Awards Season 2021: Tez's Official Oscar Predictions

Tonight, the great and good of Hollywood will convene to celebrate the best of film-making in 2020 at the 93rd Academy Awards. 

Delayed from February due to the COVID pandemic, the event- produced by Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher, and Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh- will take place at the Dolby Theatre as well as Los Angeles' Union Station, with several international hubs (including at the BFI in London) for those unable to travel to the US. 

There'll be no main host (for the third year running) but an "ensemble cast" of 15 presenters- including Angela Bassett, Bong Joon Ho, Laura Dern, Regina King, Marlee Matlin, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Renée Zellweger, and Zendaya- will be on hand to give out the awards.  

It has become a tradition for me to predict the nominations and the winners in the main six categories (the four acting categories, Best Director and Best Picture).  I've done this since 2003 with varying degrees of success. Last year, I got 4 out of 6 (not predicting Parasite's history-making Best Picture win, nor Bong Joon Ho's Best Director win).

So, without further ado, here are my predictions for who will win.

Best Supporting Actress: Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari)

Several of the major awards bodies (including SAG, BAFTA, and the Independent Spirit Awards) have gone for Youn's performance as unconventional grandmother Soonja in Lee Isaac Chung's semi-autobiographical drama as their Best Supporting Actress, so I do think the Academy will do the same. It's a strong performance which adds some levity and a certain comic relief to the sometimes heavy family drama. 

Best Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Kaluuya has won the vast majority of Supporting Actor awards for his soulful and intense performance as Black Panther chairman Fred Hampton in Shaka King's powerful biographical drama, so I fully expect to see him named as Best Supporting Actor tonight. 

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

The Best Actress category has been wide open this year, with four of the five Oscar nominees winning at least one other major award. However, for me, Carey Mulligan deserves to win the Oscar for her fearless, ferocious performance as avenging angel Cassie in Emerald Fennell's black comedy-drama. It's a performance (and a film) that has stayed with me long after I first watched it, which isn't really something I can say about any of the others that I've seen.

Best Actor: Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Despite the BAFTA going to Anthony Hopkins, I still say that the late Chadwick Boseman will win the Best Actor award. His performance as Levee in the August Wilson adaptation is an absolute powerhouse, made all the more poignant for the fact it was his last on-screen performance. Boseman was so much more than a comic-book character actor, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom demonstrates that perfectly. 

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Picture: Nomadland

Zhao has been the outstanding winner of the Best Director awards all throughout this awards, so it'll be a surprise of epic proportions if any other name than hers will be read out tonight. If Zhao does win, she will only be the second female director to win the top prize. 

Similarly, Nomadland has swept the Best Picture categories, so its success seems fairly sewn up. A slow-moving contemplative drama about the life of older people who travel around America working seasonal jobs, it's the kind of film that wins Best Picture. Whilst I liked it for the most part, there are other films that nominated for Best Picture which were better films in my opinion.

These aren't official predictions, but I'd really love to see Promising Young Woman win Best Original Screenplay, Nomadland to win Best Cinematography, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom to win Best Costume Design, and Sound Of Metal to win the newly-combined Best Sound award. 

I'll be watching the Oscars broadcast tonight (well, early hours of Monday morning) and will update with my thoughts on the ceremony and all the winners as soon as I can once it finishes. 

Awards Season 2021: Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) Awards Winners

Hello and Happy Easter! Hope you're enjoying the holiday, wherever you are and however you're spending it. 

We're back to awards season, as last night (Sunday 4th April), was the 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards. 

Unlike other awards ceremonies, SAG-AFTRA decided to pre-record the ceremony this year (meaning that the winners were known a few days in advance; and yet I didn't see any leaks anywhere- good job!) and an edited hour-long special was aired yesterday.

Here are the film winners:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: 

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: 

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: 

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: 

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: 

Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Film:

Wonder Woman 1984

It was a night of several firsts: when the nominations were announced, the late Chadwick Boseman set a record by being nominated for four different awards in the same ceremony (he was nominated for Best Actor for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Best Supporting Actor for Da 5 Bloods, and was named in the ensemble for both films' nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast). There were no surprises in him winning Best Actor here, and it looks good for his chances of winning the Oscar. 

