The Watchers Film Show: Bottom 100 IMDb Movies

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When we did our Lockdown Specials, we discussed films in the Top 250 movies as voted by IMDb users; and for every positive, there's a negative, so in this show, we discuss films that are in the IMDb Bottom 100 movies

We each picked one movie we hadn't seen, but we also found a film we all hadn't seen and gave that a watch too. So, take a seat and listen to us cheerily rip four VERY BAD films a new one!

 

Review: Molly's Game (UK Cert 15)

Molly Bloom has had an extraordinary life- she was an Olympic-standard skiier who was accepted to law school, and- whilst working in an office- she got introduced to the world of high-stakes poker. She eventually ran exclusive poker games in Los Angeles and New York, before being arrested by the FBI. All this happened by the age of 35. Now, the story of this extraordinary life has been made into a film, starring Jessica Chastain as Molly. 

I think that it's only a matter of time  before Jessica Chastain gets an Oscar. She's a fantastic actress and she really gets under the skin of this fascinating, flawed character here. Fiercely determined to be the best at whatever she does, Molly takes the opportunity to learn all she can whilst arranging the poker nights for her entitled arsehole of a boss and when she finally usurps him and takes over the game herself- in a real punch-the-air moment, after he jealously fires her- she uses her charisma and contacts to elevate the game from a scuzzy backroom in a Hollywood bar to suites at the most exclusive hotels. How the wheels come off the business and she ends up indicted by the FBI is told in flashback as she prepares to stand trial. It's a truly powerful performance by Chastain who- even when Molly is at her lowest ebb- stands tall. 

Idris Elba is great as lawyer Charles Jaffey, who initially seeks to represent Molly at the arraignment hearing only but ends up taking her case (in a witty yet powerful sequence where he asks her bodyguard to switch places several times so he can get some answers). Jaffey is a principled man, eager to untie the knots around the case, and his exchanges with Molly really spark. He also gets an absolutely barnstorming speech towards the end of the film where he rips into the prosecuting attorneys on Molly's behalf. 
  
Other great performances come from Jeremy Strong as Molly's former boss who introduces her to the world of poker and gives a performance of deliciously entitled arrogance, and there's an intriguing cameo from Michael Cera who plays a slimy Hollywood star known as 'Player X' (widely thought to be based on Tobey Maguire). It's Player X's mocking phonecall after he selfishly dismantles Molly's Los Angeles game that inspires her move to New York, where her downfall begins.  

Molly's Game is the directorial debut of Aaron Sorkin (writer of The Social Network and Steve Jobs, and who also writes the screenplay here). The film is very stylish and stylised; there's a lot of on-screen visuals added to help with Molly's explanations of things (in the opening skiing section, for instance, or in one particularly important hand of poker). This isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially if- like me- you're not massively au fait with poker. To be honest, you don't really need to be: anything important is explained (such as any of the terminology used). 

The script is tight, full of the usual Sorkin whipsmart rat-a-tat exchanges. It falls down in a couple of places- I had a nagging feeling towards the end that the film tries to pin Molly's actions (albeit subconsciously) down to 'daddy issues'. Molly has a fractious and combative relationship with her authoritarian psychologist father (a strong supporting performance by Kevin Costner) but the final confrontation between the two- where Molly has 'three years of therapy in three minutes' just before she has decide whether she's pleading guilty or not- felt to me like an attempt to wrap things up nicely. Despite this, both Costner and Chastain knock it out of the park with emotionally authentic performances. There's also a heavy reliance on Molly's voiceover to discuss people or scenes which sometimes feels a little laboured. Show, don't tell is the cardinal rule. The film is also long- at nearly two and a half hours- but no part feels like padding. 

That said, these niggles weren't enough to derail my enjoyment of and enthusiasm for the film. Take a seat at Molly's game; you won't regret it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tez

Review: Thor: Ragnarok (UK Cert 12A)

The God of Thunder is back in his third solo film, this one directed by Taika Waititi (What We Do In The Shadows, Hunt For The Wilderpeople)

When Hela, the Goddess of Death, rises and takes over Asgard, Thor finds himself on the distant planet of Sakaar. Imprisoned and forced to fight in a gladiatorial arena, Thor must find his way back to Asgard to face Hela and prevent the end of days- Ragnarok- from happening...

