2019

It's the end of another year, and in terms of reviews, this was a big one for me. I watch and reviewed 80 movies this year, which constitutes over half of the movies I've ever reviewed for this page. In celebration of that, I'm going to count down my top 10 favourit movies I watched this year.

These aren't the top 10 most perfectly perfect movies of the year, just the ones that I, subjectively, liked the most. I would have done a bottom 10 as wel, but I honestly didn't watch all that much garbage this year. It was pretty solid overall. I can give a bottom 1, though. Fifty Shades of Grey. Like there was ever any competition.

Moving on to the list.


#10: Jaws

I'm always a little nervous that I'm not going to enjoy the 'classics' as much as everyone else, and that did happen a few times this year. Jaws was one of the ones that I saw the appeal of and adored. When the majority of your movie takes place on the open ocean, that's a risky move, and the fact that it payed off is incredibly impressive. The music is iconic and basically the entirety of the third act is gripping, intense and immensely satisfying. Jaws sinks your teeth into you and doesn't let go.


#9: Sing Street

This was the big surprise of the year for me. I had a few of those movies that I'd never heard of before and ended up being hidden gems. This was the first and the best. What I expected to be a pretty basic story about a kid using music to woo a girl ended up being one of the most relateable movies I've ever seen, with themes of growing up, figuring out what makes you who you are, the bonds between brothers and the importance of music. Every time I think about this movie, it makes me want to watch it again immediately. Check it out, I urge you.


#8: The Lego Movie

Bit of a cheat, since I picked this movie for my 100th review specifically because I already knew I loved it. I've seen this movie about half a dozen times, and it is still supremely entertaining. This is easily the funniest comedy on the list, and you can watch it over and over while still picking up on new things each time. The attention to detail in the animation is astounding, and the ending hits you hard. Nobody expected much from this before it's release, look where it is now.


#7: Spotlight

Potentially the best example of a 'Based on a true story' movie ever told, Spotlight is powerful. You're thinking about this movie long after you've turned it off. The scariest part is that it's still as relevant today as it was when the movie is set. These are universal issues that haven't gone away. You watch this movie and it just makes you sicker and sicker as it goes on, and I mean that in the best possible way. Brilliant acting, excellent script, Spotlight certainly deserved the Oscars it won and then some.

#6: Back to the Future

Hell, yeah. This is another movie that I already knew was amazing, but... come on. It's Back to the Future. Perhaps the greatest '80s movie ever made. Just like Jaws, the music is iconic, and the story paved the way for all time travel stories that would be told after it. So many great moments, such great dialogue, such memorable characters. Need I say more?

#5: Groundhog Day

I think when I reviewed this film, I likened it and all the elements in it to the impossibility that someone made this movie specifically to appeal to my tastes and story preferences. The movie that inspired an entire genre of films to come, Groundhog Day is simply brilliant. Bill Murray's performance drives the movie, and seeing his journey really is the heart and soul of the film. It's also really funny and really heartfelt all at the same time. It's the textbook example of doing as much as you can with a simple premise as possible. Yeah, this was made for me.

#4: Die Hard

Yet another example of a much-beloved film getting the exact same admiration for me as it does from everyone else, Die Hard is the gold standard for what an action movie can do. You don't need to rely on big explosions or over-the-top set pieces. Those are here don't get me wrong, but Die Hard is a more personal story than its bargain-bin copycats. It's about one man doing whatever he can to survive, and the relentless machinations of one of the greatest movie villains ever. I'm actually embarrassed it took me this long to watch it.

#3: Avengers: Endgame

This is the point of the list where all my credibility is tossed aside and I'm accused of being a filthy normie, but I can't help it. The Marvel Cinematic Universe earned it. Regardless of your feelings towards this franchise, an 11-year plan like this shouldn't work as well as it did, and that climactic chapter to the Infinity Saga delivered just about everything it could have. As a fan of these movies, I will treasure the memory of seeing this movie in cinemas on opening night forever. This was always going to make the list. It was inevitable.

