4/5

It could have been great, it had Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro, Rodger Deakins was the cinematographer, heck, it even had a cool score. "Sicario" could have been great, but it wasn't, and no, it wasn't the story, even though it didn't particularly grab me and it wasn't even the pacing, even though it was a bit off. The major issue with Denis Villeneuve's latest production is quite subtle really, it's something that I didn't actually notice until about halfway through the film when I realised that there was a complete lack of women.

Now I know what you're thinking, "but Emily Blunt's character? She kicks ass, in the trailer she has a gun and everything!", which is true. Emily Blunt's character Kate is an FBI agent tasked with assisting the CIA in taking down a Mexican drug cartel, and in the first few scenes of the film, it appears as if the character can really hold her own. The opening scene alone (which actually is quite cool) shows her leading a kidnapping raid. She's a cool character, but the problem is, she's basically the only truly fleshed out female character in the entire film. There are a few women dotted here and there, but only one of them speaks and when she does, it's for one scene. Now I've heard the argument against this, claims that there aren't many women in the FBI, and how women aren't that involved in the drug cartels. I will agree that there's probably very few high ranking women in the cartels, but there are female FBI and CIA agents so there's really no excuse for the fact that the film is a glorified sausage fest.

As if this wasn't bad enough, the one female character, ONE, is incredibly passive. The assertive and in control woman that we see in the first fifteen minutes is instantly replaced with a woman that stays in the car during an excursion to extract a prisoner. Kate *slight spoilers* basically spends the entire film being beaten down by the men around her. The most brutal scene occurs near the end, and involves Josh Brolin's character Matt kicking her to the ground and forcing her to stay down there, in a really uncomfortable scene that appears to slightly allude to rape in both its dialogue and action. It's completely unnecessary and only added to the discomfort and dislike that I felt whilst watching the film.

Watching "Sicario" served to remind me of a highly prevalent issue within Hollywood, which is its complete lack of opportunity for women both in front and behind the camera. Yes, most films produced nowadays are conscious of this fact, and greater effort is being made, but it's not enough. Female characters still fall into various stereotypes, and anytime that we are offered what is meant to be a "strong female character" she is either completely dehumanised and devoid of emotion, or else really isn't that "strong" at all.

Kingsman: The Secret Service

5/5

The Imitation Game

5/5

Big Eyes

4/5

So I've been planning this post for quite some time now. Amazing festivals such as Sundance and Cannes have once again blown me away with the multitude of amazing films shown. I was eagerly following all the news from each festival (unfortunately I'm not successful/well known enough to garner an invite *sigh*), watched all the trailers, read up on all the reviews and I'm now anticipating the public release of a number of films. I figured a blog post was in order, and due to the amount of films coming out that I'm hyped for, I've decided to divide this post into two parts, with part one covering the films that are being released to the public within the next month or two.



I fell in love with this film the second I watched the trailer, so I'm going to be pretty disappointed if it fails to meet my already high expectations. "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" tells the story of a teenage boy who becomes friends with a classmate who has leukemia. It looks both wonderfully quirky and horribly heartbreaking as the boy and his best friend aim to make a film to celebrate the girl and her life. I really love coming-of-age films and this one looks as if it could be a wonderful and refreshing addition to the genre. From watching the trailer, the writing appears to be really good and the characters seem unique, so hopefully it'll meet my expectations.


This absolutely bizarre film is already picking up speed throughout the film circuit and Internet, with a multitude of articles being posted, with topics ranging from the film's handling of sexuality to it's use of prosthetic penises. It appears to be a sex comedy with a difference, tackling a topic that is often randomly thrown into television shows and films for one scene and is then never discussed again. It has a great cast, including Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling and Jason Schwartzman, and judging the from the trailer, I'll more than likely finish watching the film and ask "what the hell did I just watch?"


This film looks absolutely crazy. I love psychological thrillers and this looks set to impress me. The film, which has a huge cast featuring the likes of Ezra Miller, Jack Kilmer, Michael Angarano and Johnny Simmons, covers the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, in which a number of students were divided into prisoners and correctional officers, and forced to act out their roles. The violence and psychological torture that ensued, showing just how far people can go when given an ounce of poswer, has shocked researchers and the world ever since, therefore I think it is an absolutely brilliant story to capture on film.

**

****

The highlight of the festival had to be my course's screening of our short films on the Saturday. The films were presented by Lenny Abrahamson (which was surreal in itself) and it was absolutely unreal getting to see something that I wrote and directed up on a big screen.

All and all, the Fastnet Short Film Festival was a great experience and I'm really tempted to go back again next year, with the hopes of actually watching films this time! Schull is an absolutely gorgeous village and the festival is really relaxed and friendly. I really recommend it to anyone who lives in the area!

Ex Machina

*****

****

*****

**

An idea that I had for this blog was to use it to keep track of what films I watch each week. Therefore every week, my plan is write a short snippet on every film that I've watched in the past few days. Nothing fancy, just some quick notes about what I liked and disliked about each one. I keep a physical film journal but I figured that a virtual one could be cool too!

The Interview
2014. Dir. Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen

This actually could have been worse, at least I thought it would be anyway because the reviews for it weren't great. I mean, yes, it is fully deserving of the controversy and the drama that it caused, they really drag Kim Jong Un in the mud, I'm surprised the actor who played him was alright with it to be honest, but at the same time, I was expecting worse. I personally think it was marginally better than This Is The End in terms of having an actual structure and story, and wasn't just a random mash of actors running amok. It's pretty light-hearted, like it won't win an Oscar or anything, but it has the potential to be funny depending on what type of comedy that you're into.

**

I really enjoyed this film! I'm always up for watching anything with 80s/90s era Winona Ryder and Angelina Joile is amazing in her role. It was really refreshing to watch a film that focused on a large group of women, rather than the other way around. It tends to get a bit dull when every film that you watch centres around a group of middle-aged men. The fact that it was set in the 60s was a bonus for me. I definitely think that it is something I would watch again!

****

***

****

So last night I finally got to see Into The Woods. As a Disney fan, this musical was a must-see for me this year and even though it wasn't what I expected, I definitely enjoyed it.