Fatherhood

This film was not on my radar at all when I first heard about it but the one thing that made it interesting to me was Kevin Hart was in the lead and it was NOT a comedy and I love it when comedic actors do non comedic roles so I had to check this film out.

Starting with the positives and this is easy, Kevin Hart is fantastic in this film. He is like a completely different person in this film. He doesn't overcook his performance, in fact he manages to keep it really subtle and serious and he proves he is a genuine actor who has plenty of versatility. I love his comedy work but I would like to see him do more work like this.

I also really liked the story for this film. Watching this man struggle to cope and raise his child all on his own made this a very compelling watch and I'm going to try and word this carefully but whilst I understand that many women struggle to singlehandedly raise their children, I really liked that it explore how men can struggle as well. There's one scene where Kevin Harts character goes to a woman's children group meet to seek advice and they remind him that the group is for women only. It's makes it so true that the man side of this story is really under seen.

This is also a film that is trying to send out multiple messages out and without going into spoilers, I think it does a really good job at doing that.

Unfortunately it's not a perfect film so let's move onto the negatives. And the big thing that comes to mind is this is a film we have all seen before in some form or another so it doesn't do anything different or new to reinvent this type of story. We've seen plenty of films do this story a bit better if I'm honest.

And finally besides Kevin Harts character, the rest of the characters can be very annoying to the point of being unbearable.

Overall whilst there's a few kinks, this is a really good film with a fantastic performance from Kevin Hart that has the potential to rejuvenate his career.

⭐⭐⭐

The Father

When I heard about this film, I really wanted to see it. It's not my typical go to watch but I was interested in the main topic because it's such a sensitive story to tackle. I heard a lot of Oscar buzz and did worry I wouldn't enjoy it as much. A bit like the film Nomadland. I liked it but it was overhyped for me and I didn't think it was as good as everyone said it was.

However this is far from the case for The Father and I'm just going to say it; I absolutely loved this film. This film is incredible. I'm not going to do this review by a my usual structure because this is a film that needs to be seen and talked about.

What makes this such a special film is how the topic of Dementia is explored. How the film is paced, structured and edited can appear a bit confusing but upon rewatch, you realize how realistic dementia is explored in this film. It isn't overblown or given the Hollywood treatment. It feels like the writers and director actually researched this serious issue and had medical experts on set.

Each scene we see is so thorough and really explores the condition with ease. Some scenes are out of place, some scenes are repeated, others don't even happen in reality and it will play with the audiences mind but that's the reality with dementia. What we see is now dementia affects the mind.

But the secret ingredient to this film is Mr Anthony Hopkins himself. This man is amazing in this film and gives one of the most versatile performance I have ever seen. He is charming, charismatic, funny, scary, intimidating and sympathetic in just over 90 minutes and he just makes it look so easy when acting is one of the hardest jobs in the world. This man deserved his Oscar win. 

This film is not an easy watch and I strongly advice those to know who you are before you see it. This is not a rewatchable film either and even that I'll say is a positive. Dementia is a condition that will resonate with so many people and one watch of this film will be enough to win their hearts over.

On a very rare occasion, I have no negatives for this film at all. The Father is a masterpiece and whilst this is not my sort of film at all, I will always appreciate the experience of seeing it.

Sensitively and realistically explored, incredibly acted and beautifully made, I can't say this enough, this is an incredible film and easily my favourite film of the year. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The conjuring 3

I was so excited for this film to come out when it was announced but later developments worried me. The Conjuring is my favourite horror film of all time and I love the second film just as much so to learn that James Wan would not be returning as director was my biggest worry.

Then Michael Chaves was announced as the director and I feared this film wouldn't be as good since his last horror film was The Curse of La Llorona and although I like that film, it relies too much on jump scares than atmosphere.

But now that I've seen the film, I'm so pleased to say I really enjoyed it. So before I go on, I'm gonna change things up a bit. I'm going to talk about my negatives first, then my positives and then an element that I was mixed over regarding the film.

So for negatives, I only have three. Easily first is the name of the film. I hate the title. It sounds like a really bad punchline to an even worse joke and I want to know who came up with that name.

Second, you can feel James Wans absence during this film. From the execution of scares to the imagery, it has a very different feeling to it. And when the previous films had entities that were creepy, this film has entities that feel generic and a couple were very gross and unintentionally funny to look at.

Finally the main villain of the film is extremely forgettable, bland and boring and I never felt interested in it whereas the previous films had villains who were memorable, scary to look at and interesting.

Now that's the negatives out of the way, let's talk about the positives. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are the heart and soul of this film. Their portrayals of Ed and Lorraine Warren is so captivating and beautiful to watch. It doesn't feel like we're watching movie characters. It feels like we're watching real people tell their life story in these films.