#2: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

The How to Train Your Dragon trilogy is one of the most consistent film trilogies ever to be made. Each chapter in this series is excellent, and each is amazing in their own way. The final chapter hit me the hardest. I just love everything about these movies; the characters, the CGI, the action, the humour, it all just works. This was the first movie to ever make me cry in the cinema. This. A kids' film about dragons. These movies shouldn't be as incredible as they were. Legitimately one of the best film trilogies ever made. You cannot change my mind on that.

#1: Whiplash

You may think this is an odd choice for number 1, but hear me out. No other movie this year made me feel as tense as this movie did, action and horror films included, and this was without a single action scene. It's just pure character-driven drama, and it's phenomenal. Whenever Miles Teller is up on that stage, you're right there with him, saying 'Please don't mess up, for the love of God, don't screw this up.' J.K. Simmons gives maybe my favourite performance of the year. I cannot stress enough how much this film gets the blood-pumping and the heart-racing AND IT'S JUST A KID PLAYING THE DRUMS! Excellent movie. Excellent, excellent movie.

And that's my list. The reviews will continue in the new year, though I may go a bit easier with the schedule, since doing so many movies so quickly really took a lot out of me. It may also give me time for another Marathon Month, who knows? Thank you to everyone who read my reviews this year; here's to many more to come.

Off the Cuff Reviews The Room (2003)

I knew I'd have to get around to this one eventually. Good God, I hoped I'd never have to. I actually feel like, with this movie, I've now reviewed at least one of every kind of movie there is. This was the last one. The 'so-bad-it's-good' movie. And that may be great when you want to mock something with a group of friends, but for a critical analysis, that doesn't really apply. I'm here to judge a movie on its merits. The Room (2003) has none. I'm not even sure what I can say about this movie that hasn't been said before, but I'll do my darndest. Starring Tommy Wiseau as Johnny, Greg Sestero as Mark, Juliette Danielle as Lisa, Philip Haldiman as Denny and Carolyn Minnott as Claudette.

The Room (2003)

Little inside knowledge for you, starting the review after the opening paragraph is always the hardest part of writing these. Once I've made a start on the actual review, it just flows, but I usually don't know where to begin beyond saying something like 'First of all' or 'Right off the bat'. It's something I've been trying to avoid recently, but I bring it up here because I really, really don't know where to begin with this one. All of the problems with the movie are apparent. You don't need me to tell you why this is generally considered one of the worst movies ever made. It's obvious. Meme status aside, there's really nothing of worth here. I can't add anything to the conversation. I can't consider a new perspective. I can't comment on how I did or didn't like this movie more than the general populas. It's just... The Room. It is its own beast, and it makes attempting any kind of critical review nie on impossible. The only way I can even begin is by clarifying that I'm not going to give this movie a pass because at times I was laughing at how bad it was. Those weren't joyous 'this is hilarious' laughs. They were 'I am in pain, please help' laughs. Your mileage may vary, but I can't watch a bad movie on my own just to laugh at it. I need to approach this like I would any other movie. The film wasn't made to be bad. It was made as an honest attempt by an independent filmmaker to produce a drama to the same degree as the Hollywood epics. You can already see the flaws here, but, like I said, I need to judge this how it wants to be judged. So, here we go.

Greg Sestero as Mark

I feel like I'm in the best position to comment on the quality of this script, being a writer myself. This script is awful. There was clearly only one draft. The plot, if you can call it a plot, is that a woman is fed up with her, honestly, perfect one-sided relationship and starts cheating on her fiance with his best friend. That's... that's the entire story, it takes over 90 minutes to tell. The pace is like pulling teeth, it's like when you're a kid and you're trying to go down a slide but it's dry plastic so you keep stopping halfway down and you pull yourself along one pathetic yank at a time. When I'm noticing the same exact shots being used for different scenes, or the passage of time making no sense, that's a problem. When I'm pulling apart the structure of the movie AS I'M WATCHING IT, that's something else. I feel like, at a certain point, you could completely rearrange the order of some of the scenes and it would make equal f***ing sense. Characters begin scenes having seemingly completely forgotten what happened prior. There are the obvious jokes I can make, about how much the characters love to play football, but I'll go a step further, and note how all the football scenes either last less than 30 seconds or end with someone unrealistically getting hurt for no reason, just to end the scene. Characters will arrive in a scene to do something important, then leave immediately with a half-assed 'I have to go' like the scriptwriter couldn't figure out how to get them to leave the scene in an effective way. As a writer myself, this script killed something inside me.