Youn Yuh-Jung's win makes her the first Asian winner, and first Asian female winner, of any individual SAG Award film category  

Michael Keaton- who plays Ramsey Clark in The Trial Of The Chicago 7- has set a record by winning three SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture (he was previously part of the winning ensembles for Birdman and Spotlight) 

Whilst the Actor/Supporting Actor categories have been consistent across all awards given out so far (both Boseman and Kaluuya have taken the Golden Globes, the Critics' Choice, and the SAG Award), it's a much more open situation in the Actress/Supporting Actress categories.

Each of the three awards has gone to a different actress: Andra Day won the Golden Globe, Carey Mulligan the Critics' Choice, and Viola Davis the SAG Award; in the Supporting Actress category, Jodie Foster took the Golden Globe, whilst Maria Bakalova won at the Critics' Choice, and Youn Yuh-Jung here. There are still the BAFTAs and Independent Spirit Awards to go, but- unlike previous years, where the same four names came up at virtually every award- there's still plenty of scope for some surprises come Oscars night.   

Over on the TV side, Schitt's Creek and The Crown won the Best Ensemble categories, with Catherine O'Hara and Gillian Anderson also winning Best Actress in their respective categories. The Mandalorian won Best Stunt Ensemble, whilst Jason Bateman and Jason Sudeikis took the Best Actor awards (for Ozark and Ted Lasso respectively) 

Congratulations to all winners!

This coming weekend is a busy one for awards stuff, with the Directors' Guild Awards being given out on Saturday (10th April), whilst the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) are holding two ceremonies over the weekend, with "craft" awards given out on Saturday, and the other awards on Sunday (11th April).

Awards Season 2021: Golden Globes Winners

Last night (Sunday 28th February 2021), the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced the winners of the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards, for both television and film, in a ceremony co-hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for the fourth time.

For the first time, the ceremony took place on both US coasts with Fey at the Rainbow Room in New York and Amy Poehler at the usual Globes venue: the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. Frontline and essential workers were invited to be the socially-distanced live audiences in both New York and LA, whilst many of the winners accepted their awards at home.

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): Nomadland

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Actor (Drama): Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical): Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Best Actress (Drama): Andra Day (The United States Vs. Billie Holiday)

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Rosamund Pike (I Care A Lot)

Best Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Best Supporting Actress: Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian)

Best Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Best Original Score: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste (Soul)

Best Original Song: "Io Si (Seen)" (The Life Ahead)

Best Foreign Language Film: Minari

Best Animated Feature Film: Soul

Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Jane Fonda


Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Nomadland, and Soul all took home two Globes each. 

Fey and Poehler's opening monologue was a bit hit-and-miss, but there were a couple of nice little moments, such as "if the British actors are playing British people, it's TV; if they're playing Americans, it's a movie" and "The Queen's Gambit was... whatever James Corden was up to in The Prom, I guess?". They also addressed the recent furore that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has no Black members, with a plea to getting it changed. 

As you can imagine, there were one or two technical glitches - Daniel Kaluuya was on mute for a large part of his acceptance speech which, given it was the first award of the evening, was a little embarrassing. But it more or less evened out throughout the event. There were some cute family photobombing moments (Mark Ruffalo's kids jumped on screen to help celebrate his win, and Lee Isaac Chung's adorable young daughter was overjoyed with his win for Best Foreign Language Film). Also, lots of dogs. 

Chadwick Boseman's wife Taylor Simone Ledward gave an emotional speech accepting her late husband's Best Actor award. Along with Jane Fonda's acceptance of the Cecil B. DeMille Award, it was the most impactful part of the evening. 

Couple of things of note: Chloé Zhao is only the second woman to win the Best Director Golden Globe (after Barbra Streisand for Yentl in 1984) and Andra Day is only the second Black actress to win the Best Actress (Drama). Wins for Rosamund Pike, Jodie Foster, and Day seem to put the cat amongst the pigeons in terms of wider awards stuff (whereas Day's chance at an Oscar nod were potentially a bit slim before, it's a big boost to her with two weeks before the Oscars are announced). 

