Awesome Friday!

In each of the last few years, I have re-watched a franchise. If you follow my Letterboxd you might have noticed this. One year it was Star Trek, another it was Star Wars, and another it was Mission: Impossible. This year it’s going to be James Bond.

With 24 films in the franchise proper and a 25th due in April of this year, this is no small undertaking, especially if I am going to blog about them as I go. Why haven’t I blogged these in the past? Because I had an idea of what I wanted this blog to be and I have resolved to change that here in this new decade.

So what follows will be whatever I feel it needs to be after watching each James Bond film. I am going to watch them in order, and I am most likely going to stick to the main EON produced films in the franchise. Some of them will get some deep thought, others maybe not so much. I don’t have a real plan besides watch, write about each, and then finish up with some kind of conclusion.

So if that sounds like the kind of thing you’re into then let’s get started on this journey with the first three entries in the franchise: Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger

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That’s right folks, the invitees to the big dance have been announced. Has the Academy finally learned from its past and expanded its focus to be more inclusive for people of colour? Turns out they didn’t! Did they recognize more women in the best director category? Also a no!

I love the Oscars because I am a weirdo and, honestly, this is kind of business as usual. There are a bunch of really awesome artists being recognized, but also there is some pan-fried bullshit going on here, too.

Let’s take a look at the categories and add some pithy commentary.

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It’s been a good year for film because it’s always been a good year for film. I already posted my favourite films of the year but every year there are those films that while they aren’t quite my favourite are definitely great and worth highlighting.

This year I have selected ten more that you should totally seek out and see, presented in alphabetical order.

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As 2019 gradually fades into obscurity, it’s time for my yearly tradition of somehow ranking subjective experiences. This year is easier for me, though, as my free time has virtually disappeared (as you can probably tell from my complete lack of writing). As a result, I’m no longer diving deep into complicated experiences until they yield their goods. My metric is simple – is this fun? Does it inspire me? Does it make me feel? And if the answer is no – from a really early point – then it gets pushed aside.

Movies are easier to get through thanks to a much shorter time commitment than a game, so instead, they just get thrown in the outbox. My list of games, though, is more an example of the need for good design throughout – and how a jump in style can put me off forever. So let’s take a look!

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Well, folks here we are at the end of the year, and what a year it has been. As always, it’s been a particularly good year for film because it’s always a good year for film.

I have seen more than eighty films from 2019’s slate and believe you me it is hard to pin down my favourites to just ten, so I have narrowed it down to twelve. This didn’t actually help much, and I still had to leave a ton of films out.

I’m also going to do something a little different this year and highlight a few performers who really blew me away in 2019. So without any further ado, let’s get into the best of 2019

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I know what you’re thinking: December 2019 is a weird time to write about my favourite films of 2018. You might be right, but also there’s never a bad time to write about great movies. Last year I was on a break from blogging, this year I am back at it.

See, it all makes sense.

In any event here are a few disclaimers. First, I wrote this list at the end of 2018 so subsequent viewing in 2019 doesn’t really affect it. Second, if a movie you love doesn’t appear here there are two explanations: either I didn’t see it or it’s not one of my favourites. Third, this list is presented in alphabetical order (ie: not ranked) except for my absolute favourite of the year, which is last.

Alright? Alright. Let’s get started.

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Another Vancouver International Film Festival has come and gone and we saw quite a few movies this time around. While there were tons to see, here are my five favourites of the twenty-plus I saw, presented in alphabetical order.

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It’s time for the 90th Annual Academy Awards tonight and that means that Simon and I will be live blogging the show! As always I’m publishing my guesses and thoughts now so that they are on the record ahead of time so that I can be held accountable for my guesses. Usually I have some pretty strong ideas of what’s going to happen but this year everything feels a bit up in the air.

Last years show was a bit bonkers what with the Best Picture mix up so the show is pretty certain to be a little less exciting at least. In any event let’s get right to my thoughts on the categories.

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Another year, another list of favourites. 2017 has been a … turbulent year in the real world but a stellar one for film. You may have noticed that I haven’t been writing much lately, VIFF coverage aside, but I have been gong to the movies. As of this writing I watched 323 movies in 2017, 70 of which were 2017 releases. Not too shabby considering that I only go to one festival.