Philip Haldiman as Denny

I've mentioned the characters a couple of times now, and they're all just as inconsistent. No one is fleshed out, no one is 3, or even 2, dimensional. The only defining character trait from anyone is their connection to Johnny. Lisa is Johnny's disillusioned fiance, Mark is Johnny's best friend, Denny looks up to Johnny as a father figure, and basically every other character is a friend of Johnny's that doesn't want to see him get hurt. Well, I say that, but they're not very good friends, or people, for that matter. I can talk about how Lisa's a literal psychopath, or how back-and-forth Mark is where in one moment he'll be super nice and not want to see Johnny get hurt, but then in the same scene he'll do something really aggressive like attempt to KILL SOMEONE, WHAT THE F***! ... I'd rather focus on the other characters, who claim they're looking out for Johnny, but then say absolutely nothing to him when they learn about what Lisa's doing. I'm sorry, that's a bad friendship group there. I'd like to think that in my friendship group, if one of us was cheating on the other, we'd all tell the other what was going on, no matter the connection to either member of the group. That's just being a good person. Therefore, there is not a single good person in this movie. At that point, you just check out, and you just stop caring altogether.

Juliette Danielle as Lisa

But, okay, we all know where this review is going, let's talk about Tommy Wiseau. The main man himself, the mastermind behind this entire operation. In case it wasn't clear, this was a passion project for him. It's abundant in the way every character talks about his character, or how every shop owner seems to know who he is. He's painted as this 'do-no-wrong' saint, when he's just as inconsistent as anyone else in the movie. And, I don't want to be too hard on the guy, it's clear he can't act, it's clear he can't write, but it's clear this was a passion project and, good for him, follow your dreams and all that. But that's the thing: you can follow your dreams all you want, but you still need to have talent. Maybe there's a reason no one else would cast him in anything or take on his scripts and maybe there's a reason he needed to do all of this himself. It's like me, with how clearly physically unfit I am, demanding to compete in the Olympics. It's just not going to happen, and if it does, cool that I achieved my dream, but it's going to end badly for me, and I'm not going to make myself look good in the process. Work on your own scripts all you want, that's what I do, but you still need to edit them. You still need to accept that not everything you do is good. You need to have other people access your work and accept their feedback without dismissing it because 'it's your vision'. Not just assuming that anything you do will turn to gold without going through the really quite important vetting process that makes up about 90% of the production phase: I've seen a few theatre projects that have clearly gone through this kind of toxic production cycle (not naming names, of course) and it's abundantly clear when it happens. You're not going to make yourself look better just because you refused to accept outside criticism when they're just trying to make your work better for you. It's not a competition. You're going to look bad. You're going to get a bad reputation. You're going to make The Room.

Tommy Wiseau as Johnny

The Room (2003) is garbage. Utter, utter garbage. Does it make for an entertaining watch with friends? Maybe. Doesn't change the fact that it fails on just about every level. I went on a bit of a rant there at the end, and I apologise for that. But that's what this movie did to me. 0/10.

Off the Cuff Reviews Halloween (1978)

It's not often you watch a movie that shakes up your entire worldview. Okay, that's a bit of an over-exaggeration, but hear me out. Before today, I was completely dismissive of the entire slasher-film genre. I'd never seen one, but I knew all the tropes, and they just seemed too samey and too boring. Halloween (1978) showed me what a good slasher film can do, and I get it now. I understand the appeal. Not only that, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie on its own merits; it's a really great film. Starring Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis, Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, P.J. Soles as Lynda Van Der Klok and Nancy Loomis as Annie Brackett.

