Catching Up: A Few Great Performances From This Year So Far

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.

Continue reading “Catching Up: A Few Great Performances From This Year So Far”

My Favourite Harry Dean Stanton Performances

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.

Continue reading “My Favourite Harry Dean Stanton Performances”

On Star Wars, Then and Now

The Star Wars trilogy has never held that special place in my heart that it holds in so many others. That’s not to say that it isn’t a work of 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 the time.

The prequels soured a lot of people on George Lucas, including me. Lacklustre direction, effects prioritized 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 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.

Continue reading “On Star Wars, Then and Now”

The Films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ranked, 2016 Catch Up Edition

We’re continuing to shake off the dust around here at Awesome Friday HQ, and one easy way to do that is to update the Marvel Fanboy Marvel Cinematic Universe Rankings. Last year there were two additions to the canon of films, _Captain America: Civil War_ and _Doctor Strange_. Each were good, but where do they fit? Let’s take a look.

Last time I did this I grouped the films into three categories, this time I’m doing a straight up ranking. Feel free to agree or disagree with me. In fact, I encourage it.

Now let’s get to it.

Continue reading “The Films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ranked, 2016 Catch Up Edition”

Matt’s 2017 Oscar Thoughts and Predictions

The Academy Awards are upon us once again. It’s easy to be cynical about the Oscars, whether it’s because your favourite films never win or because of the endless campaigning, or because it’s, or because of the whole “rich people giving each other statues” thing, but I still kinda like them.

This year the nominees are mostly good, so here they all are along with some thoughts, opinions, and a prediction or two.

The Oscars are being held on the 26th of February. Join us on the day for our 6th annual liveblog of the ceremony!

Continue reading “Matt’s 2017 Oscar Thoughts and Predictions”

Matt’s 12 Best Movies of 2016

Hello.

2016 has been conspicuous by our absence. It’s been a hell of a year, one with many ups and many, many downs. It’d be easy to say that the downs of 2016 were to blame for the lack of writing here, that the year was just so shit that I couldn’t take it anymore. That’s not the case, though; as for me, it’s been a pretty great year. It’s the good stuff that has kept me from writing.

I don’t know where to start with the cultural icons we’ve lost this year. I can’t eulogise them all, and even if I did, what more could I say? I could tell you the stories of why Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher are equally important in my headcanon (and I might yet), but in the end, it just hasn’t felt like my place.

One thing I can tell you about this year is that despite all the shit, it has been an excellent year for cinema. So much so that when it came time to figure out my top ten films of the year, I couldn’t get the list lower than 12 (and I narrowed it down from nearly twice that number).

So, in an effort to get going again, let’s close out this year with the 12 best movies of the year, according to yours truly. These are presented in no particular order except for the two that truly stand out as the best of the year.

Continue reading “Matt’s 12 Best Movies of 2016”

Ten More From 2015 You Should Totally See

Ten More Header

2015 was a good year! I already told you my ten favourite films from 2015, but those ten were hard to choose. My first pass over the list of movies I saw resulted in 25 candidates for the top ten, 15 of which were ultimately cut. So rather than make a worst-of list as I have in previous years (Pixels was the worst film of last year, no need to mention any others), I’d tell you about ten more you should see. So let’s do that.

Continue reading “Ten More From 2015 You Should Totally See”

The Top Movies of 2015, According to Matt

2015 Header

It’s been a good year for film. There’s not any other way to say it. I saw 60-odd films this year, far fewer in theatres but far more at home than last year, and of those, I remember the majority being good!

There are many movies I haven’t seen yet: Anomalisa, Duke of Burgundy, Diary of a Teenage Girl, Carol, Son of Saul, Bridge of Spies, The Look of Silence, Green Room, and so many others. Bone Tomahawk, one I’ve been particularly looking forward to, isn’t even out in Canada yet.

Films that are fantastic but didn’t quite make the list include Trainwreck, Ant-Man, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Brooklyn, It Follows, The Martian, The Hateful Eight and (again) so many others. Ultimately, it was tough to narrow it down to just ten films because while it was easy to choose my top three, choosing only seven more proved pretty challenging. There were a lot of great movies in 2015.

I’ve also put together a worst-of-list for the last several years, but I decided not to do that this year. I know that some people look forward to it, but I’ve decided to focus on the positive rather than the negative despite the latter being the bigger draw on the web. And besides, we all know that Pixels was the worst film of the year by a country mile.

So what did make the top list? I’m glad you asked.

Continue reading “The Top Movies of 2015, According to Matt”

The Top Movies And Games of 2015, According to Simon

 

MMBestOf

Happy New Year! As you may have noticed, we had a quiet second half of the year here at Awesome Friday, but that’s not to say we weren’t busy. It’s the opposite, actually; between work, and kids, and writing an entire bloody book in November, I’ve barely had time to indulge in my twin pleasures of games and movies, let alone write about them. Looking back over the year, there are a number of titles that I wish I’d had the chance to watch and play, but I also discovered I engaged with enough entertainment to put together a list.

So, here is it: my Best Of 2015.

Continue reading “The Top Movies And Games of 2015, According to Simon”