Happenings

Film Fight 2024: February

An excellent month with 6 movies

Self Reliance

American Fiction

Suncoast

The Iron Claw

The Zone Of Interest

Wicked Little Letters

The February Winner

A very tough one with three movies that could win most months, but I think it’s American Fiction for me; so much more than the trailers showed.

Film Fight 2024: January

Very late, but 10 whole films in the January fight…

Freelance

Priscilla

Next Goal Wins

The Holdovers

Society Of The Snow

Poor Things

Role Play

Lift

The End We Start From

The Kitchen

The January Winner

Some very good contenders but the winner is Priscilla, a beautiful and disturbing look at celebrity.

Film Fight 2023: Finale

It was a bit more of an uneven year. There were some great films, but fewer in contention than previous years. I also was quite busy so saw fewer films in the cinema

As per the caveat every year, Film Fight is done in a (non particularly serious) knock-out style: it can pick my favourite film of the year, but nothing else. (Also the very idea of a single favourite film is a bit silly.)

The honorable mentions: films that weren’t good enough to win their own month, but still worth seeing.

  • Aftersun
  • Cocaine Bear
  • Knock At The Cabin
  • Infinity Pool
  • John Wick: Chapter 4
  • Missing
  • Extraction 2
  • Asteroid City
  • Blackberry
  • How To Blow Up A Pipeline
  • They Cloned Tyrone
  • The Artifice Girl
  • Barbie
  • The Beanie Bubble
  • Joy Ride
  • The Blackening
  • Inside
  • Past Lives
  • No-One Will Save You
  • Talk To Me
  • Quiz Lady
  • The Killer
  • Dream Scenario
  • The Royal Hotel
  • Killers Of The Flower Moon
  • Godzilla Minus One

And now the monthly winners:

  • January: Tár
  • February: All Quiet On The Western Front
  • March: Women talking
  • April: Tetris
  • May: Beau is Afraid
  • June: Alice, Darling
  • July: Oppenheimer
  • August: Corner Office
  • September: Bottoms
  • October: The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
  • November: Anatomy Of A Fall
  • December: Maestro

From that, there’s a lot of good stuff to choose from and you’re not going to go wrong with any of it (except maybe Tetris).

We have great but very different courtroom dramas in both The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial and Anatomy Of A Fall, the former being antagonistic and the latter being about what gets mispoken in an argument.

Elsewhere, Tár and Maestro paint very different pictures of obsessive genius, and desire leading to conflict.

I think Bottoms is the first comedy to make it through in a while, but is well deserved - it made me laught more than I thought it would.

We have Women Talking and Alice, Darling showing the consequences of horrific abuse: quietly, then very loudly. Both have stayed with me.

As always, I’m a little torn as to what my favourite film was but I think I’m going to go with Tár - mixing an incredible central performance, with some directing that was stunning.

Film Fight 2023: December

Seven films this month, most of them in the last week or so.

Killers Of The Flower Moon

Godzilla Minus One

Napoleon

Silent Night

Maestro

Saltburn

Ferrari

The December Winner

The winner for December is Maestro - just brilliantly shot and performed throughout.

Film Fight 2023: November

Seven films this month…

Fingernails

Quiz Lady

The Killer

Dream Scenario

The Royal Hotel

Anatomy Of A Fall

The Marvels

The November Winner

I think The Royal Hotel would win most other months, but Anatomy Of A Fall is just a little better.