On the television side, The Crown swept the board with four wins (including three for its cast, with Josh O'Connor, Emma Corrin, and Gillian Anderson honoured for their work) and I was particularly pleased to see Schitt's Creek win Best Musical or Comedy, and Catherine O'Hara winning Best Actress for playing the fabulously flamboyant Moira Rose. O'Hara's acceptance speech was quite something, with her husband sat next to her increasing the volume of the play-off music on his phone as she spoke. 

Congratulations to all winners!

Next up with awards season is the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday 7th March. 

Awards Season 2021: Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

OK, folks. Awards season is now upon us, with today's announcement of the nominees for the 36th Film Independent Spirit Awards. These awards recognise films made wholly or partly outside the traditional studio system (although there is becoming an increasingly wide overlap between these and the more 'mainstream' awards).

Below is a selection of nominations:

Best Feature

First Cow

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Minari

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Nomadland

Best Director

Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)

Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

Eliza Hittman (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)

Kelly Reichardt (First Cow)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Male Lead

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger)

Rob Morgan (Bull)

Steven Yeun (Minari)

Best Female Lead

Nicole Beharie (Miss Juneteenth)

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)

Julia Garner (The Assistant)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

Best Supporting Male

Colman Domingo (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Orion Lee (First Cow)

Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

Glynn Turman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Benedict Wong (Nine Days)

Best Supporting Female

Alexis Chikaeze (Miss Juneteenth)

Yeri Han (Minari)

Valerie Mahaffey (French Exit)

Talia Ryder (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)

Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

With seven nominations, Never Rarely Sometimes Always leads the pack, with Minari at six, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Nomadland have five apiece.

For the first time this year, the Independent Spirit Awards will honour television series as well as films, with five new categories. In this inaugural batch of nominations, I May Destroy You, Little America, Small Axe, and Unorthodox were all honoured. 

The Film Independent Spirit Awards will be given out on Thursday 22nd April 2021, breaking with the usual tradition of them being handed out the day before the Oscars. This is due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which means the traditional location for the awards (a big white marquee on the Santa Monica Beach) will most likely be unviable.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Next stop on the awards season hypetrain is the Golden Globe nominations, which will be out on Wednesday 3rd February.

Review: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (UK Cert 15)

1927. On a sweltering hot Chicago day, renowned blues singer Ma Rainey attends a recording session for a new album. There are tensions between members of the band- with young trumpeter Levee, eager for his own record deal, clashing with established older members Toledo and Cutler- which escalate further when Ma arrives an hour late and begins her demands.  

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is the second piece in playwright August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle [also known as the Century Cycle] which looked at the Black experience throughout the twentieth century (with each play set in a different decade). Another of the Pittsburgh Cycle plays, Fences, was filmed in 2016, directed by Denzel Washington. Washington acts as producer here, as part of an arrangement to bring Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle to the big screen. Direction duties are taken by George C. Wolfe (Nights In Rodanthe), with the script adapted from Wilson's source material by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. 

Chadwick Boseman's unexpected passing from colon cancer in August 2020 makes Ma Rainey's Black Bottom his final film role. For anyone who only knows Boseman through Black Panther and the other MCU films, you've only seen a fraction of what Boseman could do as an actor. Honestly, he has never been better on screen. Levee is a fascinating multi-faceted character: ambitious, flirtatious, forthright, deeply wounded, confident, quick to anger. A man who wants more than he's got but (perhaps) naïvely thinks he'll get it. Levee gets two big moments (what no doubt look like massive chunks of text on a page): one where he describes what happened to his parents, and one where he rails at the notion of God. Boseman is simply breath-taking in these moments. Such a magnetic and charismatic performance, and a poignant reminder of what the acting world has lost. 

