Still quite late, but there are six films for this month.

First up, Free Fire is the latest from one of my favourite British directors, Ben Wheatley. An arms deal gone wrong turns into a chaotic (for good and ill) and long-running gun fight. As we’d expect from Wheatley, the casting and dialogue is fun, and the film itself is well-structured and tense. It can be hard to follow some of the action spatially, but not on the same scale as some of the messier big action films. Worth seeing. (See my Free Fire Twitter review)

Joe Swanberg stays very much in his wheel house for Win It All, which is no bad thing. We get a grounded, naturalistic indie film with some light comedy. Jake Johnson is great as the loveably fuck-up of a lead. Good fun. (See my Win It All Twitter review)

The Handmaiden is a gorgeous piece of cinema by Chan-Wook Park (best known for revenge thriller, Oldboy). The plotting and structure here is exceptional, but I think I’d like to see the non-extended edition. This lengthier cut was overlong, and felt like it could’ve been much better with a little trimming. Worth seeing for the visuals alone. (See my The Handmaiden Twitter review)

Another Netflix indie film, Tramps is decent enough but entirely predictable. A drop-off goes wrong, leaving a young man chasing after what he has lost. It all works well enough, and moves forward at a decent pace. There’s nothing really bad to say about it, but nothing amazing either. Fairly pleasant. (See my Tramps Twitter review)

Another look at modern warfare comes in the form of Sand Castle. Nicholas Hoult leads the cast as a soldier trying to get away from the war, but gets drawn into the plight of the innocent villagers he meets. There’s nothing new here plot-wise, but everything is well done. We see the crushing tensions put on Hoult, in the background of a beautifully shot film. Very solid. (See my Sand Castle Twitter review)

Finally, The Belko Experiment isn’t here to do anything original. It’s essentially Battle Royale set in a remote office building. There is no deep message here. All of that said, what it does to well is enjoyable, messy, funny, over-the-top action. Silly and gory. Stupid but entertaining. Enjoyable. (See my The Belko Experiment Twitter review)

The winner for April is Free Fire, because Ben Wheatley quickly crafts a tense situation, with characters we want to see die or survive, and brings just enough levity to make it enjoyable.

Boosted by Netflix putting out a heap of Original films, there are seven titles in the fight for March. That’s part of why I’m so far behind. Onwards…

First up, Logan is the X-Men film we’ve wanted for quite some time: Wolverine delivering some fairly brutal violence, tempered only by the last vestiges of his conscience. The film isn’t just dumb action, though. It’s a reasonable look at frailty and the effects of age. It just happens to also be a superhero film that thinks it’s also a Western. The last act is a little slow, but on the whole this is a very solid bigger budget movie. Watch. (See my Logan Twitter review)

Burning Sands looks at hazing in college fraternities. Rather than the usual silly comedy, we get to see the more violent extremes and, in this case, through the lens of a Black university pledgee. At times, it finds moments of humour in the pledgee’s camraderie, but more often we see cost these dangerous practices have on young men. Difficult, but engaging. Worth watching. (See my Burning Sands Twitter review)

Next up, Elle is… well, challenging. Isabelle Huppert’s central performance is stunning, and without the film would likely fall apart. The rest of the material is controversial and often hard to watch, dealing pointedly with subjects that are usually dealt with differently. Almost two months on, and I can’t honestly say I enjoyed it as a whole but it certainly made an impression. (See my Elle Twitter review)

Get Out is that rarest of horror films: a masterpiece that doesn’t use “horror” as an excuse. The direction and performances are as tight as anything you’ll see. Nearly every shot, every line, is aimed with purpose; that which seems throw-away, with hindsight, carries weight. There are clear messages that enhance, not hinder, the action. This is a film that is gripping and great throughout. I’m remaining somewhat vague because you deserve to see this film fresh, because there’s an awful lot to see here. An absolute classic. (See my Get Out Twitter review)

Deidra And Laney Rob A Train is one of Netflix’s Sundance picks, so hopes are high. We pretty much get what we see on the tin: two sisters decide, for their family’s survival, that they need to start robbing trains. Cue light-hearted mishaps and drama, as things don’t quite go their way. It’s a little incoherent and doesn’t carry much substance, but the film is a reasonable enough way to pass a few hours. Watchable. (See my Deidra And Laney Rob A Train Twitter review)

Madalyn Murray O’Hair is the title character in The Most Hated Woman In America, based on the real life of an atheist fighting for separation of church and state in the US. The film covers a large period of her life, but centres on her kidnapping. Melissa Leo is fantastic as the lead, and the film is fairly tense at times, but pacing is a real issue. Some moments are rushed, others far too long. Watchable. (See my The Most Hated Woman In America Twitter review)

Finally The Discovery poses an interesting question: a scientist discovers definitive proof of an afterlife (the form of which is unknown). What happens next? The film is well-paced and thoughtful, exploring its ideas reasonably. The leads (Robert Redford, Jason Segel, Rooney Mara) are turn in solid performances. The end becomes laden in exposition, but that’s a minor bump on the road. Definitely see this film. (See my The Discovery Twitter review)

The winner for March is Get Out, by getting everything right at almost every level. A serious contender for film of the year.

