Here is your chance to get a little insight on which film or TV Show you may be keen on seeing or which film or TV Show you may want to miss altogether.
These are Reel Ree:views here, keeping it concrete and reel...and somewhat, unbiased...well as much as possible, that is!
Christopher Nolan is adamant to still have this film shown in the cinema in the next few months during this here pandemic. And although he is one of my favourite Directors to date, I'm not sure if he should really pursue this without delaying because I'm not sure how comfortable people will be in the cinema for the rest of the year let alone in a few months.
What I will say though, this looks amazing already. It's like, can you expect anything less from a Christopher Nolan film at this point? It looks like a guy has been chosen to have these abilities and he also enlists on the help of another guy in order to stop World War 3 from happening by using time against....the...plot? Huh? Using time from the future in order to stop the future be rewinding the present? Whatever it is, we will know at some point and if anything, it will leave us as baffled as Interstellar and Inception.
Directed by Christopher Nolan and starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, with Michael Caine
I kept hearing about this show, Gangs of London. "Have you seen Gangs of London?", "Are you watching Gangs of London?" And my reply was always a no. I feel I saw a trailer to it, but if I'm really honest, some UK TV shows are simply pants. And maybe it's because I live in London, I feel anything centred around London would be far-fetched or just silly. Or, some shows are just not for me!
Having seen Blue Story and how that film made me reflect on my life growing up, gangs and all that, and having watched Luther, a show I've really enjoyed in the past and also Top Boy, I decided to give this one a chance. The buzz around it was incredible and Gareth Edwards directed one of my favourite films, The Raid, so his directing and action had to come out in some way during this show, right? And it did. And I loved it!
Gangs of London is about a guy named Elliot Finch (Sope Dirisu) who has a past that haunts him. Undercover police officer, he is assigned to infiltrate the Wallace family and bring them to justice once he has gathered enough evidence of their crimes. However, when the head of the Wallace family Finn Wallace (Colm Meaney) dies, his family's business within the seedy underworld, their relationships with other business partners are passed down to his unpredictable heir, Sean Wallace (Joe Cole) who becomes an immediate target. No-one can be trusted and everyone wants a piece of the pie to become the Top Dog in London. It is up to Elliot to do whatever he can to bring the criminals to justice and not get caught while doing so OR get in too deep and lose himself within this crime family and the world that they live in.
This show grips you. It starts off a bit crazy with the intro, but as violent the intro is, sets you up for the entire season, because not only is the show violent and gritty, it's not necessarily gory persay, but it is ruthless in respect to how people are offed! People are mercilessly getting mowed down violently and in some cases these may have you squirming in your seat, but they do not shy away from it. A little graphic but not too much. If you have seen, The Raid, The Raid 2 and the violence in the action scenes, this IS definitely that but with less martial arts and maybe a bear glass to the face or jaw.
As for the action, I'll go into that a little, because this film tells a story with action peppered in the action does not take away from the story and does not seem forced. Albeit, there are moments where the violence may seem unnecessary, but the world these characters live in and the seedy underbelly of London, it is nothing to bake a cake just to place a pretty flower on top, because baked into that cake might be half of someone's head or a hand, served to you because you double-crossed them. The action is fast, very visual and in some cases eratic. Needless to say, the directing and direction is simply superb. Gareth Edwards knows how to tell a story through fight scenes and action. And with this, knows how to tell a story whilst not solely being dependent on the action.
Not to take away from The Raid and The Raid 2, but the raid was a simpler story and if I'm honest, for me at least, the action carried those movies every step of the way. Not necessarily a bad thing because the story came second place and it didn't affect the movie at all. Story-wise, Gangs of London comes first and the story is strong. Think Game of Thrones, different "families" fighting to sit on the Throne, which is London.
Without going into spoilers, the series ends in a way where although narratively, this was possibly the only way to go (up for debate) BUT, I NEED a sequel just like I need another one to The Raid 2. Maybe two, a prequel and sequel, I need something. I want to know what happens next, maybe 20 years before or 20 years later. I believe there are stories here to be told. Keep them to 10 episodes and maybe we could have an "anthology" sequel or generational sequel, something, as I do not believe the story is over.
It goes without saying though, if this is not your type of show, London Gangsters, gritty and hardcore action, this crime drama is not for you. Not quite Peaky Blinders as it is more hardcore and modern, but a definite must see.
It's nice to get movies like this. Movies where people can relate to the characters on a more personal level. Not to say I could, but I can understand why a lot of people like the main character would. I knew from the direction, the music and style of filming, this movie reminded me of another. Having looked up who wrote the movie, it then became clear. If you haven't seen Moonlight you should. An excellent movie and having now seen these two movies, I see the similarities. Maybe they were going for a similar thing, but I don't believe this one quite hit the mark like how Moonlight did and for me, that was because of the ending. I'll explain.