Frankly, Viola Davis could read a takeaway menu and make it engrossing. Here, she's utterly superb as the rambunctious, take-no-prisoners Ma. Despite limited screen-time (27 minutes of a 94 minute film), she looms large over proceedings. There's a short, but very powerful scene, right at the beginning when Ma arrives at the studio and her car is damaged; immediately, she is out of the vehicle and starts to remonstrate with a white policeman. The cop's reaction is telling: he's never had a Black person, let alone a Black woman, speak to him in such a way before. What's also interesting is Ma has a girlfriend, Dussie Mae (Taylour Paige), but that's never made an issue of or seen to be something controversial or wrong. Ultimately, Ma knows her worth- she knows the white producers see her voice only- but she'll be damned if she doesn't get the respect she's due. In a career of fascinating performances, this stands high as one of Davis' very best. 

As with Fences, the ensemble cast all meet the high standards laid down by the leads. Colman Domingo, Michael Potts, and Glynn Turman are just superb as the old-timers in the band, laughing at Levee's naivete and wanting to get the session done to get paid and go. There's such an authentic camaraderie between the men; you can believe them as an established group. Jeremy Shamos and Jonny Coyne play Ma's manager Irvin and studio owner Sturdyvant, at odds with how to deal with Ma: Irvin knows that you catch more flies with honey when it comes to Ma, whilst for Sturdyvant, time is money. Rounding out the cast are Paige as Dussie Mae- a sensuous and flirty performance- and Dusan Brown as Ma's nephew Sylvester whose stutter causes issues with the recording of the titular "Black Bottom". 

Brandford Marsalis' incidental music and arrangements of 1920s blues songs is absolutely sublime, as are the fantastic costumes by Ann Roth, whose attention to detail- from Ma's OTT dresses to Levee's yellow shoes- is unparalleled. Wolfe doesn't pull many directorial tricks, allowing the script to do the talking, and focuses on the action in an unobtrusive way. 

Ultimately, as with Fences, this feels like watching a theatre broadcast rather than a film. That said, it certainly doesn't take away from the raw power of the performances. Expect to see this getting some major awards love in the upcoming months. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tez

Chadwick Boseman (1976-2020)

Like many, we were very surprised and deeply saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Chadwick Boseman, who died on Friday 28th August. He was 43. The actor had been diagnosed with colon cancer four years ago but chose not to make the information public.

Whilst he will be remembered for portraying T'Challa/Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Boseman's other films saw him playing trailblazers and barrier-breakers, always with an undeniable 

Born in Anderson, South Carolina, Boseman studied at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he was mentored by actress Phylicia Rashad and graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing. He also attended the British American Drama Academy in Oxford. In an interview, Boseman stated: "I started out as a writer and a director. I started acting because I wanted to know how to relate to the actors."

He started his acting career on TV, with appearances on shows like Law & Order, Cold Case, ER, Lie To Me, Castle, and Fringe. He also appeared in a couple of short films, and made his feature film debut in 2008 in The Express, a sports biopic about Ernie Davis, the first African-American football player to win the Heisman Trophy. He also appeared in war drama The Kill Hole (2012) and sports drama Draft Day (2014).

Boseman first made a major impression on Hollywood when he played the lead role of baseball player Jackie Robinson in sports biopic 42 (2013). Directed by Brian Helgeland, 42 tells the true story of how Robinson became the first African-American athlete to play Major League Baseball when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, predictably (and depressingly) followed by racist abuse on and off the field, from fellow players and fans alike. The film shows Robinson's inner turmoil at having to take the abuse and not react, and his fire and determination not to be beaten down, which Boseman channels superbly. At one point, he says "I don't care if they like me. I didn't come here to make friends. I don't even care if they respect me. I know who I am. I've got enough respect for myself. I do not want them to beat me."

His next major film role would be another biopic, but about the life of a remarkably different man to the stoic Jackie Robinson. Boseman played Godfather of Soul James Brown in Tate Taylor's Get On Up (2014). Whilst the biopic is a little uneven, Boseman's exuberant and flamboyant performance captures the soul of the man. After that, he played the Egyptian god Thoth in Alex Proyas' mindboggling Gods Of Egypt (2016) before he made his first appearance in the MCU.

However, in between playing Black Panther in four movies, Boseman took on several other roles, including a young man on the trail of revenge in Message From The King (2016) and NAACP lawyer (and future Supreme Court Justice) Thurgood Marshall in Marshall (2017). Marshall would go on to be the first African-American Supreme Court Justice when he was nominated for the role by John F. Kennedy. Again, it's a very dignified performance.

