Howe's World of Film and TV

Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) – Non Spoiler Review

A Sony Picture, Written by Jake Kasdan, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, Directed by Jake Kasdan.

This is the follow up to one of recent years’ most unexpected smash hits, the 2017 brand revamp that took on Star Wars and nearly grossed a billion dollars. The sequel was therefore inevitable, and while it is inferior to Welcome to the Jungle, it is still an enjoyable ride.

The main change is that Danny DeVito and Danny Glover join the gang and become two of the avatars. This therefore gives Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart some great comedic opportunities, and they deliver as you would expect. Jack Black is also very funny here and new addition (and recent Golden Globe nominee) Awkwafina adds great energy to the second half of the film and more than holds her own against the huge stars.

However, the real stand out and the person who this time acts as the leader of the group, is Karen Gillan’s Ruby Roundhouse. Gillan not only looks incredible, but more than holds her own comedically while arguably outdoing her co-stars in the action scenes. She is now a big Hollywood star too, and she’s here to stay.

The film itself is fun and has a few surprisingly touching moments but mostly acts as a rehash of the previous film, without certain elements that made it as enjoyable as it was. However, the end credits promise a new status quo that offers hope the next film could be much different and improved (and potentially similar to the 1995 original).

Rating = 3/5

Golden Globe Nominations – TV

The HFPA announced the nominations for this years Golden Globe awards yesterday, and it is packed full of big names. Here I will break down the full list and my brief thoughts on each category.

Best Television Series – Drama

Big Little Lies (HBO)

Killing Eve (BBC)

Succession (HBO)

The Crown (Netflix)

The Morning Show (Apple)

This is an interesting category, with the most notable absentee being the controversial final season of Game of Thrones. While the final season was a huge mess, I do think it’s a shame the show will end without ever winning best series. The category is wide open, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the social media favourite Succession win.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama

Billy Porter – Pose

Brian Cox – Succession

Kit Harington – Game of Thrones

Rami Malek – Mr. Robot

Tobias Menzies – The Crown

Another wide open category, with Kit Harington receiving Game of Thrones’ only nomination. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Billy Porter win on the night.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama

Jennifer Aniston – The Morning Show

Jodie Comer – Killing Eve

Nicole Kidman – Big Little Lies

Olivia Colman – The Crown

Reece Witherspoon – The Morning Show

It is a big surprise to see two nominations for The Morning Show and is disappointing that Emilia Clarke missed out. However, recent Emmy winner Jodie Comer gave the best TV performance of the year and must surely triumph in this star packed category.

Best Television Series – Comedy

Barry (HBO)

Fleabag (Amazon)

The Kominsky Method (Netflix)

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

The Politician (Netflix)

A category dominated by streaming shows, but I think there should be one clear winner, and that was the magnificent second season of Fleabag.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Ben Platt – The Politician

Bill Hader – Barry

Michael Douglas – The Kominsky Method

Paul Rudd – Living By Yourself

Ramy Youssef – Ramy

Bill Hader is winning this, there’s no other likely scenario in my opinion.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Christina Applegate – Dead To Me

Kirsten Dunst – On Becoming a God in Central Florida

Natasha Lyonne – Russian Doll

Phoebe Waller-Bridge – Fleabag

Rachel Brosnahan – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

This is a category packed full of stars but it’s probably between Brosnahan and Waller-Bridge.

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Catch-22 (Hulu)

Chernobyl (HBO)

Fosse/Verdon (FX)

The Loudest Voice (Showtime)

Unbelievable (Netflix)

A very hard to predict category, but I imagine it will end with Chernobyl victorious, although Unbelievable could always cause a surprise.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Christopher Abbott – Catch-22

Jared Harris – Chernobyl

Russell Crowe – The Loudest Voice

Sacha Baron Cohen – The Spy

Sam Rockwell – Fosse/Verdon

Another category packed with stars (we see you HFPA, we see you) but I think Sam Rockwell will and should win here.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Helen Mirren – Catherine the Great

Joey King – The Act

Kaitlyn Dever – Unbelievable

Merritt Wever – Unbelievable

Michelle Williams – Fosse/Verdon

Michelle Williams is spectacular in Fosse/Verdon but I would love to see upcoming star Kaitlyn Dever win for her heartbreaking portrayal of a sexual assault victim.

Best Supporting Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Alan Arkin – The Kominsky Method

Andrew Scott – Fleabag

Henry Winkler – Barry

Kieran Culkin – Succession

Stellan Skarsgard – Chernobyl

I’m not sure who will win, but I really believe Andrew Scott should.

Best Supporting Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Emily Watson – Chernobyl

Helena Bonham Carter – The Crown

Meryl Streep – Big Little Lies

Patricia Arquette – The Act

Toni Collette – Unbelievable

Give Toni Collette some awards!

Wonder Woman 1984 – Trailer

Warner Bros and DC finally dropped the eagerly anticipated trailer for Wonder Woman 1984 yesterday, and the internet reacted as expected.

