Author: Daniel Denman-Stone

Categories
Entertainment Reviews

Academy Awards 2024 Clean-Up and Final Predictions

Past Lives

I did get around to watching this film at my go-to independent cinema in London and I’m glad that I did. The story of two South Korean friends, going from childhood friends to online chatmates (anyone remember Skype?) to eventually getting a chance to reunite in person twenty years later was very interesting to experience, especially with the captivating opening shot acting as an “in media res” to start things off. It’s not the most action-packed film, but a solid watch all things considered. I feel like it’s a bit safe to be considered for Best Picture, but a notable nomination for international cinema.

Oppenheimer

Last but certainly not least, my local cinema brought back Oppenheimer amongst all the other BAFTA winners and Oscar nominees, so I took an afternoon to watch it, which I don’t regret at all. This is probably Christopher Nolan’s greatest film and it deserves the nomination wholeheartedly. Everything between the visuals, effects, scene-setting, and narrative is brilliant.

Cillian Murphy does a fantastic job as does Robert Downey Jr.’s performance as Lewis Strauss. The structure was a little hard to follow at first and while the film does need to cover a lot, the … Read More

Categories
Entertainment Reviews

The Academy Awards Reviews and Predictions for 2024

Ah, it’s my favourite time of the year again, the Oscars season! With my new local cinema membership, I hope to catch up on the films nominated for the prestigious Best Picture award. I will admit, being located in the UK, the British equivalent of the BAFTAs is also on my radar, but my heart will always go to the Dolby Theatre in sunny Hollywood, California. Without further ado, here are my reviews, upcoming screenings and predictions for the 2024 Academy Awards!

American Fiction

I haven’t seen this yet, so expect a review to be coming very soon! I did however catch a trailer before watching Maestro at the cinema, and I was very interested in what the story has to tell in the film. The film focuses on a struggling novelist who is frustrated at the Black entertainment industry that profits from tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, he writes an equally outlandish book under a penname which soon becomes a breakout hit, pushing him into the madness that he tries to critique. Provoking, yes, with probably an equal amount of comedy in the situation that this educated writer has found himself settled in.

Quick review: fantastic … Read More

Categories
Entertainment Reviews

A Bittersweet Profile with Tasty Notes: “Wonka” Review

When it comes to Willy Wonka, no one was asking for a prequel, especially after the madness that was Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Who could blame them? Considering that Gene Wilder’s original performance of Rohl Dahl’s candyman and Chocolatier Willy Wonka cannot be topped, this film wasn’t too high on anyone’s list. Still, here we are with Warner Bros. new film, Wonka, starring Timothée Chalamet as the starring character in his youth, about to open his first sweets shop. Once you get through the hard shell, you do see the sweet, gooey centre of something really special.

Wonka is simply described as the story of Willy Wonka’s beginnings, wanting to break into the Gallerie Gourmet with nothing but a handful of sovereigns and a hatful of dreams. Wonka prides himself in the appearance of both a magician and a chocolatier, fusing them to create marvellous scenes and spectacles like chocolates that can make you fly or even bring back memories or feelings of happy times in one’s life. With the assistance of a young girl named Noodle and a rag-tag band of misfits that were tricked into servitude like Wonka, relying on the generosity of others, … Read More

Categories
Entertainment

CONTINUE?: Impressions on “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off”

The following article contains spoilers for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.

“Scott Pilgrim doesn’t need a sequel!”

“We want a Scott Pilgrim animated series! Why is it anime?”

“Oh goodness, why Netflix?!”

All perfectly good responses to when a press release revealed that an adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim would be getting a new, anime/animated series on our streaming screens this year. Frankly, our guts were telling us what road we were going down but did we listen? No. We were blinded by flashy, Japanese-inspired animated trailers and Mortal Kombat references to know what “takes off” really meant. But let me give my credit as a certified Scottaholic before getting into the anime.

Like any good fan, I did start with the graphic novels, absolutely loving the series by the time “Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together,” the fourth volume in Scott’s story. The gaming humour mixed with the action/fantasy was something I didn’t want to put down and following Ramona’s seven evil exes was something I did want to see the conclusion to after everything the couple had gone through. Back when bookstores were still a thing, I had “Scott Pilgrim’s Finest … Read More

Categories
Entertainment Reviews

I Just Saw You In My Dream, Is That Weird?: “Dream Scenario” Review

Dreams are funny little things that our minds play with when the rest of our body is resting or asleep. For some, they might be working over the things that are on their mind during the day. Others, it might be a struggle to face your fears in a place where you aren’t physically in danger. But what if there was someone watching you in your dreams? A24’s Dream Scenario tackles this exact thought with Nicholas Cage being the “man of your dreams” in this dark comedy of limitless possibilities.

Paul Matthews, Cage’s character and the protagonist of this film, is an unremarkable professor who desperately wants his work to be appreciated. For some inexplicable reason, people start seeing Paul’s likeness in their dreams while they are asleep. The news reaches Paul in the waking world and he instantly becomes a viral, Internet-famous celebrity which for Paul is a dream come true to have his own talents recognised in his field of study. Soon, the likeness of Paul in the dreams becomes less of a passive observer and more of a nightmare to his audience of millions, which starts to create obstacles for the real Paul and his family.

Generally, … Read More

Categories
Entertainment

Getting Back In Sync: “Trolls: Band Together” Review

The U.S. Poster for "Trolls: Band Together" with Poppy and Viva.
The U.S. Poster for "Trolls: Band Together" with Poppy and Viva.

I’ll start by saying that I’ve only seen one Trolls movie before this screening of the third movie in the series. With Trolls, it seemed like a fairly inoffensive, kid-friendly jukebox musical, even if they did butcher Gorillaz’ “Clint Eastwood” for one scene. Of course, who didn’t hear “Can’t Stop the Feeling” on the radio when the movie was first released in cinemas?

With the second movie, Trolls: World Tour, the release around 2020 says all that it needs to about why I couldn’t get to the cinema to see it and with home releases, my time was split away from watching another sequel in a kids’ franchise. So, why Band Together? Well, with this movie being the catalyst of *NYSNC getting back together to record new music this year, I figured I’d see how it is for a fun, family-friendly cinema experience. Boy bands bring back a certain nostalgia from my childhood that isn’t easy to ignore.

Trolls: Band Together takes place after the events of the first two movies with a Bergen wedding between Gristle and Bridget, demonstrating the peace between the Bergens and the Trolls. However, the movie focuses more on Branch, the down-to-earth Troll, and … Read More