Of course, though, it was his work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe which propelled him to the stratosphere. Relatively unknown when his casting was announced in 2014 (although he'd got 42 under his belt), he soon made an incredibly strong first impression when he appeared in Captain America: Civil War (2016) as the prince of Wakanda who is thrust into a leadership role when his father is killed in the bombing at the Vienna conference which would ratify the Sokovia Accords. Considering how stacked the roster of MCU characters was at this point, it's a testament to Boseman as an actor that Black Panther didn't get lost in the muddle. 

Of course, the character went on to have his own solo film in 2018. Black Panther broke all sorts of records and became the first superhero movie to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Showing that his performance in Captain America: Civil War was no one-off, Boseman carries the film with charm, power, and charisma. He has a wonderful rapport with Letitia Wright (playing Shuri) and Angela Bassett (who plays Ramonda). You believe him as a man torn between opening Wakanda up to the world and keeping traditions. For me, Black Panther is one of the stronger MCU standalone films and part of that is down to Boseman's performance. 

In Avengers: Infinity War (2018), T'Challa is one of the victims of Thanos' snap and blinks out of existence, to be revived in Avengers: Endgame (2019) and join with the other Wakandans to participate in the final battle. Whatever else you may say about the film, there's an undeniable joy when you see the characters returning. There were plans for Boseman to reprise his role as T'Challa in a sequel to Black Panther, due for release in 2022. 

Boseman released two films prior to his death, the cop drama 21 Bridges (2019), and Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods (2020) in which he appears in flashback as Stormin" Norman, the leader of the all-Black squadron sent in to recover the cargo from the downed CIA helicopter. He had completed filming Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, based on the play by August Wilson in which he plays the ambitious trumpet player Levee opposite his Get On Up castmate Viola Davis as the titular Ma Rainey, for Netflix prior to the COVID-19 shutdown.

In an interview with The Wrap in 2018, Boseman said: "What I have always wanted to do is to break those barriers in every way that I can. If I’m looking at something, I think, ‘How do I break a barrier in this role? What can I bring to the table that’s different?’" From portraying barrier-breaking rea-life people with nuance and style, to showing a generation of Black children that they could be superheroes too, Boseman certainly broke down some  barriers. That he was determined to still work and take on majorly physical roles whilst undergoing and recovering from various operations and chemotherapy is testament to his strength and soul. 

Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this most difficult time.

Review: Avengers: Infinity War (UK Cert 12A)

SPOILER WARNING! This review discusses and/or mentions a few important plot points. If you would prefer not to have these spoiled, please stop reading now and come back once you've seen the film.

An epic cinematic event that's ten years in the making, Avengers: Infinity War pits the Earth's (and the galaxy's) greatest heroes against the Mad Titan Thanos who is in search of the six Infinity Gems which will give him power over all creation.  

Whilst #ThanosDemandsYourSilence (and for several very good reasons), there are some points about the film that can't really be discussed without spoilers. So, if you didn't notice the bold, italiced and underlined warning at the start of the article, here's your last chance to turn back. 

...

Still with us? OK. 

So directors Anthony and Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War) ramp things up to eleven with the action sequences: the battles are epic, befitting a film of this magnitude. Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (Thor: The Dark World) deserve massive praise for delivering such a tightly-plotted, well-balanced script. Make no mistake, this film is packed. With over 30 main characters spanning the universe (literally and metaphorically), so much plate-spinning going on, it's a testament that no character feels short-changed or shoe-horned in. Every character on screen has a purpose: they're not just there for the 'hey guys, remember this one?' (which could easily have happened). There are a couple of notable omissions, but these are explained well. Each character also has their moment, which is also good. The humour of characters like Rocket, Thor, and Drax is there and is allowed to flow naturally, which is great. These moments of levity are needed as the drama- and there's a lot of it- unfolds. And not just drama- tragedy, too. 

