Parasite

Parasite: It only went and bloody did it!!

And the award for Best Picture, Best Film in a Foreign Language, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay goes to a film not made in the west! 

A massive congratulations to Bong Joon Ho and all the people who worked on this fantastic motion picture, Parasite. I have to admit I did watch this a few weeks ago so I could keep up to date with the award ceremonies but, I’ve held off my review until it was released in the UK. 

I don’t know what I was expecting from this film when I first saw it. I’m not sure if I thought it was going to be a more grotesque and unsettling horror/thriller, or more of a heavy drama. What I got was both and so so so much more. This film is funny. Very funny in some places, but then again in the same instance very unfunny and quite frankly disturbing. It was a commentary on one social class exploiting another, but then again which social class is exploiting who? It was action-packed, intense and thoroughly gripping throughout, but then again, it was slow, methodical and unrelenting. As you can see here from my very unhelpful review, you leave the cinema not quite knowing how to think and feel, and what this movie was about and ... why? 

Perfect.

That one word seems to be about the only word that I can place with any sort of certainty. Bong Joon Ho is a goddam genius filmmaker and there really needs to be an academy award for Best Ensemble Cast because it would have won that as well. No single actor stood out particularly for me in any way, but as a group and a collective they were seamless, our inspiring and a joy to watch. 

I can’t go too much into the film itself as I want you all to watch it for yourselves and make your own conclusions. But when you do please get in touch and I’d love to discuss it more with you. 

I’m going to give this film my biggest rating yet, a thoroughly deserved 9.6/10. The only reason I don’t give it the full 10/10 is I believe all films can be improved in some respect and even my favourite film in the world doesn’t get top marks. You have to, HAVE TO go and see this film at the cinema! So cancel all your evening plans and go ASAP!

I’ve been Christopher Whitmore, thanks for reading.

Just Mercy: Not a single nomination, now that’s injustice!

So insight into my sad life is I often go the cinema by myself, take a notebook, and jot down things to remember for when I’m writing these reviews, or for The Reel Easy Podcast (which you guys should be listening to!) About a quarter of the way through this film however, I closed my notebook, turned off my critical brain and really listened to the message and the story this film was telling. That is the first time I have done that since starting The Reel Easy Co. almost a year ago (it’s actually almost time for the anniversary party!) 

Michael B Jordan takes the lead in this movie, a lawyer fresh out of Harvard, who starts a clinic in Alabama - “the home of To Kill A Mockingbird” - helping death row inmates get the representation they require. Based on a true story about defence attorney Bryan Stevenson who defends Walter McCmillian in a case of a young white girls murder he’s already been falsely imprisoned for 18 years ago. Walter is waiting for his execution date and it’s a race against time for Bryan to get him exonerated before the state send him to the electric chair.  Critics and reviewers talk about films being “hard hitting” but this film knocked me out as hard a the meteor that took out the dinosaurs. The injustice of the whole thing leaves you dumbstruck and the fact this isn’t up for a single award shows the injustice that is still happening in our award ceremonies today. 

Michael B Jordan was bloody fantastic in this film and the best performance I’ve seen out of him yet, which if you’ve been following his career so far, is really saying something. Equally great is Jamie Fox and Brie Larson who flex their award winning muscles very well!

The film turns it up a gear in the theatrics of the courtroom drama that wouldn’t be amiss in a John Grissom novel. With onerous baddies and small characters having their own arch’s, flip flopping from injustice to justice at the drop of a hat, it couldn’t get more gripping. 

YOU ALL NEED TO SEE THIS FILM! So I’m giving it a massive rating of 9/10, get your arses to the cinema, and witness story telling at its finest.

I’ve been Christopher Whitmore, thanks for reading. 

Bombshell: 

I watched this film as a straight white male in exactly the same way I watched the "12 Years A Slave” .... through my fingers, wincing, sighing and cursing all the way till the credits rolled.  

The style of this film, which was directed by Jay Roach, owes a lot to films like The Big Short and The Wolf of Wallstreet, all of which involve a lot of fourth wall narrative exposition. It tells the events, scandals, and sexual harassment law suits occurring over at Fox News at the beginning of the century. 

The best thing about this film was the magnificent acting from our leads, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie and a hugely disgusting portrait of Roger Ailes by John Lithgow. Each one of these actors were transformative in their roles with a big nod to the prosthetics used for John Lithgow and Charlize Theron, who, especially when Charlize is concerned, were unrecognisable. I sense an Oscar coming for Kazu Hiro, head of Hair and Makeup. 

