I'd like to start off by saying very clearly that these are MY PERSONAL FAVOURITES from the year. Obviously, that means particular genres that I like will be more represented. And I'm not saying that these are the technically "best" films of the year and deserve to win all the Oscars, because I'm very much embracing my own subjectivity and preferences here. One of the biggest criteria here is whether I would watch the film again, which does lend itself to blockbusters and comedies with lighter subject material rather than heavy dramas. For example, I thought The Zookeeper's Wife was a really good film, but perhaps one watch was enough. I have seen Dunkirk, but not in a cinema, so I feel I didn't get the proper experience to be able to really appreciate it. These films are 2017 releases according to the website letterboxd. I feel the need to state that I haven't seen Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, The Big Sick, Coco, The Shape of Water, or The Florida Project yet, and I am expecting to really like all of them. And don't worry, there are no spoilers here.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
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I recently finished reading Blake Snyder's Save the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need. It's the first screenplay writing how-to book I've read, and going in I felt a mixture of eagerness and scepticism. Having already written a first draft of my first feature-length screenplay I was looking forward to learning more about the craft from an industry professional, although I knew I had to take the advice with a pinch of salt. That was the right mindset; it's an incredibly interesting and useful book as long as its word isn't taken as gospel. It would be better used to enrich and enhance screenplays already written or being written, or to learn from and put away when it comes to writing, rather than to use as a rigid base for your writing. Snyder presents this book as the comprehensive tome of screenwriting knowledge, which it is not, because there is no such thing. Every screenplay is different and is written differently, and there are both "good" and "bad" screenplays with conventional and unconventional structures. Save the Cat! is not designed to simply make good screenplays, it's designed to make marketable screenplays, which it makes clear, and this inevitably creates a certain conventionality. That said, it does what it aims to. It's all useful stuff, especially his screenwriting 'rules'. Some seem obvious once they're spelled out, but they're very insightful: for example 'The Pope in the Pool', which basically means dealing with exposition by distracting the audience with something else so they don't even realise they're being told a lot of information. Another idea I liked was his 'emotional colour wheel', about making sure your scenes provoke different emotions to create a 'roller coaster ride' of a screenplay. His beat sheet template was perhaps overly specific with its page numbers, but very useful in terms of pacing. I will definitely be taking Snyder's advice to fix problems in my current and future screenplays, and I do recommend this book. Just leave room for your own ideas- don't stick to the template. I'm currently writing a short film, and I thought it would be helpful for me to gather my thoughts on it by writing a sort of pitch. I'm posting it here for my own future reference, and because I thought it might be interesting.
Private Investigations (title pending) is a short film that focuses on Mae and Lizzy, a young romantic couple who are also a private detective team with a growing reputation. As their relationship is starting to crack with neither of them willing to see it, they take on one more case. The case is an inheritance dispute within an aristocratic family after the passing of Lord Barton, who left an ancient family heirloom to someone in his will without making it clear exactly who he was referring to. After the reading of the will, this heirloom was pronounced missing, hence the Dowager Lady Barton's calling for Fielding & Wellbrooke (afraid of the publicity that involving the police or legal action would bring.) The case is not the focus of the film, the relationship between Mae and Lizzy is, but the case is important for the structure of the story and as a site of conflict, and the solution may be thematically relevant. Despite the rather sombre subject (heartbreak), there are moments of comedy and lightheartedness from Mae and Lizzy's friends and particularly the individuals they meet during the case. Up until a crucial moment three-quarters of the way through, the focus will be equally on both Mae and Lizzy, separately and together, but after that point it will belong primarily to Lizzy, with Mae reduced to a supporting character. It's a story about love, heartbreak, failure and loneliness, but also about empathy and coexistence. Characters Lizzy Fielding: Loud, confident, determined. Fiercely optimistic. Socially oriented- does not function well on her own. Led by emotion and instinct. A bit of a show off; likes to express herself in a dramatic stream-of-consciousness way. 