Halloween (1978)

Okay, first of all, the film succeeds in putting me on the edge of my seat right from the word go. This movie is a masterclass in creating a tense and off-putting atmosphere for some scares and just holding that atmosphere for 90 minutes without letting up. I don't spook easily, at least when I'm watching a movie, so appreciate it when I say this: this movie made me jump in my seat on more than one occasion. Like I said, jump-scares don't normally get me, but these were well done. I think what makes this movie work so well is that nothing is telegraphed. It'll bring in the spooky music (which is incredibly effective, by the way) and put the characters in situations where you're expecting a scare, and nothing will happen. Then, whenever the movie does a panning shot around a room, especially while someone is turning around, you're expecting the killer to be right there behind them, but it's never the case. The movie teases the kills for so long and never delivers; it just creates even more suspense since you know it's coming. When it does happen, it's shocking, but it's almost a relief as well. It's a feeling I've never understood when people are talking about why they love slasher films; I get it now. It took an extremely clever film to do it, but I get it now.

Nick Castle as Michael Myers

Michael himself is an incredibly imposing villain for this story; everything about him is creepy and off-putting. The movie uses him to full effect as well; there are never any obvious scares with him, and it just makes him all the more unique and terrifying. I really like that the movie never tries to give us any emotional backstory for why he's like this or some traumatic experience as a child that warped him into this monster. He was just always like this and there's no explanation, and that's even more scary than any justification the movie could have even attempted. The mask is, of course, iconic, and that's in how it's used more than in the design itself. Granted, the design is creepy-looking, but it goes beyond that. I don't think the mask ever takes up more than a quarter of the screen; we never get a really good look at it, and that's a tried-and-tested formula for upping the scare factor. Michael's also less of a spook and more of a creep; the way the camera will slowly pan up to reveal him there in the background is just so unsettling. Well, except for the ghost scene, that was a little silly. He is a little too overpowered by the end; it leads to a justifyingly creepy ending, but I just don't understand how anyone could endure all that and still walk away. Takes me out of the experience a little by the end.

Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie

Not only that, but there are a few other niggling criticisms I have that do stop me from loving this movie as much as other people do. For example, while I've praised the hell out of Michael, the movie really yada-yadas away how he manages to escape the asylum and set up this entire movie's events. I mean, it really yada-yadas it away. All sides of it: why the inmates are allowed to roam the grounds, how Michael jumped the fence, who taught Michael to drive and why, none of it is given a decent explanation, and especially for the catalyst for the entire movie's plot, that's something that needs to be explained. Also, I guess in this world glass is just a non-entity. You can break it really easily in this movie. With both Michael and Laurie, both of them just give it one solid slap with an open-palm and it shatters, with no noticeable injuries sustained. From GLASS! One of the most notoriously injury-prone substances ever created by man. The movie also loves to go back to the well of 'There's nothing there, it's just your imagination' which gets a little tedious, especially when it results in our main character staying out of the action for so long. Also, as much as I liked the character of the doctor, the movie really doesn't want to use him in any meaningful way. Just give a few speeches, show up at the end and solve the problem in under a minute. Especially given the relationship they built up between him and Michael, I wanted a little more out of him; they kept bringing up how long this guy's been working on Michael and it just goes nowhere.

