My top 10 films of 2016 [5-1].

Part 1 of this rundown was here, which also featured five films you ought to avoid like the plague.

05. Elle

Womancrush Wednesday: Kate McKinnon.

Kate's moving, passionate performance of Hallelujah moved me to tears; the lyrics and choice of song carried extra poignancy given the tragic passing of Leonard Cohen last week.

I was super-impressed at not just how well Kate sung, but how naturally she played the piano. A quick perusal of her Wikipedia page tells me that she also plays the cello and the guitar; what a talented woman! Plus, she read Drama at Columbia university. So not only is she a supremely talented comedienne (her Hillary impression is on point, as is this sensational Carol parody), but lady is musical, and boasts and Ivy League education! Goddess!

Loving on Kate (her show-stealing turn as kooky Dr. Holtzmann in Ghostbusters is currently top of my list of Best Supporting Actress 2016) and the fact that me watching Arrival means I've now seen 50 releases, segues me nicely into listing my current top 10s of 2016.

Film

01. A United Kingdom
02. I, Daniel Blake
03. Zootropolis
04. Café Society
05. Arrival
06. Kubo and the 2 Strings
07. Someone to Talk to
08. Hell or High Water
09. Nerve
10. Captain America: Civil War

Actor, Leading Role
01. David Oyelowo, A United Kingdom 
02. Chris Pine, Hell or High Water 
03. Jesse Eisenberg, Café Society
04. Jonah Hill, War Dogs 
05. Hai Mao, Someone to Talk To 
06. Miles Teller, War Dogs 
07. Jake Gyllenhaal, Nocturnal Animals 
08. Dave Johns, I, Daniel Blake 
09. Michael Fassbender, The Light Between Oceans 
10. Yoo Hae-jin, Luck-Key

Actress, Leading Role
01. Emily Blunt, The Girl on the Train
02. Amy Adams, Arrival
03. Adriana Ugarte, Julieta
04. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, 10 Cloverfield Lane
05. Rosamund Pike, A United Kingdom
06. Emma Suárez, Julieta
07. Kate Beckinsale, Love and Friendship
08. Amy Adams, Nocturnal Animals
09. Blake Lively, The Shallows
10. Alicia Vikander, The Light Between Oceans 

Supporting actor 
01. Alden Ehrenreich, Hail, Caesar! 
02. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nocturnal Animals (massive improvement from his wooden performance in Anna Karenina!)
03. Ben Foster, Hell or High Water 
04. John Goodman, 10 Cloverfield Lane 
05. Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water 
06. Tom Bennett, David Brent: Life on the Road 
07. Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals 
08. Tom Bennett, Love and Friendship 
09. Tom Holland, Captain America: Civil War 
10. Tom Felton, A United Kingdom

Supporting actress 
01. Kate McKinnon, Ghostbusters
02. Jena Malone, The Neon Demon
03. Hayley Squires, I, Daniel Blake 
04. Viola Davis, Suicide Squad 
05. Haley Bennett, Magnificent Seven 
06. Rooney Mara, Kubo and the Two Strings 
07. Rachel Weisz, The Light Between Oceans 
08. Terry Pheto, A United Kingdom 
09. Kristen Stewart, Café Society 
10. Kristen Bell, Bad Moms

Actors with multiple entries (for now): Amy Adams, Tom Bennett

Half-birthday Top 5s of 2016 (so far).

It's my 26.5th birthday today, so I thought I'd list my top 5 of the dominant 'Oscar' categories as of now (having seen 42 titles). 

For the acting categories I'll try my best to be objective and list in order of 'best' rather than 'favourite'. For example, my favourite performance of the year so far is Jesse Eisenberg in Café Society because I identify with his character the most. He'll almost certainly make my 10 favourite performances of 2016 list, but I concede that it's not necessarily the best male lead acting performance of the year.

To further illustrate this point, in my favourite performances of 2015, I listed Domhnall Gleeson in The Revenant because he looked damn gorgeous with a ginger beard. But objectively, he was probably only the fourth best performance in that dull film after Leo, Tom Hardy and Will Poulter.