Tonally, it's very different from the other Thor films- indeed, tonally different to most other MCU films if I'm honest. Whilst the original had an almost Shakespearean feel to it (thanks to director Kenneth Branagh), and the second had a Game Of Thrones aesthetic (thanks to director Alan Taylor), Thor: Ragnarok is a synth-soaked, buddy-comedy, end-of-the-world extravaganza. 

Moreover, it's funny. Like, properly laugh-out-loud funny. The other Thor films have suffered a little from being a bit too strait-laced, a bit po-faced- which seems ridiculous when you're dealing with an outlandish story of gods and monsters. Here, the humour comes thick and fast- but not at the expense of anything else. There's a fine balance between this humour and the more dramatic elements and the incredibly well choreographed fight scenes. 

Chris Hemsworth is as good as ever as Thor; he's got that cocky but charming act down to a tee. Tom Hiddleston is similarly at home in Loki- again, a charming but utterly dangerous being. As always, their fractious relationship- part sibling rivalry, part best buds- forms a cornerstone of the film. Anthony Hopkins really earns his 'and' credit, with a total of about five minutes on screen- but he's superb when he is. Idris Elba gets more to do as Heimdall this time round- removed from his role as gatekeeper for the Bifrost, he acts as a resistance leader trying to save the Asgardians from Hela's undead army. 

Mark Ruffalo is great as Banner/Hulk and brings an extra dimension to the role. He's been Hulk for two years (since he skipped off at the end of Avengers: Age Of Ultron) and has found himself on Sakaar as the Grandmaster's champion. There's a great deal of confusion when he turns back into Banner and is afraid of the change, that he'll lose himself if he Hulks out again. He has great rapport with Chris Hemsworth, which forms part of the buddy-comedy strand. Benedict Cumberbatch's brief appearance as Doctor Strange may not be strictly needed, but it's fun to see them interact (especially after the hidden scene at the end of Doctor Strange) 

Of the new members of the cast, no complaints at all. Cate Blanchett is utterly superb as Hela; I honestly can't imagine any other actress doing the role as well as she does. From her very first entrance into the film- and what an entrance it is- she commands the screen every time she's on it. While the MCU tends to have a bit of an issue with its villains (in that they're either not very good or not drawn out well), Hela is a rounded and very credible threat. Once again, Blanchett shows that's she's one of the best actresses working in Hollywood today. 

Tessa Thompson (Creed) is great as Valkyrie, a drunken scavenger when we first meet her (as she captures and brings Thor to the Grandmaster) but is revealed to be the last of the great warrior women race- previously decimated by Hela. Her relationship with Thor is great; luckily, they eschew any obviously romantic overtures for something more like friendship. 

Jeff Goldblum is just magnificent as the Grandmaster, the ruler of Sakaar. A mercurial, kooky, but ruthless leader, he pits creatures against one another in his Contest of Champions. Again, I can't really imagine anyone else in the role. Karl Urban is great as Skurge, a rough Asgardian warrior with a Cockney accent who takes Heimdall's role as gatekeeper of the Bifrost and becomes a conflicted ally of Hela's. Finally, director Waititi also voices Korg, a blue alien rock being that Thor meets on Sakaar and becomes friends with and who is seriously one of the best characters in the film.    

Thor: Ragnarok was excellent. Whilst the film is 130 miuntes long, it never once felt like it. Fun, bright, brilliant. Simply put, another triumph for Marvel. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez

Review: Star Trek Beyond (UK Cert 12A)

It's a banner year for the Star Trek franchise as it celebrates 50 years since the original TV show started airing. So how better to commemorate this than to release another Star Trek movie?