Before we get to my dozen favourites there are a few things worth sharing. First, a few that I haven’t seen yet:

• Call Me By Your Name (wr. James Ivory, dir. Luca Guadagnino)
• The Florida Project (wr. Chris Bergoch & Sean Baker, dir. Sean Baker)
• I, Tonya (wr. Steven Rogers, dir. Craig Gillespie)
• The Post (wr. Josh Singer & Liz Hannah, dir. Steven Spielberg)
• Phantom Thread (wr & dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
• Professor Marston and The Wonder Women (wr. & dir. Angela Robinson)

Some of these were due to scheduling on my part (I have a day job!) and some on the films part (Neither The Post nor I, Tonya are out here yet), but all of them seem like exactly the kind of movies that would end up near the top of my list.

Second, these choices are presented in alphabetical order except my favourite which will come last. There are a variety of reasons for this but mostly it comes down the fact that they are all good movies that I have a hard time grading relative to each other because they are all so different. Consider also that some of them I have seen multiple times and others just once and that second viewings are often where I end up solidifying an opinion and you end up with a list that looks like this.

Third, don’t have any honourable mentions but I will probably write some further thoughts on 2017 in a separate post.

So without any further ado, here are my favourite dozen

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It’s been a hell of a year, to put it mildly. Thankfully, we’ve had a great twelve months of games and movies to take our minds off the world slowing falling into a Trump-shaped festering sinkhole.

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Bold, clever and heartfelt, The Orville is a gorgeous piece of sci-fi – and I’m as surprised as anyone.

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Despite having the lowest summer box office in over a decade 2017 has been a great year for movies. It’s actually hard to believe that the box office has been so bad given just how many great movies have come out. It’s almost like the a glut of sequels and remakes combines with going to the movies being a kind of shitty experience is starting to take a toll. Or everyone spent the summer outside. You never know.

In any event, since I haven’t been writing reviews as diligently as I should (read: at all) I’d like to present you a few performances from this year in roughly chronological order that are worth of both your time and hefty amounts of praise. Mild spoilers for all films discussed.

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A few days ago the world got a little dimmer. Harry Dean Stanton passed away at the age of 91. Celebrity deaths don’t generally hit me that hard but this one did. Stanton is the kind of actor that elevated every project he was a part of, whether he was in a lead role or a quick cameo. Roger Ebert once said that any movie with Harry Dean Stanton in a supporting role couldn’t be all bad and for my money that is a true statement.

He has one film left to come out, this years Lucky (pictured above). I’m looking forward to seeing *Lucky at VIFF next week and it is one of the films I’ve been anticipating most. I imagine now, as the last performance of a legend, it may take on a bittersweet quality.

Stanton has left a staggering filmography and each entry has a notable performance. Here now I’d like to share with you my favourite three by way of tribute to his amazing career.

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Not what you expected and better than you could have ever hoped, Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot save DC’s world.

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The Star Wars trilogy has never held that special place in my heart that it holds in so many others. That’s not say that it isn’t a staggering work of creative genius, just that there are two types of nerds in the world and I happen to be the kind whose heart is ruled by Trek rather than Wars.

They are staggering works of creative genius though, and I can remember renting VHS copies of all three movies from the local video store in my hometown, and watching them whenever they were broadcast on one of the five television channels we received when I was growing up. I remember taking a trip to the big city to watch the Special Editions in theatres when they were re-released in 1997.

I also remember being over the moon when the trailer for The Phantom Menace dropped. I couldn’t tell you what movie we saw it with, but I remember going to a movie just to see that trailer. Of course I also remember being pretty profoundly let down by the entire prequel trilogy, as were most people I knew (at least the ones who weren’t in denial).

The prequels soured a lot of people on George Lucas, including me. Lacklustre direction, effects over story, and seemingly endless tinkering with all the films for every release was enough to leave a bad taste in any fan’s mouth, and for a long time it seemed like Star Wars might never, you know, be good again.

Then Disney bought Lucasfilm and once again there was hope. Fast forward to the present, we are in a new age where Star Wars is good again and there is much rejoicing. I haven’t rejoiced as much as most though, so while Rogue One was in theatres I watched all 8 movies in timeline order in an attempt to figure out why that is. So here are my thoughts.

Needless to say there will be spoilers.

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