The film is about a young man named Jahkor (Ashton Sanders) who is now expected to serve life in prison for the murder of another man, Malcolm (Stephen Barrington) and his wife. Once in prison, Jahkor reflects on his circumstances, his upbringing, his life at home, his friends TQ (Isaiah John), Lamark (Christopher Meyer) or the people around him Big Stunna (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and JD (Jeffrey Wright). Through some self discovery told through flashbacks, we find out where Jahkor wanted to go in life, the trauma he has endored and the choices he made which led him to where he is.
This movie is intimate. It's lovely but heartbreaking. It's shocking but it is personal. The story is told by way of narration by Ashton's character, Jahkor. The film does a series of jumps backwards and forwards through time as flashbacks to help put the story together. However, although this was great, I felt a situation in the movie flashed by soo quickly, that I didn't understand what was going on and why the next scene was happening. Upon re-watching, it is marginally made clear, but I felt it could have been handled better because it is a blink and you'll miss it situation, leading to a scene which at first doesn't make any sense.
Other than that, I felt the movie did a great job explaining life's cycle and a corrupted system that doesn't help black men living in specific areas. The racism, the lack of jobs, the hood life which is constantly thrusted in your face daily in which seems inescapable. Even when you are doing well for yourself, sometimes you cannot move out of the hood. I felt this movie, but I also felt that it just wasn't strong enough. I felt it wasn't as impactful as Moonlight was as that was a powerful film, it even won awards. And if you are paying attention, Sanders is also in that movie too. It was the delivery of the last few scenes which led to confusion and could possibly be the reason (for me anyway) why this movie did not stick the landing. Jeffrey Wright and Ashton Sanders are powerful and excellent. Ashton with not many words, acts a lot with his face and what he doesn't say. The actor who plays his mum, Kelly Jenrette, was also good along with Yahya, who seems to be on a roll in every role creating a name for himself as and doing very well, a superb actor.
There are some more things I could say about this movie, but it would give away some of the story beats leading us into spoiler territory, so it is best I be quiet. Some nice quotes too. What I will say though, this film can be thought provoking, so if anyone who watches this movie and feel they are in a similar situation as Jahkor, I hope this movie enlightens you and pushes you to also do more or do better.
I didn't think we were going to get much trailers for films recently until things started to cool down. Funnily enough, this movie is being released 'on demand' meaning Rakuten or something like that, which makes me ask, "is this them testing the waters for new films recently for 'on demand'?, do they not have much faith in the movie? or was this always the plan? Regardless I really like the look of this movie.
This movi s comes across to me about a man struggling with his past and accepting his destiny, maybe, in becoming a firefighter like his father. It seems like there are some unresolved issues with the loss of his father and h find other creative and no creative ways to deal with it, but in the end needs to push forward and love life along with dealing with his loss. I could be very wrong and maybe he want to be a tattoo artist and actually ultimately ends up doing it, but I don't get that at all from the trailer. It seems like it would be sad in places, enlightening fun and comedic in places just how life can be some times. I'd definitely watch this if I can get it some how. Of we do go back to some sort of normality soon, maybe I can see it in a cinema.
Directed by Judd Apatow and starring Pete Davidson, Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, Bel Powley, Maude Apatow, Steve Buscemi
What can I say about the animated series 'The Clone Wars'? Well, I'll say that it was something I was never interested in. It came out at a time where, although Star Wars is for children and adults alike, I thought "why am I going to watch a cartoon series of Star Wars when I have the films". If I'm honest, I just didn't quite get it. But I have a love for Star Wars and the overall story of it all. While a lot cannot tell the difference between a Star Wars from a Star Trek or know if a Klingon choice of weapon is a Lightsabre, this cartoon does a great deal to flesh out in detail what Star Wars is ALL ABOUT and most importantly, how a young Anakin Skywalker becomes one of the most notorious and world famous characters in movie history and the world.
Before I get into all of that though. A good few years back, I got onto 'The Clone Wars' after hearing about it on podcasts such as 'Jedi Council' among other mediums and I started immediately on where we were at the time. I believe it was Mid-Season 3 and I watched as much as I could from that point onwards until the last season, season 6. This was around the time Disney bought Lucasfilm and 'The Clone Wars' was finished. Although they (the creators), were not done with the story of these characters I had began to like, and now even moreso, separate from the movies. But Dave Filoni got a chance to finish it off and he came back with Season 7 this year for DisneyPlus and I had started that too, got 4-6 episodes in and then stopped and decided, l"me start from season 1, since I never saw it". What's the point, right? Well, I just wanted to be a completionist when it came to this. I wanted to know about Mandelore and Ahsoka etc. However, this does not mean I watched the separate Clone Wars movie because I heard it was trash and I simply wasn't about to get into that. Especially as I was told you can watch from season 1, nevermind the Clone Wars movie. Not to be confused with 'Attack of the Clones'.