In the first ten minutes of the film, two main characters are killed off, brutally, with no mercy. Thanos and the Black Order aren't messing around. There is a real sense of jeopardy in the film: no character is truly safe, and as things progress, the death toll starts to rise. And you care. You care about who lives and who dies. Marvel have taken the time to build these characters up, over multiple films spanning the last decade, so you have that emotional bond. There were more than a few gasps and sniffles as one particular character died. I even had a lump in my throat. 

If I were to discuss the performances, frankly, we'd be here until Avengers 4 came out. All performances across the board are great- some of the actors have been playing these roles for 10 years, so they know the characters inside out; others, such as Chadwick Boseman and Tom Holland, have only played them for a short time, but they have struck upon the essence of their characters straight away-  but there is one performance that I do want to highlight in particular: Josh Brolin. 

Thanos is dangerously close to being the best villain MCU have put out. That's been a major criticism of the Marvel movies: the villains have sometimes just been caricatures or archetypes. The last few films have shown villains with nuance and with an understandable motive (Killmonger in Black Panther, for instance). Thanos continues that trend: his desire for balance- given what he saw on Titan- is understandable, although taken to extremis by the idea of being able to get rid of 50% of the population of the galaxy with a snap of his gauntleted fingers. He's not just mad; there's a recognisable (albeit twisted) logic to his plan. And whilst you don't sympathise or agree with him, you can at least see where he's coming from. This is paired by some absolutely sterling CG work (not just on Thanos but on all of the Black Order) and a dignified, stoic performance by Josh Brolin.  

Honestly, I could discuss and dissect the film for hours. This is a truly brilliant film. See it. See it again. See it on a big screen. It's just superb. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez

Review: Black Panther (UK Cert 12A)

After the events of Captain America: Civil War, T'Challa now takes up the mantle of Black Panther and assumes the throne of Wakanda after his father's death. Wakanda is a technologically advanced place, thanks to its reserves of vibranium (the strongest metal in the world). Traditionally, Wakanda stays out of world affairs, doesn't offer aid or refuge, and keeps itself to itself. However, that may be about to change as a powerful adversary- with an unexpected link to Wakanda's past- comes to challenge T'Challa for the throne. 

Performances are really strong across the board. Chadwick Boseman gives a performance of great integrity and power as new king T'Challa, struggling with what it means to be a good ruler as Wakanda is threatened.Danai Gurira steals the spotlight several times as General Okoye, head of the Dora Milaje (the Wakandan royal guard) with a performance of wit and warmth, and Letitia Wright is great as T'Challa's sister, Shuri. A cheeky tech wizard, Shuri is essentially T'Challa's Q, creating some spectacular gadgets. Forest Whitaker provides decent support as wise old counselor Zuri, and there's a nicely dignified performance by Angela Bassett as Queen Mother Ramonda. 

As T'Challa's love interest Nakia, Lupita Nyong'o is superb and there's a real chemistry between her and Boseman. Nakia isn't just a swooning wallflower though- she's a spy for Wakanda, and a kickass heroine in her own right. Martin Freeman is given more to do this time as CIA Agent Everett Ross and acquits himself well. Daniel Kaluuya is strong as tribesman W'Kabi who clashes with T'Challa over the course Wakanda will take, whilst Winston Duke adds menace as rogue tribe leader M'Baku- and gets a couple of the funniest lines of the film. 

As for the villains, whilst Andy Serkis gets a bit broad with his portrayal of villainous arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (complete with wandering South African accent, which sometimes wanders off completely), he's clearly having a lot of fun. On the other hand, Michael B. Jordan brings a brooding intensity to main antagonist Erik Killmonger, a man full of anger and rage. Unusually for a Marvel movie, the main bad guy has a plausible- some may say, legitimate- motivation for his actions. 

Ryan Coogler showed his prowess with action sequences with the kinetic matches in Creed, and the big action set-pieces- a high-octane chase through Busan, the casino shoot-out, the ceremonial battles- don't disappoint. The entire production design of the film is superb- everything from the sets to the costumes, the make-up to the visual effects. Rachel Morrison's cinematography is sublime- from the gritty streets of South Korea to the sweeping plains of Wakanda, the film looks amazing. But it has substance too.

