most successful film of the year, it will make gazillions of money. Cinemas are packed out and apparently you cannot get a ticket at the Imax in London for love nor money.
It was, I totally admit, a huge effort by all and sundry and some action scenes were amazing. Apparently they finished making the film in less time than was expected and when Nolan was asked why, he said, ‘we were done and exhausted, everyone was exhausted.’ And yes, you can see that. But in the end it was a swords and sandals film and I’ve seen plenty of those – and this was just another – albeit 3 hours long!
In my eyes, it had quite a few faults. In addition, the hype surrounding this must-see film is over cooked and on reflection I get quite annoyed at the praise heaped upon Christopher’s Nolan’s films and the fawning attention he gets. Of course, this film is a tremendous endeavour on the part of everyone, him included, and do go to see what the fuss is all about. That’s what we did and we certainly enjoyed it – up to point! But is it the best film ever? No.
Number 5 is I Swear (Netflix and Amazon) the story of a very misunderstood boy and man with Tourette’s. Having been a psychiatric nurse I understand how awful the affliction is with their outbursts of awful language that simply cannot be contained. This guy’s life was miserable as no-one understood him, until that is, he met a rather unusual community psychiatric nurse who became his mentor. Finally he found a job and a life, even becoming a charismatic speaker about his disability. I found this film so uplifting.
Number 4 is Sinners (Amazon and Apple). Oh, what a film! Look, I’m not going to give the plot away as if you watch without knowing what is coming it will be a huge surprise. But suffice to say it’s 2 dudes (Well, to explain, the dudes are twins Smoke and Stack, played by the same person, Michael B Jordon) who return home from Chicago to set up a community juke joint featuring their young cousin as the resident blues singer. And then….. Oh wow, we found it such fun, but do not watch if you like a simple happy story – that it ain’t!
Number 3 is 500 Miles (still in cinemas) which was a superb story of family relationships and how people deal with grief. Please don’t be put off by that. It begins as a story of two brothers and their grandad in Ireland, who seems estranged from their parents. When the parents say they want to split up, the two boys set off to get to Ireland, hence the title, 500 miles. This is a lovely, lovely film.
Number 2 is The Last Viking (Amazon and Apple). Oh wow, this is bat-shit crazy film, which we found hugely enjoyable. It’s a rollicking rumbustious nutty film set in Denmark, again about two brothers, both this time adults, or are they? Not selling it? It stars Mads Mikkelsen and many other Danish actors which we recognised from watching many Nordic noir series on television. We go to films to enjoy ourselves and this we found hugely enjoyable.
My Number 1 has to be, of course, the Russian version of War and Peace, all 7 hours of it! I have never had such an amazing and thrilling cinematic experience ever and I have watched a lot of films. Not once did I look at my watch (which I did at The Odyssey). I cannot praise this Russian version enough: the film itself was exquisite and I am quite fussy about watching old films as the techniques and film production often looks ‘old’. But this? This was at the forefront of so many techniques that are used now for nearly every film. The size of the army, the big scenes of battle, all done long before CGI, the aspiration to do justice to the book which they met on very respect. It was an outstanding film. Nothing will beat it, in my view, ever.
Well, that’s it folks! Remember all film criticism is subjective and you will rightly think about films I have missed, or will say how bored you would be by some I’ve mentioned or how wrong I am. That’s great if you do, because film is for everyone and out there, around the world are so many films you will enjoy.
Thank you for reading this to the end.
With love, PennyX
Thanks, I enjoyed your film comments! I loved Project Hail Mary, though! I live in the US, so I need happy endings in my films. I use the saccharine ones to escape m
I totally understand how you might be feeling at this moment in time – happy films are an essential, and I get that! And the film in question, Project Hail Mary, was exactly right for you. However, if you haven’t watched it already I highly recommend The Martian which was first of all, a book by the same author as the person who wrote Project Hail Mary. The Martian is the better book and the film is really, really good – with a happy ending!
Thanks so much Royleen, your comment is much appreciated 🙂
I really enjoyed your opinions about these movies. The only one I have watched is Project Hail Mary on the flight to Arizona and I definitely liked the Martian better. My family watched it on our big screen at home and raved about it. I thought it was OK and entertaining but i like movies more when they are believable especially that type of science fiction.
http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
Yes indeed, The Martian is by far a much better book and film. I really liked The Martian and we screened it at our community film club. That was a huge success, and brought in a large audience. And yes, The Martian was quite a believable version of science fiction. We are so in agreement there!