Donald Pleasence as Dr. Loomis

I do like the character though, don't get me wrong. Donald Pleasence plays him really well. He's only there to give speeches, sure, but those are some well-written, well-delivered speeches right there, and I loved the moment he scared the kids away from the house. It was a good, honest moment of levity in an otherwise suspenseful film. Jamie Lee Curtis does an excellent job here as well, of course. She plays Laurie in a very likeable way; she's certainly relateable, and the fact that, really, she's the only competent person we see for a bulk of the movie helps a lot. Curtis is definitely a 'scream queen' as well, she really sells the interactions with Michael, and her struggle in the final act is well-paced, well-acted and well-structured. The other side characters, being the kill fodder, do their jobs well enough. Annie gets a majority of the spotlight, given that basically the entirety of the second act is a big, drawn-out build-up to her death. I really liked this character, and Nancy Loomis played her really well. I should probably clarify that when I said Laurie was the only competent character, that's not to say none of the others are likeable, especially not Annie. The entire cast seem like fleshed out characters of their own right; it's not like we're rooting for anyone to die. It's another thing that makes Michael so scary: he's not going after a**holes or d***heads, these are just regular people he's senselessly slaughtering for no reason. It puts you in that mentality of 'this could have happened to anyone' that puts you out of kilter, since you fall under the category of 'anyone'. Makes you double-take before walking 'round a corner or venturing off into the dark, like all good horror should.

Nancy Loomis as Annie

Halloween (1978) is far from perfect, but it does what it wants to do too well for me to mark it down too much. I'd say it's a 'turn your brain off' movie, but there's too much thought put into this to justify that. It's got it's shortcomings, but it's pretty f***ing great despite that. 8.5/10

Off the Cuff Reviews Die Hard (1988)

You know, sometimes when they're right, they're right. When you've got millions of people all praising something to the ends of the earth and you think 'It couldn't possibly live up to the hype'. You fool. Die Hard (1988) is f***ing incredible, and that's a direct quote from me right as the movie ended. This might just have become a new Christmas tradition for me. Starring Bruce Willis as John McClane, Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber, Alexander Godunov as Karl Vreski, Bonnie Bedelia as Holly Gennaro, Reginald VelJohnson as Sgt. Al Powell and De'voreaux White as Argyle.

Die Hard (1988)

I think one of the best elements of this movie is its simplicity. Terrorists hijack a building, one man has to stop them. Pretty cut and dry when you put it that way. It's deceptive, though, as there's a lot going on here. There's twists and turns, you're piecing together the bad guys' plan, learning about McClane and the rest of the cast, wondering how in the hell McClane can stop them. And it's all so easy to follow because of, once again, its simplicity. Because there really are no subplots, everything about the movie and everything you see is funnelled into the A-story, and there are no missed beats. If you see something on screen, even for a split second, chances are it will make its way into the narrative in some way. It's one of the most tightly written movies I've ever seen; they honestly do not waste a single frame. The sharpness of the writing even shows up in the dialogue itself and, yes, the movie is endlessly quotable, we all know this, but even the smaller character interactions are word-perfect.

Reginald VelJohnson as Powell

Talking of the characters, holy s***, I don't think I've ever seen a character-driven movie with better characters than this. Because, yeah, when your premise is as standard as something like this can be, you want and, really, need your characters to be unique and memorable as hell. To no one's surprise, I remember so much about so many characters in this movie. Like I said before, every character interaction serves to educate you on someone's past or personality, it makes the smaller moments when the action isn't full-blast gripping all the same. Talking of the action, yeah, it's perfect, what more can I say? When your first action scene already starts at 10, you'd think there'd be nowhere to go from there, but nope. It just keeps escalating and escalating. To ridiculous degrees? Maybe, but when it's this entertaining, I'm not complaining. Nothing here broke my immersion, at the very least, I could buy pretty much all of what I was getting. It's easy to see why Bruce Willis became the action star after this movie was released.