The real stand out performance for me was Margot Robbie’s. Margot had the biggest character arch going from a Fox News fanatic to being hugely influential in bringing down its top “dog.” The scene with Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) where Kayla (Margot) is trying to get a promotion to be on air for Fox News was as spellbinding as it was tortuous to watch. I genuinely felt very ill watching Roger exercise his power to sexually harass and humiliate Kayla but both performances where incredible and very powerful. The scene then outside the bar when Kayla confesses over the phone to "giving into Roger" broke my heart and firmly puts her in the running for best supporting actress this year. Margot's got stiff competition from Florence Pugh and Laura Dern but, what with her stunning performance in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood earlier on in the year I think she's got a fighting chance. 


Overall all I give this movie A RATING OF 8.5/10 and before the Oscar results come out go and see this film in the cinema and make your own damn mind up!

I've been Christopher Whitmore, thanks for reading.

1917: A man's journey through hell via British actors. 

“THIS IS STILL THE SAME SHOT ... ITS STILL 

GOING.” This is what kept going through my head when I was watching this epic bit of cinematography. It actually was quite distracting but still does not take away the masterpiece of footage Sam Mendes has created in 1917. (In 2019) 

Does it deserve to win the Oscar of Best Picture this year though? Is it better than Little Women, Marriage Story or Parasite? These are the questions we have to ask ourselves as we approach the awards season. Acting-wise all the movies in this category have 1917 beat in spades. There were nice moments but they pale in comparison to the other films. As for the script, I would have to say the same, but as a motion picture and shear directional brilliance, 1917 has it, and that puts it firmly in the running for that Oscar.  

Some of my favourite visuals in this film was when our lead was making his way through a village at night that had been shelled to smithereens. The lights from the flares trying to eliminate our hero as he ducks and dodges the shafts of light moving in the sky made for very tense and compelling storytelling. This was then completely juxtaposed by the next scene that was tender and beautiful when he finds shelter with a French survivor. 

I have a slight issue with the potential vilifying of the German who crash lands and also with the very fast resolution at the end, which I feel could have had some more resistance due to the previous foreshadowing. But on the whole, I couldn't have been more happy with the end result. Cliche I know but it really was a roller-coaster of a movie and the one shot element really tajes  

I, therefore, give this film a very respectful 8.6/10 and a very large recommendation to go and see this in it's intended viewing platform THE CINEMA!! 

I've been Christopher Whitmore, thanks for reading.  

Jojo Rabbit: Give it a little Heil. Just a little one. 

As soon as I saw the poster for this movie and realised Taika Waititi was directing, I couldn't be more excited. And when I saw the trailer my enthusiasm increased two-fold. Taika Waititi giving us a dark comedy about the Hitler youth with Taika playing a child's perception of Hitler himself? Sounds just about insane enough to work!

And goddamn it did work! It seems we're always safe in the hands of Taika who has brought us yet another smash hit and it looks like this one might gain some awards to boot. 

The premise is simple enough but with a very complex and potentially problematic outcome. Jojo Rabbit is a 10-year-old staunch nazi and part of the Hitler youth. Jojo has an imaginary best friend, Hitler, who is played by the director Taika Waititi. Taika portrays Hitler as a child's view on what that dictator might be like which was the cause of much hilarity during the film. Jojo gets disfigured and injured when blown up by a grenade at a Hitler youth camp. Trying to impress his peers, who had nicknamed him Jojo Rabbit after he couldn't kill a rabbit,  Johannes Betzler, tries to regain some respect but ends up in the hospital. He takes some time to recover and spends it at home with his mother doing odd jobs for the local war effort. This is where he discovers his mother has been harbouring "a Jew” in the walls of his late sister's room. The film progresses from there as Jojo slowly comes to term with that fact the Nazis might not be all they’re cracked up to be and may have been spreading some vicious lies about the Jewish people. 

As you can imagine this is some rough terrain that Taika is trying to navigate here and there has been divided opinion on whether he has been successful in broaching this very sensitive subject. I am in the ”well bloody done Taika camp” and I was fully invested in that boy's story of being a Nazi but I do understand they did slightly gloss over the holocaust. 

I thought this film was very funny in moments and truly heartbreaking in others, and a film that pulls me from one to the other so seamlessly gets a huge thumbs up from me! There were some really gorgeous scenes, and they didn't get any better than the ones Scarlett Johansson were in. Scarlett played Jojo’s rebel mother and this actress keeps going from strength to strength. I didn't think she could top marriage story but here she is one movie later blowing it out the water. 2020 is going to bring big things to Scarlett and I can't wait to see what they've got in stall for her in her own marvel ‘Blackwidow‘ film. 

