Films I've seen of late (Aug '18)

#50 Hotel Artemis (2018)
Jodie Foster is excellent in this comedy thriller set in a future riot-torn Los Angeles overrun by greedy corporations and criminal gangs. The titular hotel is a safehouse-cum-hospital for criminals, who only get seen if they've paid their fees and promise not to break the rules. Unsurprisingly, things go wrong when the people start to disobey these rules. I'm not a fan of the futuristic setting (which seems unneccessary and a bti silly), but Foster's performance alone is worth watching it for.
(8/10)

#51 Teen Titans Go To The Movies (2018)
I've only ever heard of Teen Titans Go thanks to my kids, and what an excellent show it is (with plenty of in-jokes for the adults). Whilst the TV episodes are crammed full of rapid fire humour, this movie outing feels a bit slower and maybe it's a bit of a stretch to put the Titans in a 90-minute feature. Even so, this is still worth a watch with its fair share of the aforementioned adult-pleasing jokes and lots of self-referencing comedy which does a good job of poking fun at DC stuff (mainly). My kids enjoyed it too!
(8/10)

#52 Justice League (2017)
Having seen this first time around, I was surprised how much I liked watching it again. I think it was good to watch it free of all the negativity that surrounded the film when it was out in cinemas. It's actually a decent superhero film with a good dose of laughs, action and – dare I say – emotion. I hope DC are able to build on this for a follow up that good deeper into the characters.
(8/10)

#53 Victoria and Abdul (2017)
Dame Judi Dench plays Queen Victoria again (10 years after her performance in Mrs Brown), this time telling the story of her Indian servant-turned-Munshi (teacher) who was with her during the final years of her life and who faced heavy opposition from the royal household. Dench is typically spellbinding as the obstinate monarch while her co-star (Ali Fazal) is no slouch in her presence, portaying Abdul's innocence, joyfulness and pride with ease. A moving and poingant true story.
(8/10)

#54 How it Ends (2018)
Apocalyptic disaster movie that starts well but loses its way in the third act, neither explaining how things actually end or giving a satisfactory conclusion.
(5/10)

#55 This is the End (2013)
A raucous comedy about a gang of celebrities in Hollywood trying to survive the biblical apocalypse. Playing caracatures of themselves, it's somewhat self indulgent but does a good job of lampooning LA life with some truly laugh out loud / gross moments.
(7/10)

#56 Extinction (2018)
Michael Peña plays a man haunted by dreams of an alien invasion, only to find them coming true. This is one of those rare movies that is hard going to watch until the third act when suddenly things change and your attitude to the film does a complete volte-face (well, mine did anyway). Thought-provoking sci-fi drama.
(7/10)

#57 Patti Cake$ (2017)
A young girl dreams of making it big as a rap star but faces an uphill struggle as family and money problems threaten to overwhelm her life. Despite being a somewhat derivative underdog story, the performances and music more than compensate.
(8/10)

#58 The Hangover (2009)
Four friends embark on a weekend bachelor party in Las Vegas with predictable results. Not as much of a ‘classic’ as has been hyped but still prety funny in places.
(7/10)

#59 Incredibles 2 (2018)
The family of superheroes return in this confident sequel that does a role-reversal from this first films with Elastigirl getting to go on various missions while Mr Incredible stays at home to look after the children. Funny with some great set pieces, there seems to be a lot of 'talkie' bits which seem to go on too long and it treads familiar ground not taking too many risks. Even so, very watchable.
(8/10)