February was, as always, a busy month, with the remainder of the Oscar hopefuls getting a release in the UK. That means there are 8 films in this month’s fight.

First up, The Lego Batman Movie tries to take one of the funnier side characters from The Lego Movie and see if he works on his own. While a few jokes get run into the ground, it mostly works. It’s pretty much what you’d expect: enjoyable, silly, fun, with a take on Batman that revels in all of the character’s ridiculous history. Worth seeing, with some decent jokes for older viewers. (See my The Lego Batman Movie Twitter review)

Fences sees Denzel Washington direct himself and Viola Davis in an adaptation of a play about the struggles of an African-American family. The lead performances are excellent, rightly gaining Oscar nominations (and a win for Davis) for their well-delivered, wordy, weightiness. While the film feels very much like the stage adaptation that it is, that never detracts: the tension rises to keep the audience captivated throughout. Intense, and gripping. (See my Fences Twitter review)

After the over-the-top silly action of the original, John Wick: Chapter 2 is exactly what we wanted: a story crafted around fantastic action set-pieces, in the weird assassin ridden world to which we’ve been introduced. The opening set-up is overlong, but you’ll quickly forget that as we see sequences like the silent subway gun battle. Dumb, but fun. (See my John Wick: Chapter 2 Twitter review)

Though I saw it before the ceremony, Moonlight, we now know, won the Best Film Oscar this year, so there’s some pressure on the movie. It starts strongly, following a young, poor, African-American boy struggle with a drug-addict mother, and finding a surrogate father. As the film jumps to various point in the lead’s life, we see him struggle to accept himself in circumstances we don’t often see on film. It’s a good character study, with powerful moments throughout, but is perhaps a little muted and slow in places. Worth seeing. (See my Moonlight Twitter review)

The Founder is the fairly straight-forward telling of how, thanks to one man’s vision and greed, McDonalds went from a single restaurant to the behemoth it is today. Michael Keaton puts in a fantastic lead performance, with a solid cast around him. The story is well-told, but not spectacular. Decent. (See my The Founder Twitter review)

Netflix are seriously upping their Original movies game with several coming out every month that are of note: I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore is no different. It’s a strange indie film: a mix of oddball characters dealing with some serious events (and some not-so-serious), filled with dark humour and bloody violence. Well-paced, well-shot, and a lot of fun. Definitely worth seeing. (See my I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore Twitter review)

Imperial Dreams is the heart-breaking story of a young father struggling to escape his upbringing and poverty, while making sure his young son is okay. At times devastating, the film (and John Boyega’s performance) does a fantastic job of making you feel the awful pressure on the lead. Great. (See my Imperial Dreams Twitter review)

Finally, A Cure For Wellness is horror schlock. It’s overlong, and ridden with as many cliches as they could cram in. That said, it works reasonably well: by always going over-the-top, we can’t do anything but go along with the characters as they do increasingly bizarre things in almost surreal circumstances. Okay. (See my A Cure For Wellness Twitter review)

The winner for February is Fences, as nothing else comes close to the dramatic tension in the scenes of family struggle in this movie.

Another year, and a new Film Fight. As usual, January is a busy month with seven films in the fight.

First up, Assassin’s Creed is one of the greatest films based on a video game ever created… which is to say it’s terrible. The lead performances are reasonable enough, but almost everything else falls flat. The plot is barely coherent, which is surprising given how much exposition there is in the dialogue. The action is boring, and the secondary characters aren’t remotely interesting. A bad story told poorly. (See my Assassin’s Creed Twitter review)

Martin Scorsese has been thinking about making Silence for decades, so it comes with weighty expectations. Adam Driver and Andrew Garfield are excellent as the Jesuit priests send to a hostile Japan to find their old mentor. The film looks incredible throughout, setting the mood as cold and isolated, emphasising the priest’s loneliness and tortured mindset. The last act is excellent but might not be worth the long, slow grind to get there; the film feels every bit as long as its lengthy runtime would indicate. Okay. (See my Silence Twitter review)

