Film Shapes

Following on from the best, here are the ten worst films I saw in 2017. Safe travels. 1. Assassin's Creed (2016)  Why? 2. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) Tom, Tom, look at the subtitle! Mug-handed tripe with a cringingly mawkish ending. 3.  Crying Out Love in the Centre of the World (2004) Boring piffle that may have played well to the teen angst market but not for this jaded old curmudgeon. 4. The Dark Tower (2017) Still don't know what the fuck was going on in this boring mess. 5. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) Too many things wrong here to mention but lowlights are the cardboard stars. Daikon for dinner, anyone? 6. Kong: Skull Island (2017) A massive ape. Tom Hiddleston. Samuel L. Jackson. Brie Larson. John Goodman. And yet..... 7. Allied (2016) Star wattage with Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard but a wet fizzler nonetheless. 8. The Mummy (2017) Another Cruise vehicle driving on nonsense fumes. Seems like the wheels have fallen off Universal...

Time for the best films of 2017 (which may or may not have been made or released in 2017). Ere we go. 1. Dunkirk (2017) Almost impossibly tense depiction of a pivotal point in history, told with ingenious time layering by the master, Christopher Nolan. 2. Logan (2017) Hard-edged, warm and poignant with great 'closing' performances by Jackman and Stewart. And probably the best comic book film ever made. 3. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Deliberately slow-paced, atmospheric child of Scott's original that teems with the DNA of its predecessor. Denis Villeneuve an inspired choice to direct. 4. Sing Street (2016) Joyful, funny, with a great soundtrack and some real kitchen sink stuff going on in the background. 5. Rogue One (2016) Great stand-alone Star Wars film. A lesson for other directors on how to make a gripping, bleak and worthy film within that universe. 6. Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) Bristling with rage and energy and some really co...

Saw this little gem at the Moonlight Outdoor Cinema in Kings Park with sister, Mandy and fly-by-nighter, Liam (free tickets courtesy of sis - cheers!). Not the ideal way to watch a film, what with the picnic folk popping up to empty their chardonnay bladders and the food stall people cleaning grills around half-way through, but these piffles didn't detract from the film itself. This is only Martin McDonagh's third feature, following In Bruges from 2008 and Seven Psychopaths in 2012. Prolific is not a word to describe his output. Pretty bloody excellent is. Well, that's three words. In fairness, I didn't love Psycopaths as much as Bruges , which is brilliant, but Billboards may just pip it. I'd say this is a black comedy but that seems too flip. While there are some lines and situations designed to draw laughs, most of the real chuckles are reactions to barbarity and apparent hopelessness. And these are not belly laughs. The film revolves around Frances M...