Bruce Willis as John McClane

Talking of Bruce Willis, good God, he's perfect. For as a**holish a character as he starts out, he's so damn likeable. Willis brings this effortless charisma to the role, and it helps keep the audience on his side when he starts killing people later on. John McClane is such a f***ing awesome character. For this 'man's man' action hero, he's surprisingly down-to-earth and goofy at times. I like that he doesn't really have a plan, he's just winging it for the most part, trying to save as many people as possible and, ideally, not die in the process. I just love these stories where this, all things considered, regular guy is going to put himself through hell and push himself beyond his limits to achieve his goals and save the day; John McClane represents the human spirit of determination. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Reginald VelJohnson as Sgt. Powell. I absolutely adore the friendship that's built between the two over the movie, and Powell himself is a surprisingly layered character. I didn't expect him to get the arc that he gets, and it's really awesome to see. Argyle is criminally underused, but he was great when he was there. I also love the romance between McClane and Gennaro. It's one of the most real depictions of a romance I think I've seen on film. Their interactions, their chemistry, their arguments, the way you can see they truly love each other but there's one small thing getting in the way, that's real s*** right there, and Bonnie Bedelia doesn't miss a beat with this performance.

Bonnie Bedelia as Holly Gennaro

It's been a while since I've devoted an entire paragraph to a villain in one of these reviews, but here we go. Hans Gruber is a f***ing kickass villain. Alan Rickman plays him perfectly, first of all. With such a cunning, calculated character, it would be easy to make him come across as a one-note, generic villain, but Rickman nails the little idiosyncrasies, the eyebrow raises, the hint of amusement and awe at McClane's actions; it's subtle, but it's there, and brings the character to another level for me. Also, I love how organised these villains are. Their plan is ingenious, and is another example of the brilliant writing at play. I also quite like how Gruber is, at times, an even match for McClane, if not better. When you've got one of these 'one man vs the world' stories, the villains can often come across as pathetic due to how their plans unravel, but Gruber manages to stay one step ahead of McClane on multiple occasions, and vice versa. This little tug-of-war between hero and villain are always the most interesting dynamics. Finally, and this is a small touch but very effective, the fact that we get to see the terrorists as actual people and still have us on McClane's side when he's killing them is something I didn't expect. Like I said, it's a small touch, but the fact that we get to see them mourn and crack jokes to each other and even be a little silly on occasion; it humanises these guys in a way that isn't necessary for this kind of story, but just goes one step further in showcasing the amount of time, thought and care went into crafting this film.

Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber

Die Hard (1988) is a masterpiece, and is absolutely essential viewing if you're one of the poor sods who hasn't seen this movie before. Me, I was one of those poor sods until today. Merry Christmas, me. 10/10.

Off the Cuff Reviews Sunshine (2007)

I think I'm in love. I've reviewed a lot of movies this year. Some might say too many. Some might say not enough. I haven't seen many movies this year that have left me like this once they've finished. Sunshine (2007) is, to put it bluntly, one of the best movies I've seen this year, and the fact that I knew nothing about it going in just made it all the more special. Starring Cillian Murphy as Robert Capa, Chris Evans as James Mace, Rose Byrne as Cassie, Cliff Curtis as Searle, Troy Garity as Harvey, Hiroyuki Sanada as Kaneda, Benedict Wong as Trey and Michelle Yeoh as Corazon.

Sunshine (2007)

Right off the bat, the scope of this movie is immense. To give you the quickest possible summary I can provide without spoiling anything, the sun is dying and a crew has been sent to the sun to bring it back to life with a 'solar bomb' of sorts after a previous crew was sent off 7 years prior and never returned. Yeah. Isn't that just a great premise for a sci-fi? The movie wastes no time hooking you in with one of the most impressive uses of the 20th Century Fox logo that wasn't for comedy I think I've ever seen. The title card only comes up about two minutes in, but as soon as it did I think I said 'Alright, I'm in'. The atmosphere doesn't build up over the first act or anything, it just hits you right from the first line and doesn't let go. The tone of a lot of this movie feels like Alien, but really only to the extent that there's a crew in space trying to complete a mission and you know something's going to go wrong and people will die. That's about where the Alien comparisons end. There's no alien threat that's picking off this crew. Here, the big threat is, for the most part, space itself. It's a real claustrophobic feeling the movie creates; that everything out there is actively trying to kill you and there's nothing you can do about it. That's really scary, and the tension ramps up as the movie goes on. I was holding my breath, I was glued to the screen, I was just so invested and that's the way all horror should be.