'Scattered' is a nice way of putting her attitude to organisation. Mae Wellbrooke: Reserved in comparison to Lizzy. Realistic, rational, systematic. Kind and thoughtful, but prone to overthinking. Likes to be completely sure of herself before expressing her thoughts. Intuitive in a different way to Lizzy. Uses humour to deflect conversations. The Dowager Lady Barton: Lord Barton's widow. Treats Mae and Lizzy with incredible snobbery. Generally apathetic. Matthew Guilder: Lady Barton's nephew. Has been staying with the family since the news of his uncle's death. Sensitive and thoughtful, if a trifle unintelligent. Has a connection with Mae. Detective Grayson: Middle-aged, serious. Doesn't want to deal with the young and lucky 'pretend detectives'. Seen during a press conference for the last case the couple solved. Billy: Friend to both Mae and Lizzy, but Lizzy's best friend. Tall, assertive, supportive. Breakups are awful. There's no other way to put it. You've invested so much time and emotion into this person who you thought you were going to be with forever, and it's all come crashing down. In these circumstances, I think many of us have turned to our TVs and computers to find something to watch to distract us from how we feel, so here I'm going to be giving a few suggestions of what to watch. Although amount of truth there is to the 'Five Stages of Grief' is debatable, I'll be using them to categorise the recommendations according to how you feel and where you're at with your recovery. Denial- How I Met Your MotherSpecifically the last episode, and only really if you've seen the whole show before. So, SPOILERS FOR HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER! Now that you're only reading if you already know this, in the last episode of the show Ted finishes telling his children how he met their (now deceased) mother, only for them to point out that he's in love with his friend Robin. With their permission, he goes after her with a romantic gesture, which is received positively by her. I personally like to pretend that the last couple of episodes don't exist, because to me they feels so strange. The show spends nine entire seasons building up to Ted meeting the love of his life, and then basically puts across the message that 'oh yeah, she doesn't actually matter, Ted's still in love with the woman he's been unhealthily unable to move on from for decades.' Robin's relationship with Barney, with which so much setting-up time was taken, is completely dismissed. But if you're in a place where you need to spend a bit of time indulging in the belief that unrequited love can work out and you'll get that person back eventually, it's perfect. Just make sure to move on from that notion. How I Met Your Mother is currently available on Netflix UK. Anger- Legally BlondeThe premise of Legally Blonde is that a ditzy blonde sorority queen is dumped by her boyfriend (when she thought he was proposing) for not being 'serious' enough. To prove him wrong, she gets into Harvard Law school ('what, like it's hard?') and succeeds there, finding happiness and empowerment as an individual and helping others to find theirs. This film is a wonderful 97 minutes to shout 'what a dick!' at Elle's ex, and if you're angry at your own ex, whether they genuinely did something wrong or you just need to be angry as a step in your process to recovery, this film can be helpful. Again though, just make sure you move on from anger. Bargaining and Depression- Parks and Recreation (or anything else funny and optimistic)This is the point where the films and binge-watching come in most useful, because you need a distraction. I've only just started watching Parks and Rec (I've just finished the first season, which is six episodes), but it's already such a wonderful little distraction from life, and Leslie Knope's endless optimism and fearlessness is infectious. I'd also recommend Miranda Hart's sitcom Miranda, although the focus on the title character's attempts at romance may be less than helpful. Anything optimistic and funny is perfect. Also Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which is hilarious: just avoid the final episode of season one, in which a character recovers from a breakup. How I Met Your Mother can be good here again, just avoid the many breakup or sad episodes. Parks and Recreation is available on Amazon Prime UK, and Miranda on Netflix UK. Acceptance- La La LandSPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS FOR LA LA LAND!!! So, we've all seen La La Land. Some of us loved it, some of us didn't. I for one did love it, despite acknowledging its problems. I don't feel like I need to explain much about why I've paired it with 'Acceptance'- the ending is bittersweet, and you can see that although they loved each other and it was heartbreaking when their relationship didn't work out, they still achieved their dreams and had happy lives without each other. The moment in Sebastian's jazz bar where they smile at each other, silently acknowledging this, is a poignant one. La La Land is currently available on Netflix UK. If you have any agreements or disagreements with these or recommendations you think I missed, let me know! Pride is my favourite film, and today I'm going to be telling you why: completely spoiler-free, so those of you who haven't watched it can find out why you should. This film (directed by Matthew Warchus and written by Stephen Beresford) tells the story of LGSM (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners), a group of lesbians and gay men living in London during the 1984-5 miners' strike. Led by activist Mark Ashton, they decide to help the miners as they see themselves in the treatment of the miners by the press and police. They start by collecting money at a pride event, and when the union won't take their money, they befriend the residents of a particular small village in Wales. Our audience