Selma

My Top Ten Favourite Films of 2015

It’s the end of the year so that means it’s time for best-of lists! So if you haven’t spotted my top ten list on HeyUGuys Movie Bloggers Top Ten – a list you should check out because it’s interesting to see what a load of different bloggers love – here is my top ten and my thoughts on each film. Now please note, all of these are UK cinema releases because as you’ll notice, one of these films came out two years ago in America.

10. Dope
I watched Dope on a plane and it was great. It made me laugh and think and I really enjoyed all the characters and their chemistry. It’s a small film that definitely deserves a lot of love.

9. Spy
Spy is a film I missed at the cinema but then I caught it on a plane and I wish I’d seen it at the cinema! It was surprising, funny and often kind of ridiculous but it really was so much fun. Jason Statham neds to do more comedy films.

8. Straight Outta Compton
I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed Straight Outta Compton. It was about a time in recent history and a band that I knew next to nothing about but I couldn’t help but get pulled into the story and I found myself caring about these people.

7. Ant-Man
Who would’ve thought that the Marvel film on my top ten list would be Ant-Man and not Avengers: Age of Ultron? Not me! I was really anti-Ant-Man a year ago, mainly because of my dislike of Hank Pym from the comics, so I was so surprised at how much I enjoyed Ant-Man. The cast had great chemistry, Michael Pena stole every scene he was in, and it was about a heist and I love heist movies! Ant-Man really was a pleasant surprise. (more…)

D is for Ava DuVernay

ava-duvernayI only heard of Ava DuVernay very recently when all the publicity for Selma started towards the end of last year. I saw Selma in February and loved it. It has amazing performances, great direction and a heartfelt script – its awards snubs in various categories were terrible.

Before directing Ava DuVernay worked in film publicity on a whole range of films, Spy Kids (2001) to Spider-Man 2 (2004), I, Robot (2004) to Collateral (2004). As someone who is just starting a career in Film PR I am fascinated and in awe of her promotional and unit work.

Ava DuVernay had made two films before Selma, I Will Follow (2010) and Middle of Nowhere (2012). She won an Independent Spirit Award for Middle of Nowhere and was the first African-American woman to be nominated for Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards for Best Director for Selma. I have yet to see I Will Follow and Middle of Nowhere but I’m eagerly looking forward to doing so because if they’re half as good as Selma – they will be great.

I’ve watched most of her keynote speech at this year’s SXSW and it is enlightening and interesting and just pretty darn great. Speeches like this on representation and the film industry as a whole help aspiring filmmakers and film-lovers understand the media they consume. It is certainly worth a watch.