Cillian Murphy as Capa

Not to mention, this movie is absolutely gorgeous. There's not a frame of this movie that I wouldn't print out and hang up on my wall like an artwork or on my fridge like a proud parent. The Sun is a big centrepiece for this movie, and they do a great job of making it not so samey throughout, even though it really is. Whenever they linger on the sun, they get the lighting spot on, in basically every way: the lighting itself, the shadows, the sensation of being just completely overwhelmed by light and heat, all of it. They manage to offset the magnitude of the sun with all the other big set pieces: the ship itself, both inside and out, the cold vacuum of space, the movie does a great job of seeming like it has a lot of variety in its set pieces when, really, there isn't. To add to this, the music is sublime. I can't exactly hum any of these tracks from memory, but that doesn't take away from how beautiful they are. When they need the movie to be suspenseful, the music does so. When they want to take a quieter moment to appreciate the beauty of space, they can do that too. It's a score I'd love to acquire to listen to just in general; I don't think I can stress enough how well put together this movie is overall.

Chris Evans as Mace

For being a sci-fi horror, the plot is surprisingly straightforward. It's a basic 'Point A to Point B, with a surprise Point C thrown into the middle'. It never gets too convoluted, like some sci-fis feel like they need to be; it's all fairly simple to understand, and that gives us time to stop thinking about the ins and outs of the sci-fi elements and focus on the characters, which I'll get to in a bit. The science they use feels legitimate, to the point where I don't really want to know if anything in here is scientifically inaccurate or not; it all works for the movie and it feels grounded enough that I can hand-wave away anything that turns out to be not so grounded in reality. The story does go a little out-there towards the end, definitely leaning towards the more ridiculous side of the sci-fi spectrum, but I don't mind it at all. Initially, I just wanted the movie to stick to what it was doing, but not only does this other element lead to an intense third act and some genuine scares, but it's built up nicely throughout the movie without there really being any clues to it, which seems insane, I know. Look, without outright saying what it is, I can't really go into it any further, but know that it works and works well.

Rose Byrne as Cassie

The characters are the last key element here: with such a small cast, if they're unlikeable, the whole thing falls apart. I really like these characters. They don't have insane levels of depth, but they're layered and varied enough that I can get behind them. The acting is top-notch across the board; there are some heavy-hitters in this cast. Cillian Murphy crushes it as Capa; being the focus for a lot of the movie, he managed to make me feel so much empathy towards him, to the point where I legitimately felt it when something happened to him. Chris Evans is great as Mace; after seeing him as Captain America for so long, it's nice to see him in a role with a little less empathy, albeit equally no-nonsense. Benedict Wong is a smaller role here, but I was genuinely crushed watching his performance; he might be the best actor in this movie. But, really, everyone gets their moment to shine, everyone brings their A-game, to the point where if a character was being selfish or, really, a d***, I was on their side to a degree, or at the very least, I felt where they were coming from. At this point, you may have noticed I haven't sad anything bad about this movie yet. I can't. I honestly don't think I could even nitpick at this point. This movie hit me harder than maybe most of the movies I've ever seen, period.

Benedict Wong as Trey

Sunshine (2007) is a wonderful movie, and I highly urge you all to see it. The fact that this movie didn't make its budget back at the box office is a crime. Do yourself a favour. Watch this movie immediately. 10/10.

Off the Cuff Reviews Back to the Future Part II (1989)

It's the eternal debate: which film of the trilogy is the best? I tend to go back and forth between the first and the second, but I'm only here to be objective, not subjective. In that spirit, Back to the Future Part II (1989) is still an incredibly fun movie, and a worthy successor to the original, but can it match up to what came before it? Starring Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, Marty McFly Jr. and Marlene McFly, Christopher Lloyd as Doctor Emmet 'Doc' Brown, Lea Thompson as Lorraine Baines-McFly, Elizabeth Shue as Jennifer Parker and Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen and Griff Tannen.

