Watching a film ‘blind’ is a experience everyone should do more often and can result in masterpieces or simply a good time without any predetermined conclusions. Therefore delving into the plot won’t happen here. You need to see it for yourself.
Here are 5 such examples.
Journeyman
Directed and starring Paddy Considine. I knew it was a boxing film but beyond that I knew nothing about where it planned to go so it was a shock to see when the second act begins. As great as Considine is, current (non medical) Doctor Jodie Whittaker takes most of the heavy lifting in terms of acting depth. This will stay with you for days after.
The Package (Netflix)
Think The Hangover meets American Pie and with the same heart and silly natured laughs. Very daft. If I explained the premise, you would say that it sounds like it’s for teenagers and maybe it is but the laugh rate is way up there.
Blockers
The kind of film Judd Apatow would make if he had a low budget and was forced to keep it under 2 hours. The chemistry between the two sets of characters is pitch perfect. All of the young cast are set for bigger things.
Thoroughbreds
Slow burning coming of age drama concerning two girls who reconnect to fantasise about murder. Damn I said I wouldn’t say any plot. It’s classy, moody and if you cut it open it would spill thick black humourful blood.
Three Identical Strangers
A documentary concerning the above strangers who come together under pure luck and take New York by storm. But that’s just half the story...
A hidden gem that has just come out in UK cinemas but should be streaming within a few weeks.
Honourable Mentions
Widows
An adaptation of a Lynda LaPlante book and UK TV series but slick as hell.
After a group of thieves perish following their latest heist, the widows of the thieves group together forced to pick up the debt they owed by attempting a heist of their own. Each widow is motivated by their own reasons however the majority of our attention is focused on all time hall of fame cry acting champion Viola Davis.
This film made the list due to its relatively simple premise yet stylish vision and top notch tension. Some of the camera movements are amazing and the music keeps you in the zone for when the eventual heist sequence hits. Somewhat of a box office disappointment in the US and also unlikely to bother the Oscar voters but still a great nights entertainment.
Avengers Infinity War
And so the master plan comes together and luckily they stuck with arguably the best action directors of Phase 2/3 in the Russo Brothers (Winter Soldier and Civil War). The scale is unimaginable and also an impossible task to make a perfect movie, my one major problem was how much of it was based off earth. As far as I was concerned, their on-the-ground fight scenes are amazing but most of it was not. Again, it’s impossible to please everyone. Here’s hoping they say FU to the marketing and don’t release any footage in their trailers apart from Pepper Potts reading a quarterly financial report. Went in blind having seen no trailers and I will do so for the next instalment also.
First Man
Damien Chazelle’s third feature film and the only film of his not to make my top 10. Visually and orallly stunning but the story of man’s trip to the moon stuttered for me when they focused on the scenes at home. People I’ve spoken to have said that they loved those scenes but for me it needed a rocket boost up the arse. The flight scenes however are monumental and need to be seen as with Infinity War on the big screen to be fully understood and absorbed. Similar to Gravity, if you watch it for the first time on ITV2 or Netflix, you will think what the fuss is about.
Sicario 2 : Soldado
For a long period of 2018, this hung on my top 10 list before I had to come to the realisation that it’s good just not top 10 good. A completely worthy sequel to the original Sicario which focuses on the Benicio Del Toro’s shady government character as he and Josh Brolin attempt to twart the drug trade from within. Extremely tense.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
This was one of the first films I saw in 2018 and similar to the Oscar voters who seem to snub films that come out in Summer, the films you see first tend to leave your memory in place of the Meryl Streep film you just saw. So this film slid down the rankings possibly based on bad timing but most of my no1 films come out in the Spring so I’ve just voided my own argument I guess. The film has a Coen brothers feel to it (it was actually made by the director of In Bruges) with dark humour surrounding a mysterious death.
Next week :
Films of the Year Part One
(Hopefully seeing Roma this week so hopefully that will alter things somewhat)
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