surrogate is Joe, an in-the-closet twenty year old who stumbles into LGSM after accidentally walking with them at Pride. It's based on an inspirational true story (although Joe was invented for the film), and tackles themes of identity, empathy, acceptance, standing up for yourself, and the importance of community. Remarkably, it does this almost stealthily, never preaching, instead seamlessly and subtly working these themes in while playing with your emotions so you hardly notice. The tone of this film is masterfully calculated. It's the most feel-good of all feel-good films, but it's also real, and never trivialises its subject material. It creates a complex mixture of emotions, happy and sad, powerfully guiding the audience's emotions. The subtlety I mentioned before regarding themes is one of this film's greatest strengths in terms of storytelling. Warchus and Beresford aren't afraid to only show glimpses of plot details or scenes- in one scene, Mark runs into a man named Tim who is presumably his ex-boyfriend- but we don't know. It's a very short scene, one which we're not supposed to totally understand, but one which is still emotionally affecting and touching perhaps because of its mystery. Only two days ago, on what was perhaps my fifth or sixth time watching the film, did a theory hit me that completely works with the scene and others after it, filling in so many background details that we don't or don't need to know, and it broke my heart. Every single time I watch this film I discover something new; it's good at getting your imagination to wander. One of the reasons for this not-giving-us-every-detail is the sheer amount of characters this film deals with. I previously mentioned this film in my post 'Writing Tips from Around the Web: Ensemble Casts'. It is such a good example of an ensemble film, because between LGSM, Joe's family, and the inhabitants of the mining village in Dulais, many characters are given depth and individuality. Almost every single character is not only likeable but lovable. Part of this is due to the amazing writing, and part to the skill of the cast members. The cast is incredible, and includes the likes of Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Andrew Scott among the many. I could point to a line for every single character that I love for either the line itself or the way in which they say it. The soundtrack for this film is glorious. Whenever I hear the song that plays over the ending sequence- I won't tell you details- my heart swells with the cocktail of emotions that the film always creates in me. The music is deliciously 80s- 'Karma Chameleon' by Culture Club and 'What Difference Does It Make' by the Smiths are two of the songs- and backs up a wonderful dance scene. One drawback I do always notice in the film is its lack of acknowledgement of bisexuality- Mark at one point says 'To the gays... To the straights... And to the as yet undecided...'- but due to the 80s setting I can excuse this. It would have been nice to have seen some representation though, since much of the premise is based on a gay-straight opposition. Please, please go and watch this film. It is incredibly well directed, well written, and well acted, and is such a joy to watch. I saw this film about a week and a half ago, and wasn't going to write about it initially. I haven't read the book it's based on- in fact I've never read any of Agatha Christie's work, although I'm very excited to after seeing this film- and I haven't seen any other adaptations. Because of this, I questioned whether I had the authority to comment on this film, having a comparative lack of knowledge of the source material and context. However, I couldn't stop thinking about this film, and came to the conclusion that perhaps my unfamiliarity makes me competent to review it in a different way- it means I can judge the film as a standalone, and not in comparison to the many other incarnations Murder on the Orient Express and Poirot himself have been through over the years. As usual, spoilers will be below the 'Read More' line, so you're safe for now if you haven't seen it and are unfamiliar with the plot. I really enjoyed the film. I've seen some mixed reviews, and honestly I don't think most have valid complaints at the heart of them. A lot of them condemn Branagh's 'French' accent- Poirot is Belgian, and in any case that's hardly the most important thing- and complain that the film largely consists of Poirot talking to people. He's a detective conducting an investigation and they're stuck on a stationary train; I'm not really sure what these people were expecting! I thought the film managed to be very engaging despite this, and I never felt it was lacking anything in terms of action. The main thing I loved about this film was the atmosphere. The snow-surrounded train and its interior, as well as the costumes of its inhabitants and the settings of the opening sequence, worked to create an aesthetically pleasing, immersive 1930s world that was wonderful to escape into. Branagh's Poirot was a character I found very easy to like- his moustache is positively magnificent, and his amusement at reading Dickens was infectious. More thoughts (with spoilers) below the 'Read More' line: Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (1847) is one of my favourite books. Because of this, I've watched quite a few adaptations of it (although there are many I've missed!) This week I'd like to talk about four I have watched: what they take from the novel, what I like, what I don't like, etc.