Wonder Woman was a cultural phenomenon in 2017 and in 2020 we will finally get the sequel. Gal Gadot is incredible casting in this role, she is absolutely stunning, fits the character of Wonder Woman perfectly, and radiates the warmth and kindness that the character should.

For this specific trailer, the 80s theme is heavy, with the visuals and the music choice. The 80s are still incredibly popular in pop culture at the moment and this has strong vibes of things like Stranger Things (even down to the almost identical mall).

The costume looks amazing in this film, with the colour popping off the screen like little I have seen before (and the golden armour could be a spectacular in action).

The adventure will see Diana cross paths with Barbara Minerva/Cheetah and Maxwell Lord, but the most fascinating thing is the reunion with the long dead Steve Trevor. Chris Pine is great in this role and I really hope it isn’t just a temporary return.

The Queen of DC is back and it looks spectacular.

Free Guy (2020) – Trailer

The trailer for 20th Century Fox and Disney’s Free Guy has finally launched, and it looks like a riot.

It is an original film set in the world of an open roaming video game, and both Ryan Reynolds and JODIE COMER will play multiple characters (no spoilers here though).

The trailer has a feel of the genius marketing Reynolds has put together for the Deadpool films, and Reynolds himself looks perfectly cast. However, the absolute stand out here is Jodie Comer, who is in her Hollywood debut.

Her character of Molotov girl looks amazing, can hold her own comedically and action wise with Reynolds, and simply looks like the real star of the show. Comer is an immense talent and I can’t wait for Hollywood and a wider audience to discover that.

Marriage Story (2019) – Non Spoiler Review

A Netflix Original Picture, Written and Directed by Noah Baumbach.

Marriage Story is a great film in a year of great films, and it’s so good that it stands out as one of the very best. It is an intimate look at a divorce, but it’s also an examination of undying love, parenting, art, and life. Noah Baumbach has crafted something beautiful here.

The screenplay is easily one of the best of the year, with every conversation feeling entirely natural in a way that they rarely do, and every character move feels both inevitable and shocking. The very personal, painful moments of a divorce between two people who deep down love, and don’t want to hurt each other, is horrific to watch play out, but the film is also tinged with beauty.

The single camera setup used here adds a real sense of intimacy to the film and makes us feel like we are really there with the characters, and it also paints a fascinating picture of both New York and LA (although the repeated comment about ‘space’ in LA is hilarious).

The supporting cast is really good, and I love Laura Dern and have seen a lot of awards buzz for her. However, whilst she is very good, I do not feel this is a performance where she should win her Oscar, but there’s absolutely no denying what an amazing actress she is. Ray Liotta and Merritt Wever are stand outs in a supporting cast that do what a supporting cast should, allow for its leads to thrive.

Driver and Johansson will likely be powerhouses throughout awards season, and rightfully so. Baumbach makes his actors follow the script down to every detail, and it is to the actors credit that the scenes feel so natural. Some of the long takes in this film are so electric that it is impossible to take your eyes off the screen, and an argument between Driver and Johansson at the end of the second act is one of the best and most devastating scenes of the year, and will be great for its leads Oscar reels.

This is a startling piece of cinema and another feather in Netflix’s cap, as they have a sensational year and look like the frontrunners overall this awards season. Love lives forever…

Rating = 4.5/5

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) – Non Spoiler Review

A Pyramide Films Picture, Written and Directed by Céline Sciamma.

This is a film full of love, beauty, sensuality, art, and heartbreak. It is one of the most beautiful films I’ve seen in years, in both the story and the visuals.

From a cinematography stand point, this is surely a front runner for awards, with the use of the stunning and rugged landscape brilliantly representing the turmoil of the characters.

Director Céline Sciamma brings a truly unique voice to this french language film, and the main thing I feel she adds is that while the sexual tension in this film is intense and there is a lot of sexuality, she focuses on what these characters are feeling instead of just using it as a chance to get them naked to sell tickets.

The two romantic leads have some of the most simmering chemistry that I have seen for years, and it is used to full extent here. They are great together, but they also each have their distinct personalities and story. Both Noemie Merlant and Adèle Haenel are beautiful and visually striking, and both have extremely expressive faces. You can see everything they are feeling by just looking at them, and this is extremely powerful.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire should be seen the world around and praised for its splendour. One of the best films of the year.

Rating = 4.5/5

The Nightingale (2019) – Non Spoiler Review

An IFC Films Picture, Written and Directed by Jennifer Kent.

This is one of the most devastatingly brutal films I have ever seen, and at times it is almost too hard to watch, with such constant brutality inflicted on the most vulnerable. However, if you make it through, the film proves to be a very moving and emotional experience.

The commentary on race and gender relations are taken so head on, and with such unflinching savagery, that you have to respect Jennifer Kent, whilst also wondering if she went too far at times.