Back to the Future Part II (1989)

The easy thing to note about this movie is that, while very similar to the original (in that various sequences and exchanges are almost lifted one-for-one in a case of history repeating itself which I find very on-brand), it is quite different in a number of ways. The most noticeable of which is the variety in each act of the movie. The film jumps around a bit, travelling to three different time zones and timelines, which is the main fact that people choose to cite as to why this movie is/isn't the best of the trilogy. On one hand, there is more variety, and the fact that the movie still flows logically and is easy to follow despite the variety is impressive. On the other hand, it also means there's less time devoted to each idea, and the focus is somewhat lost. I tend to lean more towards the former, but it is a legitimate concern a lot of people have. Anyway, because the film is so segmented, I have to do what I've often done for films like this and analyse this act by act.

Elizabeth Shue as Jennifer

The first act is the section that takes place in 'the future' and, look, regardless of what they did or didn't predict about 2015 doesn't matter; loads of the best sci-fi stories got things wrong about what we now call 'the past'. What matters is the world the film presents is an interesting one, and there are a lot of cool ideas presented here. Of course, we have the iconic hoverboard and quick-heating pizza and self-tying laces, and they do a great job presenting us with a fun depiction of the future. It's also here we get introduced to the concept of Marty's 'No one calls me chicken' Achilles's Heel, and while it's odd he never exhibited this symptom in the past, having just been invented for this story, I do like it. One of the things I mentioned about the first movie is that Marty doesn't grow as a person or learn any lessons, so this gives him a vessel for self-growth. The arc, of course, doesn't get resolved until the next movie, and it's here I'll mention that this movie and its sequel are some of the best examples of films being filmed concurrently ever. There are a lot of easter eggs to events of the 3rd movie, like introducing Mad Dog Tannen before the Wild West story is even close to being established.

Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly and Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly Jr.

This leads me to the second act: the alternate timeline 1985. This act goes a long way towards setting up Biff as a truly despicable person and a definite villain (this version of Biff being based somewhat on Donald Trump, but that's neither here nor there). Thomas F. Wilson in general gets a lot of different things to do here: he's hyperactive Griff, old man Biff, teenage Biff and bigwig tycoon Biff, and he plays them all wonderfully and with their own style but also keeping all the different versions of Biff realistically the same person. The alternate version of Hill Valley is delightfully dark, and it's a great way of raising the stakes from the original, making it a more pressing issue that needs fixing by our heroes. The reveal of George McFly's fate in particular is very well-handled, and Marty's chat with Biff is incredibly tense. The whole thing probably wouldn't work as well if you don't have Doc there explaining how the whole thing works with the chalkboard, which is very welcome.

Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen

Which leads to the best part of the movie: the 1955 revisit. I just love how they manage to weave their quest for the Almanac throughout the events of the original film and have it all, not only make sense, but also not ruin the original. It's also just a lot of fun seeing these events from a different perspective, especially going back and watching the original with these in mind. Knowing that throughout Marty's performance on the stage, there was a second Marty climbing through the rafters isn't something that necessarily changes anything, but it's fun for us nerds to think about. Talking of the Almanac, I love how it's used as the MacGuffin to get this story going; there's a reason it's become synonymous with time travel paradoxes. It's not only something that's easy to comprehend, but is also a legitimate question that comes up with time travel hypotheticals, and with a story that could easily get convoluted when you're travelling to different times, a simple goal is very effective. Throughout this entire affair, the comedy lands and the music is still exquisite and the acting is great. At the end of the day, rather anti-climactically, it really just comes down to personal preference which of the movies you prefer, as, of the first two at least, there's so much good to enjoy.

Christopher Lloyd as Doc Browns

Back to the Future Part II (1989) is an extremely worthy successor to the classic original, and while subjectively I do prefer watching this to the original, I do have to acknowledge the segmented nature of the story can put people off. It's still amazing, thought. I'll get around to the 3rd one soon, I'm sure. 9.5/10.