Critics tend to get very sniffy about comic book movies. They're low culture, popcorn fodder, sit-back-amd-turn-your-brain-off-and-watch-the-pretty-colours. Not only is this snobbery of the highest order, it's also wrong. The best comic book movies use the fantastical to examine the human condition. Black Panther touches on colonialism, empire, globalisation versus isolationism, what it means to be a good ruler as well as a good person, and the sins of the father being visited upon the son. These are weighty subjects, but they're dealt with in a sensitive manner- there doesn't feel like there's any preaching or speechifying, nor are they treated lightly or as a joke. It's powerful stuff and it sparked a conversation between my friends and I after the film finished about museums and 'civilisation'. 

In summary, Black Panther is just superb. Another triumph for Marvel Studios. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez

Review: Captain America: Civil War (UK Cert 12A)

The third phase of Marvel's Cinematic Universe opens with a bang, pitting the Avengers against each other. When political forces plan to put a panel in place to oversee the Avengers- following the destruction in New York and Sokovia as well as a mission in Lagos which goes awry- the team splits with Tony Stark/Iron Man on the side of the politicians and Steve Rogers/Captain America against. In amongst all this, old secrets are revealed causing a further schism between the two former friends.

The cast list is huge and it is truly a more of an ensemble piece, in line with the Avengers films, which has led some fans to wonder whether this should have been an Avengers film, rather than a Captain America one. In some ways that would be right because there are so many characters flying around (literally in some cases) and it's a fine balancing act to make sure that they're not just window-dressing and all have something to do. But the main heart of the story is the relationship between Steve and Tony and Steve and Bucky so it warrants being a 'Captain America' film. 

Performances are superb across the board; most of the actors have played these characters for years, so they fit right back into them. Evans is great as the all-American hero, determined that his own judgement is more valid than government interference, whilst Downey Jr falls back into the snarky, sarcastic Stark whose own guilt leads him to support the Sokovia Accords. Even though a lot has been made in the trailer of the rift between the two men- 'He's my friend'/'So was I'- it is powerful stuff to see the two allies go at each other. 

Of the new cast, both Chadwick Boseman and Tom Holland really impress and really stand out- no mean feat given the calibre of the cast they're working with. Boseman is a dignified yet dangerous T'Challa/Black Panther, whose introduction really works and his own vendetta against Bucky adds yet another layer to the film. Holland is a wonderfully geeky and gauche Peter Parker/Spider-Man and he adds a much needed modicum of levity whenever he's on screen. I have to be honest, I didn't believe they'd actually cast Marisa Tomei as Aunt May- there's a running joke in the film that she doesn't look old enough to be someone's aunt- but they have and she's pretty good.  

The action sequences are generally good, although there's a lot of kinetic shakycam during the Lagos scene which made me feel a bit nauseous (it's a purely personal thing but I can't stand it). The big smackdown- Team Cap v Team IronMan at the Leipzig airport- is choreographed really well and, importantly, you can tell who is doing what to whom. 

From hereon out, the MCU is branching away from the Avengers- with Doctor Strange, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming up next before the third solo Thor film. This will be a good way to rest the characters. Given how the film ends, it'll be interesting to see how they get the team back together to take on Infinity War.

I may run the risk of being accused of being a Marvel fanboy but Captain America: Civil War is one of the most enjoyable films I've seen so far this year and is another strong entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez

Review: Get On Up (UK Cert: 12A)

Not many musicians can say they were chiefly responsible for creating a genre of music, influencing artists such as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, and Prince, as well as being one of early hip-hop’s most sampled acts, but that’s what James Brown did. Having had no formal music training, Brown was one of those rare songwriters who experimented with styles, even the rules of what was considered music, and came up with US Billboard Chart denting hit after hit (Brown’s emphasis on the bass and rhythm sections, that would eventually become known as funk, yet the same man also wrote one of the world’s most popular love songs, It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World). The most memorable, game changing geniuses are usually flawed, complex, and contradictory; several words that only begin to describe James Brown. With Get On Up, The Help’s Tate Taylor bravely tries to sum up Brown’s life in just over two hours. The result is a decent, if patchy, biopic of The Godfather of Soul.

