SPIDER-MAN (2002)

Featuring: Tobey Maguire; Kirsten Dunst; Willem Dafoe

Director: Sam Raimi

Although Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) didn't receive any Oscar nominations, it did win big at this year's Teen Choice Awards by winning no less that three major categories: Choice Summer Movie; Choice Summer Movie Star: Male (Tom Holland) and Choice Summer Movie Star: Female (Zendaya). May be not quite as prestigious as an Oscar but then again, taken its target audience, pretty good. And its performance at the box office is not too shabby either with way over $800M so far. But let us not get ahead of ourselves and start at the beginning - in 2002 to be precise.

The 'original' Sam Raimi Spider-Man tells the story of young nerdy-boy, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire)  who got bitten by a genetically modified (and not, mind you, radio-active as in the comic books) spider. Soon he realizes that he acquired spider-like abilities that gave him super strength and agility which, after a personal tragic incident, he starts to use in oder to fight crime.

At the time the Spider-Man movie did extremely well, considering that it had to compete with the likes of Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter. And even though all of these were aimed at basically the same audience, the former still held it's own and came in as the third highest grossing film of 2002. But all that aside; it was (and still is) a very good movie. Tobey Maguire fits perfectly in the roll of nerd-turns-superhero - much like the late great Christopher Reeve managed to do with Clark Kent/Superman a few decades ago. And the use of Willem Dafoe as the villainous Norman Osborn/Green Goblin was a stroke of genius on the part of director Raimi.

For my collection I give the first Spider-Man movie 3 out of 5 stars.

Trailer link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYMMOjBUPMM

Tobey Maguire as the 'original' Spider-Man'

 

BLADE RUNNER 2049 (2017)

Featuring: Harrison Ford; Ryan Gossling; Jared Leto

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Nominated for five and winner of two Oscars, this movie is the sequel to the original 1982 film. (For a review of the latter check out the post of 12 October 2016.) It received awards for best achievement in Cinematography and Visual Effects at this year's ceremony. And if you watch the movie you will understand why. The visual effects are simply mind-blowing.

Ryan Gossling is Officer 'K', a young blade runner tasked with disposing of rogue worker androids, or 'replicants' as they are known in his world. But when he uncovers a secret that can destroy the lucrative business of manufacturing these 'machines', he becomes a target himself. And in an effort to survive, he goes in search of the original Blade Runner, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) who disappeared thirty years before and who he believes has the answers he seeks.

You have to buy into the world of the blade runner to make any sense of the story. Fortunately these days is is a lot easier than what it was way back in the 1980's. With the huge advance of technology in general since those days the notion of a world on the brink of total ecological collapse and under the control of some evil mastermind has become a lot less outrageous. As a matter of fact it has become quite conceivable for our world to move in the direction as depicted in movies like this. And that is scary...

I rate it 3 out of 5 stars.

Trailer link:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCcx85zbxz4

The world of Blade Runner

DUNKIRK (2017)

Featuring: Fionn Whitehead; Kenneth Branagh; Mark Rylance

Director: Christopher Nolan

In the beginning of WWII the German forces advanced so swiftly across Europe that it caught the Allies totally off guard. So much so that by mid 1940 some four hundred thousand British troops found themselves trapped on the beaches of the French holiday town of Dunkerque (Dunkirk). On the one hand this movie attempts to show what it must have been like to be pinned down like that. On the other hand it celebrates man's undying resolve to overcome seemingly overwhelming odds.

Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) is a young British soldier that, like the thousands of others around him, desperately tries to survive day by day, moment by moment while German fighter planes mercilessly mow them down like fish in a barrel. Their only defense is a few Spitfires bravely, but hopelessly outnumbered, attempting to keep the enemy's Messerschmidts at bay. Meanwhile across the English Channel a massive rescue operation, involving almost a thousand seagoing vessels of all kinds and descriptions, is underway in order to evacuate the unfortunate men back to England.

Although this is yet another war film of epic proportions, I do not think it will go down in the movie annals as being one of the greats. Make no mistake, technically it is very good but, emotionally it is not very memorable. It was a hoot though seeing an appearance by erstwhile One Direction-er, Harry Styles.

Still I rate it a respectable 3 out of 5 stars.

Trailer link:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-eMt3SrfFU

Footage from the movie of the men on the beach waiting to be rescued

 Actual archive footage of the same event

This blog has always been (and still is) about the universally shared love for movies - never politicking. However, in recent years the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences came in for a lot of criticism for being too much of an 'old white boys club'. So I suppose this year's Oscars ceremony was dressed up and presented in such a way that it was all about women and minorities. And as always is was spectacular. It is therefor somewhat ironic that the majority of category winners were old(sh) white men!

But what I really appreciated about this year's Academy Awards was the fact that it was not dominated by one or two 'big' films as was the case on so many occasions the past few years. There was a good spread: from real Hollywood blockbusters made with mammoth budgets like Dunkirk to small independent little gems costing a mere pittance (by Hollywood standards that is) to make like Call Me By Your Name. (I hope to review both of these in the near future.)

So, let's hope that this is the trend for future Oscar Awards even if it wasn't the intended result of all the political grandstanding that accompanied the Academy's 90th Award Ceremony.

 2018 host Jimmy Kemmel

BABY DRIVER (2017)

Featuring: Ansel Elgort; Kevin Spacey; Jamie Foxx

Director: Edgar Wright

As we enter Oscar season I thought of looking at some nominated films. This one got three nominations even though it was generally scoffed at by critics. On the other hand, this Fast-And-Furious wannabe was quite well received by audiences and score a respectable 7.7/10 rating on IMDb.

Young Miles, who everyone knows only as 'Baby' (Ansel Elgort), reluctantly works as a getaway driver for bank-robber mastermind, Doc (Kevin Spacey). Although he enjoys the 'driving' bit - something he is very good at - he hates the rest of it and wants out. However, the boss-man coerces him into one last job. But then everything goes wrong and he is forced to go on the run while fighting for his own life as well as all of those who he loves.

It is beyond me how this hybrid Pulp Fiction - Bonny And Clyde mess of a movie managed to get itself nominated and I can't help wondering what this world is coming to. However, that is just my opinion and, to be fair, I do not think I am part of the target audience. So I recommend you watch the movie yourself and make up your own mind.

That being said I cannot give it more that 2 out of 5 stars.

Trailer link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw3F9lfA21Y

Director Edgar Wright and some of the cast...