Sam Claflin is very convincing as a truly evil British soldier, a racist and rapist who simply has no redeemable qualities, and you therefore have to credit Claflin with taking on the role and making it more than just a stereotype.

Baykali Ganambarr proves to be a real talent in what could have been an incredibly difficult role to pull off, and hopefully we will see him get more roles going forward.

However, the main reason this film works is the performance of its protagonist, played by Aisling Franciosi. I have been a fan of hers for years due to her roles on The Fall, Clique, and Game of Thrones, but this is a true tour de force performance that will hopefully launch a huge career for her. She is subjected to horror after horror and yet brings such determination, devastation, and a true sense that this is a real person to the character of Clare. She will likely be overlooked this awards season, but in a fair world, she would be a front runner for Best Actress.

Rating = 4/5

No Time to Die (2020) – Trailer

The trailer for the 25th James Bond film launched yesterday and caused quite a stir, mainly due to how good it looked.

Following the merely okay Spectre in 2015, there’s been a lot of false starts on what is widely believed to be Daniel Craig’s final 007 adventure, but this looks like they finally got it right. The exciting behind the scenes duo of True Detective’s Cary Joji Fukunaga and Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge seem to have crafted a story and film that look interesting and stylish.

Judging from the trailer, Bond’s life is flipped upside down by an apparent betrayal of his wife Madeline, leading him to reunite with Jeffrey Wright’s Felix, the usual MI5 team, and Christoph Waltz’s Blofeld, and to cross paths with Lashana Lynch’s 007, rising star Ana De Armas’ Pamela, and Rami Malek’s villain.

We have no real idea how all these events link together, but what this trailer does tell us is that despite the many question marks and attempts from others to rip it off, Bond is still relevant and it looks like the best ever James Bond may have a worthy swansong.

Black Widow (2020) – Trailer

The 23 film ‘Infinity Saga’ is over, Avengers: Endgame is the highest grossing film of all time, and Natasha Romanoff is dead. It therefore seems slightly odd that a Black Widow film starring Scarlett Johansson would be the launch pad for the MCU’s phase 4. However, Scar Jo has earned the chance to get her own film after 10 years and this film looks really interesting to me.

It is a prequel to the events of Avengers: Endgame (obviously), with the rumour being that it will mainly be set between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, with scenes from the trailer seeming to imply we will also learn about Natasha pre her first MCU appearance in Iron Man 2.

The film looks like a departure for the MCU as it seems very derivative of the spy genre and Jason Bourne in particular, a genre the MCU has leant into once before (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) with great success. Hopefully it is packed full of genre thrills that differentiate it from the rest of the competition.

The cast is one of its biggest selling points. Despite her multiple terrible PR moments, there is no denying Scar Jo is a good actor and is very good in the role of Black Widow. The cast also features Stranger Things star David Harbour as Red Guardian and Oscar Winner Rachel Weisz. However, the main stand out is current ‘it girl’ Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova. Pugh is a young actress who has shown incredible range in such a short career, is soon to likely become an Oscar nominee herself, and is very possibly going to be a stand out here (and could potentially carry the mantle of Black Widow after this film).

I still need to see more, but as it stands, this looks like an interesting and unique launching pad for the new era of the MCU.

Gone With The Wind (1939) – Review

A Loews Inc. Picture, Written by Sidney Howard, Directed by Victor Fleming.

This is one of the most instantly iconic and widely watched films in cinema history, and rightly so. It is an incredible achievement.

It was one of the very first technicolour pictures and still to this day stands the test of time with some simply startling visuals and a score that is so important to the film working that it almost feels like another character.

It is an epic and sprawling story of love, death, and war that was ahead of its time in many ways. However, when it comes to the films depiction of race and slavery, it is very obvious the time period it was from and how much things still needed to change, and thankfully much progress has been made in this area (although we do still have a long way to go).

The runtime is incredibly long (and not all entirely necessary) but it does move along at a steady pace and it doesn’t ever feel like the film is dragging. Most of that is due to the incredible performances of its cast, especially the lead three.

Olivia De Havilland brings such great heart and likability to the role of Melanie that it is tough when you see such hardship come to her, but she is a hopeful and truly kind person, and a key part of why the film works.

Clark Gable has often been labelled the ‘King of Hollywood’ and he truly lives up to that here, with a performance that starts off as charming and roguish, and eventually emotional and broken. He is a good man with some rough edges and someone we root for. He also delivers one of cinema‘s most famous lines – “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”.

That brings us on to the person who was on the receiving end of that line, the infamous Scarlett O’Hara, played by Vivien Leigh. This is a role that is so complicated and layered that it is almost unbelievable that it was a female role in 1939, a time when women rarely were given parts even slightly as impressive as this. She is feisty, independent, manipulative, and surprisingly naive. A truly great role and performance.

This Oscar winning epic is not perfect and politically has some definite issues, but taken at face value, it is a sweeping epic that stands the test of time.

Rating = 4.5/5