There have been quite a few more adaptations of this novel, so who knows, maybe I'll watch another four and do a post on those! Let me know if you have any recommendations.
Back in my post in June about Deciding on the Right Format, I mentioned that I was working on a story that in its planning stages had been everything from a novel to a TV miniseries to a film to a short story. This is a version of that story that has ended up being a) sort of none of the above and b) having some slightly different story details to how I originally planned it. I suppose it's sort of a short story, but the form it's settled in is a dramatic monologue. Warning: I haven't really written anything like this before, so I won't make high claims about its quality! I just thought I'd share it here as a record to my future self, and to encourage myself to write more short-form stories. I won't introduce it too much in fear of spoilers, but the monologue is spoken by an eighteen year old girl named Louise Burton in a police station. Another warning: there are a few swear words here.
Here, I'm going to point to a few examples where existing or original songs with lyrics are used in non-musical films with different effects and for different reasons. 1) Character- Thor: RagnarokIf you've seen the trailer for Thor: Ragnarok, you know about its use of Led Zeppelin's 'Immigrant Song'. If you've seen the film, you know that this song crops up a couple of times, and it's used to bookend Thor's journey. Slight spoilers here maybe? We first saw 'Immigrant Song' used at the beginning of the film, in a scene where Thor, long-haired and lonely, used his strength and his hammer to single-handedly take down Surtur and his army of minions. It was awesome. After that, Thor lost his hammer, then his hair, went on a journey, and gained some teammates and awesome lightning powers. The second time we heard the song, it was a way of a) telling us that Thor was back to his former glory, and b) that he was actually better than ever. The song encouraged us to compare Thor's circumstances and skills then to the first time we saw the song, and it reinforced everything he'd lost and gained over the course of the film. 2) Romance- Dirty DancingEveryone who's seen Dirty Dancing remembers a few classic moments that have become famous in their own right. 'Nobody puts Baby in the corner.' The Lift. And the two main songs, 'Love Is Strange' (more easily remembered as the 'Lover Boy' scene) and 'The Time Of My Life'. The first song served to build up Johnny and Baby's relationship, showing them being cute and falling in love. The second song, and the lift that accompanies it, have become the defining moment of the film in the 30 years since its release. The song sums up Baby's summer: she has had the time of her life, in the most interesting, eye-opening, romantic and sexy summer she's ever had. It's another example of music relating to character. 3) Choreography & Atmosphere- Baby DriverWhat to say about Baby Driver's use of music? It's hard to say how the film uses music, really because the film is music. It's pretty much a really long, fun, action-packed narrative music video for an entire compilation album. The choreography and the perfect synchronisation of the music to the visuals- from gunshots on the beat to lyrics on screen as graffiti- help immerse us in the world, and not just any world. It's very specifically Baby's world, as we hear when the music stops, leaving us with the eerily contrasting sound of his tinnitus. The songs also guide the tone, atmosphere and emotions of the film, as with a traditional score. People other than myself have already talked more specifically about Baby Driver's soundtrack, so I won't go further. As usual, this isn't attempting to be an exhausting or authoritative list, just a few thoughts. I'd be interested to hear more. |
"After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world."- Philip Pullman Archives
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