I'm doing these lists now so I can show my love to some actors who didn't necessarily appear in prestige pictures, as they might get bumped out of the top 5s when Oscar bait like La La Land and Fences drops. For example, Jena Malone in The Neon Demon, an excellent, arresting turn, wouldn't get near the Oscars, but it was so good it needs to be highlighted. And not just due to the shock of Johanna Mason from The Hunger Games romancing the dead, haha.

And obviously, top films are not so objective because those are just favourites, haha.

Film

01. A United Kingdom 
02. Zootropolis
03. Café Society 
04. Kubo and the Two Strings 
05. Hell or High Water 

Direction
01. Amma Asante, A United Kingdom
02. Travis Knight, Kubo and the Two Strings
03. Pedro Almodóvar, Julieta
04. Dan Trachtenberg, 10 Cloverfield Lane
05. Nicolas Pesce, The Eyes of My Mother

Actor, Leading Role
01. David Oyewolo, A United Kingdom
02. Chris Pine, Hell or High Water
03. Jesse Eisenberg, Café Society 
04. Jonah Hill, War Dogs
05. Miles Teller, War Dogs

Actress, Leading Role
01. Emily Blunt, The Girl on the Train
02. Adriana Ugarte, Julieta
03. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, 10 Cloverfield Lane
04. Rosamund Pike, A United Kingdom
05. Emma Suárez, Julieta

Actor, Supporting Role
01. Alden Ehrenreich, Hail, Caesar!
02. Ben Foster, Hell or High Water
03. John Goodman, 10 Cloverfield Lane
04. Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
05. Tom Bennett, David Brent: Life on the Road

Actress, Supporting Role
01. Kate McKinnon, Ghostbusters
02. Jena Malone, The Neon Demon
03. Viola Davis, Suicide Squad
04. Haley Bennett, Magnificent Seven
05. Kristen Stewart, Café Society 

Screenplay (adapted and original) because I CBA to google which were original and adapted and hence do separate categories for both, haha
01. Café Society 
02. War Dogs
03. Zootopia
04. Julieta
05. The Hunt for the Wilderpeople

I haven't watched enough big hitters to do the aural/visual categories, as the best scores and camerawork are usually in the films which aim high and have budgets to match. But yeah, that was that!

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Because I'm a shady cow...

Worst Film

01. High-Rise my only 2/10 score of the year. What a load of bloated wank. Also, it should have been rated 18 because it was so unpleasant to watch.

02. The Boss

03. Mission Milano

04. So Young 2: Never Gone

05. Absolutely Unfunny Fabulous

Worst Performances

01. Cara Delevingne, Suicide Squad this probably won't change at the end of the year
02. Kris Wu, So Young 2: Never Gone 
03. Ricky Gervais, David Brent: Life on the Road
04. Sienna Miller, High-Rise
05. Chris Pratt, Magnificent Seven

Found Girl.

A couple of blurry / sub-par photos from the BFI London Film Festival!

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I was walking past Leicester Square on Wednesday after the disappointing The Girl on the Train and realised that all the commotion was due to the BFI film première starting!

My phone was, lamentably, on very low battery (biggest shortcoming of Samsung S4 goddamnit) and I was too far away to get good pictures, but here are the low-quality, grainy ones I was able to get!

 

Hi Draco! (sadly I didn't get to grab his hand like I did with his Harry Potter co-star five years ago!)

Jessica Oyelowo

The next few were me grappling desperately trying to get decent photos of Rosamund Pike with my phone's waning battery, all the way squealing 'ROSAMUND PIKE!!!' at the top of my voice.

This is from the next day, before my viewing of A United Kingdom: 

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And this was the Q&A with director Nicolas Pesce, after The Eyes of My Mother yesterday.