Roman Griffin Davis who played Jojo and Thomasin Mckenzie who played Elsa, the Jewish girl, really pulled it out if the bag too and it was great to see outstanding acting on the big screen from such a young cast. They have wonderful and believable chemistry and some beautiful, engaging scenes together, holding the camera and storyline well. Sam Rockwell was perhaps a tad OTT in this picture but I always enjoy a bit of Rockwell so didn’t mind too much. 

The direction itself was very compelling and some very well placed shoes paid off well in the end. Overall I loved this film and I would give it A RATING OF 8.6/10 and I hope it picks up a few awards over the next few months. 

I’ve been Christopher Whitmore, thanks for reading. 

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Little Women: A film that belongs firmly in the fridge. 

What a gloriously touching, beautiful, poignant and devastating film. I will agree with the critics in the fact it’s fairly route one film making; modernising an old narrative with multiple timelines and the use of warm, soft, colourful lighting for the past, and cold, starker, greyer lighting for the present is pretty rudimentary. This did not put me off at all however, and I truly enjoyed this movie from beginning to end. More remarkable performances from Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Timothe Chalamet and Laura Dern (who’s making a very enjoyable “reDern” to cinema) and the chemistry the four sisters have is infectious and wonderful to behold, without, the film would have been dead on its feet. 

One such scene that had me laughing out loud was the four sisters playing dress up like aristocratic men in their attic and clinking pipes like cheersing glasses, such a brilliant moment that felt very real and genuine. 

This all couldn’t have been accomplished without the incredible direction and novel to script adaptation by Greta Gerwig. Greta is a real talent, inspiring laughter and tears at the drop of a most beloved sister who’s touching scene playing piano for Mr Laurence had already started the water works. What was most impressive about Greta’s adaptation was even though like previous versions Jo was the lead sister mirroring some of Louisa May Alcott’s life as well and therefor the character the audience has most affection for, unlike some previous versions, the other three sisters had some real depth of character too and we warmed to all four of them. This made the previously potentially vilified Amy much more dynamic as a character which the flawless Florence Pugh really managed to capture in every complexity. 

This was a great way to start 2020 for film and indeed for the decade and I hope that it continues in such fashion. I give this film a rating of 8.5/10 and a big recommendation to all, MEN INCLUDED, to go and spend time with these Little Women in the cinema. 

I’ve been Christopher Whitmore, thanks for reading. 

Knives Out: And if this doesn’t win a few awards then “I suspect foul play” 

A true contender for my film of the year! All my life I have sat and watched murder mystery after murder mystery with my family. From your Agatha Christie’s to your Midsummer Murders, Morse to Monk I’ve seen them all, and this one, although be it a tad predictable to the trained eye, was an absolute bundle of fun for all involved. With a wall to wall cast of the creme de la creme of acting royalty flounced across the screen, it wasn’t long before I relaxed into a cracking two hours of pure entertainment. Some great stand out performances by Christopher Plumber, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon and Toni Colette (yes that is most of the cast but that’s how good it is.) However the two I want to talk about are our next Bond due, an early glimpse to some wonderful on set chemistry, Ana De Armas who plays the magnificent lead an Mr Bond himself, Daniel Craig.

Everything you need to know about this film is explained within the first 10 minutes, including a beautifully genius characteristic of our lead Ana De Armas, who can’t lie without vomiting, a trait that plays out very nicely as the film progresses. Each actor seems to be playing their opposite casting with great mirth and none so much as Daniel Craig who plays a private detective with the most ridiculous southern American accent that can’t help but put a smile on your face, inspiring the iconic line form Chris Evans “what’s this CSI KFC?” 

Ryan Johnson has done a fantastic job of directing and writing these wonderful characters in a brand new modern take on the classic ‘who done it.’ These characters do appear fairly one dimensional at the beginning but as the plot thickens, so does the characterisation of these potential perpetrators by a truly phenomenal cast. 

This is a brilliant movie to take the family to see over the Christmas holidays with performances that all can enjoy. I give this film a very high rating of 8.9/10 and a must must see for all you murder mystery fans out there. It is certainly much better than the travesty that was the newest adaptation of Murder On The Orient Express and I’m very glad Ryan Johnson wasn’t put off making this movie, when after that ‘train crash’ by Kennith Branagh, there may not have been a market of Knives Out. 

I’ve been Christopher Whitmore, thank you for reading. 

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