Alarm bells rang in my head when a 12A certificate flashed up on the cinema screen. You wouldn’t produce a film based on Keith Richards or Axl Rose’s life and give it a 12A rating; the same goes for James Brown. This is one of Get On Up’s biggest problems; Jez and John-Henry Butterworth’s script isn’t concerned with showing James Brown the womaniser, drug addict, or his erratic behaviour in later years, this is James Brown: the million-selling, founding father of funk. All of this is hinted at in Get On Up (an awkward and funny scene where Brown’s current and ex-wife see Brown off at the airport; a close up of Brown using PCP; the comical opening scene where Brown, out of his mind on drugs, waltzes in on a self-improvement seminar, shotgun aloft, demanding to know who used his private bathroom), but that’s just it; Brown’s personal life is hinted at, nothing more. We learn very little about James Brown other than he was brilliantly talented, a borderline sociopath, surrounded by yes men.

Instead of recounting Brown’s life from beginning to end, the Butterworth’s script zigzags frenetically throughout his life, juxtaposing scenes that are decades apart. You also have Brown (played by newcomer Chadwick Boseman) repeatedly break the fourth wall, glancing at the viewer, occasionally walking out of his own scene to talk to the camera and explain what’s going on inside his head. This is both strength and a massive flaw for the film. There are clever moments when Boseman glances at the camera, silently telling the audience, “I know how cool I am,” or, when he argues with the management at the record company he’s signed to, he’s saying, “This man is top of the class at stupid school.” In one stand out scene, where Brown’s manager, Ben Bart (played with relish by Dan Aykroyd) rants at Brown about how you can’t go changing the rules of the music industry, Brown walks away, leaving Bart lecturing to no one, and argues his point directly to camera, a glint in his eye as he sits back down. Early on in the film, you wonder why we’re not shown Brown’s reunion with his mother, years after she walked out when he was a child, leaving him with his abusive father. Taylor smartly places this scene after his best friend, Bobby Byrd (Nelsan Ellis) walks away from him, having finally had enough of Brown’s arrogance and temper. Despite the money and the adoration from his fans, Brown was ultimately alone; by pushing away Bobby Byrd, he lost the one person who didn’t see him as a meal ticket (we soon realise that Brown’s mother hasn’t come to build bridges, she wants a hand out).

The problem with this scatter-shot approach is that at no point do we go into any detail about Brown’s life. It feels more like damage control than a warts-and-all biopic, Taylor swerving away from Brown’s personal troubles and instead trying to recreate his energy and charisma. For most of Get On Up, you get a rose-tinted trip down memory lane instead of a dig beneath the surface study of James Joseph Brown.

On the plus side, Chadwick Boseman’s performance is astonishing. While he’s taller, and doesn’t have quite the same build as Brown, Boseman copies the tics and expressions perfectly, able to pull off the steps, spins and splits as if he was created in a lab using Brown’s DNA. Instead of miming to the songs, it’s Boseman’s voice you hear, and while it isn’t quite Brown, Boseman is as close as anyone is going to get. When he sings, Boseman captures the screams and moans of ecstasy, longing, and regret that made Brown’s voice instantly recognisable.

Having got the rights to Brown’s music, Taylor ticks off virtually every song from his repertoire. Not only will the music have you moving around in your seat, you’re also reminded what a pioneering songwriter Brown was, how easily he could come up with an impossible not to dance to riff, such as the tight and stripped down Cold Sweat. A handful of famous songs are missing – The Boss and Hot Pants don’t make it in – but you will struggle to find a better soundtrack this year, or for a good many years.

Would James Brown have wanted a formulaic, by the numbers biopic about him? Probably not, but the approach that the Butterworth’s script takes means that fans won’t find out anything they don’t already know. Get On Up is a mile away from the step back and let the viewer judge biopics of Ray or 24 Hour Party People; it’s lightweight, but entertaining enough. If you want to appreciate the genius of James Brown, the best thing you can do is buy a copy of Live at the Apollo, one of the greatest live albums ever recorded. Not only does the set skilfully swap from raging funk to slow, tender ballads, it’s a lesson in how a lead singer can get a crowd worked up and have them at his command.

3 out of 5

Matt