So yeah, I had an amazing time during the BFI Film festival! Love living in London. ♥♥♥♥♥

Hopefully next year, I'll a) see more than two films and b) have more battery on my phone to take better-quality photos ♥

Film review: A UNITED KINGDOM (Amma Asante, 2016)

I've been making the most of the BFI London Film Festival - I saw this title today, and am seeing a horror movie on Sunday.

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Seretse Khama, the prince of Bechuanaland (now named Republic of Botswana) is studying Law in London, primed for return to his country as King. One night, at the London Missionary Society, he meets Ruth Williams, a British secretary, and the two instantly connect. A whirlwind romance follows, culminating in his proposal of marriage and for her to return to his homeland with him, which she accepts immediately. It being 69 years in the past, however, their union is met with opposition from almost everyone they know.

Amma Asante's previous film, the delightful Belle, touched upon similar themes as A United Kingdom, and the two films both capably balanced delivering a true-life romance that crossed barriers, whilst defeating the insularity and racism that meet the protagonist.

Both also clocked in at 104/105 minutes, illustrating that important stories that deserve to get the film treatment do not have to suffer from a stodgy running time in order to get the message across. In both Belle and A United Kingdom's cases, with their concisely edited scenes and unfussy screenplays, Asante clearly has enough faith in the stories she's delivering to speak for themselves, without the need for frills. And both films are better for it.

A United Kingdom wouldn't be half as enjoyable it was without David Oyelowo's fearless, heartfelt performance. When he addresses the people of Bechuanaland, you can positively see the turmoil in his eyes, as his character juggles his national duties and his heart. I'm not ashamed to say I was moved to tears on no less than four occasions when Seretse spoke powerfully. Oyelowo just has one of those voices; one of those screen presences. It did not surprise me to learn, yesterday, at the Gala Opening of the London Film Festival that he and Amma Asante have known each other for 18 years; she seems to know her subject intimately, and doing so helps her coax a performance of great emotional intelligence out of him.

The path of true love never did run smooth, but for Seretse and Ruth, it's considerably less smooth than usual. The two main characters never wallow in self-pity, but instead conduct themselves with the grit and resourcefulness that all pioneers of history need. Some of the scenes where their relationship is met with opprobrium are difficult to watch, such as when Seretse is racially abused by some yobs, who then call Ruth a 'slut'. But such scenes are only reflecting what actually happened. The way the director and writer, Guy Hibbert, retain the impact of these scenes without sensationalising such events, is impressive.

After baring her teeth in Gone Girl, Rosamund Pike is reliably great in a role closer to her typical habitat, playing the sweet Ruth Williams. She's terrifically still in the majority of her scenes, projecting a calm exterior, but the occasional tell-tale sign of body language (for example, a shaking arm) indicates that her character recognises the full force of what she's gotten herself into by marrying the Prince of a small nation and she’s terrified, yet, no matter how difficult, she's robust enough not to give up. 

The supporting players are all well cast, some of the standout performers being Draco MalfoyTom Felton as the villainous Rufus Lancaster (incidentally, he also played a bigot in Belle), Jack Lowden perfectly embodying Tony Benn’s social conscience (Benn’s first introduction in the film was met with a delighted gasp by the audience), and Only Fool's and Horses' Nicholas Lyndhurst as Ruth's disapproving father.

A United Kingdom also delivers an important history lesson about the apartheid in South Africa and the not-so-blameless role Britain played in enabling it, although it affords gratitude towards the trailblazers who were bold enough to stand up against what was clearly not right. The film also has more levity than you would expect in one about such a weighty topic, and towards the end, when Seretse delivers a glib one-liner (that was delivered to him earlier by Jack Davenport’s slimy government official), it was met with applause in the audience.

Amma Asante has made the first film of 2016 to blow me away. A United Kingdom is a testament to the redemptive power of love, and how in the face of hatred and small-mindedness, as long as the couple love each other, this love will triumph over hate. Admittedly, such a moral is hardly revolutionary, but delivering the message with this true, remarkable story, of two remarkable people, and such talented cast and crew, who clearly moulded this picture with love, renders A United Kingdom a lovely experience.

9/10