Thanks so much Mireille 🙂
I always enjoy your critiques of the latest movies Penny but confess I have not seen any of them. Currently in the process of getting ready for vacation but perhaps when I return it is time for me to look into streaming services. Not just for movies. I watch so much news. I think it is important to be informed but I think I overdue it. Love, Darby
Hi Darby and I hope you have a really lovely vacation. Yes the streaming services are what they are, they have a huge amount of rubbish, but they do stream some good films that either don’t come your way or you just haven’t managed for what ever reason to catch.
Most now also have documentaries and we do find a few good ones there as well.
Do have a lovely break in your favourite place. Love to you as always 🙂
Hello Penny
I think the Number 8 film is called ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’ with Cate Blanchett, Charlotte Rampling, and Adam Driver . I have looked at the trailers for the films you have listed, of those that I haven’t seen already. FMSB looks very interesting. As does the President’s Cake. The Last Viking looks like a lot of fun, (despite occasional cartoon type violence); and 500 Miles -they were on my to watch list already. Bill Nighy and the two young first time actors look great.
I shall be giving Sinners a miss – not really my thing!!
Thank you for your reviews.
Oh my goodness, Jessica, thanks so much for pointing out the incorrect film title. I immediately changed it and yes, I just wrote my review of it without looking for any reviews or anything else, so that was memory slip.
And nice. You’ve got similar tastes to me! 500 Miles is so worth seeing, and I agree, that The Last Viking does have a lot of violence, but it’s the kind of violence I can tolerate. Hopefully you can too. But it’s altogether a romp and a very good acting from Mads Mikkelsen and the other actors.
Thank you so much for commenting and giving me the correct title 🙂
OK, anything that is bat shit crazy is something I want to see! Is it in English or subtitled? I really do like Mads Mikkelsen. He seems to usually be in those kinds of films. What? Wuthering Heights didn’t make your list? It would mine if I were making one of the 10 worst films I saw. Such a disappointment! I’m hoping The Odyssey isn’t the same, as I love that book, too! Thanks for the reviews!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
The Last Viking is a Danish film with subtitles. the plot is easy to follow as it is a tale of 2 brothers, one is on the spectrum and one has a mission to find a stash of money. And it is tale of that search – but it is at the same time quite laugh-out-loud, and kind of fast and furious, but – it does have some violence in it. But it isn’t nasty violence – we both found it tolerable. Altogether something you just watch to enjoy.
The Odyssey. Well, I think most people who like epic tales will enjoy it, also the people who know about The Odyssey will enjoy it as many of the stories within the tale are brought to life. It will be/is already a HUGE success. But, it is Christopher Nolan’s version of it and I give it 7 out of 10 for effort, all 3 hours of it! It wasn’t bad, it’s just, put me down as a fussy pedant. There were flaws and I feel kind of good to have watched it, but also I am not going down the road of thinking that it was the best film ever. So actually please do go see it, I’d love to know what you thought of it! Truly I would, particularly as you know about The Odyssey beforehand.
Thanks as ever Marsha 🙂
I always enjoy your film reviews Penny . I must admit to not having seen one of them as the only cinema film I’ve seen this year was The Devil Wears Prada 2 which I saw with a girlfriends a while ago . We enjoyed the clothes and the scenery forget the rest.
Not seen that one yet. I think I saw the first one which was great. Most of the films I liked are a bit niche but I do like a ‘good’ film that is interesting and slightly different. There’s an awful lot of rubbish out there!
Thanks Jill 🙂
Penny, thank you for all these recommendations (and non-recommendations!)
I notice that quite a few are on Apple TV. We have a Panasonic TV that isn’t compatible with Disney or Apple – very annoying. I’ve used trial offers to subscribe to both of these when I really wanted to watch something – eg Rivals on Disney and Slow Horses on Apple – and have watched them on my iPad, but I haven’t renewed the subscriptions as I don’t enjoy watching longer things like films on such a small screen.
But now – hurrah! – we are going to buy a new TV (as we have just moved house) and I want one that allows me to watch both Apple and Disney on it – but we have looked at so many online that don’t seem to offer Apple (all can do Disney.) So i wondered how you watch it, and if you could recommend a TV?
My daughter has one of those fire sticks that allows you to watch extra streaming channels, but I’d really like to have everything in one place and no extra sets of controls.
Any information much appreciated!
We’ve got a Samsung tv that is compatible with Apple. On a Samsung tv everything like Apple (as in the Apps) should be there. Not necessarily there when you buy it (btw the tv we have is old but is a smart tv) but Samsung tvs have a library of Apps and you can download any channel and platform you want including Apple.
Hope that helps Rosemary 🙂
P.S. And yes Slow Horses is absolutely the best kind of tv to watch – it’s a must-see!