The crew of the Enterprise are well into their five-year mission, but Captain James T. Kirk is starting to feel a little disillusioned and is thinking of moving on. When they dock on Starbase Yorktown, an unknown alien ship in distress hails the base. Their crew has been taken to a nearby planet by the villainous Krall and the Enterprise is the only ship that can make it through an unstable nebula to help rescue them. But things are never quite what they seem and the planet- and Krall- are more dangerous than the crew could imagine...

Written by Simon Pegg (also reprising the role of Scotty and therefore giving himself a bigger part) and Doug Jung (who cameos as Sulu's husband Ben- more of that later) and directed by Justin Lin (the Fast and Furious franchise), Star Trek Beyond is big, bombastic and a lot of fun. It makes for very easy watching.

Lin is very much at home with the action sequences- including a very stylish distraction involving Kirk and a vintage motorcycle- although there's an over-reliance on shakycam which is annoying and, yet again, a major Hollywood blockbuster skimps on the lighting budget to its detriment with some scenes (noticeably one fight scene between Jaylah and Krall's minion Manas) almost bordering on the unwatchable. One thing to Lin's credit, however- there's minimal lens flare. A few lighting and camera issues aside, the visual effects are- as you would expect- superb with the reveal and exploration of Starbase Yorktown particularly stunning.

Performance-wise, it's all pretty solid. The main returning cast all fit back into their roles well (although having Scotty call Jaylah 'lassie' every few minutes got annoying really quickly). They know these characters well by now so there's no questions there. What the script does, which is interesting, is play around with the usual dynamics by splitting the Enterprise team and pairing disparate characters up. Pairing Bones and Spock up is inspired and both Karl Urban and Zachary Quinto seem to be enjoying their odd-couple bickering. Idris Elba makes for an imposing villain in Krall- even if the back-story felt a little rushed and bolted on. There's a really impressive performance by Sofia Boutella as the alien Jaylah who helps the crew out on the planet.

Some people may be wondering what I made of the decision to make Sulu gay (a decision which dismayed original Sulu actor George Takei). To be honest, whilst I probably would have preferred them to create a new character, I wasn't massively bothered by it. The scene between Ben and Sulu was played very nicely- it's a bit of a blink-and-you-miss-it moment to be fair- and it wasn't really mentioned again, although Ben does appear again at the end. It certainly wasn't sensationalised or felt lurid or done just for shock value. I can appreciate that it sometimes feels like tokenism but you can create a LGBT character and not let their sexuality be their only defining feature; for me, it's the difference between having a gay character (where it is) and a character that is gay (where it isn't).

The film pays a touching tribute not only to the late Leonard Nimoy- whose death is directly addressed and provides one of the more poignant scenes between Spock and Kirk- but also to the original crew of the Enterprise who started the journey off half a century ago. It also pays tribute in the end credits to Anton Yelchin, the Chekhov actor who passed away earlier this year. I couldn't help but feel a little pang of sadness every time the excitable Russian navigator appeared on screen. He has left a big hole in the Star Trek family.

I went to this film to be entertained, to turn my brain off for a few hours and just let the sci-fi silliness wash over me. Whilst it delivers that in spades, don't be surprised if you feel a little emotional throughout it too.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tez

Awards Season 2016: Screen Actors' Guild Awards Winners

Yesterday (30th January), the Screen Actors' Guiold Awards were announced. Here are the film winners:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: 

Spotlight

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: 

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: 

Brie Larson (Room)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: 

Idris Elba (Beasts Of No Nation)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: 

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

A good night for Idris Elba who also won Best Actor in a Miniseries for Luther. More awards for DiCaprio and Larson which really strengthen their Oscar chances (especially as the SAG Awards are voted on by actors, who also make up the voting arm of the Academy). A second win for Alicia Vikander (after the Critics' Choice win) might increase her chance of the Oscar win as well. Spotlight winning the Best Cast award (essentially Best Picture) does its chances no harm either in what is shaping up to be a rather unpredictable year for several categories. 

Next up with awards season will be the Directors' Guild Awards on February 6th.