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Monday 29 February 2016

Best and Worst of February 2016


Oscars… but who cares about them? They only happen on an annual basis, these summaries of my top three and singular worst film only comes around each month. The month has been rather mixed, as we have darted between the fantastic to the dreadful. Literally anything I saw this month that was not horrible was fantastic, there were not any good or fine films, they were all either at one end of the spectrum or the other. The amazing film were alo of a very different variety as well, with ultra-violent superhero movies, arthouse Asian movies and sobering financial dramedies.

3: The Assassin

A contemplative and thoughtful study of … well I don’t exactly know what but herein lies the brilliance of ‘The Assassin’ it is just one of those movies that you can interoperate and decipher through each beautiful frame. I happen to believe it’s a story of duty and humanity, transporting you into the viewpoint of the assassin, a quiet observer who is patiently waiting to strike, watching the targets who are blissfully unaware of their own impending doom. The action scenes are excellently choreographed but unusually sparse for this type of movie, instead it moves at a slower pace as it questions our motives and perception, forcing you to examine the big picture rather than small and ultimately meaningless conflicts.

2: Deadpool

Best superhero movie ever? One of them definitely (for me at least) as ‘Deadpool’ is intelligently crude (if such a thing can exist), wonderfully subversive and ridiculously entertaining. Tim Miller directs with such a visceral and fluid style that ‘Deadpool’ stands on its own as a terrific action movie as well as a fantastic comedy movie. It’s a hell of a lot funnier than any comedy film that’s been released recently anyway. I’m sure you’ve heard this millions of times but Ryan Reynolds was born to play this part, he’s charismatic, action oriented, threatening and empathetic and just fits so perfectly into this world. A sequel is already in the world and I can’t wait.

1: The Big Short

Led by a stellar cast including Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale and Brad Pitt, ‘The Big Short’ is a truly unique depiction of a decidedly difficult subject. Far from being a dreary movie about finance and number crunching it was deeply engaging and moves along with a strong and clear momentum, with Adam McKay’s script and direction blending together excellently to form an informative and provocative drama. McKay’s comedic sensibilities provide an underlying tone that allow one to find the film as hilarious as it is horrifying, a defining movie for our current economic era.

And the Worst…

Dirty Grandpa

Whatever horror movie comes out in 2016, they will not be as terrifying or as disturbing as ‘Dirty Grandpa’. There is no fun to be found in this movie, it is a vulgar, repulsive and offensive mess of a film. It’s a meaningless parade of crassness that seems to take pride in its own stupidity as if it’s some sort of satire, but I doubt whether this film has even heard of the word satire. If you want jokes about molestation, racism, homophobia and Robert DeNiro masturbating (not depicted in a fleeting shot but for a painfully long time) then here’s the comedy movie for you. For everyone else, it’s a tragedy.  

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