Along the same line, this film has the most heart of the entire franchise because as well as Ed and Lorraine Warren, there are other characters who are actually really good and really likable due to the amount of heart they express.

Something else I was really impressed with was the story. This film goes for a more investigation story and tone and it seriously works. I felt invested, interested and was even trying to it work out at times and that is what an investigation film is supposed to do.

Michael Chaves also does a much better job than his last horror venture. I still would have preferred James Wan to return but I would prefer this film over La Llorona. He sets up the scares of the films very very well.

This film uses its budget very well because some of the set designs looks so real. That's always impressed me how we're probably looking at film sets yet it feels like we're looking at real locations.

And finally Joseph Barbaras score is once again so eerie and very underrated. No one ever talks about how good the score to the Conjuring films are.

Now I want to talk about a segment of this film that I feel will be divisive and also how I really felt about this film. I left the cinema feeling disappointed but that doesn't mean I didn't like it. I really enjoyed it, I am giving this a positive review but this film is not scary at all and that is what was disappointing about it.

Yes a horror film doesn't have to be scary to be good. There's a lot of people who don't get scared by horror films but can still enjoy them. But what made The Conjuring my favourite horror film of all? Because it was my scariest cinema experience. Why do I love the The Conjuring 2? Because I found it scary. This film didn't scare me at all and I was really disappointed by that.

However whilst I would say this is certainly the weakest of the three films, this is still a very solid and very good film that I would recommend.

⭐⭐⭐

A Quiet Place Part 2

When it was announced A Quiet Place was getting a sequel, I was really sceptical. I truly loved the first film, I felt it really worked as a standalone and a sequel just sounded like a cash grab.

However I am willing to admit that I was wrong. This film is awesome. Kicking off with the positives, easily the best thing about this film is the acting. There is not a bad performance in this film. Emily Blunt is amazing as this broken woman who recently lost her husband and is trying to protect her family, Cillain Murphy is a great addition and plays a very interesting character with a good arc but the kids are the standout. They are given more to do and they pull it off with ease. By the end of the film, their characters are given more development and really good character arcs.

I also really liked the story. What made this sequel work so well is it feels like you can watch the first film then this and it will feel like a semi complete story. The first film builds the foundation, the world building and the sequel continues off of that and expands on it where it makes sense to have a sequel and with the recent announcement of a 3rd film, I think all three films will feel like one whole film broken up into three. That is how you do a sequel and potential trilogy right.

John Krasinski really shows what a talent he has for directing. He's able to capture the same tension from the first film and just build it up even more. There is two moments in this film where multiple sequences are happening and you feel the tension building, you cannot predict where these sequences are going to go and with fantastic editing and Krasinskis master directing, these sequences have fantastic pay off.

I was also impressed that Krasinski didn't forget one of his other talents from the first film and that is foreshadowing. There is a brilliant amount of foreshadowing and setup of sequences. The writing for the film is also really good and luckily this film is still as memorable as the first film. I'm still thinking about it now as I write this.

And lastly, I really like the design of the aliens and the CGI for them looks really suited.

However unfortunately it's not perfect and it does have some flaws so let's move onto the mixed aspects and first it's just to say this is a more dialogue based film. It still contains a lot of sign language but when the first film was extremely minimal of dialogue, this film has a lot of dialogue and I didn't mind it at all but I feel people will have different feelings about what made the first film so special.

Now as we saw in the trailers, there is a flashback sequence and honestly, it doesn't feel needed. It's a great scene, very tense and great to watch but if you edit it out, it doesn't effect the movie that much. It feels like it only exists to give John Krasinski more screen time.

Finally there's one character who is put in a situation and they need to make a decision but I feel the decision he makes will anger a lot of people. I personally think this character was put in an impossible situation but at the same time, I would get why certain fans would be angry with this character.

Now let's move onto the negatives and I only have two; first the films second half is a lot better than the first half. The first half is more character focused but it also drags an awful lot to the point where I wasn't feeling how I felt about the first film. Then the second half kicked in and there's so much to keep the viewers engaged.

There's also a subplot that explores a section of survivors who go to extreme lengths and it feels underdeveloped. I felt a bit more interested in that section of the story a bit more than the aliens themselves and I feel if the film had a longer runtime, we could have got that.

Finally and this is a little nitpick but I didn't really feel as much emotional depth than I did from the first film.

But besides all that and despite I do feel the first film is better, has a more special meaning and placement, this is a great film worthy sequel that sets up a 3rd film and I'm saying this now: The Quiet Place trilogy has the potential to be one of the best horror trilogies out there. Fingers crossed.

⭐⭐⭐⭐