The Brown Note Movie Review

After some mid-franchise wobbles, the Russo brothers landed the Marvel Movie universe better than anyone could've hoped. Part 1 of the finale had one of the decades greatest WTF! endings.

One time zeitgeist hitting novelist and frequent Danny Boyle collaborator, Alex Garland, never impressed me with his overrated debut, Ex Machina, but he sure as hell did here (as did Natalie Portman, who is a much better actress than a decade ago). In the end I think I bumped this sci-fi mind bender at the last minute into 2nd place in my films of the year list - but can't remember what replaced i...

Post The Office, actor-writer-director John Krasinski has led a wildly unexpected path, here both he and his wife (an excellent Emily Blunt) helm one of new-horror's high points and an entry into the human sense genre.

There seems to be a raft of new American war films that don't seem to realise the moral landscape post the invasion of Iraq is very different and trying to portray American military involvement overseas in a golden light is jaw-dropping. This spoils an amazing true-war story here with some great battle sequences.

Luc Besson's multi-million dollar, neon schlock disasterpiece is a film I have a lot of love for and one that is fatally hamstrung by the insufferable lead pairing of Cara Delevingne and Dane DeHaan, the worst and most damaging casting blunder this century.

I would definitely down-vote this Oscar hoover now, as everything falls apart in an often silly second half.

Just when the Marvel universe was entering the home stretch and tiring, with some dodgy entries, along came Kiwi Taika Waititi to unexpectedly deliver a third Thor film that was as fresh and funny as Guardians of the Galaxy.

All the talk is of Koreans but no one dominated cinema last decade like Mexicans, taking an incredible five out of ten best director Oscars. Like many before him, auteur Guillermo del Toro took home the gong for a far lesser and surprisingly slight work in comparison to a masterpiece like Pans Labyrinth.

I've said before, no director as talented as Steven Spielberg has ever ruined so many films. This century the cupboard is especially bare and he brings his trade mark morally black and white, simplistic, heavy-handed approach to hammer home this flat modern history drama.

A cynically timed and utterly pathetic accusation against director star, James Franco, was all it took to derail Oscar contention for his perfect recreation of the weird world of Tommy Wiseau and his infamous bad movie, The Room.

Ric Roman Waugh directs and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau stars in this very underseen, brutal and gritty prison drama, that follows a DUI stockbrokers decent into hell.

The uncommonly intelligent, thoughful, superb sci-fi trilogy ends in fitting style, making it four awards worthy performances (including King Kong) for CGI king, Andy Serkis as an ape.

The fireman entry into the new-patriot genre of film, that I just made up, to go alongside the likes of Deepwater Horizon, is surprising for NOT starring Mark Walhberg. We get an excellent Josh Brolin instead. Most of these films are far better than they should be and this shocking true wildfire tragedy is top-tier.

Jessica Chastain has never been better (or hotter!) than her criminally ignored role as a high stakes poker madam in the nearly great but overly wordy Aaron Sorkin, true-crime drama.

If I thought it was bad here, a rewatch convinced me it's one of the worst sequels of all time. Absolutely everything that made the original such a blast is thrown out.

It's remarkable how the DC movie universe has managed to get it so badly wrong in so many different ways. This light and airy comedic superhero jaunt is somehow even worse than the dark and turgid BvS.

Stephen King's 1980's colossus was a land mark of horror fiction and world creation, here they get the people right but the clown oh so wrong as it works as a human film and not a horror.

Ironically, for me director Kathryn Bigelow became better AFTER winning Oscars for the frankly quite naff, The Hurt Locker. This timely true-crime/race drama is however not a pleasant watch.

It was great and timely to have back the somehow uncancelled stand-up god, Dave Chappelle - here a review of the four specials he recorded for Netflix.

I fell hopelessly in love with director, Luca Guadagnino's beautiful tale of first summer love.

Fearless auteur Denis Villeneuve wasn't afraid to tackle the thankless holy Bladerunner legacy and astonishingly made an entirely worthy followup.

My best and worst films of 2017! That year my number one film of the year was a TV show, something I totally forgot about in my end of decade list.

Doug Liman remains one of the most unpredictable of American directors, with this Tom Cruise starring true-crime drama about former smuggler, CIA operative and Pablo Escobar courier Barry Seal. What sounds great on paper sadly and bewilderingly decides to focus too much on being a silly action film.

The only, single time the DC movie universe outdid the Marvel one was in this hugely watchable first female led superhero film.

Esteemed British black-comedy director John Michael McDonagh may not have hit the height of something like, The Guard here but it's still well worth fans of very on the nose humor. Stars Michael Pena and Alexander Skarsgard both shine and are usually hilarious.