Like I guessed, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is or should I say started off for children. I mean for all intents and purposes, it is a children's show, but there are some dark elements and they do not at all shy away from the aspect of war, I mean, it's called Star Wars, right? Though there is no blood and no gruesome deaths on screen, they manage to walk a fine line to cater for children. The other side of that line is catering for the fans, adults and the lore of the star wars world in which they do an amazing job. From season to season, not only do they get stronger, but the lore gets richer, deeper and graphically, the graphics and animation gets better as well. Where I binged it from season 1 to 7, you gradually see small differences with each season and in some cases, where they applied more details because it needed it and less in other places. However, season 7 looks amazing!!!
Season 1 to season 2 is about learning where we are in the Skywalker story. Anakin is under the tutelage of Ben Kenobi but to help curve his duties as a Padawan to Ben, he has also been given a Padawan in Ahsoka, a younger and eager Force user. She is meant to ground Anakin as Anakin is hot headed and always angry. But as the show goes on, you see she can be a little annoying and that really helps the story overall especially with her growth. You get to see the camaraderie between Anakin and Ben and although how Anakin can be hard headed and brash, he is also very exceptional as a Jedi Master, though the council doesn't appoint him as one.
You get to experience what it is like through the eyes of the clones themselves. Each clone has a number, but every clone has a personality in which later on through the series, they are given names.
The Clone Wars is not just about the heroes though, a lot of the villains are there too. Count Doku, General Grievous and even Darth Maul. The latter, a real surprise and there is also a story arc that helps clear up how we get from a man severed in half to showing up in the movie Star Wars: A Solo Story. The show also introduces other characters such as Boba Fett, Cad Bane among other Bounty Hunters, space pirates like Hondo and other Siths, such as Asajj Ventress. You also get to see that there are many many other Jedi' and some even speak and have stories of their own. Some are really cool and it would have been nice to see them in the movies.
Star Wars though, has mainly been about the fight between good and evil. The lightside and the darkside. Doing the right thing and doing the wrong thing. War. Politics. War profiteering. In this show, you get to see every cog in the wheel of the grand plan of the Sith rising and destroying the Jedi to rule the galaxy with 1 person potentially being the foil to bring balance. The Clone Wars digs deep into all of this and helps you to understand how the shift to the darkside was not overnight. The films are around 2 hours and although Anakin is much older in Revenge of the Sith, you don't really get a duration of how long the Clone Wars were. You witness the grooming. You see the parts coming together and what is happening behind closed doors with the Senate, the Republic and the separatists. They do a great job in weaving the story in, whilst trying to make you feel engaged and involved with the characters such as Padame and Setine.
Seasons 5 - 6 is where they do a lot of explaining rules of the Force, the Jedi, rules of other factions such as Mandilore for the Mandelorians. Not only why Darth Maul is alive but how, why and what his goal is. A lot of characters story arcs and some of them are simply great. For example, one of my favourite characters was, Asajj Ventress, a student of Count Doku. She has never been seen in the films, just like Ahsoka, but she had an interesting story arc and she was a great character towards the end when we last see her. The end of Season 5 also teared me up a little with how a specific and important character was treated. You grow to love these characters and recognise the familiar ones. For example, you can tell the difference between the clones and one of the plots even involved the chip for 'Order 66' and it left you wondering how it was going to be handled due to knowing how everything goes down in Revenge the Sith.
All in all, I could not recommend this show enough. This show, not only does it successfully bridge the gap between Star Wars: Clone Wars and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, it expands the universe. It's not just about Jedi and Sith, Mandalorians are apart of this as they have their own separate thing going on which is nothing to do with the separatists war with the republic. Because the series is set in the past before the events of Episode 4 - 9 at points, you see other notable characters when they were younger like 'Admiral "It's A Trap!" Akbar or how certain characters feel towards the Jedi and why they would side with the separatists. Everything is fully fleshed out and there is connectivity between the Skywalker Saga, the Solo movie, The Mandalorian TV show on DisneyPlus, Star Wars: Rebels (another Cartoon that came out when The Clone Wars series ended, initially) and even the computer game Star Wars: The Fallen Jedi (or maybe moreso, that game to the movies and cartoons).
Although there are some slow episode or episodes that may be regarded as fillers, it does enough to keep you entertained as the Lightsabre fights are pretty much the best in the entirety of the Star Wars franchise, they are really really good. The cinematography is phenomenal for a cartoon and in some cases, there are a few long tracking shots and I love tracking shots. Dave Filoni along with Jon Favereu are more or less in charge of 'The Mandelorian' series a with a season 2 out soon. It would be a good idea to get onto this first before watching that and maybe even Star Wars: Rebels to get an understanding of what a Mandelorian' is, because it isn't just another Boba Fett.
If you can't do the 7 seasons of 25min episodes (it's really easy), you might be able to search online for episodes to watch for the narrative follow. But me, I'd say, just watch the entire thing. You'll get invested that way.