Ben Affleck directed films have been worth seeing but his latest, Live By Night, is not. A gangster story with cliched characters, the film never manages to make us care about the lead. The pacing is slow, the writing is all exposition, and, honestly, it’s more than a little dull. Avoid. (See my Live By Night Twitter review)

We’ve seen dozens of takes on the assassination of JFK but few, if any, follow the first lady the way that Jackie does. This is a performance movie: living and dying by Natalie Portman’s absolutely stunning portrayal. We clearly see her mood shift from grief, to pride, to uncertainty and beyond. While the pacing becomes listless in the back half, the performances from Portman and supporting cast never waver. Very good. (See my Jackie Twitter review)

We’re a few days after the Oscars, for which Manchester By Sea picked up a few nominations. Notably, Casey Affleck won for Best Actor. Per my original review tweet, I thought the performances on the whole were strong, Affleck was great at times and somewhat unconvincing at others. More importantly than all that, the film sets a great mood: we see a small fishing town, its people, and their hardships, focussed through the death of someone everyone knows and respects. The editing jumps back and forth between the present and the devastating past, never flinching from another tough reveal. Not perfect, but a very solid movie. (See my Manchester By Sea Twitter review)

Netflix start the new year with a new original in the form of iBoy: a slightly comic-book story about a kid who gains the ability to control technology after witnessing a horrible crime. It’s decent enough but feels like a rushed pilot for a TV show: I’d watch more but it seems like a lot of ideas were thrown out at once to see what worked. Decent. (See my iBoy Twitter review)

Finally, T2: Trainspotting could’ve been that worst of things: a sequel that never sees past the original. Not here. It doesn’t ignore the past, but instead makes it a theme: can we ever go back? How powerful are nostalgia and memory in drawing us back to destructive habits and relationships? The tone is different but the characters are the same… but a little older and more cynical. It never hits the hyperreal highs of the original, but neither should it. That was for the young, this is for the middle-aged. Fun, dark, and decent.(See my T2 Trainspotting Twitter review)

The winner for January is Manchester By Sea, for its overall package of solid acting, modern editing, and atmospheric cinematography.

A mostly very late Film Fight 2016 comes to an end in time. As per my permanent caveat, Film Fight is done in a knock-out style: it’ll let me select my favourite film of the year, but with no guarantees about second place.

First, the honourable mentions. Films that didn’t win their month but were good enough:

• The Hateful Eight
• The Revenant
• Creed
• Spotlight
• Trumbo
• Deadpool
• Anomalisa
• 10 Cloverfield Lane
• Zootropolis
• Midnight Special
• Captain America: Civil War
• Everybody Wants Some
• Star Trek Beyond
• Rebirth
• Arq
• Swiss Army Man
• Mascots
• Nocturnal Animals
• Before The Flood
• Sully: Miracle on the Hudson
• Star Wars: Rogue One

And now the monthly winners:

• January: Room
• February: Hail, Caesar!
• March: High-Rise
• April: Miles Ahead
• May: Green Room
• June: The Nice Guys
• July: Born To Be Blue
• August: Jason Bourne
• September: The Girl With All The Gifts
• October: War on Everyone
• November: Arrival
• December: Bleed For This

Looking at the winners, most deserve a place with only a few getting very lucky (Jason Bourne).

Two biopic films about Jazz musicians (Miles Ahead and Born To Be Blue) inexplicably got wins, and both deservedly so. They each deal with addiction and fame in interestingly different ways. Worth seeing.

The Girl With All The Gifts is worthy of a special mention: I didn’t know what to expect and what I got was marvellous. Incredible world-building, decent action, good performances, brutal moments, and dark humour. If you missed it, it’s worth finding a copy when it comes out for a home release next month.

In Green Room we got an exciting and well-written thriller, with some unexpectedly brutal moments and Patrick Stewart playing very against type. In Room we see a horrific situation played out through the eyes of an innocent child, and then we get so much more. Arrival plays with structure in strange ways, revealing a bittersweet and heartbreaking story.

As always, it’s tough to pick a winner, especially between Room and Arrival, but I think the best film (though not the easiest watch) is Room. Brie Larson absolutely deserves her Oscar for a fantastic and nuanced performance, helping bring out a surprisingly good performance in her child actor counterpart, Jacob Tremblay. Room is horrific and beautiful, and manages to do far more than the premise would seem to allow. A worthy winner.